Congratulations Delegates #SCDP

The Shelby County Democratic Party held the first part of their biennial convention Saturday, and with it comes a fresh crop of delegates to the Convention on March 28th.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve already picked a candidate for Executive Committee to represent your House District, or if you’ve settled on a candidate for Chair, you’ve got just under two weeks to decide. Take your time.

Yesterday, I published a post targeting participants in the caucuses. Those things apply to you too (you were a participant after all), but as an elected representative of a precinct (which is what you are), you have some additional responsibilities beyond just showing up in two weeks and voting.

See, one of the (many) things the Shelby County Democratic Party lacks is a robust party leadership structure. I’m not talking about the folks who will be on the Executive Committee (though they definitely need some help), but leadership all the way down to the precinct level.

Guess what…you are now part of that leadership structure. Congratulations!

If the past decade of watching and being involved in the party has taught me anything, its that the Executive Committee alone just can’t (and often won’t) get the party on the right track by themselves. They need help. And as an elected representative of your precinct, you’re just one of the many people that will be needed to do it.

You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. Here are some ideas to help stay involved, and get other people involved as well.

1. Meet the other delegates – Chances are you are backing one of the candidates for Chair. If you are, chances are you’ve either met with, or know who you’ll be supporting for the Executive Committee spots in your district. But if for some reason you don’t you’re going to be contacted by them, asking for your vote. Don’t commit without asking some questions, such as:

  • What specifically will you do as a member of the Executive Committee?
  • Don’t let them off easy. Demand specifics. If they can’t give them to you, then maybe they’re not the right horse to back no matter how many votes they’ve locked up.

  • Who are they supporting for Chair, and what is that candidate’s platform?
  • Like I said, most of the sorting with the usual suspects happened weeks, maybe even months ago. Make them say it out loud. Make them email it to you. If elected, they’ll be working for you. You need to make sure you have something tangible to hold them to.

  • How committed are they to developing and building a precinct based organization in their House district to strengthen the Party
  • If they look at you like you’re crazy, or seem confused by the question, they haven’t considered the fullness of their responsibility as a potential member of the Executive Committee and may not deserve your vote.

    2. Show Up – It happens every two years…a bunch of delegates don’t show up to the second round (which will be held March 28th), and that swings the election of Executive Committee members, and ultimately the Chair, one way or the other. Usually it doesn’t end up as an upset, but with several candidates vying for the Chair spot, it could this time. Regardless of whether the candidates for Executive Committee met your expectations in answering the questions above (and possibly others), if you don’t show up, you have forfeit your vote, and from my perspective, ill served the people who voted you in as a delegate. Don’t be that guy/gal.

    3. Stay Strong – Don’t get too disappointed if you want to be an Executive Committee member and don’t make it. There are only 29 spots for 14 districts. Chances are, you won’t make it. But if you stay involved, show up to meetings, and keep your constituents informed, there may be a spot for you either on a committee, or on the EC when/if someone resigns, or gets kicked for not showing up. It happens every term. Being there is the best way to ultimately get what you want.

    4. Learn Something – Anyone who thinks the work of the party is sexy doesn’t really know what the party is supposed to do. The main things are:

  • Raise money
  • Recruit/train/elect candidates/volunteers
  • Get more people involved
  • The party regularly fails at at least two of these each term. These things sound intuitive, but they’re not. Raising money is tricky. Training and recruiting candidates and volunteers requires a special skill set. Getting folks involved means there has to be something for them to do.

    I mentioned the training conference in Spring Hill in my last post, but if you can’t make it to that, there are plenty of other opportunities out there from all kinds of progressive groups like Democracy for America, Wellstone Action, and many more. Some have online training options. No matter how much you think you know, you can always benefit from learning something new.

    5. Do Something – Another thing to think about…you don’t have to wait for the party to get it together to do something. You can start today.

    Maybe its something simple like registering voters. That’s easy. Just print out copies of this form, then get some friends, and some pens and clipboards, and set up a registration drive. Here are some good guidelines for doing a voter registration drive. Make sure you have permission to do this on any private property. You can do it at any number of places, even church.

    There are other things you can do as well, like throw a house party, or a neighborhood meeting. These take a little more organization, and usually need to be tied to a specific goal (financial or policy driven). If you want to do something like this, feel free to shoot me an email or contact your Executive Committee member for details on what information you need to collect and the state rules (for donations). Raising money is great, but also just making contact is a step. Don’t underestimate its importance.

    (Quick Note: Be sure to communicate your plans to your EC member. They may be willing to help, or get more people involved. The more the merrier.)

    6. Demand Accountability – As a delegate, you have a voice in determining the future of the party. That voice doesn’t have to end with the election of a Chair. If you’ve done your due diligence, and networked your way into people’s email/phone lists, you’ve positioned yourself to stay on top of the Executive Committee members who represent you…and you can make some demands.

    Most importantly, you should encourage EC members to inform their constituents. All too often they expect to be sought out for information. Members that think that way have the relationship exactly backwards. Its their job to inform you, not your job to track them down and ask questions (though if you do have questions, its on you to ask them). Demand that they do this (in a nice way). This will be foreign to some, so some coaching might be required. Set up meetings, or email lists or other networking opportunities to inform yourself, and the people you represent. This way, you won’t be surprised if something goes horribly wrong, and you might even be able to catch a problem before it becomes a problem.

    Ask for meeting agendas, copies of the rules (and that they adopt real rules not the bullshit standby of ‘Roberts Rules’ which no one really understands), and resolutions. If they can’t/don’t live up to that expectation and you’ve made contact/expanded your network of people, you’ve set in motion the beginnings of booting them in two years for someone (like yourself) who will do what you believe needs to get done.

    For the past 10 years, I’ve seen EC after EC come in good intentions, then behave like the Caucus and Convention are the end of organizing. They’re wrong, its just the beginning. If you can treat it like its the beginning, stay in touch with people in your House District, keep them informed, and prove you’re interested…you’re a step ahead for the next time around.

    As a delegate you need to demand the EC treat it like the beginning. Do that, and you’ll have played a role in helping strengthen the party going forward.

    The truth is, elections are a 24/7/365 affair now. They have been for a long time. It begins with the first actions those elected officials take in office, and while 2/4 years may seem like a long time, its not. Staying up to date on what these folks are doing (in your name) is the best way to: 1. Communicate and eventually get what you want, and 2. Hold them accountable if they aren’t moving the ball forward.

    Remember, you are a part of the party…simply by saying you are. Showing what you’re willing to do to move the party forward is just one of the many ways you can be a part of getting this County Party and this County back on track.

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