Democracy for New Mexico

Speech Today on Future of the Democratic Party

Dean on the Future of the Democratic Party

t r u t h o u t | Perspective 12/6/04:

Since Election Day, there has been a lot of predictable moaning and groaning about the future of the Democratic Party. Particularly predictable are the suggestions that we need to be more like Republicans in order to win. Democrats need to learn by our previous mistakes - we have tried being "Republican-lite" and it does not work. It is a mistake to run away from the things we believe and I think we can win in the so-called Republican states by being real Democrats.

We have to realize that there are no red states and no blue states, just American states. I believe the country is still more in sync with Democratic values than Republican values. Our task is to remind ourselves and the American people of the hallmark issues that distinguish Democrats from Republicans.

For example, Democrats historically tackle economic issues with bold, common-sense policies. Our last Democratic president created 22 million new jobs in this country. In the last four years, George W. Bush oversaw the loss of over 1.5 million. Democrats balance budgets, Republicans do not. Democrats consistently try to pass legislation that would provide some kind of affordable health care, Republicans do not. Democrats believe we ought to raise the minimum wage to help the average worker keep up with the cost of living, Republicans do not. Democrats believe corporations have too much power over our daily lives; Republicans do not - and to prove it, they have given away billions of dollars of our tax money to the biggest corporations in the world over the last four years.

On each of these issues, the majority of the American people are with Democrats not Republicans. Democrats have the right beliefs to win; we just execute a poor public relations plan. And, despite the enormous improvement in our ground game, the Republicans executed a more effective strategy. Republicans are far more successful because they work in a more unified, disciplined way with local supporters, especially with their base. They also avoid the Democrats' chronic pitfall of listening to pundits from inside the Beltway.

I truly believe that Democrats can return to national dominance. But, we must not be afraid to compete in every race, in every district and in every state. We can start rebuilding the Democratic Party from the bottom up. Through my organization, Democracy for America, we have already started that process. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates, at all levels of government – from school board to U.S. Senate and we contributed to almost 750 candidates around the country.

These candidates helped return Democrats to the majority in the Vermont, North Carolina, Oregon and Colorado State Houses; as well as the Senate in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. These candidates included more women than men, 25 percent were African American and there were members of nearly every other minority group, including American Indians. Nearly ten percent of the victors were from the gay and lesbian community, which included wins in places like Idaho and Missouri. And, 15 of the candidates we endorsed that won never ran for office before.

Democrats can win by simply being Democrats. Reinventing ourselves as Republicans is the death knell of our party. We need to get back to basics and start listening to people from outside Washington. Only then can we save the greatest nation on the face of the earth from the twin Republican perils of enormous deficits and constant misadventures abroad.

Note New Time

That's 10 AM Mountain Time.

Dean to Speak Wednesday on the Future of the Democratic Party

From Democracy for America's Blog for America:

Over the past month, as he always has, Governor Dean has been listening to what Democrats, independents, and regular people across the country have to say.

On Wednesday, December 8, at The George Washington University, Governor Dean will speak about a vision for the future of our party.

He'll be speaking at the Jack Morton Auditorium in the Media and Public Affairs building at 11 AM (9 AM MST).  UPDATE: The time of the speech has been changed to 12 Noon (10 AM MST) on the same day, this Wednesday.

We'll be streaming the speech live here on the blog and at democracyforamerica.com.

More details to come over the next 24 hours ...

Posted by Joe Rospars at 12:04 AM

Could this possibly be Dean's announcement that he's officially running for DNC Chair?

Report on 12/2 Meeting of Democratic Party of Bernalillo County

From Patricia Lee:

Dear Friends,

Several of us attended the Bernalillo County Democrats meeting this evening and it was well worth the time.  Here's a quick, abbreviated rundown of what we discussed:

With respect to Ward/Precinct elections, the dates will be posted in the newspapers, available by E-news and/or you can telephone headquarters.  To sign up for e-news send an e-mail to DPBC@att.net and include your name, address and precinct number.  Being a Precinct Captain or Co-Captain or a Ward Chair or Ward Co-Chair is the best way you and I can affect the 2006 elections.  Now is the time to start.

