As most Kossacks know, part of the problem currently plaguing the Democratic Party is organizational decay. As labor unions have declined, so has the traditional organizational muscle that has historically served as the nexus for Democratic field operations. We barely lost the last election - but how might things have turned out differently if state and local Democratic operations had been better organized?
Let me illustrate one frustrating example of this.
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In the November election, a school district neighboring me had two seats on its board that were up for grabs. There were seven candidates - six Republicans and one Democrat. Even though this is officially a non-partisan race, you would think that the Republican vote would be split six ways, giving the Democrat a good chance even in a heavily Republican area.
However, the Democrat received no organizational support from the local party structure because nobody knew about this race or this candidate. And the Democrat failed to win a seat. And so two Republicans sit on the board, in a position to force the teaching of creationism, rail against "the gay agenda," ban Harry Potter books, or any number of other deleterious actions that Republicans on school boards are known for.
This didn't have to happen. If the local party apparatus had been better organized and better prepared, they could have jumped in to help support this candidate with the human resources that any local candidate needs to win - and we could have put a Democrat on the school board in a Republican district.
But now that the 2nd Century Project has been launched, help is on the way.
The 2nd Century Project seeks to reverse the electoral losses that have been ailing the Democratic Party by providing mentoring to the smallest organizational unit within the Democratic Party - the local Democratic club. While we fully expect that the election of Howard Dean as the party chairman will mean a renewed emphasis on rebuilding the crumbling organizational structure of the state parties, the goal of our project is to fill the training gap that exists for strengthening local party organizations.
Think about it. As high as the state level, the people running the show are ostensibly professionals. That is what they do for a living. But the people running the party at the local level are part-timers who work all day and then give time to the party because they want to make a contribution. Their hard work and dedication cannot be questioned, but they all too often lack the training and organizational skills that professional political operatives are provided with. The result is that we are running a serious deficit of manpower and organization at the local level, and this is costing us our bench. Today's city councilman or school board member is tomorrow's state assemblyman or candidate for Congress. If we can stop Republicans before they become powerful, then we turn the tables on them.
We simply have to do better.
The 2nd Century Project exists to mentor local Democratic clubs and committees and build skills related to organization, communication, membership growth and retention. The Project also helps local party organizers learn how to research which offices will be coming up for election, how to obtain and effectively use voter rolls for field work, and recruit quality candidates for office.
The goal is to turn ineffective local structures into ruthless, snarling machines that get Democrats elected.
The Project is only three months old, but is quickly gaining momentum thanks to the tireless efforts of Executive Directors Joe Huser and Brian Robles. Joe worked in Howard Dean's Iowa field organization before becoming Field Director for Brett Wagner's campaign for California 24th district Congressional seat. Brian is a former speechwriter and legislative aide for Congressman Bob Filner, and was a key field operative for the Wagner campaign. Together, they helped built the first county-wide coordinated field effort and get-out-the-vote in Ventura County, CA.
Now, what the Project really needs is you. Yes, they could really use your contributions if this is something you would like to invest in. But more than that, they need you to get involved. Visit the website, sign up for the newsletter, and then tell all of your friends about this much-needed new organization that strives to restore the dominance of the Democratic Party from the bottom up.