This is the second diary in the People Power series - you'll find the first diary here.
Scrutinizing, analyzing and debating future scenarios are an essential part of the process of determining where the Democratic Party went wrong in 2014 and where it is today. But it doesn't end there. The objective now is how we get it to where we want it to be so that there really are more and better Democrats elected. We have been political analysts, now we need to take action and be political strategists.
The People Power Project Phase One looks at how we can effect change at the grassroots level. This is essential. Sound and long-lasting constructs of success depend upon strengthening the foundations of any great endeavor - and this is a great endeavor. We need to have active Democratic branches in every one of the 192,000 precincts across the USA. Phase One is the 192000 precinct plan.
I'm not the first to recognize this nor will I be the last. What I seek to do in Phase One is to draw together various ideas into one multi-faceted action plan that embraces as many people as possible at the local level. After all, here is where the voters reside and, come election time, we need them on our side most of all.
1. The Role of the Local Branch
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Attend your local branch
If there is a local Democratic Party branch in your area, arrange to attend the next meeting. Your objective at this initial meeting is to figuratively take the temperature of the branch – is their agenda progressive and/or are they open to progressive ideas? If the answer is a resounding no, then you have two choices: bring along enough family members and friends to assist in taking over the branch or start your own branch.
Establish a local branch
If there is no active branch in your area, there needs to be one! Alternatively, if there is a branch but, for any number of reasons, you really can't see yourself joining them, this is also the solution for you. In so many ways (not the least of them being stress) starting from a clean slate is much easier than dealing with the old guard entrenched at the current branch (if that happens to be the case).
Get together with like-minded people. They may be family members, friends, friends of friends, work colleagues, people you met when canvassing for GOTV. Begin with a small core group and invite them to a relaxed setting – your home perhaps or a local bar or restaurant. Lay out for them what you want to achieve and brainstorm ideas. The more they participate, the more invested they'll become in the endeavor.
Membership
A vibrant group obviously needs a healthy membership. There must be multiple ways of conducting membership drives. Here are some to get you started.
Contact local members of Daily Kos Connect! Unite! Act! teams. Advertise in the local paper, put up notices in the local library, churches, shops, the lunch rooms at work places, wherever you are allowed to put up a public notice. Conduct a letterbox drop. For those involved in GOTV and BGTX, you have the added advantage of not only knowing which neighborhoods to canvas but which houses to target.
To keep down the expense of producing multiple notices, either share the printing with those in your core group or contact your nearest Democratic member who has office facilities. It's been my experience that they are only too happy to help you in your endeavor by giving you free use of those facilities, including photocopiers and those nifty little devises that neatly fold paper for you. In the process, you will be establishing an important contact and nurturing a reciprocal relationship.
Aim to get as representative a cross section of the population as you can. You want minority groups there. You want Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, singles, parents, bosses, workers and the unemployed. If you have a college or senior high school in your area, ask for willing volunteers from both the teaching staff and student body to attend (this will dovetail into another project further on).
Meetings
You may want to hold something in the order of a public meeting as a starting point. This way you will be able to see how many are interested and can organize a venue for meeting appropriate to the expected number (ask them to sign up and leave contact numbers if they plan to be a part of establishing the new branch).
If you're not familiar with meeting procedure, talk to those who are and invest in a handbook.
Objectives
Establish a progressive platform that reflects local concerns. Take it to the county convention then to the state convention.
From a comment by Angie in WA State:
We attend 2016 County and State Conventions [as delegates] and make a motion to add Planks (single issues) to our County Platform then likewise at the State Convention.
Get it onto the State Platform and get it sent to the national Convention, where you get it voted onto the National Platform.
By "we" I mean, quite literally, thousands (maybe tens of thousands) of us, in Counties across America.
That's how we get progressive policies on the Democratic agenda. We introduce them at the local level. Every diarist and commenter at Daily Kos has this in common: the readiness and willingness to voice their ideas. Good – either show up at your local branch or establish a new branch and give your voice a new audience. Then pass progressive motions in caucus votes.
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2. EPIC – Every Position, Impressive Candidates
The champion of this crusade is undoubtedly Gooserock. At every opportunity, in every relevant diary, he has posted a comment promoting what he calls Get Out the Candidate. This is an excerpt from one of his recent comments:
The one thing we can change is to shift focus away from the national party and shift our perception of the masses of low participation citizens from purely potential voters or policy beneficiaries, to potential leaders and makers of policy.
