Idea for Georgia Dems: Have our county Central Committees elected by voters in the General Primary, like California’s Dems.
Because having central committee members nominate and select other members is not working out.
In fact, if you are on a central committee or have been recently elected to a central committee through Party District Caucus, 2017 is your chance to change your committee election method to the 2018 General Primary. This is provided for in Article 7, Section 4 of the DPG Bylaws.
OK, so as pointed out to me by Robbin Shipp, there have been at least 7 DNC chairs who also concurrently served as elected officials:
Here are also some of the RNC’s chairs-cum-electeds:
This win by Nancy Pelosi is immediately being spun in social media as every ugly stereotype of 2016’s elected Democrats: “Coastal”, “elitist”, “aging”, “out of touch with Middle America”, “Dems will keep losing”, “thanks for another 4 years of Trump”, “identity politics”, etc. Journalists and pundits are hedging toward this narrative, from Chris Cilizza to Krystal Ball to Matt Drudge.
Tim Ryan came in as a challenger, but I don’t think he promoted himself enough to the rank-and-file caucus members. His optics turned off quite a few politicos seeing him as a “working class white man is best to fix it” arrogant type. His interview with Lawrence O’Donnell may have strengthened that perception.
But this is also a flashpoint. A lot of people wanted a working class-descended white man from the “flyover” Rust Belt to lead the party in the House in order to shunt “identity politics” and give succor to Middle America’s Trump voters in the short term. They *really* wanted this, if at least for the political gratification of a progressive leadership in one’s likeness.
But, for better or worse, they aren’t elected Democrats.
FUN FACTOID: The 115th Congress will also be the second time that Nancy Pelosi has served as House Minority Leader under a Republican presidency. She served as Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007 under George Bush’s presidency, then became Speaker after leading the Dems to a majority.
For over 13 years and counting, Pelosi still remains the highest-ranking elected female politician in U.S. history. She was the first and only female Speaker, first and only female House Leader of a major party, and the first and only female whip of a major party in the House (2002-2003).
The 115th Congress will also remain slim and lopsided in women’s representation: the number of women in the House will drop by 1 member to 83/435 (20% of the body, compared to 50% of the U.S. population), while the Senate’s share of women will go up by 1 to a record 21/100.
For those who are interested: Under the 2016 DNC Rules Committee’s reform package, a 21-member unity commission, chaired by Clinton supporter Jennifer O’Malley Dillon and vice-chaired by Sanders supporter Larry Cohen, is to be appointed “no later than 60 days” after the 2016 general election. The commission would report by January 1, 2018, and its recommendations will be voted on at the next Democratic National Committee meeting, well before the beginning of the 2020 Democratic primaries.
The commission is to consider a mix of Clinton and Sanders ideas, including:
The declarations of the death of the Democratic Party seem pretty premature.
I know that many people demand the death of this party. Those who lost the election, those who backed the party’s candidate, and those who ran the party’s fundraising apparatus during this process have been roundly blamed and shamed for their loss.
But there is no viable alternative for the bulk of the Democratic Party’s membership at the present time. The Greens consider at least half of the Democratic Party to be too “neoliberal” for their liking. The same demographic is considered much too “socialist” for the Libertarians’ liking. The same goes even more so for the Constitution Party. So existing second-tier political parties are not viable.
The Green Party at the national level has marked much of their political culture with both an adherence to environmentalism and historically-marginalized identity politics (in the true sense of the word) as well as a strong, visceral hatred for the “corporatist” Democratic Party and its candidates. The Green Party also did not welcome those in their own party who supported Bernie Sanders over Jill Stein, even going so far as to publicly undermine Sanders supporters and promote Stein at Sanders’ expense. This hatred for Democrats makes resources and recruitment scarce for the Green Party, but it gives a veneer of “integrity” to their party.
But what would the Berniecrat Party – the party of the bluebird – adopt as their party culture? What would be the topic which would color the existence of Berniecrat activists?
The Greens have environmentalism and socialism. The Libertarians have “liberty” and the free market. The Constitutionists have dominionism. What hobby horse do the Berniecrats have?
It seems as if Berniecrats, isolating as they are to the Clinton supporters who voted for her in the primary, would struggle to form their own national party culture separate from existing center-left parties like the Democrats, Greens and the even-smaller Socialist Alternative.
Even the Democratic Socialists of America – a very pro-Bernie outfit – doesn’t run candidates as a party, but operates as a non-profit organization. The DSA likely don’t have the structure or the motivation to organize as a political party, and I notice that the organization’s chapters are largely based in bigger cities and college campuses.
Speaking of bigger cities, I think being in an urban or rural area also counts greatly on the viability of a left-wing third party. I can imagine that the Greens’ deep-green environmentalist image would help in some rural areas if promoted more effectively, even if deep-green environmentalism is divisive in regions where the extraction of natural resources for profit is of great economic importance.
But you’ll hardly find an open socialist in the sticks. You won’t find a fan of Marx and Castro in the sticks. And enough of the population lives outside of metropolitan areas to live in the rural spaces privileged by mechanisms like the Electoral College.
So Berniecrats who want the death of the Democratic Party need to offer a sustainable alternative which transcends divides like urban/rural, race/class, minority/majority, etc. and give a strong, enduring reason for why it is viable to vote for Bernicrats.
I should clarify an earlier post:
Why should I help try to bring back to the progressive movement the same “White Working Class” demographic who voted to fuck over their own “lazy” unions?
Wisconsin and Michigan are both majority White Working Class. Black people are leaving Detroit because of the many ills which have befallen that metropolis, so Michigan is becoming even more White Working Class than it has been since before the Great Migration of the early 20th century.
