Obviously that's not the real title (just a shout out to all the Star Wars fans out there), but I know its going to be a great show.
I unfortunately won't be able to participate as I'm helping paint and reorganize Dem HQ (its looking so much better than before.) Nonetheless, I really encourage all of you to listen in. From my sources, a pretty high profile guest will be calling in - so tune in!
You can listen here. If you want to call in during the show (strongly encouraged), call (646) 716-7543 (its obviously not toll free.)
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Progressive Movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Progressive Movement. Show all posts
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
The Vision Thing
If there's one thing I see DECs doing more than anything else its short-term thinking. We're getting better at it for sure, but its still a never ending obstacle I see DECs and progressive organizations alike trying to overcome.
How do you know whether or not your DEC is suffering from short-term thinking? Here are a few signs:
Gatherings Don't Seem to Have Any Purpose: Ever go to a meeting, not just a DEC meeting but any meeting and all people do is really just announce things to everyone else? Are people really just talking to hear themselves talk? Do your meetings accomplish anything? If not, your DEC or organization is suffering from a lack of long-term focus or vision.
Everyone Is Doing Their Own Thing: If your DEC's activists are all out doing what they want to do, disconnected from any larger plan or purpose, that's a problem. Every DEC suffers this in some form or another. The term "herding cats" applies well to DECs. So the question is to what degree? If its a few folks - don't beat yourself up. However, if entire committees seem to be disconnected, it maybe time for some strategic planning to get everyone on the same page.
There's Been No Strategic Planning: If you haven't gotten all of your committee chairpersons and officers to discuss where the party should be going, its something you really should try and do.
The bottom line here is that DECs have to have a long-term focus and can't become too distracted by short-term events (special elections, personal feuds, the loss of a club, or the resignation of a precinct captain, etc...), otherwise the organization could lose its rudder and some of the symptoms I described above could occur.
So how do DECs attempt to keep their long-term focus?
Strategic Planning: There should be a strategic planning meeting of the DEC's officers and committee chairpersons every 6 months. The first meeting of a new DEC administration is probably the most important strategic planning meeting, as it will set the course of the organization for the next 2+ years. The strategic planning meetings in between that first meeting and Election Day are there to measure progress and tweak things along the way. Or, if things aren't working well at all, to start from scratch.
Bold, Persistent Experimentation: To many of our readers from the '60s and 70s, I'm not referring to giving DEC members different types of drugs :) I'm referring here to what FDR said in the early 1930s:
In other words, keep your DEC and its clubs on their toes by consistently trying new ideas in a push towards the vision laid out at your initial strategic planning meeting.
Keep Reminding Them: It's oh so easy for any member of a DEC (yours truly included) to get wrapped up or swept up by a short-term distraction and quickly forget long-term goals. At every possible instance, remind everyone of the long-term goal: victory in 2008. Anything that really doesn't get us there probably isn't worth the time.
How do you know whether or not your DEC is suffering from short-term thinking? Here are a few signs:
Gatherings Don't Seem to Have Any Purpose: Ever go to a meeting, not just a DEC meeting but any meeting and all people do is really just announce things to everyone else? Are people really just talking to hear themselves talk? Do your meetings accomplish anything? If not, your DEC or organization is suffering from a lack of long-term focus or vision.
Everyone Is Doing Their Own Thing: If your DEC's activists are all out doing what they want to do, disconnected from any larger plan or purpose, that's a problem. Every DEC suffers this in some form or another. The term "herding cats" applies well to DECs. So the question is to what degree? If its a few folks - don't beat yourself up. However, if entire committees seem to be disconnected, it maybe time for some strategic planning to get everyone on the same page.
There's Been No Strategic Planning: If you haven't gotten all of your committee chairpersons and officers to discuss where the party should be going, its something you really should try and do.
The bottom line here is that DECs have to have a long-term focus and can't become too distracted by short-term events (special elections, personal feuds, the loss of a club, or the resignation of a precinct captain, etc...), otherwise the organization could lose its rudder and some of the symptoms I described above could occur.
