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Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Forty-Five years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by an assassin’s bullet as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

King came to Memphis in support of a sanitation strike brought on by low wages and horrific working conditions that led to the deaths of two workers.

By 1968 the United States had passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and a package of reforms dubbed Great Society which sought to eliminate economic and racial injustice.

Despite the passage of these reforms, there were still many roadblocks to African-Americans in particular and the poor generally, receiving equitable treatment and access to opportunities that would help them overcome their circumstances.

In the final days of King’s life, he worked to organize a Poor People’s Campaign in search of economic justice not only for African-Americans, but for all of our nation’s poor.

The struggle of the Civil Rights Movement, which was born of a desire for equal rights, came to include the ideas of economic justice. It is a struggle that continues to this day, not only in Memphis, but around the country and impacts all of us.

The Struggle Continues

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Over the past forty years we’ve seen the fruits of King’s leadership come under consistent attack. Sometimes in ways that are hard to recognize.

The list of incremental changes over time is too long to even attempt to compile in one place, but laws that seek to limit people’s ability to exercise their rights, like the Voter ID bill, and efforts to hamper people’s ability to seek justice, like the Tennessee Civil Justice Act of 2011, which limits a company’s financial liability, have become the norm rather than the exception.

Yesterday I wrote about the value of work and how the notion of work has been turned on its head in recent decades. I wrote about a bill before the state legislature that would make it harder for people hurt in the actions of their work to be taken care of.

This kind of injustice is exactly what Dr. King fought against in his later years. In the years since his death, the concerted effort of one group to limit the access to justice has become commonplace both here in Tennessee and across the nation.

An Organized Assault on Justice

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Over the past forty years, there has been an organized assault on the ideas of economic and social justice.

This effort has taken many shapes, and been played out in many venues…from school boards to legislatures at the state and federal level, as well as everything in between.

It is well funded, and organized for a single purpose: to further tilt the playing field in support of those who have plenty and seek to accumulate more, in opposition to those of us who are seeking to simply make a life for our families.

Newscoma wrote about one such group, ALEC an organization that crafts model bills that are personalized for each state. As she notes in her post, we’ve had several of them.

These bills, which have been labeled “conscientious reform” by supporters, seek to make holding people accountable more difficult, especially when they have more resources. They represent an attack on economic justice for people who have few resources to fight for themselves.

By and large, there have been few organized attempts to bring light to the impact these bills would have on regular people. The struggle has been fragmented while the attack has been organized. The end result has been a steady erosion of justice by limiting access and stifling accountability.

Education: Divide and Conquer

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The cause of true education, as King describes it, has been under attack by forces seeking to cripple public education for the past two decades. An increased focus on testing has led to curriculum focused on teaching to the test rather than critical thinking and problem solving skills that empower people regardless of their chosen profession or trade.

While the effort began before the passage of No Child Left Behind, this bill had a devastating effect on education by forcing educators to focus on rote memory rather than broader ideas of personal development.

The philosophical foundation of the act ultimately makes learners “consumers of education” rather than active participants. True education can no be based on a passive “consumerist” model. Students must be active participants engaging in a dialogue to truly gain the “intelligence plus character” that Dr. King mentions.

This notion of consumerism is furthered in legislative efforts that have followed.

The concept of “school choice”, either through transfers, charter schools, or voucher programs, resonate with parents seeking to give their children the best opportunity to gain a quality education. This idea is based on this same consumer model predicated on personal resource availability, time, transportation, and money, that, by default, exclude those who lack resources.

In Tennessee, bills seeking to hobble teachers unions, state nullification of local charter school decisions, school voucher programs, and stiff economic penalties for the poor who do not meet state educational standards, AKA “Starve the Poor” bills have made, and are making their way through the state legislature.

These initiatives seek at once to reduce investment in education, place public dollars in the hands of private entities that are largely unaccountable in the public sphere, and most importantly, distract from the economic circumstances brought on by decades of economically unjust fiscal policy in the service of wealth concentration for the mighty few rather than opportunity for the common good.

This is similar to Dr. King’s opposition to the Vietnam War, which sucked resources away from domestic programs, and led to a global financial showdown that paved the way for the trickle down economics that would dominate the 1980′s and begin a trend of wage stagnation that continues to this day.

