Dear Democratic Party (a communications strategy)

[planetc]

Dear Democratic Party:

Today is April 15, 2005. I appear to have gotten my message through to one of your telemarketers last night, the third one to have called me in the last two weeks. Your telemarketer called asking for a contribution because I have made contributions to the Democratic party in the past, to Senator Clinton, to Senator Kerry's campaign, to the DSCC, and to a few sympathetic 527's. They were not large contributions, but during 2004 I contributed more money to political campaigns than in any previous year of my life.

My message to the telemarketers is simple: you may leave me on your call-list, but I am sending no money until I KNOW WHAT YOUR PLAN IS.

I am also putting my thoughts on further contributions to the Democratic Party into written form, casting them upon the roiling waters of the world wide web, and hoping that some leader of the Democratic Party will hear and will understand.

So: I will not be sending any more money until you tell me WHAT YOUR PLAN IS. You keep telling me about how crucial it is to elect five new Democratic Representatives in 2006, how much we need to regain control of the Senate, how VERY much we need to get more Democrats elected.

To you I say: We GOT the president elected in 2004, and an undetermined number of representatives and senators. As you will have noticed, Mr. Kerry was not sworn in to the office of president, and Mr. Daschle is at home in South Dakota. Why is this, I ask myself? The answer is clear to me: American elections are broken. We can vote Democratic all we want, and as many Republicans will win as Karl Rove has decided will win. THE ELECTIONS ARE BROKEN. We are no longer a democracy, or a republic. We are a very thinly disguised plutocracy. Elections only work in a democracy. This seems clear to me. Why isn't it clear to you?

Once again: with the help of my money and millions of other citizens' money, and time, and heart, and spirit, WE WON. And yet, Mr. Bush was once again sworn in as president.

And you want me to send you more money. You tell me that it's important that we fix the election system to be sure our elections are fair and accurate. You want me to believe that a government three out of three of whose branches are now controlled by the Current Leaders of the Republican Party (hereinafter CLRP) is going to pass legislation adequate to assuring that our elections will be fair? Of you I ask: Do you also believe in the Tooth Fairy?

Of you I ask: have you been reading the same newspapers that I have since 2000? Since 1992? The CLRP have taken the country to war on false pretenses, they have committed treason in outing Valerie Plame for political reasons, they have started to dismantle the regulatory safeguards of the country, they have made America an international scofflaw, and a known state torturer, they have violated the separation of powers in the Schiavo case, and even as we speak, Mr. Delay and Mr. Cornyn are out there encouraging violence against American judges who are doing their jobs. These people will give up power when it's wrenched from their cold, politically dead hands, and not before.

Of you I ask: What will it take to convince you that we need a new election? We need one. I am convinced of this; millions of my fellow Americans are convinced of this. We cannot indulge in business as usual; there is no traditional constitutional remedy for the situation we find ourselves in. There WAS a constitutional remedy in challenging the electors from Ohio, but that opportunity was wasted when several prominent Democrats stood there and insisted that the abuses in Ohio would of course not change the outcome of the election. Yes, the abuses in Ohio would have changed the outcome of the election. The abuses in Florida and New Mexico and the fraudulent vote counts in 8 or 10 other states WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION. The constitutional remedy failed, and we need to invent a new strategy.

I'm not a political person, but even I can imagine a few ways to do what has to be done: you can stop passing any laws; you can threaten to remove legitimacy from the lawmaking process by going on strike. You can get the sane patriotic Republicans on our side in this effort. (I introduced the term CLRP above to distinguish that gang from the many Republicans who are probably as horrified as we are by what's going on.) John Conyers will help you formulate your arguments. You can get millions of Americans out into the street to demonstrate.

Millions of people are ready to demonstrate. We're ready to work and send money and spend time and heart again. But not until we know what your plan is. We need someone, or some organization, to tell us when to let our voices be heard. We need a little leadership. If you won't supply it, someone else will.

Dear Democratic party: Talk To Us!

Very sincerely yours,

An almost terminally frustrated registered Democrat