So how do DECs attempt to keep their long-term focus?
Strategic Planning: There should be a strategic planning meeting of the DEC's officers and committee chairpersons every 6 months. The first meeting of a new DEC administration is probably the most important strategic planning meeting, as it will set the course of the organization for the next 2+ years. The strategic planning meetings in between that first meeting and Election Day are there to measure progress and tweak things along the way. Or, if things aren't working well at all, to start from scratch.
Bold, Persistent Experimentation: To many of our readers from the '60s and 70s, I'm not referring to giving DEC members different types of drugs :) I'm referring here to what FDR said in the early 1930s:
"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
In other words, keep your DEC and its clubs on their toes by consistently trying new ideas in a push towards the vision laid out at your initial strategic planning meeting.
Keep Reminding Them: It's oh so easy for any member of a DEC (yours truly included) to get wrapped up or swept up by a short-term distraction and quickly forget long-term goals. At every possible instance, remind everyone of the long-term goal: victory in 2008. Anything that really doesn't get us there probably isn't worth the time.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Introducing "Weekend Links"
Traffic tends to take a dive over the weekends - which makes sense being we're all out doing things over the weekend. But - I don't want to deprive our "hard core" fans (I'll give you a few minutes to stop laughing)......so I've decided to start a somewhat regular tradition: Weekend Links. This is a compilation of all the interesting stories, reports, and posts made around the web in regards to the main topics we deal with here: organizing, training, and building the Democratic Party and therefore the Progressive Movement.
This weekend features three great links:
Mobilizing Young Voters: Ideas to Win Elections from Eddie at Grassroots Brevard
The Progressive Politics of the Millennial Generation from the New Politics Institute (NPI)
Organizing Online Workers from Shai Sachs at MyDD
Of course for finding great links to things happening in the Florida Progressive Blogosphere throughout the regular week, there's the tremendously awesome "5 to Read" at the Florida Progressive Coalition, not to mention the great daily news roundup over at FLA Politics.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Pushing Absentee Voting
One of the big lessons I've learned for the Senate District 3 special election (which occurs on Tuesday), is the need for the Democratic Party, particularly local DECs to push absentee voting as early as humanly possible.Republicans typically "out request" Democrats by around a 2 to 1 margin (sometimes even 3 to 1 or higher) in the absentee ballot column. At least this is the story in Marion County and most of North and Central Florida. This means that our Democratic candidates go into Election day with a vote deficit, which has to be overcome by both Early Voting (another area where Republicans tend to beat Democrats) and regular Election Day voting at the polls. And we wonder why we lose.
However, this was common knowledge in the Democratic activist community long before this special election - so why hasn't anything really changed? For starters, things have changed a bit in targeted races.
In the Special Election for House District 49 earlier this year, which was a race targeted by the Florida Democratic Party, heavy resources (phones, canvassers, knock and draggers, etc...) were spent on absentee and early voting. The Democratic candidate in the race, Darren Soto, won that election handily with 52.1% of the vote. Democrats bested Republicans in all three categories: Early Voting, Absentee Voting, and Election Day Voting. This was a district that was previously held by a Republican.
So its possible for Democrats to overcome Republicans in the critical absentee ballot column, but its not easy. Republicans have been training their voters for years to vote absentee, so this has become second nature to them. Democrats on the other hand haven't, and we're thus behind the curve. But, as HD49 demonstrated, Dems can do this.
How do we do this?
In Marion, for the SD-3 special election, we believed that converting our supervoters in absentee supervoters could be done. This was true to a degree. Some supervoters did make the switch, but most are very set in their ways. The Marion supervoter is a much older voter who has a long history of voting at the polls. So why all of the sudden should I vote by mail, regardless of whether it helps the party or the candidate? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to them - a vote is a vote.
So a big lesson was learned: our recurring absentee voters probably won't be supervoters. Chances are, they're going to be younger and less frequent voters. These voters have jobs, families, lawns to mow, etc... Absentee voting (and early voting) is probably a lot more appealing to them.
