The question I've been asked after my dressing down of what went wrong in Kansas is how do we really fix this? How do we build a party that makes people want to invest time and effort into it? How do we build a party that can recruit candidates, and a party that actually represents us? Exactly how do you take over a party?
Tonight, I'd like to announce the Kansas C!U!A! November through January Schedule. And it is going to be a marathon.
In Kansas, many counties Re-organize in the 12 days post an election. IF you are a county that is seeking to reorganize, PLEASE contact me. I can either work with you, or we have several very friendly county chairs who will help you.
IF you are an unorganized county, let me tell you what I plan to do to help you.
Many counties in Kansas stay unorganized because they simply don't see the point of organization. There is little support and little benefit, they think, in organizing a Democratic county. I'm grateful that in my travels along western Kansas border, I have been able to work with several unorganized counties who are now in the process of organizing.
Why is this important? Because counties receive votes at the state meeting, and those votes are what matter. There are more unorganized counties in Kansas capturing enough votes that with organized counties that are already with us, great changes can occur.
So, I'm going to make this clear and short:
IF
You are in a county that is unorganized, here is what I am willing to offer you:
* You will receive your own website, domain, designs and templates for your county party page, with full phone support and help. This will also include email lists of Democrats in your area if you are in Western Kansas to get you going.
* You will receive Graphic blast email software to help you put together a monthly newsletter with a few clicks. You will be supplied information on how the representatives from your district actually voted, and details on what they voted on to inform the residents of their district and your county. Keeping voters informed of the issue is important, and if we follow the issues in the state house and keep your voters informed there is not a last minute dash.
* In honor of Wyandotte, I am offering a $341 stipend for your first year to newly formed counties that can be used to defray costs to attend the state party meeting, in order to make sure you vote on issues.
We will be hosting Connect! Act! Unite! Events next year in:
Clay Center
Garden City
Leavenworth
Lawrence
Wichita
These events will bring in speakers who will talk to you about issues that impact your county directly. I will invite the members of the county group to send in questions for guest speakers, and we will review your county information directly, especially issues with your elected.
In the next few weeks, I will be attending events I have been invited to in:
Johnson County
Girard, Kansas
McPherson City
Manhattan / Junction City
I will be offering District Chairs who are with us passes to Netroots Nation, 2015, in hopes of providing them a new way to look at running races.
I understand Markos opposition, and I have thought long and hard about this, but I feel as though the only way I can really engender a major change in the way we talk about this is to build leadership on the ground of people who have interacted with national figures on the political scene in a way that they can learn the key tools necessary toward building a party.
IF you are a Kossack in the Johnson County Kansas Area, I will be at the Johnson County Democrats meeting, Lucky's Brewgrille, 8AM, November 8th. Don't worry, I'll wear flame resistant kevlar.
PLEASE EMAIL TMSERVO433@GMAIL.COM if you are a county that is unorganized, or an organized county that wishes a re-org and would like support.
Thank you.