For Those to the Left of the Democratic Mainstream:

[MineralMan]

If you want more influence in who runs as a Democrat, especially in your local area, you'll need to work with your local Democratic Party organization. That's a given. It's easy. There are not enough people involved to do all the work that needs to be done. You'll be more than welcome, if you're there to help, and are actually willing to help.

However, if you want to have more influence on the Democratic Party itself, you'll have to do one more thing: Deliver the votes.

That's the hard part. Since the Democratic Party operates on democratic principles, the majority, both within the party and in primary elections, decides who the candidates in the general elections will be. The majority of active party members in the organization chooses its own leadership in democratic elections, too.

Votes are what matter. Period. If you deliver votes, both within the organization and out in the field, your influence will increase. It's that simple. The Democratic Party is not a club. It is an organization designed to elect Democrats to public office. That is its goal. If you deliver votes, you will rise in any party organization. If you don't, your voice will decrease in its influence.

Deliver votes. Elect more Democrats. That's how you influence Democratic Party politics. That's the only way.

[Demsrule86]

1. Thanks MM...great post and you are so right.

[MineralMan]

3. Thank you for your reply.

We all need to focus on the goal. We have slipped in that single thing, and it's the most important thing of all.

I hope we will figure this out and move on to regain the political power we have lost. If we do not, things are going to continue to get worse in this nation, both on a local and national level.

I'm getting close to the end of my time as an activist. I'm tired. I'm old. I'm frustrated. I hope those who replace me will carry on the party's long history of working toward progress. It's working toward progress, since the end goal continues to move and will always continue to move.

[vlyons]

2. Thank-you!

Your message is clear and concise. The only thing I would add is - deliver the votes in an honest and ethical manner. Not like Republicans, who cheat and lie at very turn to get votes.

[MineralMan]

4. I would hope that everyone involved has honesty and ethical action in mind.

For me, that is a given. I know that not everyone has those qualities, but everyone I know in my own local party organization does.

[zipplewrath]

5. Or money

There was a lot of discussion at the national level about how the party had been paying too much attention to large funders, and not enough to voters. It was the "platform" of some of the people running for leadership. Money has influence regardless of how many votes it brings in. About the only way money loses influence, is if it can be demonstrated that it is driving votes away, which is the assertion of many of the people you are addressing.

[MineralMan]

6. Money is always needed, of course.

However, if anyone can't donate, giving time is even more valuable. Time, in fact, IS money.

[zipplewrath]

7. The issue is which moves the party?

I've volunteered more than once, but believe me, no one once asked me for any input. On the other hand, at fund raisers, there is ALOT of discussion for the people that can buy their way in.

[MineralMan]

11. It's not just a matter of volunteering. That's great, but

it's not really participation. If you want to be heard, you'll find plenty of opportunities at precinct and district meetings, along with becoming a convention delegate at any level. It's even easy to become part of party leadership, if that's what you'd like to do. Every year, people drop out of leadership positions and few are interested in replacing them. It all takes time and dedication, but if you want your voice to be heard and you want to make a real difference, that's how you do it. Everyone has to start at the beginning, but Democratic Party organizations are fluid, and becoming part of leadership is not all that difficult to do. Once you're on a committee or board, you'll have a chance to show that you're willing to work on things, and that's how you get known and advance.

Nothing happens instantly. The Party has a lot of history, which all happened over time. If you want to be part of that history, you've got to be willing to give some time and work to the process.

As I said, at my age, I'm ready to withdraw from most party activities, since I no longer have as much energy to contribute. Who will take my place? Well, that's up to the members who show up. They elect all of the leaders from the bottom up.

[zipplewrath]

18. It's a matter of money

A local pol that I know has chosen not to move forward out of local politics. She's been approached several times, but she knows, and has been told, that success only comes from working with the money. The money isn't all "bad", much of the civil rights movement happened because of monied people from the northeast funding much of the work. But those are the people that "move" the party. The DLC, for better or for worse, moved into power because of their ability to access money. "Bundlers" are the people that move the party. Money moves politics. The primary conflict between Dean and Rahm was over how money was spent. The only influence that votes have over money is when the money moves votes AWAY from a candidate. I suspect you saw a very small amount of that in the last election where Hillary got the reputation, on both sides of the aisle, as being too close to the money.

You want to influence the direction of the party? Influence the money.

[Phoenix61]

8. All excellent points

I think part of the issue is when the local Dem party organization is pretty much non-existant or, where I'm at, not very welcoming.

[StubbornThings]

9. Really?

No way. I would have never thought of that.

[The Big Ragu]

10. Money talks, bullshit walks

Yes, envelope licking and knocking on doors helps a lot.

But you aren't getting anywhere (in many cases, not all) unless you are approved by your local and state "moneyfolk." It's true for both parties. I've worked with campaigns that were high in idealism and low in party "mover and shaker" support. They usually lose.