I'll tell you by 2008 whether this strategy works...
In the meantime, DEC leadership should be stressing to party regulars, club leadership, and club members the importance of absentee voting. Here are the highlights I used to convert several dozen Democrats at the club level:
"Absentee voting is the most secure and safest method of voting." With the new law mandating paper trails, this statement is becoming less usable, but for the meantime it is. We're not sure how long its going to take the state to implement this new law. Until then, voting absentee guarantees a paper trail.
"Absentee voting = Votes in the bank." If more Democrats vote absentee, that means on Election Day, the DEC, the FDP, the DNC, and the campaigns can spend their precious resources on voters who actually need a push (irregular voters, younger voters, disabled or elderly voters, etc...) Democratic voter turnout will be much better, and more Democrats can get elected.
"Absentee voting helps our hard working candidates." Based on the reasons I cited above, absentee voting will help our candidates by putting votes for them "in the bank." They can concentrate the resources of their campaigns to getting more Democrats who typically wouldn't have voted out to vote.
"Absentee voting helps you." Absentee voting, in addition to being the safest and securest method of voting, is also the easiest and most efficient. By calling the local Supervisor of Election's office and giving them your name, date of birth, and verifying your mailing address, a request is made. Voters are done is less than a minute. The ballot is mailed to you, and all you have to do is fill it out and send it in with standard postage. This is the way its done in Marion, anyway.
One final suggestion for DECs in encouraging absentee voting is to use their websites by creating a webform for absentee voting. Completed forms are emailed to the local Supervisor's Office, and requests can be made that way as well. Blast emails sent out from the DEC can push supporters to vote absentee by giving them an easy link to the webform.
Absentee voting is critical to future Democratic victories, and DECs must play their part by strongly encouraging it among their membership and support base as well as building absentee voting into their field and campaign plans.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Organizing Young Voters: A Must Read
College Progressive of Grassroots Brevard has written a fantastic post on the importance of organizing younger voters, and some pointers on how to actually do it. Read the post here.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Supporting Our Young Activists
I'm helping put together a "Come Back Soon" Party for James Walker, an Iraq War vet recalled to duty in the middle of his campaign for state representative against Dennis Baxley in 2006. Therefore, the second part of Party Building Basics will have to wait until tommorrow. Until then, here's a nice caveat to tide you over.
As a 20 year old, I constantly get asked the question: "How come young people aren't involved" and "How come young people don't vote?" The answer to the first question is the start of the explanation for the second question: the progressive movement today doesn't feed its young people - it starves them. Read the article below and you'll see what I mean. Its a constant struggle people like me and many others have to deal with on a very regular basis:
When College Ends, So Does Activism
Unfortunately, local parties can only do so much here. They can put young people in leadership roles, and help get young people elected to local office (building a "farm team"), but in terms of helping them survive financially - DECs are very limited. This is something our progressive movement as a whole needs to address.
As a 20 year old, I constantly get asked the question: "How come young people aren't involved" and "How come young people don't vote?" The answer to the first question is the start of the explanation for the second question: the progressive movement today doesn't feed its young people - it starves them. Read the article below and you'll see what I mean. Its a constant struggle people like me and many others have to deal with on a very regular basis:
When College Ends, So Does Activism
Unfortunately, local parties can only do so much here. They can put young people in leadership roles, and help get young people elected to local office (building a "farm team"), but in terms of helping them survive financially - DECs are very limited. This is something our progressive movement as a whole needs to address.
Monday, June 11, 2007
GOP Losing Rural Support
For all of our brothers and sisters working hard in the vast rural areas of our state, there is some comforting news from a new poll released by the wonderful Center for Rural Strategies. Here are some highlights:
You can read the details here. Rural Florida, and indeed rural America will be a hard nut to crack for us, but it certainly can be done. Don't forget that farmers and rural folks were what started the Populist Party in the late 1800s. The Populists were the forerunners of the Progressive movement of the early 20th century which brought us child labor laws, women's suffrage, trust busting and business regulation, the initiative and referendum process, direct election of Senators, and environmental conservation. This laid the foundation for the modern Democratic Party under Woodrow Wilson, which reached its full fruition under FDR and subsequent Democratic presidents.
