Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can
    Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can
    Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can
    Audiobook7 hours

    Somebody's Gotta Do It: Why Cursing at the News Won't Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can

    Written by Adrienne Martini

    Narrated by Adrienne Martini

    3.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    A humorous (and instructive) memoir about a progressive woman who
    runs for very small-town elected office in a red county—and wins (yay!)—
    and only then realizes the critical importance of the job

    Back in the fall of 2016, before casting her vote for Hillary Clinton,
    Adrienne Martini, a knitter, a runner, a mom, and a resident of rural Otsego
    County in snowy upstate New York, knew who her senators were, wasn’t too
    sure who her congressman was, and had only vague inklings about who her
    state reps were. She’d always thought of politicians as … oily. Then she spent
    election night curled in bed, unable to stop shaking, texting her husband, who
    was at work. And after the presidential inauguration, she reached out to Dave,
    a friend of a friend, who was involved in the Otsego County Democratic Party.
    Maybe she could help out with phone calls or fundraising? But Dave’s idea was:
    she should run for office. Someone had to do it.

    And so, in the year that 26,000 women (up from 920 the year before)
    contacted EMILY’s List about running for offices large and small, Adrienne
    Martini ran for the District 12 seat on the Otsego County Board. And became
    one of the fourteen delegates who collectively serve one rural American
    county, overseeing a budget of $130 million. Highway repair? Soil and water
    conservation? Child safety? Want Wi-Fi? Need a coroner?

    It turns out, local office matters a lot to any government by the people for
    the people.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 3, 2020
    ISBN9781980083405
    Author

    Adrienne Martini

    Adrienne Martini, a former editor for Knoxville, Tennessee's Metro Pulse, is an award-winning freelance writer and college teacher.  Author of Hillbilly Gothic, she lives in Oneonta, New York, with her husband, Scott, and children, Maddy and Cory.

    Related to Somebody's Gotta Do It

    Related audiobooks

    American Government For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Somebody's Gotta Do It

    3.5/5

    5 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I was honestly scared to read this because it talks so much about the dark times of 2016. That confident optimism (“oh, we’ll get our first woman president. No one will vote for this reality show clown who’s gone bankrupt three times.”) then shock is what provokes this book. Which is exactly why I wanted to read it. I get so frustrated reading tweet after tweet about the bad guys getting away with it, sowing discord and doubt, all to keep power and money, their secrets and sins.We all have an opinion, but very few of us take action to accomplish it. Maybe because the only actions you can do at a citizen level are “donate money” and “spread awareness” and “contact your representatives”. Spreading awareness is worthless because it’s too easy–pressing a button to Tweet or Instagram or Tik-Tok involves no effort. And there’s only so much money I can donate. If I gave to all the charities and foundations and causes that ask for it, that say “giving money is the best thing you can do for us”, I’d have nothing left (coupled with the fact that if you give once, they bug you even more). And do you think Mitch McConnell reads a single letter he gets? He doesn’t give a shit about his people, only his party.So the only way to make change is to get the power to make change. That means being in an elected position. I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t think about running for an office. But everyone does. Everyone thinks everything would be perfect if only they were in charge. I’ve discussed some politics and political science on this blog before, like the Bill and Bob billboards and other posts. So I read this to learn what running for local office in a basic suburb is like. Would it give me the kick in the pants I need? Would I be turned off from all the horrible ethics violations that happen even at low-level politics?This book confirmed that I don’t have the personality for it. For one thing, you have to schmooze. Do a lot of door-to-door knocking and cold-calling. I’m cold, independent, used charisma as my dump stat, bad at talking off the cuff/improv, and I look funny. My brains are suitable for office, but I don’t have the personality to lead. I’d be better as an official’s assistant or speechwriter. I know that sounds egotistical, but that’s how I feel.Anyway, none of this tells you about the book itself, except to say that it accomplishes what it sets out to do–tells you what it’s like to run for a community office in a small town. It’s not that hard, but also not that easy. This is about the way systems work, both the election process and the council chambers. The book is split into those two parts, with the second half going to great lengths to explain the limits on their power due to A) the way the system is set up (like that coroners are elected–you can’t fire an incompetent elected coroner) and B) the abilities and budget are determined by those in higher office than them.But the author of this book is a good person who lays it out on the line. I was hoping for more stories of life after caucus. More stories and anecdotes, instead of dry explanations of what A, B, and C means. But I wish she was on my town council. I think, as far as local politics, the fact that you care enough to attempt to unseat an incumbent is enough to get my vote. The best politics happens when old dried blood is removed and fresh blood moves in. (That wasn’t meant to sound so vampiric.)
    • 3/5
      A brief look at one woman's reaction to Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016. She decided to get busy rather than just complain. She didn't want the incumbent County Representative in Otsego County to run unopposed. She ran successfully. Then she discovered that the skills one needs to get elected are quite different than the ones needed to actually do the job. She also highlighted how inefficiently her county government operates! Incredible. This little book could be an inspiration to many local activists across the country to just try.