How "Pennsylvania" is hurting my county party

I've been lurking on dKos now for a few years, but I finally registered an account a few weeks ago.  I signed up because I'm a Democrat in South Carolina, and I thought I might have a few things to say about the race for our party's nomination.

I'm writing my first diary to explain the direct effect on my county party of dragging this nomination fight out for the next few weeks.  Hillary Clinton's insistence on taking this to Pennsylvania has caused direct harm to efforts to organize my county party.

As political activists, most of you probably know about the VoteBuilder voter file.  It's a updated version of what the Deaniacs tried to create in 2004 that many state parties and campaigns are now using.

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson's campaigns used the file in South Carolina.  One of the really great aspects is that the South Carolina state party gets to keep all of the data that the campaigns put into the system.

In other words, the months of hard work done by those Obama field organizers in SC is now property of the SC Democrats.  We have updated phone numbers, addresses, list of volunteers, donors, lists of all their supporters, and much more.  The work done by the Obama campaign alone is tremendous.  We couldn't have done it all on our own.

However, there is a hitch.  I just spoke to the head data guy at the state party this week.  There is so much information in the Obama campaign file, they don't know what it all is.  The Obama campaign has promised to send their data guy here for a few days to explain it all to us.

Unfortunately, he's currently working for the campaign in Pennsylvania and won't be available for weeks.  I guess all of us down ticket Democrats on the state and county level will just have to wait!

EDIT: I just wanted to clarify that I think Pennsylvania is a lovely state and I'm not against the Democratic process there.  I'm just questioning the whole idea of Pennsylvania -- the hail mary when you haven't got a chance to win.  I wanted to provide a local example of the impact of putting a failed presidential bid before the good of the party.  I apologize to anybody who was offended.  I'm new here.  Mea culpa!

•  Yes - democracy is not easy

  anyway - why do those people in PA want to vote

  Hillary Clinton's insistence on taking this to Pennsylvania has caused direct harm to efforts to organize my county party.

  Dictatorship so much easier

  by sara seattle on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:30:51 PM PDT

  •  I thought you were on strike...

    with the rest of the Hillary "on strike" contingent. Does that make you a strikebreaker? Or is your group's promise not to post another just another Hillary-style campaign promise to be abandoned because it proved immediately unworkable?

    by alizard on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:50:59 PM PDT

    •  Go to hell ......

      by sara seattle on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:36:53 PM PDT

      •  Yeah!

        MyDD can certainly use the traffic.

        (juuuuuuuuuuust making a joke, no harm intended)

        by cityyear95 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:40:44 PM PDT

        •  ; ) n/t

          by sara seattle on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:44:06 PM PDT

      •  what are you complaining about?

        Did I use the word scab even once in the post you're whining about?

        I included the Wikipedia definition because to be polite, it was fairly obvious that the DLC followers around here aren't too clear on the concept of labor issues. I guess labor issues are for the "little people".

        So when are you going to participate in the "strike"?

        by alizard on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:57:29 PM PDT

        •  again - my dear - go to hell ; ) n/t

          by sara seattle on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 08:23:14 PM PDT

        •  Scab posters are welcome on DailyKos.

          Let's all be polite.  Sara's wise decision to give in the Big Orange temptation serves to weaken the resolve of the Striking Hillary Writers.  They are all sitting on the sidewalk over at MYDD, eating stale donuts and organizing car rides and babysitter numbers.  And they all wish they could do what Sara is doing, posting here at DailyKos.  It gnaws at their very innards.

          by Dumbo on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 08:26:53 PM PDT

          •  well, I suppose

            gnawing at the innards of Hillary strikers is a dirty job, but someone's got to do it.

            by alizard on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 10:40:31 PM PDT

•  How dare I get to vote?!

  by andgarden on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:32:49 PM PDT

  •  How dare you get to vote!

