Topics below:
- coordination by local Meetup hosts across candidates and the Dem Party
- role of Dem Meetups vis-a-vis existing Democratic Party clubs and campaigns
- building neighborhood-based social relationships for Democrats
- uniting old-timers with people new to politics
- a coordinated local weekly email newsletter--similar to Right Wing church sermons...
- goals and strategies for Dem Party Meetups
- does the DNC=Kerry campaign now that we've had a Unity dinner and Terry said so?
- seeking action project ideas
Coordination by local Meetup hosts across candidates and the Dem Party
A group of Dean grassroots leaders met to discuss the role of Meetups in getting out the vote and raising money for the Democratic Party, and I think we developed some good ideas.
About 60 grassroots leaders who had been active in the Dean campaign in Southern California met on 3/21 to discuss ways we could continue working together to strengthen the Democratic Party. There were eight break-out groups, and I chaired the one on "Grassroots Organizing."
We discussed the proliferation of Democratic Meetups (DNC, California Dem Party, Kerry, Dean's new organization, Boxer, and some Congressional candidates in Calif) and how to effectively channel this new enthusiasm into votes.
Our group strongly believed that neighborhood-based precinct organizing with precinct captains from the neighborhood who develop ongoing social relationships with Dems in the neighborhood is the most effective strategy. Our group also felt that Meetups aren't likely to lead to this model on their own, because the current incentives are structured so that each candidate wants its own Meetup, etc. In other words, the Meetup incentives risk subdividing a geographic area by candidate and day of the month, and spreading local Democratic activists thin, rather than subdividing by neighborhood and bringing in more volunteers to the Party.
A coordinated local weekly email newsletter--similar to Right Wing church sermons...
So, we decided that a good strategy would be to get the Dem Meetup hosts in each local area to communicate and coordinate (e.g., I live in Santa Barbara where there is one of each of the 6 kinds of Dem Meetups happening monthly; in a larger urban area, it might break down by neighborhood; in a more rural area, it might break down by county or region).
This set of local Meetup hosts could work together to recruit one group of local precinct captains that would work for all the Dem candidates. They also could send out ONE email newsletter weekly with concrete action items. In other words, they would share all the local email addresses, and the weekly email newsletter would include action items submitted by any of the candidates as well as a listing of all the Dem Meetups and locations. There could also be a short weekly Dem message included in the weekly email newsletter. Our thinking is that the Right Wing has a weekly update on the message and action items on Sunday at church. It would be great for Dems to have a similar weekly call to action.
Role of Dem Meetups vis a vis existing Democratic Party clubs and campaigns
We envisioned Meetups as a bridge connecting the general public to the existing Democratic Party clubs and campaigns. Meetups seem to attract a lot of newcomers to the Party (both new Party activists and new members of the Party). We didn't see a need for a new Dem club in most local areas, but we thought that Meetups could provide a lot of new people to the existing clubs.
I've begun to implement this in Santa Barbara. I contacted the Santa Barbara Meetup hosts for Kerry, Dean's new organization, and other local Dem Meetups, and all agreed to this idea. There is an organization called the Democratic Service Club (DSC) in town whose main purpose is recruiting volunteers to staff voter reg tables, and all the local Dem campaigns work with this club. DSC will be sending out the weekly email newsletter, and all the local Meetup hosts will be giving DSC their local email lists (with updates of new members after each month's Meetup). I also talked with some of the leading local Dem campaign managers, and the campaigns will submit action items to the DSC for the weekly email newsletter. I also talked with the head of the County Democratic Central Committee, and he thought this was all really great.
Uniting old-timers with people new to politics
I host the DNC Meetup (we had our first Meetup on Wed 3/24), and we had two Dem candidates address the group and three Dem clubs address the group. The following day, I got thank-you messages from a variety of old-time Dem Party folks in town saying it was amazing that all these people had come together -- our "Unity" Meetup wasn't just about uniting supporters of the various Presidential candidates. . . I also did a brief "welcome" talk at the beginning of the Meetup where I asked people to raise their hands if they had ever been to a Meetup, had worked for one of the presidential candidates, had never been involved in any way before, had been a Dem Party activist for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, or more, etc. Then I talked about how Meetups are a great equalizer - we respect the experience and wisdom of long-time activists and we respect the new ideas brought by folks new to politics. It seemed like everyone felt heard during the meeting, and that went a long way.
