I'm a 57 year-old Democratic political activist in the mountains of North Carolina. I always voted, but I got the bug, cut my teeth so to speak, on political activism back in 1990, when Harvey Gantt challenged racist and bigoted Jesse Helms for US Senate.
This is what we were up against:
And we lost the battle.
But we won the war.
Harvey Gantt brought hundreds of new voices and energy to the Democratic Party. Many of those new voices, like me, stayed on to fight, to push the Party, to fight for leadership positions, to open the Party to new technology, and, in some cases, to declare and win all out war against agendas to take our Party rightward both locally and statewide.
Since my activism began, I have canvassed hundreds of rural homes, have trained other activists, have learned to read numbers and use technology to win, and have pushed and scrapped every inch of the way to move forward. I have been on the winning side of elections and inter-Party fights, and on the losing side, so I know what it's like to take a couple of steps forward and, if lucky, only lose one step back.
But our Democratic Party is at a very bad and dangerous place right now, and it can all be summed up in one question:
What does the Democratic Party Stand for?
I know this is the key issue before us right now because rank-and-file Democrats whose doors I knocked on this past election cycle asked me this very question. Worse, I, a Democratic activist for over 20 years (and a committed Party member for even more), had a great deal of trouble answering that question.
Oh, yes. We were told this past year by OFA to insist to people that "we" had accomplished much and to carry lists of those accomplishments in our back pockets at the ready. I knew then that was a loser game. I may not be the oldest hand at this, but I've been at this long enough to know that anytime you are having to explain why what you did was a good thing, you've already lost the battle. We tried the OFA "strategy" on the phones too and, to put it bluntly, we were told to shove it.
So, is this our plan for 2012? Because if it is, you ain't seen a real shellacking yet.
Am I supposed to go door-to-door and tell people the Democratic Party opposes tax cuts for billionaires?
Am I supposed to go door-to-door and tell people the Democratic Party will not compromise Social Security?
Am I supposed to go door-to-door and tell people the Democratic Party believes in medicare-for-all or a strong public option?
Am I supposed to go door-to-door and tell people the Democratic Party just needs more Democrats elected before we can act?
Or am I supposed to go door-to-door and tell people:
The Democratic Party is just doing the best we can?
And if these are the answers I provide in response to "What does the Democratic Party Stand for?" which of the following do I say when inevitably challenged by my Democratic neighbor:
We believe all of the above. We just aren't willing to stand up for any of them.
OR
These are our stated Party principles, but we'll sell them off at the door. Or before we even get to the door.
Since these are the only two options I can think of, I'm hoping other activists out there will offer me better answers. I'm all ears. And by the way, "We're better than Sarah Palin" doesn't count. I already tried that and had the door slammed in my face for the insult.
Just asking.