    Dammit, SC needs this geek's brain juices now!
    There's only 233 days until November 4!!!AIEEEEEEE

    by George Hier on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:38:58 PM PDT

    •  because Hillary should have dropped out

      after losing 11 in a row. Do you really think if Obama had lost 11 in a row everybody would not have been screaming for him to drop out. Hillary is the one that is hurting the democratic party. It has nothing to do with PA.

      by ronnied on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:45:35 PM PDT

      •  According to Bowers, theres...

        ...No Good Reason For Clinton To Drop Out. She can still  win. Why would any candidate drop out of an indecisive race?

        by kck on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:51:03 PM PDT

        •  Bowers ...

          is a Clinton surrogate. Your citation is intellectually dishonest.
          Why don't you just say "This Hillary supporter thinks she should stay in".

          by the biped on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:12:43 PM PDT

          •  In what way is Bowers a Clinton surrogate?

            I won't entertain your smarmy insult from left field other than to say that I wrote what I intended to comment.

            by kck on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:31:09 PM PDT

            •  Smarmy insult from left field?

              I've been reading Bowers since he was blogging at MyDD.
              I think his bias towards Hillary is discernible.
              Even the post you reference gives her a 10% chance of winning the nomination while she proceeds to drive up the negatives of the likely nominee.
              As regards the "smarmy insult", what the f**k are you talking about?

              by the biped on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:39:05 PM PDT

              •  I made the citation - so based on your syntax

                this refers to me.

                Your citation is intellectually dishonest.
                Why don't you just say "This Hillary supporter thinks she should stay in".

                If you're being smarmy about Bowers, I don't go there. I recall he claims to be independent and I wouldn't question his intentions. I'm interested in facts. So, your original point is what? You think Bowers' pov is biased, irrelevant? Okay. I don't.

                by kck on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:57:39 PM PDT

                •  I don't think I'm being smarmy about anything ...

                  I realize civility is a lost art around here these days, but smarmy?
                  If you can read Bowers repeatedly over the last few months (as I have) and come to the conclusion he's striving for something approaching journalistic objectivity or neutrality then there's not much I can say other than I don't know why you have characterized anything I've said as smarmy.

                  by the biped on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:13:00 PM PDT

                  •  kck ...

                    I was wrong, as is pointed out below. My apologies.

                    by the biped on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:26:20 PM PDT

                    •  No problem. Thanks.

                      by kck on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 08:29:22 AM PDT

          •  Bowers is no Clinton surrogate

            That's a complete falsehood.  Where did you get that from?  He's said he has reservations about both candidates, but that he prefers Obama.

            He has specifically mentioned his preference for Obama here:

            http://www.openleft.com/...

            and here:

            http://www.openleft.com/...

            You should probably apologize.  Your spread of misinformation may have been accidental, but your accusation of intellectual dishonesty was out of bounds.

            by cityyear95 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:59:03 PM PDT

            •  I stand corrected (and pleasantly surprised) ...

              Further, I reject, denounce and repudiate myself.
                I look at TalkLeft with some regularity and my dominant impression of Bowers has been that even after Hillary was mathematically eliminated for all practical purposes (as regards the pledged delegate count), Bowers has been advocating she stay in while acknowledging her tactics are destructive to the party and the likely nominee.
              As he does in the cited post above.

              I don't quite get his logic but I apologize. I was mistaken.

              by the biped on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:23:52 PM PDT

              •  don't sweat it

                you're all good with me, at least.  and fwiw, you're not the only one who's accused Bowers of being pro-Clinton, and I agree with you that sometimes he seems to have a little too much tolerance for Hillary's destructive tactics.

                by cityyear95 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:38:42 PM PDT

      •  If the democratic process is hurting the Party

        then there's something wrong with he Party.  For every partisan in who'll be too embittered to pull the lever against McCain in November, there will be two new voters who signed up in anticipation of actually voting in a contested primary, and who will probably vote in November.

        by ajbrown on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:54:51 PM PDT

        •  You're right to some extent

          But those two new voters won't even get to the polls if they aren't part of our GOTV plan.

          If we don't have the data, I don't see how we're going to get these people to the polls by magic.

          by ahammett on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:58:35 PM PDT

    •  you're pretty lame

      We're trying to get people to come to our meetings but there are tons of Obama and Hillary supporters out there that we don't even know exist.