It all started with the farmers in rural America as a response to growing corporate domination. Sound familiar?
* A slight majority of rural voters prefers a generic Democratic presidential candidate to a generic Republican candidate.
* War support is declining. Forty-five percent of rural respondents said the country should "stay the course" in Iraq, down from 51 percent in 2004.
* Rural people have a personal connection to the wars. Sixty percent know someone serving in the wars. One quarter say they have a family member serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
* President Bush's job performance ratings have dropped 10 points (to 44 percent approve) since the 2004 election.
You can read the details here. Rural Florida, and indeed rural America will be a hard nut to crack for us, but it certainly can be done. Don't forget that farmers and rural folks were what started the Populist Party in the late 1800s. The Populists were the forerunners of the Progressive movement of the early 20th century which brought us child labor laws, women's suffrage, trust busting and business regulation, the initiative and referendum process, direct election of Senators, and environmental conservation. This laid the foundation for the modern Democratic Party under Woodrow Wilson, which reached its full fruition under FDR and subsequent Democratic presidents.
It all started with the farmers in rural America as a response to growing corporate domination. Sound familiar?
Building Local Progressive Blogospheres
I've heard many times on Kos and MyDD, that the trend in blogging is towards the local level. This is absolutely correct. While there is still some frontier left at the state level (not in Florida though) in some portions of the country, the real possibilities lay in counties, towns, and neighborhoods. Local issues, local politicians, and local institutions need to be given the same critical analysis and research that the blogosphere has brought to the state, national, and international levels.
DECs can play a small role here. These local institutions are already home to community activists, who in turn have connections to other activists. Just 3-6 people can form the core of a wonderful local progressive blog. Of course, don't underestimate the power of one person to start a powerful local blog as well.
Individuals inside DECs should take it upon themselves to try and form a local progressive blog, which may or may not be affiliated with the local DEC. Each model has its benefits and drawbacks.
Here are some things that a good local progressive blog can do:
Raise Awareness: For candidates, community leaders, and voices of dissent, having a place to get their message out (other than the MSM) is an incredibly valuable tool. There aren't really any big media gatekeepers standing between you and the public.
Activist Recruitment: The blog world is a much different place that the DEC world. One of the funny (and awesome) things we found in the Marion DEC was that there were nearly a dozen people who were signed up on Party Builder, MyBarackObama, and OneCorps who were from Ocala/Marion County, who we had never met before! There are people in the blogosphere (and non-blog people, too) who don't even know that there is a local Democratic Party or Democratic club in their area. As a local progressive blog grows, it will naturally attract these people and funnel them into the local scene.
Hold Politicians Accountable: Accountability isn't just a scarce commodity in Washington! If you've ever spent time at the local level (particularly in Republican-held areas) - things can be just as bad - if not worse. Developers are buying off politicians, people are getting screwed, and special interests only seem to be benefiting. Sounds like a great set of posts! Rather than a DEC trying to set up something like a Government Oversight Committee to send activists to County Commission, School Board, Water Board, and City Council meetings, they can essentially outsource this critical task to the bloggers.
Push Progressive Issues: Did you know there are ways to enact public financing of elections at the municipal level? Did you know you can make your city compliant with the Kyoto protocol (here and here)? Sure you can! But why wait for the national groups to get their bloated butts down to your neck of the woods to make it happen? Local progressive blogs can bring these issues to light, and push them hard. DECs really don't have the time or the resources to spend on issues (they're organizing, recruiting candidates, and raising money to get the right people elected), so its up to local blogs to get the necessary policies in place.
Build Community: Having a place for local progressives to congregate besides the stuffy and sometimes frustrating DEC meetings and DEC committee meetings is a great thing. Local progressives need some place to go to vent, share ideas, and rally. A good local progressive blog can build that critical esprit de corps needed to move mountains.