Reclaiming the Dream

The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
PROVERBS 29:7

Dr. King’s work is most closely associated with social justice and racial equality, particularly through his I Have a Dream speech. But his legacy cannot be defined by that one awe inspiring event.

Dr. King’s vision went beyond the struggles of his day, and is owed the consideration of his later efforts, including those that led to his life being cut tragically short here in Memphis.

His later work focused on the broad ideas of justice and were targeted at helping the economically disadvantaged.

I think it was and still is difficult for people to understand the potential outcomes of this effort.

While focused in the south and primarily on African-Americans continuing their struggle for equality, his work didn’t just apply to one race, but to all who fell under the grip of poverty. I feel confident that over time this effort would have expanded to poor white coal miners in West Virginia, and migrant workers in California.

We never got to see what would come of Dr. King’s leadership on economic justice. His life and work was cut short.

We can continue to take cues from his leadership, and push on, continuing the struggle, through out tireless exertions and passionate concern, dedicated to the service of justice.

In fact, we have a duty to that very thing.

This is my 700th post. I started blogging for real in December of 2006. In the time since, I’ve written on a whole lot more than I ever imagined, transitioning from mostly national politics, to a kind of local advocacy that I’m really happy with, and proud of.

When I moved here 7 years ago, I thought Memphis would be a stopping off place on my way somewhere else. I was certain that within a few years I would find an opportunity elsewhere and find myself on the west coast.

After a few years I bought a home and decided to settle down. I couldn’t be happier about that decision. I have a beautiful girlfriend who has enriched my life. Our daughter is an amazing little girl that both baffles me and brings a great deal of joy into my life. I’ve made friends here, in a way I never thought I would.

Memphis wasn’t my first choice, but over the years it has become my city of choice. I can honestly say that I want nothing more for my city than to make it a city of choice for other people to come to, live, work, raise a family and ultimately retire.

That said, Memphis has some particular challenges. Addressing those challenges can seem daunting. I know from both my research, and my work in creative focused businesses that people have a hard time visualizing change. They long for it, because we all want something better, but understanding what change might really look like, and the path to effectuate that change is difficult for many folks to conceptualize.

At the end of my previous post I said this:

In the end, it is the way it is because we allow it to be, either through inaction, of lack of information or just not giving a damn. If we don’t start thinking and talking about ways to change it, many of the issues facing this City will never be resolved…and that’s really sad to me.

No one can change our city alone…we have to start changing it together.

For my 700th post, I wanted to talk about things that I believe will make Memphis better for all Memphians, and the 800,000 people in the area who rely on Memphis for their survival. The truth of the matter is, we can’t make Memphis better to their exclusion, no matter what we do. So rather than trying to punish them, we should work to better our city. That work, if successful, will cause them challenge their assumptions about us. Here are 10 things I believe we should do to get that ball rolling.

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1. Accountability – Government must be more accountable for its actions. That means that problems cannot be shuffled off until the last second. The way budget issues have been handled over the past several years demands reform. Both the Administration and the City Council behave as if they had no idea there would be problems, even though many of these problems are structural and have been known for some time. Government must be willing to be honest with the people even when it is not politically popular so we can all work together for an equitable solution.

Furthermore, both the Administration and the City Council have to work harder to take and enforce accountability for their actions. While there may not be the same kind of checks and balances in City Government that there are in State or Federal government, the City Council must do more to ensure the public is informed and aware of the actions of the Administration, and vise-versa. By holding each other accountable, these two bodies who ultimately represent all of us can better serve us.

2. Transparency – Transparency has become a buzz word meaning nothing. Elected officials use the word transparency all the time, but don’t actually engage in transparency enough for it to be effective. There are several things that transparency is, and is not. Transparency is not making sure that everyone knows what’s going on, it’s making that information available for discovery. However, far too often the information is hidden away in a byzantine manner making the discovery of that information not only unlikely, but impossible. The city should work to make information flow more freely. This applies to the administration and its divisions and the City Council, including implementing a better system for vote and issue tracking and policy changes.