      Why are you picking on me for simply pointing this out?  

      If the race were over, we could begin planning for November.  Do you guys even want to the Democratic Party to win?

      by ahammett on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:57:13 PM PDT

      •  You want to lose PA in the fall?

        Obama supporters seem determined to lose Florida, so it would be of a fashion.

        by andgarden on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:19:46 PM PDT

        •  Considering a Hillary Nomination....

          ....would mean a generation-long abandonment of the Democratic Party by African-Americans (you know, since the only mathematical way Hillary can get the nomination is by stealing it via superdelegates), Pennsylvania is unwinnable in the general election if Hillary's the nominee.  Ohio and Michigan are probably also likely McCain states without huge African-American turnout that won't happen if Hillary steals the nomination from Obama.

          by Mark27 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:29:10 PM PDT

          •  "Pennsylvania is unwillable..."

            I was about to disagree with your prediction, until I thought about it and realized, that, yes, Hillary would have a tough time winning Philly, and my own experience in East PA indicates that McCain remains extremely popular in the area (he is exactly the type of Republican Pennsylvanians like) and there is an awful lot of Hillary antagonism, too, certainly more than in most of the Northeast.

            by cityyear95 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:49:50 PM PDT

          •  Letting the election run its course....

            ...is not stealing. It might hurt, frustrate, challenge, stress resources, but we need honest broker closure and if one drops out now that would be betray the logical of 40% to 50% of Democrats. We all count.

            by kck on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 08:34:43 AM PDT

            •  If The Outcome Reverses The Will of Pledged....

              ....delegates, then it's stealing.  Hillary can only win by reversing the will of the pledged delegates via the superdelegates.  If she had any intention of playing by the rules, she would have already dropped out recognizing the arithmatic assures her of defeat.

              by Mark27 on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 08:14:09 PM PDT

•  Organizing counties to GOTV...

  ...is being hampered by people voting in another state?  And, almost worse, there's only 1 guy that knows the data? I suggest you get a few cohorts together to brainstorm solutions. Maybe a few fresh pairs of eyes will help.

  by kck on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:47:42 PM PDT

•  It can be almost impossible

  I used to be in data processing, and sometimes programs/files are written with no good documentation.  Which leaves you with somebody's name and address and bunch of codes that simply don't make any sense.

  Having written that, maybe the person who wrote the diary could find somebody in a similar situation in a similar state who might be able to help them decode the file.

  by Msanger on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:03:39 PM PDT

•  What!?! The Hillary is a racist smear losing

  traction?

  by usedmeat on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:08:13 PM PDT

•  This is, in an understated way a new low...

  ...of self-centered rubbish.  Pennsylvania, an actual state of the Union with something over 12 million residents, over half of whom (of those claiming party affiliation) are Democrats, is hurting your county party by having a contested primary?  I can't think of a follow-up sentence that doesn't have a liberal dose of vulgarity in it.

  by Rich in PA on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:26:13 PM PDT

  •  personally, I think

    "we can't organize because the guy who has access to the data we collected and need right now is in PA working on a primary" is perfectly reasonable.

    I take it you don't work in IT.

    by alizard on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 06:53:55 PM PDT

    •  You're kidding, right? N/T

       

      by Rich in PA on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 07:59:09 PM PDT

    •  It blows the mind

      to envision that Only One Man holds the keys to this precious data resource! This is ridiculous in this day and age that someone in the Obama data team couldn't sent the info to the state party so they can use the data. It would seem more logical that Obama's people don't want the state party to have access to the data and are making excuses that are silly.

      by raster44 on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 09:11:30 PM PDT

      •  There's no such thing as a perfectly

        efficient organization or IT structure, and a national campaign organization that hasn't had years to get its act together is the very last place where I'd look for one. Obama's system doesn't have to be perfect, it only has to work better than Hillary's this time around.

        It's far easier to imagine a screwup in the Obama campaign organization than it is to imagine an anti-county-level organization conspiracy in the Obama camp.

        by alizard on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 12:10:08 AM PDT