I am merely one of thousands of volunteers for Battleground Texas. This is a summary of my tenure with the organization in S.W. Houston.
There are no words to describe the stunning loses Democrats suffered in Texas in November. Of those of us who volunteered for various groups, including Battleground Texas, our county's Democratic Parties and the Texas Organizing Project, none of us predicted such a devastating outcome. Sure, most of us knew our side would likely lose in 2014. That said, we did believe some of our down ballot local candidates would win
The possibility to inch the needle away from red and toward purple served as the underlying hope that drove all of us. We knew from the beginning that this would be a very tough slog as well as a a monumental work in progress.
The big papers in Texas endorsed the top of the ticket Democrats; Governor, Lt. Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General. The Houston Chronicle, in particular, urged voters not to vote straight party. Its editorial board wrote a scathing indictment of the city's own candidate for Lt. Governor, Dan Patrick. The paper's endorsements of Democrats and our weekly volunteer activities (phone banking and canvassing) did much to engender hope. False hope, as it turned out
Because in the end, despite all of the voters we registered and all of those whom we called and knocked on their door, two thirds of us failed to vote. Most of those who did vote voted straight party. We failed to get out the vote.
Like a plane crash or an industrial accident, many things small and large had to go wrong to produce the dismal results on Nov. 4. The Davis campaign’s effort was bungled from the get-go, and it was certainly a bad year for Democrats nationally. But neither of these fully explain the scale of 2014’s loss. The most serious failing of the Democratic coalition this year was its inability to mobilize and turn out voters, a responsibility that fell largely to Battleground.
There are many reasons why we failed but at this point I would like to discuss my work as a neighborhood team leader for Battleground TX as well as a volunteer for the Harris County (Houston) Democratic Party. I would also like to share my thoughts as to how I plan to proceed in the future. For as long as I live here, giving up is not an option.
When Battleground Texas showed up in Houston in February 2013 it packed a big union hall located next door to the Harris County Democratic Party headquarters. Jenn Brown, the Executive Director, excited the audiences while she presented her charts, graphs and data. BGTX impressed most of us because we knew OFA, (Organizing for America, the group that worked to elect President Obama twice), had a winning strategy. Some of the same people who successfully drove OFA would be driving BGTX. Finally, hope is alive for Texas Democrats, we thought.
After the presentation we broke up into small groups. My group discussed potential outreach activities. How to reach voters.
Organizers passed out volunteer forms and most of us signed up. Which should have meant the Houston area would have an army of volunteers.
In January I had coffee with a field organizer for S.W Houston. The recent college grad from Long Island, NY, helped me organize a canvassing event at my home. I also organized canvassing events at a private university. We made phone calls every Wednesday afternoon from a residential college's dining hall. As the year progressed we held more frequent phone banking events. Another nearby neighborhood group made calls on Tuesday nights from a neighborhood restaurant. My group made calls on Wednesday nights at another restaurant in my neighborhood. We knocked on doors on weekends, all over Houston. BGTX hired more organizers and made the Houston area turfs smaller.
But in the end, we didn't have enough volunteers, at least in the Houston area, to do the job that needed to be done. I could not find enough steady volunteers to build a team so I joined my resources with another neighborhood team leader.
Meanwhile I also serve as a volunteer for the Harris County Democratic Party. I could therefore see organizational efforts from two sides. From my perspective I plan on hitching my 2015-2016 pony to my county's party's wagon. Why? Longevity, unrelenting persistence, a deep knowledge of the county and relationships that rely on mutual trust and respect. Most if not all of the salaried staff were born and raised in Houston. That said, I will still serve as a volunteer for Battleground Texas in the future. But any donations that I make will be going to my Party. In Texas. More about that below the fold.
The Good.
Personally, serving as a volunteer for BGTX was extremely rewarding. I met people I would have likely never met. Kind, wonderful and generous people. I also met women I previously had known from our children's elementary, middle and high school years. Most of us had served on school PTO boards or ran school fund raising events in the past. Or we had volunteered together at Little League concession stands and served as soccer team moms. We had a fine group of organizers, many talented recent college grads, who took themselves out of the job market search or graduate school application process. But we were frustrated by the revolving door of organizers. We would no sooner learn to work well with one when (s)he would be transferred to another turf.
Battleground taught us how to organize people we did not know. Our group of neighborhood team leaders and volunteers exchanged email addresses and phone numbers because we knew once the election was over, the organizers would leave and we would have to organize on our own until spring 2015. Most of us had access to Vote Builder, a data base of Democratic primary voters. We could print call and canvassing lists. All of us are political organizing novices but we learned fast and quickly knew what had to be done. I am very grateful to BGTX for jump starting our neighborhood teams.
The Bad.
Please follow me below the orange croissant.
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