Taos Dems Angry About Party Weaknesses

It's clear that core Democrats from many parts of New Mexico and around the nation are displeased with their Party. On any given day there's certainly no shortage of articles and commentaries expressing anger and dismay over the Party's reluctance to take strong stands and work effectively with the grassroots. Don't even mention transparency and responsiveness.

I've covered similar problems that SCC members and rank and file Dems are having with our State Party in a number of posts (see below). Murky expenditures, mysterious bookkeeping, "lost" contracts, weak planning and budgeting, a truncated platform process and a general lack of responsiveness by some officers and staff have been ongoing topics of conversation and activism here in Albuquerque and other parts of the state.

Taos County Dems sounded similar themes at their preprimary convention last Saturday, with delegates offering several impassioned statements about "centrist" Democrats. They also criticized remarks made by State Party Chair John Wertheim that expressed dismay about the Party platform and claimed Party rules are mere "guidelines."

An article in the Taos News covered the convention in detail. Excerpt:

Taos County Democrats met Saturday at Kachina Lodge to choose delegates to their statewide convention. The Democrats who attended also adopted a resolution in support of returning the party to its traditional values.

“This is unprecedented,” said County Democratic Party Chairman Billy Knight, after party members adopted the resolution in the hope that it will be included in their party’s statewide position statement.

The resolution came up for consideration after one of its supporters, Andres “Andy” Vargas, told the group that “many Democrats are worried about the position national Democrats have taken to become more centrist.”

“It’s made the party more right-wing,” Vargas said. We have lost two elections and the (U.S.) Supreme Court … now we have a complete takeover of the supreme court and the government by the right wing.”

Vargas gave two reasons why Taos County Democrats should support the resolution that was still being drafted. The first involved an appearance by John Edwards in Santa Fe to speak to members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union.

Edwards was later tapped by Rep. John Kerry to be his running mate in the 2004 presidential election.

“John Edwards was thrust into the limelight when he was campaigning in Santa Fe and gave a speech to AFSCE members about the two Americas that exist in this country. It put him into the forefront and was the reason Kerry chose him for his running mate,” Vargas said. “The two Americas speech was never mentioned again during the campaign.”

The issue of two Americas — one for the rich, the other for poor people — did not surface again until after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and the federal government’s response to it laid the two Americas foundation for numerous politicians to build their comments upon.

Knight was angry about a statement made by State Democratic Chairman John Wertheim. Knight told county convention delegates that Wertheim stated recently that he didn’t think the Democratic Party’s rules were a set of guidelines to follow in governing the party.

Wertheim also said that the Democrats’ platform would give Republicans fodder to use in criticizing the opposition party, suggesting the party platform not be used for that reason.

Marguerite Denevan, a delegate from Arroyo Hondo, had a comment of her own about Wertheim.

“We need to let them know what we think of them,” Denevan said.

Delegate Rena Rosequist then suggested the county party draft a letter to Wertheim “telling him that we abhor his gutlessness.” regarding the statement made to Steven Fettig of Los Alamos.

“If you draft it, I’ll take it,” Knight said. “This is what democracy is about. It’s the only way to take the country back from the tyrants we have in office. I’m sick of it and the solution needs to build from the bottom up. It’s been coming from the top down.”

DPNM Chair John Wertheim was quoted in the Albuquerque Tribune back in late October about Party rules being mere guidelines:

Wertheim said the that rules are more like guidelines.

"Nobody in my tenure has thought those were requirements," he said.

I expect that the push for improved Party transparency, planning, fiscal responsibilty, accountability, leadership and communication will continue and grow. Increasingly, Dems are getting vocal about the poor performance of Party leaders and officials, as well as their depressingly gutless positions on many of the issues that matter to traditional Dems.

All of us are pressuring the Party to become more efficient and effective, and to be more inclusive and grassroots-oriented. We're attempting to hold candidates and officeholders accountable to the resolutions and platforms passed by Party governing bodies. We're running for and winning positions within the Party infrastructure. And we're becoming involved with the Party's standing committees. Rest assured, we won't be quitting anytime soon. You never know, we might just get a copy of the Buckman contract after all, if it exists. Miracles happen.

Memory Lane
A list of some previous posts on DFNM about the NM Democratic Party:

Effort to Get Living Wage Resolution to the SCC, 4/22/05
One Dem's View of the SCC Meeting in Socorro on Saturday, 4/25/05
My Take on the SCC Meeting, 4/26/05
SOUND OFF: Remember the Party of the People?, 5/10/05
Governor's Office Responds, 5/18/05
More Coverage of our Party Discussion, 5/26/05
Calling all REFORM Democrats, 9/19/05
We Need More Dems Like This, 9/27/05
What Kind of Party Are We Having?, 10/25/05
Half-Truths, Non-Truths and the Facts, 11/1/05
The Continuing Saga of State Party Politics, 11/2/05
More, 11/3/05
Sound Off: A Party Out of Order, 11/22/05
Dean, the DNC and DPNM Activism, 12/6/05
Dem Loyalists Question State Party's Plea for Donations, 2/12/06
Show Me the Money, 2/16/06