Over the last year or more, I’ve written repeatedly about the realities of the Democratic party. Pros and Cons, good and bad. I’ve highlighted in the end, the party is about who has a position to say something, and with several diaries today going back on the attack regarding the Democratic brand, I thought I’d speak up for a second.
First, because I get called out on this in diaries when I don’t mention it regarding party business, as stated in my bio, I serve on the Democratic National Committee as a representative from Kansas. I also now serve as a member of the executive committee of our state party. So, if you decide this means you shouldn’t read any further, feel free to skip.
I often delay that because right now there are a lot of VERY negative assumptions about who the DNC is and what they do. So, let’s start with the most important fact I’m going to give you in this diary: nearly 35% of all members of the DNC coming into the new term are, in fact, NEW. That is to say, they have been elected for the first time since just prior to the convention or post, and reflect a major change in the party. In several states, new members have come from different organizations with different perspectives, including, for Bernie supporters, entire slates which are composed entirely of Bernie campaigners. If you don’t know your national committee person, take a second to find out.
With that out of the way, let’s get going.
The Democratic Party needs all voters.
Over the last few weeks, especially today, I’ve seen quite a few diaries regarding the Bernie/Hillary Sux/Rox. Fine. First, we need to agree that this contest will not happen again. There will be no more races between these two candidates. So, the way we move forward is to learn some things from both campaigns and get better. This is how it always goes. In wins and losses, you always have to improve. Right now, there is a lot of division. I get that. Losses hurt. If you believe you can keep the fury of a loss up for four years and hold harm against someone who voted for X or Y two years from now, then good for you. I occasionally get things forwarded to me from sites and reddit about how “this is it, I quit, I have no interest in the party, etc etc. etc.”
This is fine. If that is your position, there are plenty of other things you can do, work local non-partisan races, get involved in something else, heck, you can even just find a hobby. Of course, you can also try to change the party into what you want. There are numerous people who supported Hillary or Bernie in the primaries who are now working diligently to address many of the issues that get brought up repeatedly here and elsewhere. With February as the first full meeting, most members haven’t had a chance to address any issue head on — yet. So, before you decide to start painting a broad brush and say things like “the party is terrible”, realize, the party is whoever gets elected. That’s how the system works. You can work to change the party itself, but it is much easier to do so if you are willing to put some effort in to do so. It may take you a bit, but I’m doing everything I can to give you the tools to help make the party more like what you believe it should be.
A Nitpick: “The party stubbornly resisted change or cleaning itself up. “
DallasDoc offers this opinion in his diary and it is one I hear frequently. It’s good to say things such as these, it helps fill us with the idea we were right, we were the canary in the coal mine, and damnit, no one listened.
Well, there is a problem to this, also. The party is, in fact, us. Wall street? Business donors? Etc. yes, they exist, but the party infrastructure? The rules work the way we make them work with the votes we have. If we want to change it, our voices can make huge difference — ask Rev. William Barber III in North Carolina.
A few years ago, I saw a few state parties I knew were headed for disaster. I went there, I spoke to them, I put time in and we tried to change them. In some cases we succeeded. In others we didn't. But, through that effort we’ve seen a change in outlook in at least those three. Other Daily Kos members, like DocDawg and others have put serious effort into changing and helping the outcome in North Carolina, or Washington State.
The thing is, the individuals inside the party can be stubborn, but we have a chance to change that, which is really just a matter of time and effort. And, just as a note: if you think starting a third party is easier, then your ambitions are pretty low, because the amount of work you would need to get that off of the ground dwarfs any effort you would put into making the party apparatus less stubborn.
Know Your Friends.
Some of the ideas presented today here and elsewhere are good; like listening more (which I believe I advocated some time ago), or advocating changes in structure, which also seems familiar. In fact, some had asked for an apology about services. I seem to recall doing exactly that.
The problem, however, isn't always a matter of getting what you want, it is that even if you get it, it is never quite enough. We have to realize there are a lot of voters who truly, with all their heart, supported Bernie Sanders. We also have to understand there are a lot of voters who with their whole heart were Hillary supporters.
Great for both. There are also a larger number who love President Obama. We have to be careful with regards to how we treat each other. There is room for us to talk, grow, get better, and try to help each other. No one ever gets everything they want, that just doesn’t happen, but we can work to do more to make sure everyone feels included in every step along the way.
There are a lot of people working on it.
I’d ask, before we fly off with “The whole party is terrible, I’m out” we step back and say: is the party different today than it was six months ago? That is demonstrably true. Is the party working on changing some of the items we are after? Yes, whether it is a new chair or the process of the Unity commission. Will the party handle outreach differently? I hope so.
We have a new incoming DNC chairman. We will have a new DNC body. The “If you ever want to win again”, I offer a brief reminder: while we didn’t win the big races on November 8, Democratic candidates did pull successes in places like Kansas, Nevada, North Carolina, New Hampshire — where parties went through the divide and tried to change.
If you’re out, you’re out.
If you’re that mad and you decide Keith Ellison is a fool, Bernie Sanders is a fool for supporting him to head the DNC, people like myself and others are fools for working on behalf of electing Democratic party members, and you want to send me email about it, I promise I’ll read it, though I may not respond.
If, on the other hand, you want to see what happens, give people who just got elected or are in the middle of an election a chance to get their legs under them, then I welcome you to join that conversation.
We need supporters, whether they supported Bernie, Hillary, Martin O’Malley or anyone else.
The Democratic party is US. Good and Bad. We can work together every day to make it better.