It's been a long journey from being just another DailyKos blogger to becoming a local party activist, but it's been an interesting one. At some point a few years I decided to make the transition from not just writing about what other people were doing, to also trying to be one of the people on the other side of the journalistic veil: one of the people doing the doing.
A few years later, and I've founded the Young Democrats of Ventura County, CA (and have now transitioned into the Political Director job), was elected this year 1st Vice-Chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party, and a delegate to the CA Dem State Central Committee.
It's often difficult to break through the party infrastructure. There are always those who resist change, and those who like to build petty kingdoms for their own sake without a serious view toward the bigger picture of progressive change. But it's worth it. Writing online can often seem like shouting into a hurricane: even if your work does get noticed, it disappears quickly in the ephemera of the nation's discourse, like just another tree limb sucked into the vortex of a storm.
At a local level, one can actually see, over time, the fruits of one's labors, and help communities directly through local activism, and electing politicians who ideals are accountable to the people they serve. It's also one of the few ways that we can actually change the Democratic Party from the inside out. Many progressives see failure at the Party level and tell themselves that change can only come from without. But in reality, the modern movement conservatives took the opposite approach: they determined to change the GOP from the inside out, and proceeded to get themselves elected to school boards, county committees, and other local positions. And they changed the GOP into the hyper-conservative organization it is today. There's no reason progressives can't do the same in the Democratic Party.
As party activists, one of the ways we can help to influence politicians is by the twin carrot-and-stick approach of resolutions and endorsements. The Party can take up resolutions that state what we expect of our candidates; and then when officials and candidates waver from the ideals we put forth in our resolutions, we can enforce our ideals by providing or withholding our endorsements.
And I'm proud to say that the Ventura County Democratic Party just unanimously passed a resolution written by a good colleague and friend of mine, making plain our position on the tax cut "deal": it stinks. The text of the resolution is as follows:
Resolution
Ventura County Democrats (aka Ventura County Democratic Central Committee) want to lend their voice in support of California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton’s position against President Obama’s proposed Congressional deal to extend the Bush tax cuts for the next two years to the richest Americans:
Whereas Bush era tax breaks that President Obama proposes to remain for the next two years will compound fiscal damage to California in a time of severe budget and revenue crises where California consumers will not and cannot spend because they have no trust in the economy to recover and the result will be to perpetuate double-digit unemployment for many years to come
Whereas the federal government’s necessity to borrow from other nations, like China, to pay the immediate shortfall in revenues that gives generous tax breaks to the richest Americans in a time of fiscal crises will only exacerbate the national deficit saddling our children with this unjust burden
Whereas there has been no verifiable demonstration that tax cuts to the very rich in the past ten years have resulted in the creation of more jobs with sustainable wages for Americans, rather conversely corporate and private investment capital has moved to follow cheap labor markets oversees or, as in the case of the banking industry, has created barriers to middle class borrowers and home owners while hording a windfall of federal bailout dollars
Therefore Be It Resolved that Ventura County Democrats call upon our United States Senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein and Congressional Representatives Lois Capps, 23rd District and Elton Gallegly 24th District to vote against any legislation that reaches the floor of the Senate or the House of Representatives and publically state their opposition to the two year continuation of the Bush era tax cuts as proposed by President Obama and consider legislation allowing relief for the middle class American while asking the rich to contribute their fair share to the country in a time of need.
This not only makes for good PR with the local press, but helps accomplish the goals we aspire to achieve as progressive bloggers. With this resolution in hand, no matter the result of the vote in the House tomorrow, our local Democratic Party can now use this vote as a litmus test for our candidates: would you have voted for the tax cut deal? And the candidates would need to answer the right way in order to secure our endorsement. This is one interesting and effective way for us to effectuate progressive changes to the Democratic Party, starting at the local level.
If any of you are also active at your local level, I hope you will consider similar resolutions--even if the deal has already passed. A nationally linked framework of local activists working on a nationally organized plan to adopt positions on issues could theoretically have a significant impact on the national Democratic Party as a whole.
It's a good first step, at least.
After all, if we don't do it, who else will?