Ken Boddye: The Prince William Progress Coalition Grows!

The best kinds of movements are like the binding of a phone book (if you remember what one of those are) — made up of so many different interwoven parts that stand together that they are nearly impossible to break. Only a surprising amount of force can break such bindings, and each additional page seemingly adds an even greater strength once it’s with the whole.

This morning the Prince William Progress Coalition — a progressive slate of candidates running in Prince William County, VA that I am part of — held its first Candidates & Coffee Event, which is the flagship in a series of events like it that we will be hosting every month. The idea is that folks from all over our districts can come and have a coffee with us and learn about our platforms; at the same time, it gives us the opportunity to learn more about the concerns of our future constituents and ensure we are on the pulse of working Virginians.

People also get to laugh at us as we try in vain to make good coffee for them.

This morning’s event was special not only because it was the first, nor because we had a few elected officials and other candidates present to speak. It was special because of the sheer number of people who showed up to stay engaged in their local politics and it served as the announcement event for the fourth member of the Coalition — Mansirmran Kahlon. Just as with myself and the other two candidates within the coalition (Lee Carter — 50th District and Elizabeth Guzman — 31st District), Mansimran is a strong progressive who believes that we need to reunite the Democratic Party with its working-class roots, and take our government back from special interests that currently use our elected officials as investments.

Today, Mansimran spoke about the three cornerstones of his platform — Education, Economy, and Equality. In a rousing and engaging speech, he called each and every person present to reflect on the fact that we can only be a truly progress-driven and virtuous society if we ensure that everyone we know is able to have the means and opportunity to be an active participant in their communities.

His ideals, virtue and progressive strength deepens our coalition, and adds yet another layer of strength to it. Our elections are next year, so together we will work to deliver the first electoral answer to this year’s election cycle — that Virginians stand for progress, and that the state will fight to protect those we hold dear no matter what the incoming administration has in store.