The tone of your post is real close to being patronizing without taking into consideration the actual REALITY of politics in the US.

[MineralMan]

12. My involvement in the party has always been very local, even though

I have, from time to time been a delegate to state conventions. I have never found that it was difficult to play a role and become part of party leadership. I have no money, but I have time, and that has significant value within the organization. I also have abilities and experience I can contribute.

The reality is that the Democratic party is a ground-up operation. It all starts at the precinct level. Everyone comes from there, in the end. You don't have to believe me, I suppose, but I've been doing this for over 50 years.

[zipplewrath]

19. And your proof?

There's an old expression, don't confuse someone who is busy, with someone who is getting something done. What did you actually "move" in all of your years of working? Or did you merely watch as the process proceeded?

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. All true, but that can be countered

Just like at the national level, the critical ingredient for preserving the status quo turns out not to be money, but apathy. It takes a lot of energy to outweigh the influence of money, but if just 5% of the population got deeply involved in politics we could blow big money interests out of the water.

I am Chairperson of our local Democratic committee. I kind of have that role by default because there are so few warm bodies willing to pick up that load. I'm mostly retired and honestly don't have as much fire about local issues as a Chairperson should have - but I can already see that if I was willing to put 5 years effort into increasing my influence I could become at least a minor player at the local/regional level. With a ten year plan I could penetrate into core functions.

It is true that the default establishment of the Democratic Party at most any level (like most any organization) wants to harvest your sweat and tears for the cause during crunch times without having to factor in your opinions all of that seriously in general. But if you stick around, contribute, and expect something in return that starts to change. If for no other reason than the fact that, in my experience anyway, the Democratic Party is slowly aging out. There is a desperate need for new blood to do all kinds of heavy lifting, and those folks, especially younger ones, willing to take on major responsibilities immediately enter the fast lane for internal advancement.

It's doable folks, it just takes a consistent commitment of time and energy.

[The Big Ragu]

20. I agree

It's not that it's a young person's game, but the freshness and idealism of youth, plus the energy level could revitalize lots of things.

[JudyM]

22. Seems like an aging out phenomenon in my area, too, in terms of the most active folks.

Here's hoping Bernie and Perez and Schumer's systematic outreach approach delivers!

[hunter]

17. Even so, I'd pick the Democrat with money backing over the Republican.

I'm a fringe leftist and radical environmentalist (I consider Bernie Sanders an Independent Centrist, not a leftist in any way) but my politics are practical.

I don't respect the Ralph Naders and Jill Steins of politics. They don't speak for me.

It sucks, but the "center" of U.S.A. politics leans right. 40% of our population are fascist, or racist, anti-intellectual, incurious, fundamentalist, or a combination of all these things. Had the U.S.A. been within geographic reach of the Nazi war machine we might have folded faster the France did. Amazon's The Man in the High Castle isn't a far-fetched alternate reality.

The first president I campaigned for was Jimmy Carter. The first horrible president I suffered was Ronald Reagan, and it's personal. Like Reagan, Trump is a fucking ignorant tool.

Shit gets real. If you didn't vote for Clinton over Trump then you're an idiot. Maybe it's time to re-examine your core beliefs. Do you want a better world, or is it more important to for you to be one of the "cool" kids.

I've not much hope of getting through to the most belligerently ignorant Trump voters, but I shouldn't have too. That crowd is a minority.

But maybe the third party voters, and the people who didn't vote because they just couldn't vote for Clinton, for whatever reason, maybe those people have learned something by this experience.

Politics is a messy business.

I know I'll fucking never get my utopia (die automobile industry, die! die coal industry, die!) but I know the kind of Federal government I DO NOT WANT, and it's the one we've got now. I'm fortunate to be in California, so I'm somewhat insulated from the worst of it, but we've got our Republicans and Republican regions here too (my parents used to live in such a place), so I'm not unfamiliar with that authoritarian boot-licking mindset. It's not going away, so the rest of us have to push back in a coordinated way because, God Damn, those trained from childhood to follow the authoritarian leader of the day will fall in line no matter how sickeningly awful their "leaders" are.

[The Big Ragu]

21. I still have faith in the American people

I know that we are largely a fair, compassionate bunch. The outliers, the Trump followers, the racists and fascists will die off and eventually things might settle.

But hammering a consistent message and taking the "celebrity" focus out of politics and making a "calling" again (if that makes sense) will straighten things out. But maybe not in our lifetimes.

[betsuni]

13. K&R

[alarimer]

14. True. I am heartened by the grassroots efforts we are seeing lately.

All those wins in Illinois in a variety of local races. The Thompson showing, although it wasn't a win, was a hell of a lot closer than most people thought it would be. I think the party powers need to just get out of the way sometimes, instead of dictating who gets to run.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. Part of the problem is, beltway conventional wisdom doesn't know where "the mainstream" really is.

Most Americans want Marijuana legalized, and we have overpaid East Coast consultants telling candidates they need to court "megachurch moms".