The November 2 election and Disqualified Ballots was a major point on tonight's agenda and we had two motions made and passed (please note: I'm paraphrasing the language):

1. A motion to identify and notify Democratic voters in Bernalillo County whose provisional, absentee or "in lieu" ballots were disqualified within 3 months was made (by me), seconded and passed with all but one dissenting vote.
2. A motion to either re-register or in some way correct the problem (where it is within our power) that caused those voters' ballots to be disqualified within 6 months.

We discussed just how these ballots were disqualified.  Ultimately it was the Secretary of State's decision based on sections in the election law that names must match exactly, i.e. if a voter's registration read Mary J. Smith and their identification read Mary Josephine Smith the ballot was disqualified.

County Clerk Mary Herrera was to have attended. Unfortunately, one of her brothers passed away this afternoon and she was unable to be there.  Thus, Jeff Carbajal, Bureau of Elections Coordinator, attended and gave us a really good rundown on the whole process of counting the provisionals, etc.  For those of us who were able to participate even on a small scale in the counting process, it was a good opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the work involved.

SAVE THE DATE:  The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 16 at 6:00 p.m. at UNM School of Law, 1117 Stanford NE.  PLEASE TRY TO ATTEND.

Best,

Patricia

P.S.  Usually about 25 people attend these meetings; about 45 were there tonight!  Let's keep up the momentum.

DPBC Meeting Tonight at UNM Law School

The monthly meeting of the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County, delayed from November 18, will be held at:

UNM Law School, Room 2401
1117 Stanford Drive NE
Thursday, December 2 (today) at 6 PM
Click for a Mapquest map.

Jeff Carabajal and Jaime Diaz of the Office of the County Clerk will discuss the election and its aftermath.  All Democrats are welcome.

DFNM is urging anyone who can make it to attend this meeting. We'd like to have a large turnout to emphasize how many people are interested in improving how our local Party works and strengthening the power of the grassroots. There will be no doubt be alot of talk about our failure to have a fair election with verifiable voting machines and consistent standards for judging provisional and other paper ballots. The recent request for a recount of the presidential election by the Green and Libertarian candidates should keep these issues front and center at this meeting and beyond.

Come on down to the UNM Law School tonight!

Only the Grassroots Can Save the Democratic Party

Joe Trippi's Wallstreet Journal column on the future of the Democratic Party is featured in its entirety on Common Dreams. To me this is one of the smartest analyses offered so far in the continuing discussion about the future of the Party and the progressive movement many within it want to shun. What's your take?

Some excerpts:

"The staggering defeat of the Democratic Party and its ever-accelerating death spiral weren't obvious from the election results. Two factors masked the extent of the party's trouble. Without the innovation of Internet-driven small-donor fund-raising and a corresponding surge in support from the youngest voters, John Kerry would have suffered a dramatically larger defeat. And the true magnitude of the Democrats' abject failure at the polls in 2004 would have been more clearly revealed.

"Mr. Kerry raised nearly half of his war chest over the Internet. He was so successful at this that he actually outspent the Bush campaign. But it was the outsider campaign of Howard Dean, reviled by most of the Democratic establishment, that pioneered the use of the Internet to raise millions in small contributions; Mr. Kerry was just the beneficiary as the party nominee. And it was the risk-taking Dean campaign that forced the risk-averse Kerry campaign to opt out of the public financing system. Had that decision not been forced on Mr. Kerry, he would have been badly outspent by George Bush; he would not have been competitive at all throughout the long summer of 2004.
[. . .]
"Since the Democratic Leadership Council, with its mantra of "moderate, moderate, moderate," took hold in D.C., the party has been in decline at just about every level of government. Forget the Kerry loss. Today the number of Democrats in the House is the lowest it's been since 1948. Democrats are on the brink of becoming a permanent minority party. Can the oldest democratic institution on earth wake from its stupor? Here are some steps to pull out of the nose-dive:

• Democrats can't keep ignoring their base. Running to the middle and then asking our base to make sure to vote isn't a plan. And to those who say talking to your base doesn't work -- Read the Rove 2004 playbook!

• Democrats must reconnect with the energy of our grass roots. One of the failures of the DLC was that its ideas never helped us build a grass-roots donor base. As a result, Democrats held a lead over Republicans in only one fundraising category before this election cycle: contributions over one million dollars. That shows how far the party had strayed from grassroots fundraising before the Dean campaign. We must build a base of at least seven million small donors by 2006. With the Internet it's possible. But it can't just be about the money, it also has to be about ideas.

