"Dean's List": A Look at the 50-State Strategy
Posted by on July 17, 2006 at 04:36 PM
US News and World Report on The 50-State Strategy:
Here's what the front line of Howard Dean's revolution looks like: two dozen senior citizens seated inside this gated community's clubhouse listening intently as operatives from the state Democratic Party pitch them on becoming precinct captains. A rep named Jay Parmley approaches an oversize easel and flips to a page showing John Kerry's share of the 2004 presidential vote here in Hancock County. "28%" is scrawled in magic marker. "Kind of scary," Parmley says.
But he flips the page to show former Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove's share of the vote here in his unsuccessful 2003 re-election bid: "43%." The discrepancy, Parmley explains, shows that the better Mississippians know a Democrat, the more likely they are to vote for him. Which is why he's here recruiting precinct captains. If Democrats can define themselves on a "neighbor to neighbor" basis, Parmley says, their candidates can win again, even here, in a red county in a red state.
If that doesn't sound revolutionary, consider this: Mississippi's Democratic Party hasn't trained precinct captains for more than a decade. Until recently, the state party consisted of a single full-time staffer. In 2004, the Democratic National Committee invested so little here that activists shelled out thousands of their own dollars to print up Kerry yard signs. That all changed last summer, when newly elected DNC Chairman Howard Dean began rolling out his "50-State Strategy," a multimillion-dollar program to rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up. Over the past year, the DNC has hired and trained four staffers for virtually every state party in the nation--nearly 200 workers in all--to be field organizers, press secretaries, and technology specialists, even in places where the party hasn't been competitive for decades. "It's a huge shift," Dean tells U.S. News. "Since 1968, campaigns have been about TV and candidates, which works for 10 months out of the four-year cycle. With party structure on the ground, you campaign for four years."
Read the full article...
Consider this: Number of organizers trained: 223 and counting.
Those organizers then go onto train leaders in their communities, and those leaders turn around and train volunteers. Then what you have is a roster of activists ready get Democrats elected.
Building a strong ground game is not easy, and not a short-term project. It takes dedication, and it takes persistence. A lot of the time you ask people to volunteer and they look at you as if you have two heads. But the rest of the time you find Democrats who, like you, want to see a change. You find Democrats who, like you, want to make that change happen.
Once you find them, and train them, you give them the tools they need to be successful: Access to materials, access to state leadership, access to a list of their neighbors to contact. Every time we take one of these steps we are one step closer to a Democratic majority, not just in Congress, but at every level of government.
Like Governor Dean has said, it's hard work and we have to get up and be smarter, tougher and more persistent every single day. But that is what you see happening across the country with the 50-State Strategy.
You see states like Nebraska and Wyoming making huge inroads to turning their "red" counties "blue". You see successes like those we had in 2005 in New Jersey and Virginia. And you see energy, passion and purpose in Democrats who are working together to make these things possible.
Our next big step together, The Democratic Reunion is a national organizing day where Democrats from sea to shining sea will get together and to kick-off the 100 Days before the Midterm Elections!
Find an event or plan your own!
Comments (27) «
Great posts, Tracy. It's nice to know what's going on around the country. Thanks for taking the time to post them.
Good intentions, but the task of switching republicans to vote democratic may be tough. The work of Drew Westen at Emory University argues that partisanship may be so calcified into brains that it is almost genetic. And also that facts are ignored when they challenge previouly held assumptions.
//news.emory.edu/Releases/PoliticalBrain1138113163.html
Thanks for the encouraging post, Tracy. We all need to be grateful for the stick-to-it-iveness and courage of those die hard Dems in the red states.
They deserve our help and support.
That story made me want to break down and finally commit to buying a democracy bond.
......................................................................................
.. . . . . . . . . NE 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT . . . . . . . ..
.. . . . . . . . . . MAXINE MOUL FOR CONGRESS . . . . . . . . . ..
......................................................................................
......................................................................................
.. . . . . . . . .NE 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. . . . . . . . ..
.. . . . . . . .JAMES DENNIS ESCH FOR CONGRESS . . . . . . . ..
......................................................................................
......................................................................................
. . . . . . . . . NE 3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . SCOTT KLEEB FOR CONGRESS . . . . . . . . . . .
......................................................................................
Here's a strategy: FIGHT ELECTION FRAUD
I have formed a myspace group to create a public awareness campaign about America's broken election system. PRESERVE OUR DEMOCRACY (POD, yes, that is right, we are the POD people, lol!)
