Reforming the Party: a local "Blueprint" (round 1)

[welshTerrier2]

other than working on political campaigns and various anti-war activities, I have no political experience ... i was recently voted onto my town's Democratic Committee ... as best i've been able to determine, the primary purpose of this committee is to hold a meeting once a year to talk about when they should schedule next year's meeting ... i'm serious; this group does absolutely nothing ...

however, our local State Senator has just become the new Chair of the committee and I'm confident she wants us to take a more active role ...

I'm trying to put together something of a mission statement or a statement of purpose or, let's just call it some activities we should be working on ... here are 3 key proposals i'd like to see implemented for our town committee ... my hope is that this model could be used all over the state and perhaps all over the country ... I'm probably re-inventing the wheel here because other towns are probably light years ahead of us ... please provide some feedback on these ideas and let me know what activities you recommend on the local level ... thanks ... btw, these are just rough notes; a more formal presentation would be written once the basic ideas have been agreed on ...

Goals:
1. increase enthusiasm of Democrats and encourage greater participation in the democratic process
2. make Democratic voters better informed
3. make elected Democrats (and others) better informed of the views of Democratic voters

Methods:
1. Enhanced communication: the only way to bring about more enthusiasm, more participation and better informed voters is to increase the frequency and quality of communication between the Party, our elected representatives and our registered voters ... communication must NOT continue to happen only during election season ... ongoing relationships must be developed ... we need email addresses, phone banks, volunteers, special events, website, newsletter, regular two-way conversation with elected representatives and Party members
2. Platform participation: the State and Federal Party platforms are written without the participation, knowledge, or approval of 99% of registered Democrats ... Party insiders easily explain the current bureaucratic process that leads to the final platform ... the bottom line is, most registered Democrats are totally uninvolved in this process ... that's a perfect recipe for voter apathy ... we need to reform the current process to find a way to give every single registered Democrat an easy way to be heard and represented during the definition of the platform process ...
3. Issues: the Party needs to regularly ask Democrats where they stand on key issues ... by asking for input on key issues and upcoming legislative votes, voters will have a greater sense of participation in the democratic process ... some type of polling mechanism needs to be established ... poll results should be available to the general public and specifically communicated to elected representatives ... a letter should be written to summarize the poll results (and any associated comments) and should be sent to all elected representatives ... elected Democrats should write a response directly addressing issues raised by the poll and associated comments ... registered Democrats should also have a forum in which to post their opinions in response to the poll ...

this entire process should be developed in coordination with other neighboring towns and should ultimately, as it evolves, become a state and national model ... if "all politics are local, let's make our local Democratic committees more effective".

[yurbud]

1. post what favors pols receive from corporations on their .gov website

Any time they travel on someone else's dime, accept a gift, or do a favor for a donor, that information should be as easily accessible as their latest press release.

[welshTerrier2]

3. agree but ...

i think the corporate ownership of our elected officials is a critical proble ... our democracy has been sold to the highest bidder ... frankly, it's been sold to every bidder ...

but the accountability issue you're raising is probably outside the scope of the change i'm trying to effect ... it's not that i at all disagree with taking the action you recommended ...

the goal of this document, is to create more involvement and participation by registered Democrats and unregistered non-voters ... catching the bad guys, while it's absolutely necessary, is likely to generate even more cynicism about government ...

by building the Party back up from the grassroots, perhaps we could get the kind of legislation that would require the public disclosures you're calling for ...

[yurbud]

8. consider GOP tactics (but be restrained by ethics unlike them)

Rather than picking modest goals for their public positions than gradually ratcheting them up, they have always stated plainly what they would like to see in terms of taxes, social programs, and business regulation. Only the implementation has been gradual.

We need to do the same thing. Don't be afraid to make bold proposals that won't be entirely implement all at once.

It's the boldness that attracts attention and support, not the lukewarm, "I think we can sneak this under the GOP radar" approach that democrats have been doing for the last couple of decades so successfully that we almost have a one party state--and that one party is the republicans.

[itzamirakul]

2. Sounds really good for a start...

I agree with keeping it simple to start with so that you don't get so bogged down in a myriad of tasks and goals that you get discouraged.

Just work on a few things at a time and delegate some activities and responsibilities to others and one thing that I learned the hard way..."To get what you EXPECT ...INSPECT..." If you delegate jobs, very politely check in with the people responsible and see how the job is coming along or if they could use some help...

If there is one important thing that I do not see on your list, it is keeping in regular contact with the media. I mean emailing, axing, writing, phoning about every lie and falsehood pertetrated by the Repubs, i.e. the Gannon Story. Write to them so often that they know you by first name. That's what I am pushing for...a more baqlanced presentation of the news.