• The one thing we learned in the Dean campaign was that the 30 people in Burlington weren't as smart as the 650,000 Americans who were part of our campaign. Instead of a DLC in D.C., Democrats should be holding Democratic Grassroots Councils in every county. Democratic National Committee members in each state, along with the state party, should host and moderate these meetings to develop ideas that come from the people, instead of the experts in D.C.

• A party that ignores the needs of state and local parties is doomed. We must begin to invest aggressively in states we continually write off in national elections. If we don't, the decline of the party in these states will continue until we're non-existent. Look at the south.

• In a world in which companies like Wal-Mart pay substandard wages with no real benefits, our party has got to find innovative ways to support organized labor's growth. A declining union membership is not good for the country, it's not good for working people, and it certainly isn't good for the Democratic Party.

• The Democratic Party has to be the vehicle that empowers the American people to change our failed political system. We all know the damn thing is broken. Democrats should lead the way by placing stricter money restrictions on candidates than the toothless Federal Election Commission does. A party funded by contributions from the people can do this. A corrupted and corroded party cannot. The Democratic Party shouldn't wait for campaign-finance reform -- it should be campaign-finance reform.

• Finally, what is the purpose the party strives for today? What are our goals for the nation? You couldn't tell from the election. Very few good ideas come from the middle, and they tend to be mediocre. Consultants have become adept at keeping candidates in that safe zone. But the time has come to develop bold ideas and challenge people to sacrifice for the common good. Experts will tell you that you can't ask the American people to sacrifice individually for the common good. Those experts are wrong -- it's just been so long since anyone has asked them."

Howard Dean on DFA, the DNC and Tomorrow's Meetup

Democracy for America (DFA) has released a video of Howard Dean in conjunction with our DFA-DFNM Meetups tomorrow. Dr. Dean speaks to us about the status of the Democratic Party and where it needs to move to win, his views on the possibility of running for DNC Chair and how we can help DFA grow and be successful in future. Click here to view a Windows or Quicktime video clip.

DFA has also annouced it's working with Toys for Tots to collect toys and distribute them to needy children in the community this holiday season. For more information about this program in New Mexico, click here.

In December, DFA is also encouraging Meetup groups to plan DFACorps activities for the holiday season. On December 11th and 12th, they are planning a National Weekend of Action where DFA groups around the country will participate in a variety of community service activities. We'll be discussing ideas for this soon. Any suggestions?

Tis the Season

Another in a continuing series of offerings. Yours for the taking. You can even make your own version using tools at the site.

The Politics of Victimization

Matthew Gross's website, Deride and Conquer, features an article on the state of the Democratic Party and what's really wrong with this picture. It's written by Mel Gilles, who has worked for many years as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse:

Watch Dan Rather apologize for not getting his facts straight, humiliated before the eyes of America, voluntarily undermining his credibility and career of over thirty years. Observe Donna Brazille squirm as she is ridiculed by Bay Buchanan, and pronounced irrelevant and nearly non-existent. Listen as Donna and Nancy Pelosi and Senator Charles Schumer take to the airwaves saying that they have to go back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes and try to be better, more likable, more appealing, have a stronger message, speak to morality. Watch them awkwardly quote the bible, trying to speak the new language of America. Surf the blogs, and read the comments of dismayed, discombobulated, confused individuals trying to figure out what they did wrong. Hear the cacophony of voices, crying out, “Why did they beat me?”

And then ask anyone who has ever worked in a domestic violence shelter if they have heard this before.

They will tell you, every single day.

The answer is quite simple. They beat us because they are abusers. We can call it hate. We can call it fear. We can say it is unfair. But we are looped into the cycle of violence, and we need to start calling the dominating side what they are: abusive. And we need to recognize that we are the victims of verbal, mental, and even, in the case of Iraq, physical violence.

As victims we can’t stop asking ourselves what we did wrong. We can’t seem to grasp that they will keep hitting us and beating us as long as we keep sticking around and asking ourselves what we are doing to deserve the beating.

Click here to keep reading.