Group URL: http://groups.myspace.com/podvotingrights
The group is about a month old. I have a canidate for Maine State Senator & a democratic nomimee for Congress from a Congressional district in Ohio that have already joined! My hope is to translate internet activism into on-the-ground community education and advocacy. So, if any of you are interested, please consider joining. I am trying to structure the group that each member can perform on simple action a week to address this issue. We are doing a Letter to the Editor campaign right now, and next week we will be checking in with our districts to find out our localities voting methods, machines, security protocol.
I am dead serious about this effort, and I need committed people to join the group to make it work.
Preserve Our Democracy Group Goals:
1. Develop a education program for grass-roots volunteers to present to their communities on the current state of the American election system. Specifically, this will cover the problems with unsecured, hackable voting machines, deliberate attempts by certain groups and individuals to disenfranchise minority voters, Republican refusal to allow election reform legislation come to the floor, etc...
2. Develop a network of volunteers to:
Meet with democratic and progressive community leaders to join our cause. Work with leaders to give exposure to our cause and develop solutions for creating secure elections.
Present the program to communities nationwide, and get the American public active in reclaiming a transparent, verifiable, and accessible voting system.
3. Monitor the 2006 mid-term elections for occurences of vote tampering, deliberate voter disenfranchisement attempts, voting machine malfunction reports,vote suppression, and any other related incidents that could alter the accuracy and fair representaions of the People's will.
This group will require people who are willing to work together to brain-storm, problem-solve, resource, and network on the local, state, and national levels. We need volunteers from all fifty states. I am looking for a state leader who recruit county and city leaders.
If you are interested, you can join up at the link above. We would love to have you!
Thanks
Debbie
A Mental Exercise (Off-Topic)
Imagine that you were a progressive American, and hated the Bush/Cheney administration for all the usual reasons: their cronyism with Big Oil, their tax cuts for the rich, the continuous erosion of civil liberties, and their lies, lies, lies....
But what if, in spite of this, it was common belief, for liberals and conservatives alike, that Sadaam Hussein actually HAD developed Weapons of Mass Destruction, was connected to Al Qaeda, and was an imminent threat to us; therefore, our invasion/occupation of Iraq was completely justified?
Imagine that it was such a "given" that the administration and the media were telling us all we needed to know that we steadfastly went along with their masquerade? And if we ran across bits of information that contradicted the official story, we would ignore it, much as a conservative will ignore the facts that a liberal gives them because they conflict with their established world view.
In such a scenario, the pressure to believe the conventional wisdom would be so intense that few would have the courage to express their doubts publicly ... to their friends, family, and fellow liberals. And those occasional musings from people who've stumbled on news stories or websites or books that doubted the official Bush story would be denounced as lies and crackpot theories.
Thankfully, we know that the war was unjustified and was based on lies. But think for a minute.... are there any other assumptions that we as Americans from all over the political spectrum hold? Beliefs about the world that we live in that might actually have been manipulated by the Bush/Cheney administration and the media? Are there any tidbits of information that we have run across in the last few years that just don't quite stack up, but we ignore because they contradict our established beliefs? Is there anything that a few daring souls are starting to espouse, only to be shot down, by the likes of both Kos AND Hannity?
Perhaps it's time to start questioning some of the beliefs that we hold about our world since Bush entered office and the reason he has been able to remain President in spite of our efforts. If enough of us start to question our assumptions, as I recently did, we might start noticing, and even welcoming, new perspectives about the current administration. Maybe we can start talking to our friends and fellow progressives about it rather than worrying about what they will think of us if we discuss such matters.
Our leaders are far worse than most of us can admit to ourselves, and everything we need to know is out there, just slightly hidden, if we look hard enough. That's all I'm saying for now.
Good intentions, but the task of switching republicans to vote democratic may be tough
Not as tough as you may think. Many of those misguided people, who bought the line that Democrats will Tax the hell out of them, are now saying to me" Well find a good candidate and I will vote for them". They see this administration for what it is. And they do not like what they see.
On the other side, I think that even if we do not have bright and shining candidates, they just plain will not go to the polls ! It will be a feeling that they don't like either choice.
So in my mind, the secret is going to be the GOTV for the Dems. The more we have flocking to the polls, the better chance they will vote for Democrats! They will be looking for Change!
Start Now! Go to your Voter Registratar at Town Hall. Get a stack of your State Registration cards. see if you can obtain a list of all the various town or county Registrars offices to carry with you also.