3. Efficiency – Efficiency is a word that can mean many different things. Workers may see the word efficiency as tantamount to layoffs. Business leaders view efficiency as lowered liability in the form of taxes or additional revenue streams. In reality, efficiency is using what you have to its greatest potential. Because of the lack of accountability and transparency in city government, there is no real way to calculate its efficiency. Without real and independent calculations, people are left to their own perceptions of how well or poorly government is operating. By conducting both independent and internal audits of the 17 City divisions, both policy makers and the public can be better informed about the efficiency of government operations, and seek ways to make that government more efficient to ensure we as citizens are getting the maximum bang for our tax bucks.

4. Restructuring – There are two areas of our government that need to be studied: Appointed Boards and Commissions and the lay out of City Divisions.

The City of Memphis website lists three pages of city or city/county boards and commissions. I challenge you to try and name them and what function they serve without the benefit of that link. Memphis needs to restructure both the duties and number of these appointed boards the relationship between them, the City Council and the Administration. Many things happen in these meetings that few if any people outside of the room actually know about. This is a drag on accountability, transparency, and efficiency. By streamlining the number of boards and commissions, the city can better help serve the public interest by dismantling a structure that no one truly understands and replace it with one that is more accountable, transparent, and ultimately efficient for the people of Memphis.

Much like the Boards and Commission, the City of Memphis has 17 divisions with 17 directors, and additional administrative staff to support the functions of those divisions. Quite honestly, this is simply unmanageable. It is nearly impossible to figure out what each does without doing a great deal of poking around, that most folks aren’t willing or don’t have time to do. This makes our government less transparent and creates unnecessary barriers to public information. By reforming the division structure, you may not gain much efficiency, but you can help remake a structure that has become a hive of micro-missions that are hard to navigate, and hopefully restore the people’s connection to the ultimate mission of these divisions.

5. Opportunity – One of the roles of government is to create an environment where its citizens can thrive both in their personal and professional lives. For thousands of Memphians, their professional lives are the small businesses they own or are employed by. Small, locally owned businesses are the lifeblood of any city. The health of those businesses is key to ensuring long-term growth and sustainability. While Memphis has a vibrant community of small businesses, few of them have any real interaction with the city outside of administrative contact mostly dealing with licensing and zoning issues. The city should reach out and work to forge partnerships with these businesses by providing assistance with the RFP/RFQ process and by creating a database of businesses to send notifications of these business opportunities. This keeps our tax dollars in Memphis and ensures our tax dollars are put to the most productive use possible. While certainly, there are areas that local businesses may not be able to service at this time, by communicating the needs of government to business, and setting forth a mechanism for those businesses to help meet those needs, businesses will adapt and expand to include those areas which helps us keep more of our tax dollars in our city and strengthens our local business community.

6. Inclusiveness – Cities that build walls or other barriers cannot grow. It costs too much to expand because too many people have too much invested in this old infrastructure of exclusion. This is not only true of the walled cities of medieval times but also the cities of today. While the barriers may not be bricks and mortar, the investment in terms of conventional wisdom and custom remains.

Memphis has several constituencies who, for more reasons than I can name, are relegated to the margins. In order to be a truly strong city, Memphis must reach out to these groups and work to provide the assistance necessary to remove the boot of want, poverty, and prejudice from their necks. We can’t say on one hand, we want to be a vibrant, inclusive city, and on the other hand work to further marginalize these people. They are people after all, and deserve our respect and assistance. While the city may not have the funds to correct these problems, it can set the tone and create opportunities to address them.

7. Quality of Life – Safe, secure, and healthy neighborhoods are one of the strongest features of a vibrant city. Great neighborhoods are to cities as the baseball field is to the movie Field of Dreams… if you build them, they will come. This is shown over and over again in cities across this country. Policy initiatives, driven with an intentional eye on creating or maintaining a great place to live, attracts people to places they might have otherwise not considered.

In order to build and maintain great neighborhoods in Memphis, we have to be more diligent and intentional with code enforcement, zoning and other land use decisions. We have to stop merely building for now, damn the consequences later. We have to stop allowing property owners to sit by while their properties crumble. We have to keep our eyes forward, and ensure that the decisions we make today won’t negatively impact the great neighborhoods we already have, and we have to make sure they’re making neighborhoods that need help better.

In addition, we have to make sure that all our neighborhoods have equality of access to city services. From fire and police coverage to mass transit, when one area is left unserved, it negatively impacts all others. This will require a comprehensive re-evaluation of many city services, something that focusing on greater efficiency will bring with it.