This is all part of a larger idea I have, which I'll try and expand on in the future, which I like to call the idea of having DECs as progressive lend-leasers. Lend-Lease was of course, the WWII program that we used to help fund and supply our allies. Once again, more on that in the future.
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DECs can play a small role here. These local institutions are already home to community activists, who in turn have connections to other activists. Just 3-6 people can form the core of a wonderful local progressive blog. Of course, don't underestimate the power of one person to start a powerful local blog as well.
Individuals inside DECs should take it upon themselves to try and form a local progressive blog, which may or may not be affiliated with the local DEC. Each model has its benefits and drawbacks.
Here are some things that a good local progressive blog can do:
Raise Awareness: For candidates, community leaders, and voices of dissent, having a place to get their message out (other than the MSM) is an incredibly valuable tool. There aren't really any big media gatekeepers standing between you and the public.
Activist Recruitment: The blog world is a much different place that the DEC world. One of the funny (and awesome) things we found in the Marion DEC was that there were nearly a dozen people who were signed up on Party Builder, MyBarackObama, and OneCorps who were from Ocala/Marion County, who we had never met before! There are people in the blogosphere (and non-blog people, too) who don't even know that there is a local Democratic Party or Democratic club in their area. As a local progressive blog grows, it will naturally attract these people and funnel them into the local scene.
Hold Politicians Accountable: Accountability isn't just a scarce commodity in Washington! If you've ever spent time at the local level (particularly in Republican-held areas) - things can be just as bad - if not worse. Developers are buying off politicians, people are getting screwed, and special interests only seem to be benefiting. Sounds like a great set of posts! Rather than a DEC trying to set up something like a Government Oversight Committee to send activists to County Commission, School Board, Water Board, and City Council meetings, they can essentially outsource this critical task to the bloggers.
Push Progressive Issues: Did you know there are ways to enact public financing of elections at the municipal level? Did you know you can make your city compliant with the Kyoto protocol (here and here)? Sure you can! But why wait for the national groups to get their bloated butts down to your neck of the woods to make it happen? Local progressive blogs can bring these issues to light, and push them hard. DECs really don't have the time or the resources to spend on issues (they're organizing, recruiting candidates, and raising money to get the right people elected), so its up to local blogs to get the necessary policies in place.
Build Community: Having a place for local progressives to congregate besides the stuffy and sometimes frustrating DEC meetings and DEC committee meetings is a great thing. Local progressives need some place to go to vent, share ideas, and rally. A good local progressive blog can build that critical esprit de corps needed to move mountains.
This is all part of a larger idea I have, which I'll try and expand on in the future, which I like to call the idea of having DECs as progressive lend-leasers. Lend-Lease was of course, the WWII program that we used to help fund and supply our allies. Once again, more on that in the future.
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Friday, June 08, 2007
Applebee's America: A MUST Read
I bought Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community last summer, after hearing about it from a few liberal blogs as a great new resource for organizers. It exceeded even my expectations. The book attacks many conventional wisdoms that are out there: that policy talks are more critical than community connections, that media buys win elections rather than grassroots organizing. Applebee's was written by infamous Bush strategies Matthew Dowd, Clinton strategist Douglas Sosnik, and journalist Ron Fournier.
Americans are becoming increasingly isolated, and are looking for community. Businesses, political organizations, community groups, and mega churches have figured this out. They do their homework - through demographic data, microtargeting, and long term planning. It is only after these things are accomplished do these institutions build themselves. The name of the game of staying afloat is appealing to niche markets and groups of people. Businesses like Delta have spun off branches such as Song, which appeals to a younger audience. Megachurches have small groups. Because these small groups and niche markets attract people of similar tastes - community is formed.
DECs are institutions which have to pay attention to these lessons. We're on the front lines of the Democratic Party, and its mostly up to us to form these critical community connections. For specifics, buy the book. Its required reading for the Marion DEC Steering Committee. All have found the book to be incredibly informative, eye-opening, and thought-provkoing.
Buy the book by clicking on the picture-link above. Some of the earnings will go to help Reforming Florida's DECs stay in business. Thanks to all our supporters!
