...I joined more than 100 activists from the northeast and mid-atlantic regions in Philadelphia to learn how we can beat McCain and the Republicans in November.
(all photos courtesy of Matt Chea)
The event that drew us all to the UPenn campus on a Saturday was a one-day Activist Training workshop organized by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and the DNC. We learned about the Democratic Party's plans for the 2008 election, including goals, messaging and new tools for activists.
Our hosts for this event were the wonderful APA Philly folks, including Anna Perng and Matt Chea, who I met working on the Obama campaign (they are two of the nicest people you'll ever meet, BTW), as well as Nina Ahmad, Curtis Chin, Ron Kim, Clarence Tong and others.
The session was run by Parag Mehta, DNC Director of Training and his colleague Betsy Kim (Dep. Director of the DNC's American Majority Partnership department).
If you ever have the opportunity to attend a workshop with Parag, take it. He is one of the most entertaining presenters I've ever heard. He has amazing energy, enthusiasm and a wicked sense of humor. He set the tone for the day by focusing on party unity and building bridges between the various constituencies and interest groups.
The day was broken up into several sessions, and included training and case studies presented by activists and elected officials.
Rather than give a blow-by-blow of the sessions and what we learned, I'll highlight the pieces I found the most interesting and helpful.
ORGANIZE EVERYWHERE
The first point in Howard Dean's mission statement for the party is Organize Everywhere. Parag outlined how a relatively small increase in the number of Democratic votes can yield huge wins for our party. This concept isn't new to Kossacks, of course.
You've probably already seen maps like these showing the battleground states for the 2004 Presidential contest, and how/where more Democratic votes could have made a difference.
Of course, the landscape has shifted since 2004 and there are now chances to make gains in states that weren't a part of the picture four years ago.
But organizing everywhere doesn't just mean being active in all 50 states, it means extending beyond the urban Democratic strongholds to reach people in rural, traditionally Republican areas; it means working to win the support of groups that we've written off for the past several election cycles. It also means learning how to talk to people who are a natural fit for the Democratic values, but vote for Republicans.
But this is not just about winning elections. As Parag noted,
"We know there are places we won't win, but if we don't talk to voters, how will we govern?"
THE CHALLENGES
- Polling shows that McCain is strong in the area of personal character: honesty, integrity, leadership, and likability. Where he is weak is on the issues: the economy, health care, Social Security and Iraq. And what do most people base their vote on? That's right, character.
- Republicans are going to put everything they've got into this election. They plan to spend $1 billion dollars in this cycle.
- Republicans are unified behind McCain and are very good at falling in line. Democrats have had a harder time staying focused on a single, unified message.
FOCUSING ON JOHN McCAIN
Here are a few of the ways the DNC plans to push back against McCain.
1. Tie McCain to a Bush third term. Yes, we've been pushing this meme for months, but it was nice to hear it emphasized by the party.
John McCain Is Against:
* Increasing the minimum wage [Senate Vote 179, 6/21/06]
* Overtime compensation and unemployment benefits for workers [Senate Vote 152, 5/15/03]
* Expanding children’s health insurance to 10 million low-income kids [Senate Vote 307, 8/2/07]
John McCain Is For:
* Extending Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest [Senate Vote 107, 3/23/07]
* Gutting Medicaid by $14 billion [S. 947 , Vote 112, 6/24/97]
* Raising the eligibility age for Medicare [S. 1932 , Vote 363, 12/21/05]
2. John McCain is another wishy-washy insider
John McCain is not the straight-talking maverick of 2000. He has been consistently inconsistent on key issues.
He has flip-flopped on:
Immigration
Torture
Campaign Finance
Bush Tax Cuts
(and I would add: Global Warming)
3. John McCain is Old-fashioned and out of touch
BTW, "Old-fashioned" is a much, much better term to use than "old."
Enough said.
Not GOTV, NOTV
Fadia Halma, DNC Eastern PA Field Organizer, introduced us to a new program and online tool, Neighbors Organizing the Vote.
This program is just starting to roll out in a couple of states. The idea behind it is that the best people to talk to voters are their neighbors. With this powerful new online organizing tool and a single voter database, activists in every part of every state can reach out to the people in their community and update voter information themselves.
This is VERY cool.
The Neighborhood vote builder provides activists with walk lists, messaging, the opportunity to customize literature and record the information that is gathered directly into the vote builder database.
This new tool allows campaigns to cover a lot more ground than they could normally cover with field organizers and volunteers. Volunteers won't need to stop by a campaign office to get instructions and walklists, and won't need to stop back by with the completed lists at the end of the day. He or she can do it all from their home computer, including updating the voter file.
It's a brilliant idea, and though I have a couple of quibbles with it, I think it will make a big difference in the fall. We currently have 55,000 neighborhood organizations around the country. The DNC aims to have 500,000 by Labor Day and 1 million groups by election day.
Oh, and here's an interesting factoid: Do you know how many in-person contacts it takes to get one vote? Only 14. Canvassing is far more affective than direct mail, phone calls or email.
Yesterday's workshop was fantastic, not only for the presentations (most of which I haven't even mentioned here) and information provided, but also because it brought together a wonderful group of activists, elected officials and DNC staff. Some of us have worked together in the past; any of us will work together this fall. It's comforting to know that there are so many Democratic activists ready to do the hard work to ensure big wins this year.
Below are a few more photos from the workshop. The DNC is holding these training sessions every weekend around the country. If you are interested in hosting one in your area, contact your state DNC office or representative.
Harrisburg City Council woman Patty Kim, the first Asian American elected official in Pennsylvania, speaking with a local activist.
At the evening reception, an activist from Massachusetts talks with Rob McCord, candidate for PA State Treasurer.
Andy Toy (who ran for Philadelphia City Council in the last election), with Matt Chea, Anna Perng and Parag Mehta.