Remaking the party from the ground up by supporting local candidates.

[madfloridian]

(I edited the subject line. Though I frankly think the party does need rebuilding, I offended or confused some. I hope this is better?)

I think by the 2006 elections their side will have made such a mess that we can start getting some seats back.

I am only now beginning to fully grasp the importance of what Dean wants DFA to do. It is not to do it like the DSCC and the DCCC, to fund and support only viable canidates. It is to give capable people a fighting chance to run, when previously they would never have had funding or support.

He does not mean to go out and just fund everyone, but in some races like Richard Morrison against DeLay and Dana Rasch, the young marine against Pat Patterson in Florida....you will start the fight.

Here is part of an email from Dana tonight.
SNIP..."we organized a strong grass-roots movement that the citizens of Volusia County had not seen since the days of our beloved Rep. Joyce Cusack. Perhaps our most impressive accomplishment was that we knocked on over 40,000 doors in the district! Over 40,000 doors! With all of our effort and sacrifice, it appeared we were on our way to securing victory. Unfortunately, in the end we came up short in the voter tally. But we should not feel bad or ashamad, we should be proud of everything we accomplished. We made a difference. Just ask my opponent or the Republican party of Florida who spent a combined half a million dollars to beat us! Or ask Mrs. Anne Patterson, who at one point was so concerned about her husband losing her job as State Representative, she went on TV to tell people to vote no on "young" Dana Rasch (that's my personal favorite!). And in the end, even with them out spending us $5 to $1 and running a personal smear campaign in the final days, we won 46 percent of the vote! I am proud of that and you should be too....."

I remember that DCCC would not help Morrison at all, not sure they ever did. Kos and DFA did. My God, look at the race that man ran! He did more harm to Tom Delay then anyone ever done. In his last email he says he is not done yet.

This is what it is about. We may have to take more local offices back before we get the White House back.

The Dean Dozen and Kos Dozen have made a huge difference even if they did NOT win. They knocked on doors and got people enthused again. And they are enthusiastic fighters. Look at the David Van Os message that was posted here today. Powerful.

[mstrsplinter326]

1. You're right and so much more needs to be done

we need a new platform - that's what HFC is working on.

www.hoosiersforchange.org

[Quetzal]

2. I totally endorse this idea

People are seriously talking about who should be our nominee in 2008 as if we are in a posistion to win it! Heck, we aren't even in a posistion to gain any seats in the US House!!!

We can worry about who our nominee is in 2008 when the year comes around - Let's just focus on the now.

[dave502d]

3. 4 more years of b*. is got to help our party, you would think.n/t

[mikehiggins]

4. Rebuilding the Democratic Party? Why?

Abandon it to the vacillators and spineless pros that control it up to this very moment.

The conservatives focused on one thing over the course of decades, and even then have been hijacked by the Christian Taliban and BushCo. We are faced with an intransigent enemy in George Bush and the time we waste fighting Terry M and the old boy network to reform the Dems is time we waste to no avail.

A new party is needed, one with a narrow focus on ideas that are clearly understandeable by the average voter and which speak directly to his or her life. Expecting a hodge-podge collective of lefties and newbies and has-been former insiders to bring about the new millenium is the same fantasy that inspires much hilarity on the part of the thugs now wallowing in power.

If re-re-reforming the Democratic Party is the best we can come up with we're in a lot more trouble than anyone suspects.

[madfloridian]

5. Did you read my post at all?

Oh, never mind. You did not seem to get a clue about what I meant.

[sangh0]

7. There will always be people

to counsel giving up.

Don't listen to them

[bemildred]

9. Why? It is always more trouble to start over.

New parties get kicked in the nuts and marginalized.

[madfloridian]

11. He does not say new party, I did not say new party.

Read about the Christian Coalition, he is basing DFA on it. Starting by electing local people, not necessarily high level.
He believes politics is local, and that is how he is preceding. He is now starting a new party. I don't think I said that.

Though I seem to be saying everything in a confusing manner tonight.

Besides, how welcome do you really believe he is or we are in the party right now? He is just planning to keep DFA separate form DNC and DLC. Build it up in numbers and support candiates, have a base.