Americans are becoming increasingly isolated, and are looking for community. Businesses, political organizations, community groups, and mega churches have figured this out. They do their homework - through demographic data, microtargeting, and long term planning. It is only after these things are accomplished do these institutions build themselves. The name of the game of staying afloat is appealing to niche markets and groups of people. Businesses like Delta have spun off branches such as Song, which appeals to a younger audience. Megachurches have small groups. Because these small groups and niche markets attract people of similar tastes - community is formed.
DECs are institutions which have to pay attention to these lessons. We're on the front lines of the Democratic Party, and its mostly up to us to form these critical community connections. For specifics, buy the book. Its required reading for the Marion DEC Steering Committee. All have found the book to be incredibly informative, eye-opening, and thought-provkoing.
Buy the book by clicking on the picture-link above. Some of the earnings will go to help Reforming Florida's DECs stay in business. Thanks to all our supporters!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Young Voter Mobilization Tactics
Interesting new report out by the Young Voter Strategies site. I'm going to try and read it this week.
Young Voter Mobilization Tactics: Lessons from 2006 House and Statewide Campaigns(.pdf)
If you want a nice quickie, here's the Top Ten Tips to Mobilize Young Voters.
Young Voter Strategies is an excellent resource which I invite all of you to visit every now and then.
Young Voter Mobilization Tactics: Lessons from 2006 House and Statewide Campaigns(.pdf)
If you want a nice quickie, here's the Top Ten Tips to Mobilize Young Voters.
Young Voter Strategies is an excellent resource which I invite all of you to visit every now and then.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A Big, Long Overdue Update
...It's been a while.
My last post over here at my very first blog was (whew) July 26th of last year. Well, a little thing called the 2006 Elections got in the way. I gladly became the campaign manager for James Walker, an Iraq War veteran who had this crazy idea that the people in State House District 24 (Marion County- Ocala, Belleview, Silver Springs Shores, Ocklawaha, Summerfield) wanted an alternative to uber right wing Dennis Baxley. I need a job that paid over the summer, and through this wonderful medium known as the blogosphere, I made a contact up at the state party, and they let me become James' campaign manager.
Needless to say, it was all quite the roller coaster ride. James was recalled to duty in Iraq days before the primary (September 2nd, I believe), as James is a part of the Instant Ready Reserve (IRR) have already done active duty in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation. James nonetheless decided to stay in the race. Despite overwhelming odds, James did better than any Democrat had in the district since the early 90s with 44% of the vote. The last Democrat who ran against Mr. Baxley was during Mr. Baxley's first run for state representative in 2000. The Democrat was a well-known county commissioner who managed to be within the ballpark in terms of fundraising (she raised around $120K to Mr. Baxley's $150K.) She only managed 41% of the vote in a district which was more Democratic than the one James ran in (due to the 2002 redistricting.)
Looking back, I had a lot of fun, overall. It was a tremendous learning experience which I will cherish and look back on forever. As the election was winding down, however, I noticed that the one thing which was seemingly gumming up the works when it came to getting Democrats elected in Marion County, was, you guessed it - the DEC. Now, I'm not blaming any one person, it was all of us (I was a DEC member too, after all.) We won a county commission seat back, which was fantastic, but we lost the other one by only 1,675 votes out of 98,049 cast. We were by no means organized, so I wondered with just some semblance of a better organization, we could have elected two county commissioners to the county commission, sweeping that set of races. It would have also set us up for having an easy shot at taking back the majority on the Commission by 2008.
I knew we were going to need a fresh, bold approach for the 2008 elections. There was a lot of change that needed to happen. I didn't see anyone at that time who could do this job. I knew what I had to do - I had to run for DEC chair. For the next few weeks, I put myself before the Nominating Committee and argued my case. Alas, they couldn't quite bring themselves to put a 20 year old in charge of the party. I understood their sentiment and did my best to persuade them otherwise, they still wouldn't quite budge. One member of the Nominating Committee, who is a friend of mine, knew that I wasn't going quietly, and so he called my father and asked him if he would like to be chairman. Funny, the night before the call I was talking with my Dad about the whole process and said the only person who I would want to be chair other than me would be him. Dad accepted and called me to let me know the news. I was initially miffed that I had been outmaneuvered, but glad that Dad had accepted. You see, my father is a Presbyterian minister by trade, and has worked for the past 25-30 years with churches, community groups, and overall, failing organizations. He's a tremendous orator, organizer, and a good human being.
