Southern Democratic parties band together

[illegaloperation]

Democrats of the South, unite!

The Democratic parties of the 10 Southern states are banding together on a new collaborative project — just as national Democratic leaders debate the long-term future and viability of the party in the mostly red states.

Dubbed the Committee of the South, the effort is aimed at better helping the 10 state parties coordinate regionwide projects like data analytics, training and polling. It will be funded by the state parties and do some independent fundraising.

The goal: make the Democratic Party competitive in the South once again

“We have to work a little bit harder than the other regions,” Amanda Loveday, executive director the South Carolina Democratic Party, said in an interview. “We understand that.”

“Unfortunately, sometimes people write off the South,” Loveday added. “We want to make sure that we have an organization that we’re going to work hard to win.”

According to officials, the committee will have three main goals: better training local Democratic political operatives to work on campaigns in the region, building an extensive data and analytics operation to be deployed on state-level elections and working on regional messaging.

(...)

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/southern-democratic-parties-band-together-96042.html

[madrchsod]

1. a very good idea that should be used across the country!

[illegaloperation]

2. Well perhaps not across the country

We don't need such committee where our local parties are already successful.

Perhaps we should have another committee for states in the Great Plains (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, etc.)

Before 2010, we controlled all the statewide offices in Oklahoma and Kansas, so it's possible.

[freshwest]

3. Good news.

[Jim Lane]

4. Apparently Texas and Alabama are not on board.

Texas is sort of South, sort of Southwest, and sort of sui generis, so maybe the Texas Dems thought their situation was different. I wonder about Alabama, though, especially given that it's mentioned in the article (along with Texas and Georgia) as one of the states where changing demographics may make Democrats competitive in presidential elections.