Whenever you run into people you ask if they are registered. You ask if they have a 17 yr old who will be eligible to vote in November. You ask if they recently moved, did they remember yet to change their registration to their new district.
I went through all of mine, and highlighted the necessary areas. I fill in the mailing address on the front, once I know which town they are in. I even throw a stamp on them.
If every single one of us, can make sure that even 4-5 people are registered and encouraged to go and vote, we have this thing in the bag.
Screw Rahm he's a McAuliffe,DLC ass kisser who dosen't give a dam about winning. I trust what Dean is doing with the 50 state strategy and i believe the bloggers wil lead us to success.
Screw Rahm he's a McAuliffe,DLC ass kisser who dosen't give a dam about winning. I trust what Dean is doing with the 50 state strategy and i believe the bloggers will lead us to success.
God is on our side. " If he be for us who can be against us."
God will award all who have worked with abundance
of Blessings in this life and in the life to come.
I live in mostly forgotten NJ-3 and we are fighting like mad against a GOP incumbent who's a Bush lapdog.
I agree with Dean's 50 state stragety because it doesn't conceed elections deemed too challenging.
hard to believe the Democratic Establishment can't seem to notice us, in spite of the fact that Kerry carried this district in '04.
It's depressing living in a "stepchild" district..
jay
P.S. RICH SEXTON FOR CONGRESS IN NJ-3!
I was raised in a union democratic home in NE Ohio. I have become disenchanted with our 2 party system because of the bickering which Washington has become in the last 20 years. It no longer accomplishes what is best for the citizens of this country but what is best for the parties. There are easy ways to accomplish political reform without using religion or patriotism as the catalyst. I have been asked to donate to your party and sit at a dinner with President Bush. Neither is of interest because the system is busted with mistrust, corruption, and stupidity. If anyone is interested in getting the country moving forward, sit down with normal citizens that don't have an agenda for themselves.
The goal of the Democrat Party should be to make the disenchanted everyday working people feel like they can come home to the party after being betrayed and disrespected by the Republicans.
The current goals of the Democrats needs to be:
Redefine what "centrist" means and not accept the Republican version, which is not true centrism.
Support the challengers of the Republi-lite sell-outs who are causing rot within the Democrat party and who are pushing the party toward the false Republican definition of "centrism".
Drop the extreme left limosine liberal single-voter-issues like gun control, and curb the extreme left tendency to dictate to the rest of us what they think we ought to think. Working people are getting enough of that type of attitude from the extreme right in the Republican party. Getting another version of the same thing from the Democrats only turns people against both parties.
Embrace the working people and realize that we are a. intelilgent, though many are currently misinformed.
b. have values that we hold to be important and should not be disrespected for them.
c. have the right to be properly informed by the media, and not be targeted for manipulation by political interests.
This November election is a critical one in the course of the United States, and the sanctity of our Constitution. The people of the United States should not be sold out to special interests by either party.
The very people who have become wise to the modus-operandi of misleading "in your face" politics and media largely “tune-out” the “media-chaos.” It’s these very people (a large yet overlooked block of voters) who are most likely swayed to the Democrats in time for elections.
It’s quite ironic to ask, “how can these people be reached?”
Political humor e.g., Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert can resonate with potential Democrats; as political-humor is a moderating (equalizing) force; rare examples of content staying ahead of conservative-leaning attacks. e.g., the Democrats and Moderates versions of "wedge issues."
The very contentious nature of politics and media triggers "knee-jerk reactions" or "base-instincts" who tend to be conservative-leaning voters; hence humor (a form of indirect messaging) can bring-out “closet Democrats!”
Air America Radio has also become savvy in swaying voters to the Democrats.
Slogans are a form of clever messaging that can stick in voter-memories; in all of their candor and humor.
Careful messaging not only affects voting decisions, but diminishes voter-apathy; and can even convey support for the "checks and balances" crucial for honest elections!
Here are examples of slogans (also appropriate for bumper stickers; that would be seen by many people this summer travel season):
* Votes but verified.
* Decision 2006: Vote for.......and without voting machines.
* News-spin, counter-spin, "counter-counter-spin"....just dizziness!
* Let's talk-about.........talking points.
* How would your dog vote?
* Political footballs fumble!
* “When the majority turns-out to vote, the votes turnout to help the majority!”
OR
* “When the majority votes; the votes help the majority!”
* "Voter confusion by design!"
* Who has time to be mislead?
* Who has time to be confused?
* "The blame game" is nothing more than "the lame-game!"
* Vote with your heart again for the first time.