8. Building Equity – Equity has two primary definitions. It can mean fair and impartial, and it can relate to value. In this sense, building equity means both. We have a great many stakeholders in this community. In order to be truly strong, we work in a fair and impartial manner with those stakeholders to help bring value to our community.

For too long the interests of some have been held hostage by the interests of others. Life does not have to be a zero sum game. While the city can’t afford to be all things to all people, it can help shepherd a process that ensures we all benefit by bringing stakeholders together to work for solutions to issues they both face. Boats don’t sink when the water rises, they rise with it. By addressing our many stakeholders in a fair and impartial way that brings value to our city, we can all benefit.

9. Core Growth – For decades our city’s core, the areas inside and around the Parkways have been suffering. While some neighborhoods have managed to thrive, others have been left to fend for themselves, leaving blighted and poor living conditions. It is important for our city that all our neighborhoods, regardless of wealth be maintained and treated with the same respect. It is also important for the efficient use of city services that we drive population to our city core. All city services, from police and fire protection, to sanitation and mass transit can become more efficient if our population is less dispersed.

But people won’t just move because we want them to, we have to give them a mission, and the tools to implement that mission. Implementing a comprehensive homesteading program to help build up neighborhoods in and around our city’s core can help drive population, and the businesses that serve them back inside the Parkways.

While doing this, we must also be cognizant of the investment in infrastructure that we have made outside the 240 loop. Any homesteading program cannot be implemented to the exclusion of another neighborhood. Further, there may be areas that would benefit more from a re-development that may or may not include homesteading. The City must look at ways to use the land that has been left vacant by our 30 year eastward expansion, and seek solutions to bring people and businesses back into the city core and work intentionally to ensure that the kind of blight seen in many of these areas never re-emerges.

At the same time, we have to be cautious that we not spur another great migration. We have to grow smart and look for more areas of great potential to help rebuild our core and strengthen our revenue streams both in the form of property taxes, sales taxes and infrastructure investments.

10. Unity – “No one can change our city alone…we have to start changing it together.” That’s how I ended my last post, and that’s how I’ll end this one. We can’t do this alone, or at the exclusion of anyone. We have to do this together, as Memphis, as a city that understands the depth of our challenges and is willing to fight and work together to address those challenges. It will be frustrating, and it will require all of us to make some sacrifices. But if you’re not willing to make sacrifices, then you’re not bought in in the first place.

I am willing to fight to make the city I love better. I’m willing to sacrifice. I hope you are too.

Thanks for reading.

Monday night, the Tennessee State House overwhelmingly voted to restrict a local government’s right to determine the terms of contracts, or that is the ultimate effect.

In reality, the bill was proposed by a guy who was offended that an entity who contracts with a government can’t discriminate at will, something the Federal Government has restricted since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In the wake of the vote, there was a lot of anger at the 8 Democrats that voted for the bill. That’s understandable considering both the discrimination element of the bill, and the removal of local control over local contracting that the bill ultimately sustains.

Because none of the Democrats that voted for the bill took to the floor to speak, we can only opine as to their rationale. It’s sad, however that they chose the will of a guy who has been hell bent on increasing discrimination rather than allowing local governments the latitude to decide what’s good for them.

Here are three Democrats who voted against the bill, with 3 similar rationales. I’ll talk more about their message after the videos.

Mike Stewart	Jeanne Richardson
Craig Fitzhugh

The one thing all three of these legislators point out is that this is about a local issue that a group of legislators that don’t live in the county in question didn’t like. Further, they follow the frame that this local issue is well within the purview of a local government to control. From that vantage point, one could and should argue that this action by the Tennessee House is just one of a number of issues where the state has sought to insert itself into a local issue.

While I understand the anger at the 8 Democrats that voted for the bill, I’m more angry at the 64 people who lifted this non-issue to the precipice of becoming Tennessee law. That is not to excuse the 8 for their actions, but to frame the issue more appropriately. Ultimately, with or without those 8 votes the bill was going to pass. It doesn’t make much sense to train our ire at those 8 legislators when there are far more targets on the other side of the aisle that ultimately forced the issue causing a bad bill to pass.