Both states’ GOP leaderships have made it a goal to get more on a parity with Texas and other Southern “miracles” which have ditched state income tax and are further ahead at being “at-will” in their employment security.
And yet you want to bring this demographic back in from the conservative cold.
Do they even want to be saved?
This is irrational voting behavior. This is an ungrateful, suicidal demographic which is inflicting pain upon itself. The White Working Class of today would make the likes of Wellstone and La Follette spin in their graves.
This is also a fool’s errand to try to win back with class consciousness.
I just hope that you’re only asking White people to do this work. Don’t ask Black and Brown people to do this. We are already toxic to the White Working Class in the Midwest. Milwaukee’s own Black sheriff is a bloviating, trigger-happy Uncle Tom with an armed force at his disposal, so he’ll be the last to leave.
Maybe the White Working Class will come back to the Progressive Movement and the labor unions after all the Black people leave Milwaukee and Detroit. Maybe they’ll come back when Wisconsin and Michigan are both 99.9% Euro-American and the “swart gevaar” is ancient history.
Don’t ask me to do this. I am Black, and I will not be listened to.
#WhiteWorkingClass #WhiteFolkWork #ClassConsciousness #racism #ClassWarfare #1u #p2 #FeelTheBern
If you’re going to run for a legislative office here in GA as a Democrat, you better get your communications straight. In fact, DON’T DO YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN WEBSITE, as you’ll probably screw it up anyway. Call/txt me if you need a comms person.
Angela Pendley ran this year as a Democrat for Lynn Westmoreland’s old seat GA-3, which includes northwestern Muscogee.
Her website, http://apendley4house.com is a damn joke, likely self-created on Wix. Her “About” page proudly proclaims thus:
“Angela Pendley does not use social media such as Facebook, twitter, or instagram.
Angela Pendley communicate with people in person, on the phone, through email, through United States Postal service, and through text messaging.
Supporters of the campaign are encouraged to share Angela Pendley’s message with friends, even if they are republicans who will vote as independents in November.”
Like, what the hell is this? If you’re not where the people and their eyeballs are, you’re ruling yourself out. You’re also doing damage to other progressives and liberals who want to run for that seat after you fail so needlessly.
No wonder she was beat by Drew Ferguson 68%-32%. She had it coming. Her communications looked like absolute “trash can juice”, to quote Nick Decker.
Same with Ben Anderson. Lost 64-35 to Josh McKoon. No website, just a Facebook page Anderson for Georgia.
Democrats out here in the country areas don’t know what they’re doing. Ugh.
Don’t be Angela Pendley 2016. Don’t screw up 2018. Call/txt me. #gapol
Last night, I wrote some posts attacking the political viability of those who will be 50 years old or more in 2020.
I wrote these posts in anger against the “Democratic establishment” which is being excoriated as “neoliberal” and “elitist” for their screw-up of this and past election cycles, the Cold War-tinged sentiments which prevent this party from fighting for single-payer healthcare, and the incumbent party elders who fail the party and refuse to change their ways.
Since Super Tuesday, I have read many posts from my Facebook friends which have consistently ripped the Democratic establishment for “neoliberal” or pro-corporation overtures in their policy, especially in their endorsement of Hillary over Bernie. Many of these included overt wishes for the older generations of Democrats, especially those who endorsed Hillary, to “die off.”
I took precisely these posts to heart in the last two posts.
In the process, I ran over all 50+ year olds by advocating for political job discrimination against them. Kimberlyn called me out for ageism in the comments, and emphasized that it is unjust to advocate discrimination against older-aged people while I advocate for civil rights for LGBT people.
I admit that my posts were ageist, unjust and wrong-headed. I’m also starting to realize that those posts wishing for the older Dems to “die off” came from a place of ignorant, deep-seated hatred, and I should have been wiser to not even read those posts. I apologize and I’ve hidden both posts from my timeline.
I remain angry against everyone else mentioned, no matter their age.
Those who wish to blow up the Democratic Party, or replace it with another party, now have a chance to make good on their wish over the next two years.
Are you below 50 years of age?
Go ahead.
This party is not progressive enough for many, not liberal enough for many, is too cozy with corporations and too cold to unions, is too prone to utilizing warfare to promote this country’s interests, and many wish death to the very infrastructure of this oldest organization of its kind in the United States.
Go ahead.
If the Green Party is what you feel to be the natural successor and replacement to the Democratic Party, join it and build it up into a political machine capable of running offices across this country. Hopefully, you can make more Gayle McLaughlins and less Jill Steins.
Go ahead.
Now is your time to build something better.
You’re gonna have to build similar networks with voters as the Democrats have, but with a different message, status quo and even culture within those networks.
You’re gonna have to organize county by county by county, and kiss some ass alongside.
You’re gonna have to practice what you demand about partisan openness to independent radicals and independent moderates.
You’re gonna have to practice what you demand about enforcing term limits, clearing the most obstinate people from leadership, and bringing the younger guns into power.
Or, if the Greens aren’t your speed, you’re gonna have to lead a takeover of your local Democratic Party. And maybe rename it to, I dunno, “Freedom Democratic Party” a la #FannieLouHamer? Do that here in GA.
Look at your by-laws and take advantage of them. Show up to the central committee meetings. Make it a long-term goal to take it over. Withstand the hours of yelling. Get your similarly-aged friends to come.
But go ahead. Take it over.
But when you start, don’t stop for anything.
One of your goals is to amend the bylaws. Another is to instill specific and broad goals for governance.
Do it.
