Last week I wrote a diary, after the release of Donna Brazille’s snippets, saying that it wasn’t the time to really discuss her book. Elections were pending, and I said: let’s put a pin in it. Let’s wait until after the election. You can read that here: www.dailykos.com/…
Admittedly, I gambled. At the time I posted the original diary, campaigns in Virginia were telling me that they thought things looked better than they expected. Don’t screw this up, was the common thought. If they were wrong, the diary today would come across differently, but now, in light of sweeping, historic wins in Virginia and elsewhere, I think we can talk about Donna’s thoughts and where the DNC is going.
There are several revelations made by Donna Brazille in her excerpt. Rather than go through all of them, I wanted instead to talk about what can change and what should change. Several points are made by many in their diaries about how they beleive things are unfair or should change. In many ways, I agree with them. But we have to sort out the items the party can do, the ones we can’t do, and areas where reforms can work.
I’m going to start out with the wins yesterday. Today, in fact, as I type this, Tom Perez is speaking to the members and delivered this message:
"We put hope and optimism on the ballot; Republicans put up fear and division. Last night wasn't inevitable. It took incredible, incredible hard work. But we came together and did it. We won because we had great candidates at every level of government, and because we committed to a ground game. This is what the new DNC is about. ... we must be about building strong partners in the grassroots movement, and we are committed to it."
Donna Brazille’s concerns in her books have serious implications. But, we have to remember, they largely apply to the DNC leadership of the past — and they give us an example of what not to do.
Having read through a large portion of her book, the biggest concerns that I take away from it is this:
- The party allowed for apathy and complacency to seep into party organizations.
- The party put less effort in strengthening state parties, causing infrastructure to become poor.
- The party didn’t keep membership informed, even officers, in a proper way that allowed for changes to be made to improve our opportunities.
- We bought far too heavily into media/tv, and not enough into active field efforts and candidate recruitment.
Here are the changes that are coming and changes we need to work on.
Changes that are already coming:
- In Virginia, rather than TV, the DNC committed to more than $1.5M in field programs. This is something that state parties have asked for, funding for get out the vote programs over TV programming. While one election isn’t a pattern, let’s just say these results certainly help sell this.
- 100% of the money the DNC invested in Virginia went to organizers and technology tools for them. No TV. We implemented minority hiring practices to put more members of a community talking to their own communities.
- The party passed proposals saying we no longer accept lobbyist and corporate money from companies opposed to our issues.
- Proposal to end JFAs until primaries are over; or unless primary for state level is considered uncontested.
Changes we still need and are proposed:
- The creation of a debate commission within the party. The setting of presidential debates shouldn’t be just discretion of the chair; it should go through a transparent process. This is a proposal that is coming.
- Creation of new committees designed to help modernize the party with our new grassroots efforts.
- Continued growth of the 50th state strategy and a commitment to states.
- Superdelegate reforms which are being proposed.
- Reform of the budget process.
- Changes to our caucus process allowing more people to participate.
Things the party can’t change directly, but should support
The party has no power at all to make changes in some areas; especially on laws and voter ID programs in states around the country. Only state legislatures can do that. But, we should support those changes as part of our efforts to win over state legislatures.
When I first proposed writing this last week, I said: wait. Let’s just wait until post the election. Now, we are post election. This may not be the response some wanted. Maybe I should write a long thought about all of the things that are wrong, and why they are wrong. But, there is something very eeyore about such a post. Instead, I’d like to focus on the fact there are problems, and here is what is actually going on to try and remedy them.
In areas where we are still working on problems, I want to note those things so that we continue to work toward a better solution.
If you’d like to buy Donna Brazille’s book, fume and get mad about 2016, you are welcome to do so. But, if you want to say: things were wrong, are they getting better? I’d say there is distinct hope they can get better. But change doesn’t happen instantly, especially if you want to get it right.
As we tackle the issues that face the party, I’ll continue to write what goes on at the meetings and try and keep the happenings transparent. That is where we hope we can succeed.