This weekend, I was in Houston, Texas to participate in the DNC Future Forums. This forum, designed to help elect our future party leadership and provide the public a chance to be more involved in the process.
I was not only glad to be a person in attendance but to help facilitate many members of our audience in their efforts to have a voice. I am also a candidate for the office of DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation.
Over the next few weeks, you’re going to hear a lot of things about the races for DNC Vice Chair at large, and the race for DNC Chair. In both of those races, the party has 10 or more individuals running.
On Saturday, in Houston, I was the only candidate in attendance to take the stage and talk about the importance of civic engagement and voter participation. Today, on Daily Kos, I’d like to talk about my plan for this office, and why I hope members will consider this viewpoint of why this Vice Chair is different from the functional management needed in the at-large Vice Chair and Chair forums.
My Plan
What is a Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation?
One of the questions DNC members should ask is what is the Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation, and how exactly is it different? Why do we vote on this position in a different way than vice chair at large?
I believe in order to substantially differentiate this office from Vice Chair at large, it must be seen as having a very different purpose and that focus must be helping to facilitate voter participation among those who are not engaged with our party or the voting process.
In order to accomplish this, I offer a guidance statement and a five point plan:
Guidance Statement:
The office of Vice Chair and Civic Engagement and Voter Participation must be governed by specific metrics which can be measured, evaluated, and given to the members to assess the performance of the job.
Therefore, I offer the following 5 point plan:
1. Travel Expectations of the Vice Chair.
- In order to ensure civic engagement, the Vice Chair must maintain an active travel schedule with set targets. This must include engagement in all regions of the United States, and a set goal of a minimum of 60,000 miles traveled, air or land, per year. Travel to DNC Meetings and Washington DC for Party Purposes shall NOT be included in the expected travel mileage total goal of the DNC Vice Chair. While an obligation of the role, they are not a factor in building Civic Engagement and Voter Participation.
- In order to ensure voter participation, the Vice Chair must facilitate active communication into districts where Democratic candidates DID NOT RUN for federal office in the 2016 cycle, to encourage campaigns in districts where increasing Democratic margins is a high priority. The Vice Chair should be evaluated at each DNC meeting for how many contacts were made, and a report should be provided to the members at large regarding progress on a quarterly basis.
- DNC Members must have the ability to request the DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation attend at least ONE event in a two-year time at any location within the 50 United States. Within 4 years, the DNC Vice Chair shall be expected to have attended an event in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and at least two abroad delegations.
2. The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement must lead an open discussion on the involvement of disenfranchised voters.
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation must work to engage outside partners in circulating information regarding voter suppression used in states and municipalities.
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall be expected to provide a bi-annual report on the status of current state and local suppression methods, as well as any effective strategies realized within any state or congressional district.
- An online Wiki shall be established documenting all procedures surrounding caucus, primaries and general elections within a state to better inform voters of the practices and rights within that state.
3. The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall be expected to provide all members with status of upcoming travel and engagement schedule upon request within 72 hours. DNC Members as a whole shall be made fully aware of the transparent activities of the DNC Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation.
4. The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall act as a bridge between the Chair and Vice Chairs at Large, and grassroots activists and campaigns within the party. As a result:
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement shall carry the expectation of responding to, and promote the ideas of, the Chair and at-large Vice Chairs, to at-large partners.
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall be tasked with delivering immediate reports as to the status of all civic engagement enterprises conducted by the state and national parties upon request.
- The Chair of the State Democratic Parties will receive a monthly report as to the status of registration and participation activities, as well as a confirmation of contact. The Chair of State Democratic Parties, a Vice Chair of the DNC, will provide guidance to the Vice Chair of Civic Engagement as to the in community needs of the membership.
5. Responsibility to the Public
- As a role that has a chief responsibility in representing the voting body, the Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall provide a minimum of two public Ask-Me-Anything forums a year to facilitate voter interaction with the party, and to re-instill trust in the Democratic Brand.
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement shall not, at any point, personally receive, profit, or recruit money from lobbyists or non-members for the stated goals of this role. The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement may seek travel reimbursement or cost-reimbursement from members, self-fund, or through state and national parties, but in order to guarantee public trust, they may not request nor receive funding from non-Party initiated PACs or funds.
- The Vice Chair of Civic Engagement and Voter Participation shall be expected to provide a public accounting of expenditures on behalf of the party, visible to all, to verify a commitment that supports our demographically diverse community. This accounting shall also provide a commitment to a frugal use of funds that represent the rank and file of party membership.
I believe, whether or not I am chosen to represent this post, that DNC members should consider these points and be willing to ask the question: are we willing to fight for every vote, everywhere? Are we willing to stand up and take the steps needed to bring confidence into our party?
I offer one promise to members and the public: should I be chosen to fulfill this role, I believe only two words will define this office: SHOW UP.
Because that, my friends, is the role of our party.
Democratically,
Chris Reeves
tmservo433 @ gmail.com