It’s another Sunday, so for those who tune in, welcome to a diary discussing the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. If you’ve missed out, you can catch up any time: Just visit our group or follow the Nuts & Bolts Guide. Every week I try to tackle issues I’ve been asked about. With the help of other campaign workers and notes, we address how to improve and build better campaigns, or explain issues that impact our party.
In an alternative universe the Democratic convention would be behind us, having been scheduled for July 13 through July 16. The discussion at Daily Kos and all of the media sites would be about the push with our team as Vice President Biden would have named his choice for a running mate, and we would be off to the races. Alas, after a push back to August followed by the stripping down of the convention, things are now up in the air. What happens at a Democratic convention? What issues involve delegates, Democratic national committee members, elected officials, and others?
Democratic conventions create an opportunity to set our party platform
Every four years, the Democratic Party gets a chance to look at, evaluate, tweak, and make changes to our platform based upon the candidate who will represent us in the general, along with input from anyone else holding delegates. This year in a joint task force, the Biden-Sanders team put forward a 111-page comprehensive list of items they want to see expressed in the platform.
This platform is then voted on by the delegates to be accepted and made official. What can be great about this process is that it is held in an open way for the public at the convention traditionally, and if there are areas of contention, debate can be held and delegates can work to help sort out differing ideas. In 2020, there is such a solid amount of unity on the final proposals that holding this meeting virtually will be a celebration of unity, whereas in 2016 there were a lot of proposals and issues that were being weighed out up until the day of the convention.
From CNN:
The document released Wednesday does not yet comprise the Democratic Party's platform. The recommendations were sent directly to Biden and to the Democratic National Committee's platform committee, which will draft the party's platform.
In a statement, Biden commended the task forces "for their service and helping build a bold, transformative platform for our party and for our country. And I am deeply grateful to Sen. Sanders for working together to unite our party, and deliver real, lasting change for generations to come."
The document and recommendations are sent on to the platform committee, which contains members from every state who will turn these documents into the finished platform of the Democratic Party.
On July 15, the platform committee met in a drafting format and broadcast their meeting online through a Youtube stream so that everyone can see how our party functions.
The Democratic Convention Rules Meeting
The highest body of rules for the Democratic Party comes from the meeting of the rules authored at the Democratic convention. Again, with every state having members, rules can be adopted that make technical or substantial changes to the rules of the party. Some rules are adopted that are minor, but others can have serious implications for our party.
It was the 2016 convention rules meeting that helped establish the grounds for future changes in super delegates and set up the creation of the Unity Commission. If you would like to look back, here are the 2016 proposals that went before the rules committee as an example.
Rules can be submitted by any member of the committee for consideration and each rule will receive a vote. In many cases, rules members will vote the wishes of the final nominee, but numerous proposals are universal and just require someone to have an idea or to suggest a rules change.
You should be involved
Too often I hear: “The party is a mystery! There’s no way to know what’s going on!” This year more than ever, the Democratic Party used our convention and the virtual environment to open the process up to more Americans to see how we build our platform and what our party stands for beyond elections. The party platform is out there to be read, but watching how we build our platform can help many get a better idea of the passion and purpose behind the process.
The rules of our party help guide the process that will govern our party for the next four years. These proposals can also be accessed through your state party. If you have questions about the proposals that face the party, feel free to ask.
Republican conventions and the process they continue celebrates exclusion—even in building their own party. Understanding how the Democratic Party does things differently gives you a better perspective on what you can do to make change.
Do you have a proposal you want to consider? A question? Feel free to ask below!