[w13rd0]

6. You are absolutely right...

...and it's worth noting that Morrison did more harm to Delay than most of Delays OPPOSITION in office across the aisle has done to him. A worthy investment. Delay had to actually appear at a debate, and contracted (duh, duh, duh!) TRIAL LAWYERS to try and sue the threats.

[pacalo]

8. Those who believe the Democratic Party needs to be rebuilt must

also believe that this election was legitimate. The problems with this election were:

1 - electronic voting machines without paper trails

2 - corrupt state officials

3 - George W. Bush's corruption

I like what the Democratic Party stands for & I believe the record numbers of voters who voted in this election do, too. The vote manipulation results may say otherwise, but I know the people were hungry for a new administration. EVERYONE thought Kerry was going to win.

[scarletwoman]

12. It's not an either/or thing.

The Dem party DOES need to evolve. That's true whether or not there was vote fraud. It's been true for a long time.

I submit that both things can be true at the same time: Our voting system has been seriously compromised, AND the Dem party needs a shakeup.

sw

[madfloridian]

16. I am talking about *local* candidates.

:hi:

I am talking about method. I am talking about getting grassroots candidates in school boards and city commissions.

[pacalo]

18. My bad! I also see Scarletwoman's point, too. :)

[PATRICK]

10. You mean the national org.

The deanies WERE part of the ground this time in many many places alongside labor and other bases groups. What we need is a top purge and philosophy-chucking of the DLC irrational self-defeating variety. Disemboweling new and even old working political wisdom while castrating identity on stands and issues(as piss ass weak as the lying GOP "values") and develop skills without losing balls. And backing up our hopes all the way.

Getting into a dialectic over liberal and conservative, or this and that would be yet another round table circular firing squad. Winning means making elections fair, reformed and exciting and fully competitive. It means striking hard into the national forums to force fairness. It means tricking the crooks, not tricking the people. It means practical things the other side can't do, not pragmatic muffling of great candidates. It means Dean internet and fundraising times 10.

MacAuliffe's letter denotes blindness, lack of political acumen, and people one usually frags in a war like this. I bet their last act of futility would be to engage in a handwringing political philosophy discussion in front of bored focus groups.

I would hope finally the "leaders" would recognize the obvious, traditional need to step down after their performance results(even if by some miracle we "won"). This is not the time to discuss OR take heads, but they are sorely tempting with dumb, infuriating letters like the one they just sent.

Dean IS the man to lead this newness with a caveat that he faltered because he didn't get the old skills of those he opposed. We have a lot of old and new skills to coordinate. A lot of hatchets to bury- in the GOP! A serious lot of invested organization and new faces to put forward.

[madfloridian]

14. Yes, I mean the national party. I thought I was clear, will try to edit.

He wants to build it in the mold of the Christian Coalition, have local people run the campaigns.

[Bleacher Creature]

13. My answer: Bryan Flannery

Anyone know who that is? He ran for Ohio Secretary of State in 2002 as a Democrat and lost to Kenneth Blackwell.

Had we known then what we know now, we may have had someone in that position who may have: (1) Put enough voting machines in areas with traditional Democratic voters (anyone hear of 6 hour lines in GOP areas? I thought not.); (2) Not fought for the right of GOP thugs to challenge voters; and (3) Pushed a little harder for some sort of paper trail.

It's all well and good to focus on the big prizes, but we need to start putting the effort into winning the lower level positions that make our lives easier.

[madfloridian]

15. Yes, that is how you get the country back in Democratic hands.

Thanks for understanding. I have confused folks a lot tonight.
:hi:

[Blue_State_Elitist]

17. I really wish this was a possibility

but both the dems and repukes have deals worked out as to who they will fund. The dems won't spend any money to defeat many local repukes, and ,up until Rove, the repukes acted the same way.

I agree with your strategy, but it's really a matter of whether the DNC will get tough.

[madfloridian]

19. NOT the DNC...using his group Democracy for America. DFA

www.democracyforamerica.com
www.blogforamerica.com

He started it in March of this year, has raised very large sums for candidates, keeps a skeletal staff and blog, and still about half a million members. More coming back now, and new ones.

The senate and house campaign committees only fund candidates who are likely to win the larger races. Dean plans for DFA to fund even small local races in cities. He rallied with the guy who beat our Teresa LePore in Palm Beach County...the butterfly ballot lady.

He has DFA under the party auspices, but connected to DNC.