I'm in need of some advice from my fellow Kossacks. I'm a committee member of a regional Democratic committee and I've uncovered rock-solid evidence of party disloyalty from another committee member. Basically, this committee member, who is also an elected official, was making donations to the campaign another local politician—a very powerful member of the local GOP. And all this happened while the committee was working hard to unseat this GOP politician from office.
I've presented the evidence to the local Democratic Committee, and I'm asking for a vote to remove this committee member. But some members of the committee are trying to stop me, saying that it will hurt the party.
My view is that the damage has done and not by me. Read below for my story, scribble some advice for me if you have it, and vote in my poll.
Last month, I was going through my state's Elections Commission Web site and found that a local politician, a prominent Democrat and a member of the regional Democratic Committee had given a substantial donation to the campaign fund of a GOP politician only a few short weeks AFTER the GOP politician won reelection over his Democratic rival.
I don't feel I can stand by knowing that this "Democratic Leader" supported the Republican politician over a fellow Democrat and was sneaky enough to post date his check until just after the election (he probably knew some people, like me, were looking at campaign finance irregularities).
Here's my beef: Local Democratic Committees are political clubs organized solely for promoting Democratic values and Democratic candidates on the local level; those that actively promote Republican candidates should not be afforded membership.
And I don’t believe for a minute that this committee member's behavior was an honest mistake or a lapse of judgment. I had warned him some weeks before the election that he had the appearance of supporting the GOP candidate as he was displaying a check the size of a small billboard written by the GOP incumbent for structural improvements to the municipality. The Republican's name was written in foot tall letters and all passers by (there's a lot of street traffic in front of the municipal building) would see this.
I approached the Democratic Committee member/politician and told them that this was electioneering using government resources and facilities. I further explained to him that this money wasn't from the Republican politician at all, it was from the taxpayers. The committee member promised that the check would be taken down immediately. It wasn't. Some ten days later, a friend complained to another municipal official and the check was finally taken down.
A few months later and just days after the election, the Democratic Committee member wrote a nice-sized check of his own to the Republican incumbent. The Democrat, who was poorly funded, had lost but made it a close race. Only this past month, did I discover that he wrote this check to the Republican during this hard-fought race.
He's now calling his support "bipartisan," I'm calling it "disloyalty." I view him as a Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman on a local level. He thinks he's being pragmatic.
I want him removed from the committee. Many members of the Democratic committee want to look the other way. They want me to drop this business. They say I'm tilting at windmills; I say I'm slaying a dragon. They say I'm hurting the local party; I say that I'm saving the integrity of the local party.
I think I have good reasons for doing this:
* Going forward, how can we trust this committee member to select our local Democratic slate knowing that he has supported local Republican candidates and hasn't given a red cent our local Democratic candidates in at least eight years? Would he select the best candidate to face a Republican opponent, or the weakest one?
* I also believe that Democratic voters in my area look to members of the committee for guidance when voting. I think it severely hurts a Democratic candidate's chances when a local committee member supports the Republican. People can easily surmise that if the candidate isn't good enough for a Democratic committee member, he or she may not be worthy of a vote. Moreover, support of an opposing party candidate compromises the entire slate and the effort that other committee members put forward to get Democrats elected. If voters believe that the local party leaders aren’t cohesive in their support of their Democratic slate, I think they’ll be much less likely to support our entire slate of candidates in the voting booth.
* I believe the strongest Democratic Committees are the ones that are the most cohesive. A strong, united front in supporting Democratic values and our roster of candidates and officials is essential to our continued success.
* There will always be ebbs and flows in the public’s perception of the Democratic Party. Right now, we’re enjoying a tide of voters that has come our way, mostly as a result of current national sentiment. But, as a national party, we may see our fortunes change again. As a local Democratic organization, we’re best prepared for these hard times by having in place a unified and organized committee. This is no time to get soft and contented. This is the best time for us to close ranks and work on our local party infrastructure.
Anyway, there is some precedence to this, many Democratic Committees remove members for disloyalty. Ours did some five years ago. But right now, I'm being told to "back off," by many in my local party. I have no intention of doing so, I intend on bringing this committee member's removal to a vote in by our Committee.
I think I made this rather complex story short and clear. I'd really appreciate any feedback you can give me before I leap forward and create some controversy in our local party.