Dear Friends,
I believe it is wrong headed and counterproductive to not allow conversations between progressives merely because some of them are not members of the Democratic Party and are instead members of the California National Party or other parties that include progressives. Here in California the Republican Party is certainly on the ropes, and the CNP would like to replace that party here with a pragmatic progressive party that some will consider a bit to the left of the Democrats. Ultimately the CNP prefers a system that includes proportional representation so that many parties can flourish and exchange ideas. But within the current system imagine the benefits of a state where the Democratic Party is the larger party with the second party being a progressive CNP, wouldn’t that better serve the interests of Progressives? This CNP member believes that it would.
For all practical purposes, the Republican Party in California is a dead man walking. It is unlikely that Republicans will ever win statewide office here again. As I like to say, Pete Wilson killed the Republican Party in California and Trump has now cremated its body. Because the Republicans are basically doomed here, California will become a single party state for the foreseeable future. At some point another party will need to rise up in order to have a competitive political market of ideas. Would it not be preferable that this new party be even more pragmatically progressive than the Democrats themselves, and also not wish to compete with the Democrats in Federal Elections?
There are unique advantages for the Democrats if the CNP becomes the second party in California:
1) There are no plans to run Presidential Candidates, as my understanding is that the CNP wishes to exist only in California, which means that with a disappearing GOP here essentially all of those electoral votes will always go to the Democratic Candidate.
2) As far as I know there are no plans to run candidates for any Federal Elected Offices. Similar to point 1, as the GOP here continues to self destruct, Democrats can expect a lock on Federal Elected Offices as the California National Party wishes to govern exclusively in California.
We further believe that progressives of all parties should pragmatically work together toward common goals. Certainly now a common goal is resisting Trump’s America. It is a mistake not only to block out the CNP but also Greens and other Progressives from conversations leading to actions that will thwart Trump. Trump is a unique threat to all progressive values, and he will require an all hands on deck approach. By refusing to allow non-Democrat Progressives to freely and fully exchange ideas with Democrat Progressives, Daily Kos is hamstringing efforts to coordinate that resistance.
Given the recent election results, Democrats clearly need to expand their alliances and reach out to other progressives. Democrats can more effectively reach out to progressives from other parties if they show a willingness to exchange ideas and work with those parties toward common goals. Because the CNP wishes only to exist in California and nowhere else in the US, I believe this makes the CNP uniquely suited to working with progressive Democrats toward common goals. I therefore respectfully believe that the Daily Kos should allow this account of a CNP member to continue to exist, and allow this member and progressive CNP members generally, to communicate with like minded Democrat progressives freely, so that progressives of all stripes can exchange ideas as productively as possible.
I wrote this letter after reading the Kos guidelines. I was writing comments on an article that had been posted regarding the CNP and I noticed that the poster of that article was warned by admin for posting it. That sort of restriction on what was merely an informative article about the CNP is part of the problem I wish to highlight with this open letter.
Best Regards,
Theo Slater
I am the National Chairperson of the California National Party.
However, with this post I am merely speaking as a volunteer and member of the party.