It’s natural to be more mad at people on your side that vote against you. They’re right there. That other side is so far away. But to what effect? Do you really think any of those 8 Democrats are going to listen to you after you throw them under the bus? Probably not. So the question I ask myself before I start, “what is my intended outcome?”

More often than not, my intended outcome is to change the way the conversation is held, because that’s the root of the problem. On many issues, but social issues in particular, Southern Democrats have ceded the debate to social conservatives using conservatives’ very own words to frame the issue. By giving up on this important part of the debate, we’ve given up 30+ years of rhetoric that has become the conventional wisdom in many areas and political circles, which, in turn, has made it harder for those who represent more conservative areas.

In short, we haven’t consistently made our case to our people using our language. We’ve fallen in line with the screamers on the right because we didn’t think we could drown them out, and that’s a critical error.

I’m reminded of a talk I attended last year. A conservative member of the State House, from a reliably conservative district was explaining his position on women’s issues and described himself as “pro-life”, to audible groans from the audience. But going further into his position, it became clear that his intention was not to restrict women’s access to healthcare options, but one of perception. The term “pro-life” illicits a certain response from people who may not fully understand the issue beyond abortion. For instance, conservative women may not understand that the traditional “pro-life” position includes limiting access to very regular and normal healthcare procedures. From that frame, he puts the issue in the context it should be, “Do you want unrestricted access to safe and reliable healthcare, or do you want your options restricted?”

At that point, he has their attention. No one wants their options restricted, particularly with healthcare. While it may seem like there’s a good deal of nuance required, it’s really quite simple, “I respect your right to privacy and I think you’re smart enough to make your own healthcare decisions. I won’t vote for anything that keeps you from making them, and that’s my definition of Pro-life.”

This does two things; first it changes the definition of what it means to be “pro-life”. Since the 70′s the right has tried to frame choice advocates as “pro-abortion” or “pro-death”. In reality, the choice position is “pro-life” in that it is life affirming. Second, it places the traditionally understood “pro-life” position right where it should be, as “anti-choice” and “anti-woman”.

That is, in effect what Stewart, Fitzhugh, and Richardson were doing, making their statements about the bills ultimate effect, restricting the right of local governments to set a higher bar for their community. And while it didn’t sway these 8 conservative Democrats this time, maybe it will sway them the next time.

Maybe arguing that Nashville is Nashville and Prospect, Sparta, Dunlap, Portland, Clarksville, Dickson, New Johnsonville, and Livingston are their respective cities, and neither can govern the other… maybe that isn’t the most compelling argument. Maybe affirming that this state wants to have the latitude to discriminate against a class of people is really what these 8 legislators wanted. We’ll never know because they didn’t speak on the issue.

Discrimination aside, at the end of the day, this bill restricts the ability of a community to hold itself to a higher standard for the good of the community, and removes a community’s ability to contract according to local standards. This bill restricts Nashville to a lowest common denominator, which is ultimately anti-competitive in a world where community standards are constantly being raised.

I’m certain that if asked, the leaders of these communities would not like to be forced to a lower standard of living for their people. Why should Nashville, or any other city in the state be?

And for me, that’s the question to the 64. Why are you forcing a local government to lower their standards? Why are you hell bent on interfering in a local issue?

That’s why the 64 are my targets rather than the 8. Because it’s easier to hit 1 of 64 that never vote my way than it is to hit 1 or 8 that occasionally do.

Maybe, by not shooting my own people, maybe I’ll have a chance to change their minds for the next time. Better yet, maybe I’ll be able to help elect someone new to one of those 64 seats that will do it for me. Because at the end of the day, 64 people who always vote the wrong way is a much bigger problem than 8.

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You can watch the whole debate here.

See also this editorial in the Tennessean.

Ed Note: Earlier this morning Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords – AZ and as many as twelve others were shot in front of a Safeway grocery store in Tuscon. As of this writing at least five have died as a result of their injuries. The status of Rep. Giffords is unknown. Giffords regularly held public events in places such as this. This is a very sad day for our country. Please keep the families of all the victims in your thoughts and prayers.

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Congratulations to Chip Forrester on his re-election to Chair the Tennessee Democratic Party.

As I noted yesterday, we have a lot of work ahead of us. In order to do this work we have to make a conscious decision as Democrats to come together and commit ourselves to the ideas we hold dear, not just give lip service to them. No one can make this decision for us. It is a personal decision that we, as individuals, must make for the good of the party, regardless of who the Chair is.