[welshTerrier2]

4. excellent, thanks !!!

the media link is a great addition ... i did plan to try to get the poll results published in the local media ... but i also think the legislator's response should also be published ...

going beyond this, i agree that we should have kind of a "media committee" whose charter is to give the Party a regular and powerful presence in the local media ...

great idea ... thanks !!

[itzamirakul]

5. Welsh...I went to a website

www.democrats.com and I copied and saved their media blaster which is huge and covers print and electronic media all over the United States. It has a click through to each email address so if I want to email a certain tv station or newspaper, I just click on their name and an addressed email form pops up for me to use.

If you can get everyone on your committee to put a media blaster in their files and then USE IT REGULARLY, I know that we can begin to make a major difference in at least getting our own letters printed if nothing else.

And the letters/emails don't have to be long and perfect. Sometimes just a couple of lines will do the trick...just stay focused on the point you want to make..

DU has a media blaster somewhere too, but sometimes I can't find it. Maybe you want to do a search for it. :)

[welshTerrier2]

7. thanks again, itzamirakul !!

i went to the link you provided and did a search on the word "blaster" ... it didn't return any results ...

i did find this page, however: http://blog.democrats.com/media

is that the list of MSM you were describing?

[itzamirakul]

9. I just found this at DU ...

Subj: DAILY KOS MEDIA BLASTER AND ARTICLE

JohnnyCougar (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-18-05 06:06 AM
Original message
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Press release from dKos. Propagate at will DU


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/2/18/0748/71841

WE ARE THE NEW MEDIA!!!!
Use the media blaster and spread the word!!! Take no prisoners!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brian Kelly at [e-mail]
Member, DailyKos.com

WHITE HOUSE SCRAMBLES TO EXPLAIN
FAKE REPORTER IN ITS PRESS CORPS

Feb.17, 2005 -Internet researchers have uncovered new evidence that contradicts the Bush Administration's claims about James Guckert, a Republican activist allegedly involved in criminal activities and linked to an incident involving a major breach of national security. Guckert, operating as "Jeff Gannon," was granted daily access to White House press briefings for more than two years as a "reporter" for Talon News.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan stated that Guckert was granted access in part because he was affiliated with a news organization that "publishes regularly." But yesterday, bloggers discovered video footage suggesting this standard was not applied to Guckert.
Video footage of a Feb. 25, 2003 White House press briefing shows Guckert, apparently unaffiliated with any news organization, asking former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer a question. It is unclear why Guckert was granted any pass at this time, since the Internet-based Talon News did not register its domain name until March 29, 2003.

Maureen Dowd, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the New York Times, reported today she was denied press credentials at the start of the Bush administration in 2001. Yet Guckert, whose only journalistic training was derived from a $50 weekend seminar, was repeatedly granted access.

Despite calls from Congress for the White House to disclose its standards for entrance to the briefing room, the Bush administration has yet to reveal its credentialing standards or details surrounding the scandal, including: specific dates when Guckert was admitted to the briefing room, how many passes he was issued, as well as how he cleared a Secret Service background check while owing the state of Delaware over $20,000 in back taxes (penalties and interest) and possibly engaging in prostitution, as revealed by Americablog.org.

Guckert has also been implicated in a leak of federal classified information that revealed the identity of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame. Revealing the identity of an undercover agent is a federal crime.

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has insisted that President Bush will do anything he can to assist the Plame investigation. But the White House has not answered questions about the role of Guckert in the Plame investigation or his inexplicable access to White House Press Corps briefings.

-- ###--

Also, just in case you haven't been there, a great progressive think tank is at www.rockridgeinstitute.org . They have all kinds of information that will help you become knowledgeable as a "leader" in the Progressive community. What i mean it...it will help you define our values, etc .

Good luck...I am so excited for you and your gang. this is exactly what we need in every single town and every single hamlet...


**

[itzamirakul]

6. Check out this website and then see if you want to

start your own.

I have been posting at least one article or message everyday. It has only a small amount of lurkers, but at least someone is reading it...

http://democrat.meetup.com/159/boards/

[moggie12]

10. Great post -- I especially like #1 on your list

I was reading something the other day that talked about the Republicans organizing "person-to-person", talking to their neighbors, fellow church-goers, etc. We have to do something like that. There are millions that voted against Bush but we only a hundred thousand or so sign petitions sent out by the Democratic Party, Common Cause, etc. We have to find a way for these people to get involved. Local organization is key and it can't just occur, like you said, at election-time.

[welshTerrier2]

11. looking for feedback and ideas

got any ??