So from now on, I'll be posting about the things we're doing in Marion County in general terms. I think you all understand why I can't be too specific.
A lot of my ideas about DECs have been tweaked a bit, while some I've changed by opinion on. However, my core beliefs remain: DECs are the key to reviving both the Democratic Party, the Progressive Movement, and civic life in this great state of ours. We must do everything we can to rebuild and reform them.
My last post over here at my very first blog was (whew) July 26th of last year. Well, a little thing called the 2006 Elections got in the way. I gladly became the campaign manager for James Walker, an Iraq War veteran who had this crazy idea that the people in State House District 24 (Marion County- Ocala, Belleview, Silver Springs Shores, Ocklawaha, Summerfield) wanted an alternative to uber right wing Dennis Baxley. I need a job that paid over the summer, and through this wonderful medium known as the blogosphere, I made a contact up at the state party, and they let me become James' campaign manager.
Needless to say, it was all quite the roller coaster ride. James was recalled to duty in Iraq days before the primary (September 2nd, I believe), as James is a part of the Instant Ready Reserve (IRR) have already done active duty in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation. James nonetheless decided to stay in the race. Despite overwhelming odds, James did better than any Democrat had in the district since the early 90s with 44% of the vote. The last Democrat who ran against Mr. Baxley was during Mr. Baxley's first run for state representative in 2000. The Democrat was a well-known county commissioner who managed to be within the ballpark in terms of fundraising (she raised around $120K to Mr. Baxley's $150K.) She only managed 41% of the vote in a district which was more Democratic than the one James ran in (due to the 2002 redistricting.)
Looking back, I had a lot of fun, overall. It was a tremendous learning experience which I will cherish and look back on forever. As the election was winding down, however, I noticed that the one thing which was seemingly gumming up the works when it came to getting Democrats elected in Marion County, was, you guessed it - the DEC. Now, I'm not blaming any one person, it was all of us (I was a DEC member too, after all.) We won a county commission seat back, which was fantastic, but we lost the other one by only 1,675 votes out of 98,049 cast. We were by no means organized, so I wondered with just some semblance of a better organization, we could have elected two county commissioners to the county commission, sweeping that set of races. It would have also set us up for having an easy shot at taking back the majority on the Commission by 2008.
I knew we were going to need a fresh, bold approach for the 2008 elections. There was a lot of change that needed to happen. I didn't see anyone at that time who could do this job. I knew what I had to do - I had to run for DEC chair. For the next few weeks, I put myself before the Nominating Committee and argued my case. Alas, they couldn't quite bring themselves to put a 20 year old in charge of the party. I understood their sentiment and did my best to persuade them otherwise, they still wouldn't quite budge. One member of the Nominating Committee, who is a friend of mine, knew that I wasn't going quietly, and so he called my father and asked him if he would like to be chairman. Funny, the night before the call I was talking with my Dad about the whole process and said the only person who I would want to be chair other than me would be him. Dad accepted and called me to let me know the news. I was initially miffed that I had been outmaneuvered, but glad that Dad had accepted. You see, my father is a Presbyterian minister by trade, and has worked for the past 25-30 years with churches, community groups, and overall, failing organizations. He's a tremendous orator, organizer, and a good human being.
So from now on, I'll be posting about the things we're doing in Marion County in general terms. I think you all understand why I can't be too specific.
A lot of my ideas about DECs have been tweaked a bit, while some I've changed by opinion on. However, my core beliefs remain: DECs are the key to reviving both the Democratic Party, the Progressive Movement, and civic life in this great state of ours. We must do everything we can to rebuild and reform them.
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