Building neighborhood-based social relationships for Democrats
With regard to precinct captains building social relationships with Dems in their neighborhood, we are thinking about promoting neighborhood house parties where precinct captains or others would host a party and invite the local Dems. They might put flyers/invitations in mailboxes, and the flyer would look fun, describing a 2-hour party with a "Bush in 30 Seconds" video (or something else short) at 45 minutes into the party.
That way people would arrive, mingle and hang out. Then they would gather around the TV. Then the host would turn off the TV and stand in front of it (while everyone is facing that way) and have a short meeting/discussion. Also, volunteers could be recruited and money could be raised for particular candidates, if the host wanted to do that.
Last Sunday's Washington Post had an article about the Bush campaign describing their plans to create neighborhood-based GOP social clubs (block parties). We discussed this concept at the Dean meeting in Southern California, before that article came out. We got the idea based on the Dean house parties that were successful in terms of numbers of parties held, number of people who attended parties, and amount of money raised; also neighborhood-based Dean house parties in New Hampshire focused on getting out the vote, not fundraising, and were effective at re-gaining 15 percentage points in six days despite "the Scream" video clip playing frequently on the news.
I asked the head of the local Dem "machine" - a professional who heads up the major Congressional and City Council campaigns (and is almost always successful) if these new ideas were helpful, or if they don't need any help. He said that they simply register voters in strategic places, then keep the info so they can follow up with all the Dems who are registered to get out the vote. He thought the ideas of neighborhood-based precinct captains and neighborhood parties were great, and would only make their efforts more effective. They haven't had much continuity between campaigns in terms of developing ongoing relationships with Dem voters, and he thought that was a really good idea. He said he would have no problem coordinating his work with these new ideas.
We then discussed what we hoped to accomplish. Here's what our Dem Party Meetup created for our goals and strategies:
Goals for Santa Barbara Democrats:
- defeat Bush in November; vote Kerry - not Nader! (help neighboring swing states like Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon?)
- take back Congress (re-elect Barbara Boxer, re-elect Lois Capps in 23rd District, help elect Brett Wagner in 24th District)
- support local Dems (Pedro Nava for State Assembly, help Peg Pinard in neighboring State Senate district)
- take back California Governorship in 2006
- take back SB County 3rd District and gain 5th District in 2008
- campaign for/against particular state ballot initiatives that help/hurt Democratic Party causes
- revitalize and strengthen Democratic Party
Strategies: How we can do this if we all work together:
- register voters (especially youth, Latinos; ask professional campaign managers for most strategic locations)
- give people a reason to vote and to be Democrats... by defining our principles, getting out the message, and holding politicians accountable (act as sources for local media, reframe the debate, bring national issues to local level by showing local impact, require transparency and honesty to restore public confidence in government, endorse particular candidates and legislation, develop TV and radio shows on local stations)
- recruit and train precinct captains to get to know the Dems in their neighborhood on an ongoing basis (canvassing, neighborhood house parties, lemonade stands, and more), and take lead in GOTV before elections (using latest technology to track registered voters)
- recruit and train candidates for all levels of local government (we discussed creating a calendar with one-year's notice of all openings from commissions on up, including deadlines for filing and job descriptions)
- raise money (promote online and offline giving, host house parties)
- collaborate and coordinate effectively with all related organizations
Does the DNC=Kerry campaign now that we've had a Unity dinner and Terry said so?
At the Unity dinner Thursday night, Terry MacAuliffe said that starting Friday the DNC and the Kerry campaign have essentially merged into one entity / one effort.
What does that mean with regard to Meetups? Will Kerry Meetups continue? Will national Dem Party Meetups continue?
What does that mean for the fledgling house party programs? Will the Kerry campaign have a national house party program? Will the DNC have a national house party program?
It makes more sense to me for the DNC to run both these programs, since they involve creating some infrastructure, and the Kerry campaign will stop fundraising after July and stop organizing volunteers after November. On the other hand, it seems like individuals are often more inspired to volunteer for a candidate than a Party.
What do you think?
Seeking action project ideas
I think Meetups that include an action project that takes place at the Meetup tend to keep participants motivated to come again the next month.
For the Dean campaign Meetups, that was almost always letter writing. I think people got a little tired of writing letters, though return participation each month was high.
I could imagine organizing letter-writing to local newspapers (with some tips on letters to the editor), or letter-writing to key voters (a particular demographic or a swing geographic area).
Similarly, people could work in small groups developing comments or questions for calling in to local talk radio. People could work in small groups developing ideas for flyers for house parties or advertising the Meetups.
I also could imagine having people at Meetups make posters for local campaign's visibility events or rallies. That might allow for creativity and keep people engaged.
What other ideas do you have?
Thanks in advance,
Susan