If you don't believe we can stop the war, then give up now. You can do anything you want if you try hard enough. Peace activists have done much to bring public awareness on the war, and now we must go the next step to the political realm. We need to convert awareness on the war into votes for progressive candidates that will bring home the troops now.

If we work hard in both the activism (awareness) and political (policy) spheres, we can change our country again. America once again can be a great society. Yet, that will only happen when we get candidates that reflect our views. Before the start of the next decade, we have the power to change nearly every office in government. It won't be easy, but it can be done.

2006 is the start. We must win back both houses of Congress. We must work to get Kiristen Gillibrand elected in the 20th Congressional District. We must support Jon Tsansi's efforts to educate the public on Iraq, but also balance that with a need to keep incumbent Hillary Clinton in office. Challenger Republican John Spencer is far more of a hawk then Clinton. We also must be thinking towards 2008 and getting a progressive Democrat into office as President.

We ultimately all want our country to represent the values we all hold so dear. We want to be a peaceful country, one that can spend the money it needs to modernize it's cities, offer sensible energy solutions, and to protect the environment. We have not had a strong Democratic majority in 40 years, and it's time we take back our country.