> If someone with the political clout were to be willing to champion the work and guide the discussion appropriately while someone like me does the work, that's different.

There is unlikely anyone on the Go team with more political clout in this particular area than the one who has already reached out to you. You obviously didn't respond to him publicly, but did he reject your offer in private? Or are you just imaging some kind of hypothetical scenario where they are refusing to talk to you, despite evidence to the contrary?