* The more we watch the PHONY MESSAGING, the more the REAL MESSAGE is rejected!
* "With all of the mudslinging, nobody comes clean!"
* It’s their job to confuse us.
And the best for last:
* Do I need to be told how to Vote?
It's those very people who don't trust either party, and will vote for a third party if the Democrats don't make an honest and sincere attempt to attract them.
They certainly not going to fall for the phony "centrism" that's nothing but Republi-lites in drag.
The DNC needs to wake up and start addressing real central issues in a real manner.
In spite of what was said in the U.S. News and World Report article, I think that states such as Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee that are considered ultra-conservative Republican can succeed in electing Democrats to office at every level in most if not all red or red-leaning states right now.
I know that the article talked about how the Democrats have been having problems in recent years because of social issues such as, abortion, gay marriage, flag burning, gun control, etc., but in states such as Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee, there is a large percentage of African Americans and younger people under 35. And, I just can't believe that for those people issues such as these are the issues that they would make their final decisions on. They would most likely make their decisions on issues that the Democrats can seem strong on such as jobs, the economy, health care, education, immigration, civil rights and liberties, etc.
I think, but am not sure, that Mississippi is 50% black, South Carolina is about 1/3 black, and I also think that Tennessee has a large black population. The key is to get most of these people out to vote. I also think that most South Carolinians are under 50 years old, but I do not know the age make up of the other southern states, but they probably have a large younger population as well.
When the U.S. News and World Report article stated that there is such a rift between the southern voters and the National Democratic Party, they were obviously talking about the southerners who normally vote. (who are mostly white males) Most southerners haven't been voting, so how do the writer of that article know that, as he/she put it, and I'm paraphrasing, "With the National Democratic Party holding liberal views on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc., no matter how many precent captians they put on the ground in southern states, they still will not be able to get the votes of the majority of the voters."
I'll say it again, most southerners have not even been voting in any of the elections. So, I think that the writers of articles such as that one just want to have something to talk about. They seem to want to keep an argument going between people. I also think that since the ultra-conservative Republicans probably own magazines such as the U.S. New and World Report, they can probably get their writers to write whatever they want them to write.
I think that some ultra-conservative Republicans are getting scared of Dean's 50-state strategy.
And, as far as Rahm Emmanuel, I can't understand how some of these Democrats (such as him) can call themselves "moderate", and at the same time refuse to go into the "moderate" areas of so-called conservative states. I just don't understand it. Do they think that states such as South Carolina and Mississippi don't have any "moderates" in them at all.
I don't think Republi-lites are gutless or spineless. I think that that would be underestimating them.
The Republi-lite agenda seems to be the destruction of the true base of the Democrat party and the pandering to the uber-rich in order to gain money and power for themselves.
They seem to be quite willing to stand up for greed and lack of social justice, shoulder to shoulder with their Republican cronies.
To gain those ends they are willing to lie, cheat, and sabotage their own party. At least they calim that it's their own party.
How can you train people to be captains and ward workers if you do not have a nation policy. It seems to me that you are more worried about winning then pushing foreward a idea. How about say that the Democrats care about the constitution and would like to see the bill of rights defended rather than showing that we have a more inpowered staff.
Democratic candidates need to be forthright about the deceit, secrecy and repressive nature of Bush's administration, and the need to reaffirm our democratic heritage. They also should not shrink from criticizing our continued presence in Iraq, where we had no legitimate reason to go in the first place. Sure, Republicans will cry "traitor" etc. but people need to be reminded of the terrible cost of Iraq in lives and dollars - and we aren't even getting the cheap oil that Cheney et al assured us would pay for rebuilding Iraq!
CAPowers
The Democrat "leadership" should be listening to the American people not Faux...er, Fox news.
This phony "centrism " bull crap is turning people off in droves. Centrism does not mean going Republi-lite. True centrism is listening to the common everyday Americans who are getting the shaft right now and are in a recession (maybe even a depression) while the phony "economic indicators" are claiming the American economy is booming.
If the Democrats got back to their true base and ran a "Give 'em hell, Harry" campaign they could pull in a landslide of people who are fed up with being screwed by government and big business.
Voting against Republi-lites isn't "dividing the party". Getting the slime ball sell-outs out of office is getting rid of a very poisonous divisive factor that's killing the party.
Got the Dem Dean letter re the "2006 Matching Goft Victory Fund." Need to know the names of the "group of leading Democrates" committed to match donations up to the first $500 received by August 1, 2006. Who are these "stalwart supporters" ?
Thanks, Blue
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