Lorelei Kelly has a really important piece up at Huffington Post, calling on 20-something bloggers to go work on Capitol Hill.

So here’s my pitch: You twenty-somethings who are reading this, if you can’t take your day job after being part of such a political earthquake like last week’s election, go find your local Member of Congress and apply for a job. Take the district job over one on Capitol Hill. Even though DC is as giddy as that prisoner in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave–you know, where he is chained immobile to a wall for years–and then gets taken out to see the sun–the states are still where the most important action is going to be found because influential citizen input is a missing link for many issues on Capitol Hill. Then, when you write your letter to the Chief of Staff or mobilize your contacts, bill yourself as a “New Media” or “Citizen Participation” Specialist. The great thing about being part of a new movement is that you get to make up your own job title. You will know more about how this election was electronically organized than anyone working in the office (but don’t brag about it). In fact, apply for the job advertised, and sell your qualities for fulling those requirements, but come with a creative plan about how you are going to keep the citizens of the district involved and inspired.

As a blogger who moved from outside the system and has spent the last two years working on campaigns, I can say this is a path that the online progressive movement needs many, many more people to follow. We need more and better insiders. That’s how we can achieve change. Bloggers tend to be movement progressives and we need to get people inside the DC/Democratic Party system that will bring progressive ideals into closed-door planning meetings.

Moreover, change is a long, slow process. We need people inside now who in five, ten or fifteen years will be in positions of major influence throughout our party. We can’t count on change coming over night, so it’s time to do the hard work to be better positioned down the road.