If we talk to 100 potential voters, surely 1 or 2 of them are, or know people, who would do a decent job at town or county government. We could start tomorrow across the country combing our precincts and districts for candidates that look more like the voters we're trying to turn out, live more like them, talk more like them.
It's got to help with the turnout problem, and poor, young, or minority voters who turn out for a neighbor or relative downticket are there in the booth to check off the state and national Dems as well.
Everyone complains about government. Tell them: "Instead of complaining about government, we can
be the government!" YOU can be the government! If you're not ready to be a candidate yourself, train yourself to look for good progressive prospects among those in your local community and engage them in the idea. The best candidate may not have thought about it yet.
Ask all your members for names; canvas the area (as you did for members) to enlist potentials then choose the best from the total list to stand for local positions. As a branch, undertake fundraising (you will find quite a few natural organizers among your members who will revel in this project) to pay filing fees on behalf of your candidates and kick start their campaigns with help from Bold Blue Media which provides a professional service for small campaigns on a budget and was founded by our own mdmslle.
Be your candidates' advisers, organizers and managers. Stand by them, promote them, and seek outside assistance from those who have held or are holding office. The exhilaration of personally guiding a candidacy to successful election is unmatched – unless you also happen to be the elected candidate!
If you are a candidate, make sure you get two or more high school/college students on board in your campaign. Talk to your local school/college and offer it to students as a way of gaining real life training (they might want to run for office themselves someday) that will be a substantial entry on their résumé for college or post-college employment. In return, you get a direct connection to the youth vote.
Students, retirees and the currently unemployed are the most neglected resources in the country. Tap into them. The gift goes both ways.
3. The Schools Project
Another group we need to engage is that of young voters. As a former high school teacher, I can tell you that students really enjoy hands-on experiences. For those with a local senior high school or college within easy reach, this project is for you. It comprises forming a school group of Progressive Democrats, researching the political process of getting someone elected, choosing a candidate (it may be one of them or someone from your branch), becoming their candidate's campaign committee and getting them elected. (If they are selecting one of their own as a candidate, then you may want to negotiate which local position they are targeting so that there is no overlap with your own slate of candidates in your branch.)
Include all students who will be of voting age come 2016. If there is already a Young Democrats' group, talk to them and invite them to one of your branch meetings to discuss the project. If not, then seek assistance and permission from staff/admin to put up posters announcing a meeting of all those who are interested. If you have, or know anyone who has, a contact in the school, enlist their assistance.
Outline the project for them and provide them with advice on how to set it up. Suggest they invite guest speakers and get parents and others involved. Enlist the assistance of branch members, teachers and parents to supervise them until you and they are confident that they are ready to go it alone. Make sure they have a list of contacts they can call for assistance if needed and invite them to report their progress monthly (or within a time frame that suits everyone) to the local branch. You'll be surprised at how fast they learn to fundraise and promote!
Not only does this enterprise get youthful voters involved in the political process, it trains them to be constructive activists for the future and puts political office within their mental reach rather than worlds away.
4. Establish a Kos Group
Being able to readily talk with others who are involved in similar endeavors is important for maintaining morale and momentum. Diaries about what works and what doesn't work, solving problems that arise or getting around an obstruction of some kind will help everyone involved in Phase One action.
Such a group will also support our future candidates and, I hope, encourage others to follow in their footsteps. I know of one Kossack, our Angie in WA State, who has already thrown her hat into the ring and two others who are considering it. Let's establish a specific forum to support them and to encourage even more to join their ranks.
The group would also draw together those who have experience in establishing or revitalizing a precinct branch, those who have or are working with students, those who have campaigned and those who have run for office. There's an absolute wealth of resources here at Daily Kos and this is one more way of tapping into it.
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So this, in essence, is Phase One. To everyone: be passionate and be active. For those involved in GOTV and BGTX, take all that awesome energy and experience and become grassroots pioneers for a progressive America. I leave the final word to Howard Dean:
If you are one of the millions who wish for the government to be taken from the hands of the powerful few and restored to the people; if you are one of the millions who wish for a future built upon justice, fairness, progress, and community; if you are one of the millions ready to declare, “America is better than this” – then help build the greatest grassroots campaign of the modern era.
Next diary:
The People Power Project Phase Two: Influencing Change Nationwide
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