politics
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December 2, 2024
Party building starts from the bottom up. But in the fight to increase accountability at the DNC and remove dark money from Democratic primaries, who takes office also matters.
In the wake of our defeat in the 2024 election, many in our party have been working to: hand squeezed And I’m doing some self-exploration to understand what went wrong and what I need to change going forward. Much of this discussion We’ve focused on the messages we should have used (or should have avoided), the issues we should have raised (or should have avoided), and the audiences we should have given more or less attention to.
Like any good Democrat, I my opinion But that’s not why I’m running for one of the Democratic National Committee vice chair positions. The issues I am trying to raise are related to governance and party building. budget transparencyy and accountability. The need to address the depletion of funds and loss of decision-making control caused by reliance on external consultants. The need to establish a national political party. The need to takeBlack money” I was out of the primary. and the need to create a sense of belonging and involvement that invites young people and others who feel rejected and disenfranchised into the party and finds a place for them in our work.
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In more than 30 years as a member of the Democratic National Committee, I have served on our party in various capacities, including Executive Committee (16 years), Resolutions Committee Co-Chair (11 years), and Co-Chair. I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve. Member of the Ethnic Council (12 years), member of the Unification/Reform Committee (2017-2018). In each of these positions, I have served the party, helped it grow, and strived to win.
At the same time, we have the opportunity to observe that the structural and institutional problems we face are recurring and need to be addressed now. I was able to raise some of these concerns during my time on the Unification and Reform Committee. Others were introduced through the resolutions committee. As most issues remain unresolved, I decided to take this opportunity to run for Vice Chair and engage our members in the discussion of needed governance reforms.
1. Accountability and Transparency.
more than billion dollars Monitoring and evaluation of expenditures spent during election cycles, much of which goes to consultant groups, and the groups we employ, is important to ensure transparency and accountability. This is the role of a governing body, and the time has come for the DNC to serve as the party’s governing body.
In 2017, I directed the Committee on Unification and Reform to take steps to implement the bylaw’s requirement that the Executive Committee and the entire DNC receive an “annual report on spending goals and objectives, spending and staff results.” I suggested that we take steps. To facilitate this process, I proposed the creation of an elected Financial Oversight Committee comprised of elected DNC members who would conduct such reviews for submission to membership.
2. Influence DNC membership.
Many DNC members have complained that they feel more like “props filling seats in meetings” than members of the party’s governing body. This needs to change. In addition to approving the annual budget review or voting on questions, there are other ways to empower party members to strengthen the party’s work.
for example:
- Rather than being presented with a fait accompli and being asked to approve a list of chairperson-at-large members and standing committee members, the composition of these bodies is determined by elections by either the full membership or the ASDC and regional caucuses. Should. . Some slots can be reserved for the chair, but the entire slate cannot be reserved. We can figure out how this process works, but the principles that guide it must be that it is open, democratic, decentralized, and empowers DNC members.
- DNC meetings should provide opportunities for members to participate in discussion and debate. For example, the Resolutions Committee should be given more time to consider proposed resolutions, some of which should be submitted for discussion, debate, and voting by full members. If a resolution with an action element is passed, members should be informed whether the requested action was taken and what happened as a result.
- We should provide an opportunity at the conference to present “best practices” where state and local stakeholders can learn from each other’s successful outreach models.
- We support underserved or misunderstood voters: young voters, rural voters, and recently immigrated communities (Africans, Hispanics, Caribbeans, Asians, Eastern Europeans, Arabs, etc.) ), should provide an opportunity for a full discussion about how to reach working-class voters. To become a majority party, we need to incorporate (and in some cases reincorporate) all of them into our fold.
3. Strengthening Parties.
Many of our resources go into our outreach, messaging, and even consulting groups for our campaigns and GOTV programs. At the end of each cycle, despite the large sums of money raised and spent and the success of some of these efforts, there has been no appreciable growth in the organizing capacity of state and local party organizations.
No state will be left behind and further financial support should be provided to the parties. Together with this increase in funding, ASDC will provide an opportunity for States Parties to operate as democratically and accountable political parties that grow and operate, have an active and diverse membership, and are empowered. should be responsible for establishing monitoring and support mechanisms to ensure that Role in our work.
4. What does it mean to be a Democrat? How do we find, develop, and support the next generation of engaging leaders?
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Party building starts from the bottom up. At the beginning of his term, Jamie Harrison proposed the creation of a select committee to investigate this question of what it means to be a member of our party. The idea was good, but it was never implemented. It should be now.
The problem is that for too many Americans, being a member of a political party means being added to a mailing list, email list, SMS list, or targeted social media list. In most cases, these communications simply involve asking for money. Too little is being done to create a sense of ‘belonging’ and excitement and involvement in the party. This has to change.
During the Unity and Reform Commission, we strengthened and strengthened the role of local party capacity by recreating the role previously held by constituency leaders and providing year-round community-based service. We proposed the idea of providing selected Parties with the resources they need to scale up.
Ongoing outreach creates opportunities to recruit and train new party leaders and candidates for local elected office. Identifying and supporting new leadership cannot be left to chance, the leadership of state legislative caucuses, or the hasty efforts of campaign committee leaders, however admirable. We need to rebuild farm teams in each of the 50 states. Dynamic new leaders create engagement and create lasting change where people live, talk, scroll, listen, and post. All studies agree that the effects of television advertising wear off quickly. The impact of building community and leadership lasts.
5. Eliminate black finance from primaries.
We have twice introduced proposals to remove dark money from Democratic primaries. Over the past two cycles, tens of millions of dollars have been raised and spent by these outside groups (often from Republican donors) to sway voters in Democratic primaries. . This is something that we and our contracting parties can regulate and call upon. Democratic voters, not outside groups, should decide who wins in the primaries.
I hope that my candidacy creates an opportunity to discuss these proposals to strengthen our party and help it grow with one goal in mind: winning elections. That’s why I run.
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