As I look at the Democratic Party I often see us trying to copy a coporate model. This path is allows us to benifit from the insight that cooprorate America has had on the American public. This path has a fatal flaw though:
Corporate America is concerned with making money;
The Democratic Party is concerned with getting votes.
The distinction below the fold:
We need to make sure that we are always focused on reaching out to more voters. Can we trust our party to do this: NO!
I worked on the Kerry campaign. I was a 21 year old college dropout (now re-enrolled) and a paid Field Organizer in West Virginia and then Philadelphia. Our Field program seemed to be one of our last priorities. In WV we were not fully staffed until about a month and half out. We never had the resources we needed to win and we can never win WV w/out a field program that can develop a network to counteract the churches.
In Philadelphia our field program did not get off the ground until about 1 month out. Philadelphia is often described as one of the best Democratic GOTV run in the nation. We had an amazing staff and ran an amazing GOTV but we did this under extenuating circumstances and in no way should be a model for how to run a GOTV simply b/c of the short time span we were forced to operate under.
These two observations about the Kerry campaign are meant to explain the complete lack of infrastructure we had in the 2004 elections. This needs to change. I do not trust the Democratic Party to make these changes. Therefore I will do what I can to make them myself and I ask every Democrat to do what they can to build our infrastructure for `06.
I have come back to college and am trying to implement a plan to organize my campus through a database to keep track of everyone's pertinent information and a series of captains to keep track of everyone.
I want to encourage everyone to stop waiting for our party to organize itself. Organize your county, your community, your block, your house. You can make the difference. You can make sure that your community (however you define it) votes Democratic. Our party is not organized right now. But, we can organize it. Start at your local community, organize it, and show the party the power of organization. The power of a party does not come in money, it comes in votes. If you can affect 30 votes you are more important than $3,000. Organizing does not require money, only time and dedication. We can turn around the party; we don't need big money endorsements. Organize your friends and have them organizer their friends and we will have the most effective and influential pyramid scheme ever.
This is my first diary and I want to apologize if it is too sporadic or does not offer enough detail. I hope in the future to offer more of my past, my current experience, and my hope for the future of the party.
If you don't like the leadership, lead yourself.