It is my sincere hope that Wade Munday and Matt Kuhn, who spent considerable time and resources running for this position will continue to commit themselves to the Democratic cause despite the outcome of the election. Their leadership, in this regard, will be a signal to their supporters that despite a sometimes contentious cycle there is a place for all of us in and around the party. We need their leadership to support the actions of all the Democratic institutions that support our candidates. I look forward to their future involvement in the Party.

Get Involved

There are lots of ways that you, dear reader, can get involved with your state party. First, sign up for an account on the TNDP website. This will allow you to connect with Democrats from all over the state. Further, there are many groups, from issue groups to local and regional groups that use the site to help promote their events. You can even use your Facebook or Google login to do it.

If you’re not into the social media aspect, you can still sign up for emails from the party. The form is on the right of just about every page on the site.

Giving money is a good way to help the party help local parties and candidates. The party spends a good deal of money on candidate support tools. You can either give a one time donation, or a monthly recurring donation.

Finally, if you really want to know what’s going on, get in touch with your Executive Committee Members. These folks help guide the party and can be a valuable resource as you become more involved.

Get Local

As a party, we have a lot of work to do. Later this year our County Parties will begin their reorganization. In order to ensure these party organs are functioning properly to support local, state, and federal candidates we must commit ourselves to increase our involvement in them. The first step is understanding the reorganization process in your county. The TNDP website has contact information and county bylaws for most county parties. Familiarizing yourself with these bylaws is the best way to prepare yourself if you intend to run for a position on your County Party Executive Committee.

Some county parties are more open than others. Some are more involved than others. You need not be a member of an Executive Committee to be involved in the party process. I’ve never served on the SCDP Executive Committee, though I do either attend meetings or speak to members about the meetings just to keep up with what’s going on. Most parties meet monthly, so it’s not like there’s a huge time commitment associated with keeping up. It will also help you find ways to use your talents in the service of the party and candidates.

Even if you don’t have the time to dedicate to your local party, you can still give your next most valuable resource…money. Most county parties don’t have much money. In fact, time is the greatest resource most of them bring to the table. That said, giving a recurring donation of $10/mo. may not seem like that much to you, but to many parties it can be a game changer especially it it’s multiplied by 20 or 30 people giving at that level. The easiest way to do this is through Act Blue, though I suspect many county parties may not be set up with them. Setup is easy, and if County chairs understood there was money in it for them, I’m sure they would jump at the opportunity.

Get it Going

You can do all the things I mentioned and still feel like you want to do more. Great! The opportunities are really only limited by your imagination. Host a block party, or just a party that serves as a fundraiser for one of the groups mentioned above or another Democratic group. Get out and register voters. Voter registration forms are available here. Heck, you can just talk to your friends about issues impacting your community and take that conversation back to one of your Democratic elected officials or Executive Committee members. The opportunities are endless.

At the end of the day its on us, the folks who call ourselves Democrats, to build a better party. Democratic institutions from the Federal level right down to the local level depend on us. We can’t wait for them to magically find us. If we want to build a better Democratic Party here in Tennessee, we have to take the first step.

Let’s do it.

The Race for Chair of TNDP is Nearly Over. Once it is, it’s time to work

This past week has been crazy. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t think there’s ever been an election for Chair in recent history that’s generated this kind of buzz. Of course, we wouldn’t know because as Newscoma points out the history of the TNDP is largely unwritten.

I’ve been struggling to write something about this all week. For a whole host of reasons, including my work schedule, I just haven’t been able to commit words to blog. The volume of information and opinion has simply been too much too fast for me to process, along with all the other things I have going on. That said, I do have some pretty strong opinions about what’s what and who’s who in this whole thing.

First, it should be noted that all the problems with Democratic institutions in Tennessee don’t fall on the shoulders of one man, or one organization. The TNDP is a large cog in a machine of Democratic institutions that include the State Executive Committee, College Democrats, Young Democrats, County Parties, House and Senate Caucus Organizations, Candidates and more. From where I’m sitting, the historic losses we saw in November, and the loss of our majority in 2008, don’t rest on any one of these institutions. They all had a hand in failure. Singling one out is unfair.

