Progressives are working to take over local state Democratic Parties

[portlander23]

Sanders Supporters Gain Some Ground Against Hostile Democratic Party
Michael Sainato
Observer

... Shortly after the presidential election, Sanders activist Stacy Patel was elected Democratic Party chair in Brevard County of Florida. Several other Sanders supporters won Democratic Party committee positions. They capitalized on the area having a relatively weak Democratic Party establishment presence to assume power locally, and begin to influence the Florida Democratic Party.

In January, Sanders supporters are organizing to elect one of their own, Tina Podlodowski, to unseat current Washington Democratic Party chair Jaxon Ravens. Sanders supporters have gradually taken over local Democratic committee positions to provide a better reflection of the progressive values within the party, and rally enough votes to overthrow the establishment leadership in the state party.

In Nebraska, Sanders supporter Jane Kleeb won election to serve as the State’s Democratic Party chair in June, assuming the role officially this month. Sanders won the state comfortably in the Democratic primaries, and the state party’s appointments have reflected his popularity, with 70 percent identifying as Sanders supporters.

Hawaii experienced a similar coup, with pro-Sanders Tim Vanderveer winning the position as the state’s party chair shortly after Sanders trounced Clinton in the March primary caucuses.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. They can't have NJ

And that's that.

[SaschaHM]

2. Nebraska is an interesting example in that he won the caucus, yet lost the primary.

Saying that the party there will accurately reflect the will of democratic voters there is laughable given the fact that it's makeup was determine by a caucus when a higher turnout primary produced different results. Not to mention that occurred in Washington as well.

[LisaM]

5. Exactly - I don't know why they are doing this in Washington, where we are strong.

The caucuses were very, very contentious and a lot of Clinton supporters just didn't show because they didn't want to be bullied. Turnout was also very low. A primary was held later on, which Clinton won (with twice the turnout). And, the person they are running, Tina Podlodowski, just lost an election herself.

I'm not saying that the local parties don't need to be stronger, but I don't like this knee-jerk reaction.

[SaschaHM]

9. It's not so much of a knee-jerk reaction as it is a failure of democracy.

The low turnout caucuses determined the make up of state delegations instead of the higher turnout primaries. Hence, the very effective Washington State Democratic Party is being dismantled by a group that doesn't fully represent the will of democratic voters that don't have 2-3 hours to spare in a contentious room. It will be very interesting to see whether this new bunch, for all of their "We're for the working people. No TPP or Trade" gets rid of the caucus in favor of the primary that actually favors working people who might not have the time after work to argue for 3 hours. I also wonder how anti-trade they are going to be, even though Washington is one of the most trade dependent states.

[LisaM]

14. It was 11 hours in some precincts....

not to mention their trying to change the results at every other level.

[progressoid]

16. Ok, so if, as you say, they didn't show up for the caucus because they didn't want to be bullied,

then perhaps its good that they are being replaced.

Voting in a primary is easy. You don't have to be bothered with the sausage making part of politics. But for boot-on-the-ground work, we need fighters.

[ananda]

3. All of OurRevolution candidates won here in Austin!

Our new city councilwoman has stated publicly that
she will refuse any orders to detain or harm immigrants.

[kcdoug1]

4. This is Great news

the old DNC must GO! it's way past time for new thinking and reaching out to and understanding the needs of EVERY VOTER!! THIS is how we make America, America again.

[NCTraveler]

8. What does this have to do with the DNC?

"THIS is how we make America, America again. "

Lets let Trump have his slogan. It's beyond stupid.

This group in Brevard was active and in place. There is nothing new here outside of the chair. A new chair who seems to be more passionate about being cool on facebook than anything else. Yeah!!! You will get your change.

[SharonClark]

21. Tell us! What are the needs of EVERY VOTER?

[NCTraveler]

6. Interested to see their accomplishments in Brevard in two years. nt.

[nycbos]

7. The problem with SOME of these people is..

... (notice I am saying some not all) is they have a very narrow view of what it means to be a Progressive. They seem to think if you don't support 100% of what they want you are a sellout and they won't show up.


The irony is that Bernie himself is not that way at all. He calls himself a socialist but he is really a very progressive pragmatist.


He work with real estate developers to revitalize Burlington. Also take the ACA as an example. It't not the single payer he wanted but millions have access to care now that they wouldn't have had otherwise.

He knows that is better than nothing. Also I think he sees the ACA as a step toward single payer.

[malaise]

10. It's the only way

from the bottom up

[alarimer]

11. Good. It's what is needed.

Get rid of the corporate shills.

[SharonClark]

19. "Corporate shills" at the local level?

You forgot to include 'oligarchy' and 'third way'.

[RedWedge]

12. Here's hoping they're willing to do the extremely boring procedural work.

A lot of party work is boring. Learning and following processes is boring. I've seen a lot of people get energized by one issue -- usually something they're against -- and they're discouraged by the processes that are in place to ensure a faction doesn't rise up out of nowhere to wreck something and run off. They get mad about "party insiders" who do understand the processes and can use them effectively. Change is hard and it takes time, if you're changing something within the system.

[SharonClark]

20. Ain't that the truth!

[H2O Man]

13. good.

Recommended.

[synergie]

15. How nice that Kushner's rag is giving you so much fodder

to help divide the party, Bernie. A little odd how the RW continue to push this narratives to try to make their dream of destroying the Democrats a reality by pumping up folks who have shown themselves to be hostile to Democrats in general.

Perhaps not so much with the RW sources, including ones run by Trump's new staff, due to violation of nepotism laws?

[JustAnotherGen]

17. This is a Trump family source?

Yikes!

[synergie]

18. Ivanka's husband's paper, which hasn't exactly been credible.

[MineralMan]

22. That is exactly how you do it.

Good for them. And let others do the same across the country. The Democratic Party represents the people who become involved in it. Large numbers are not even needed, since local party organization are invariably small. Those local organizations are who elect people for the organizations at higher levels.

If you want the Democratic Party to change, it's up to you to change it by showing up and becoming the Party. I've been writing about that here on DU for years now. I hope people will begin listening to what people have suggested. Taking over the Democratic Party is simple. Just show up in numbers at every local Party Organization meeting.