In writing my previous post, I came to the conclusion that there are a lot of parallels between sports and politics. The most important is the notion that you can’t buy your way out of a problem; you have to develop a bench for the team, with members ready to step up when needed. That’s one of the problems the Democratic Party experienced after the election of Bill in ’92, and one of the reasons we got our asses kicked in House and Senate elections from ’94-’04. We forgot about the places that got us elected, because we were just too focused on the big picture to the exclusion of all the little pictures that made the big picture possible.
In 2006 we saw, what a little bit of attention to local party outfits from the DNC could do and now have a majority. Both the 50 state strategy, brought forth by the DNC, and the outpouring of money from the DCCC and DSCC gave candidates that may have not had much of a chance a leg up. Circumstance didn’t hurt us either.
The Democratic majority in Congress is poised to expand this year, assuming that the Presidential candidates don’t put the kibosh on DNC efforts due to their personal problems with DNC head, Howard Dean., or raid the Congress for appointees in a Democratic White House.
The DNC is the only arm of the party that is well behind the Republicans in fund raising. Some of that is due to successful DCCC and DSCC attempts to raise early money. Some of it is because the big money donors don’t like Dean. Some of it is because the Presidentials have been trying to raise the funds necessary to defeat a Republican candidate and the Democratic faithful has been more than ready to make that happen.
Now that the field is down to two, I expect to see more efforts by the DNC to get those dollars in their coffers to help support the eventual nominee, and it’s vital that these efforts are successful. Regardless of who wins the nomination, there will be a full on frontal attack from the right. In order for the DNC to help the eventual nominee it will need money, and that’s just not happening right now.
The difference between a national party and a sports organization is that we are the stockholders of the organization. That position gives us more influence in the party than in any sports organization. Our support of the activities of the party comes from the money we give to the organization as well as all the grass-roots activities that political organizations need to survive and build depth. Depth is the thing that will drive the Democratic party forward. Depth is the thing that will help bring us new Democratic Representatives and Senators in locations that were simply not possible in the past. That depth comes as the result of supporting with your time AND money, the national, state, and local arms of the party.
We may not be able to bring sanity into the Grizzlies organization, but we can have a role in making sure the Democratic Party gets stronger. Follow the links below and give a little to the local, state, and national arms of the party. Together we can strengthen our majority in the Congress, and ensure a Democratic President in 2009.
Thanks.
Ed. Note: These links go directly to the contribution pages of the respective parties. I have no interest or desire in taking credit for any contribution, so don’t let that stop you.