I hope I made this clear back in November when I analyzed the list of accomplishments current Chair, Chip Forrester released in announcing his candidacy. As I noted in that post, I think there are some things Forrester has done well, and others that need improvement. The assertion by some that another Chair may have done better is neither constructive nor relevant. You play with the team you have and work for the best result.

Role Definition

The Chair of the TNDP is a political position not an ideological one. The chair cannot enforce ideological purity on the rest of the institutions in the chain. The negative reaction would be swift and politically deadly. It is the responsibility of all the institutions I listed above to be a reflection of and a support system for elected officials, who ultimately are the ones who will be helped or hurt at the ballot box by the image these institutions reflect. In Tennessee, the differences of what a Democrat looks like are as varied as the distance between Shelby and Sullivan County is long.

So while the role of Chair has a great deal of influence in the planning and execution of campaigns, from my perspective the job requirements are more of a technocrat, able to navigate the minefield of Democratic institutions and advocates rather than aspiring rock star. The Chair must speak for the party as a whole at the exclusion of themselves to ensure they don’t accidentally draw attention away from the very issue they seek to highlight. The Chair must have the trust of enough of all these institutions that he or she can and will provide the necessary tools for success. The Chair must be able to shepherd donors, volunteers and busybodies, like myself, in a way that puts them to good use for the ultimate good of the party.

Each of the candidates possess some of these qualities, but none have all of them. Honestly, I don’t think anyone does.

Taking this into account, I have no particular preference as to whom holds the seat over the next two years.

Waiting for a Saviour

We have to stop waiting for a savior. How much would we now know of Jesus were it not for his apostles? His works may have been lost in history had it not been for the work of these apostles to chronicle His life, as well as all the devotees who have followed since.

In order for the Tennessee Democratic Party to find its way out of the wilderness, we have to be those apostles. We have to work with the institutions in place to support them and sometimes guide them. Neither the institutions, nor the individuals alone can be our saviour. Nor should we want them to be. The analogy breaks down at this point because no one in our party is “ordained by God” to lead or follow. It is all our responsibility to do both, in the roles we find ourselves.

None of the candidates for Chair can “save” the party alone, but we can all save it together.

Grease the Wheels

In the end, there are 72 people who have the final say. 66 of them are elected by us, the people of the Tennessee Democratic Party. The other 6 represent people we, either through the ballot box or through associated institutions, have selected to ensure some kind of continuity in the machine. The rest of us are the oil, the fuel, and other necessary fluids that ensure the machine functions properly.

Once this process is over, if any of us, including the two candidates who will not be elected Chair, remove ourselves from the system, a part of that machine will break down. That breakdown is not the fault of the part, it is the fault of the support system for that part.

Right now, every warning light on our machine is on. Every system needs fluid. The parts are suffering from this lack of fluid. It is our responsibility to literally “grease the wheels” with our time, money and dedication to repair the damage brought by a litany of system failures too long to list.

The most important thing to remember is that, because of the way our machine is built, if one system rejects your fluid, or seems too broken to benefit, there are a whole host of others that can benefit from what you bring to the machine. Sometimes it’s hard to do this. Sometimes we feel discouraged. But in the end, removing ourselves from the process ultimately does more damage…like removing removing oil from a running car.

Fixing the Fractures

The past several years have exposed fractures in our party. These fractures have led to serious failures in our ability to elected and maintain Democratic officials and institutions. It didn’t happen overnight. It wasn’t done in an instant like a car wreck. This happened over years, and it will take years to repair.

The first step in repairing these fractures begins the moment a new Chair is elected. Whomever receives the trust of the majority of our representatives on the Executive Committee must receive the guidance and support of the party faithful and its institutions as a whole. The fastest road to unity rests not on the actions of one person seeking to create it, but on the attitude of the whole seeking to maintain it.

None of the candidates can bring us together alone. We have to strive to do it together.

That’s my wish, that we will strive to do this together, overcome the odds, and build something great throughout the entirety of the machine and all the parts that are “Tennessee Democrats”. Going forward, I hope we will. But it’s not up to the one person elected tomorrow to do it alone. Unity requires the dedication and balance of both sides of the equation. It is my hope that after tomorrow, the hard work required to balance that equation will begin again, for the good of the party, and the party faithful.