The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: formerlurker on February 18, 2014, 06:24:01 AM
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Scuba (35,208 posts)
What is your local Democratic Party doing to develop candidates and drive voter turnout?
I started a thread on this over the weekend and it sunk like a rock.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024511752
The replies, and this morning's post about Democrats not even running candidates in some races, are not encouraging.
I think it's important, so I'm trying again.
In Wisconsin, the Democratic Party is organized by County. Congressional districts, State Senate districts and State Assembly districts do not follow County lines.
As a result, I volunteer at two different County Party offices, and have observed them evolving over the past few years. Disclaimer: My knowlege of how things run in the offices is admittedly superficial. If I have mis-characterized anything here my apologies in advance, and a promise of a correction/update as I learn more.
But here's what I'm observing: Both offices are under new leadership in the last two years, and both seem to be getting stronger. Meeting agendas are provided in advance and well-written minutes are reliably emailed shortly following. Timely, interesting and informative speakers and forums are being regularly scheduled, and attandance is fair to good. There's energy and enthusiasm and a sense of quiet competency.
Both offices suffer from a lack of automated organizational tools. Email, snail mail and phone lists are not automated in ways that could make them more useful. There is little to no data sharing betwen offices, or between offices and the State Party.
Both offices are struggling to figure out how to take best advantage of social medial like Facebook and Twitter.
While there are some good candidate-development programs available to Democrats in the State, the local offices don't have anything resembling an effective candidate pipeline. There's no effective ongoing coaching of candidates regarding issues, nor help for them in developing the personal skills - effective public speaking, debate, presentation techniques.
Printed materials are put together by well-meaning volunteers, not skilled advertising professionals, and lack both the visual attraction and the subliminal psychology the other side uses so very well.
Finally, and so important, voter registration is underserved.
So, what does your local Party office do? What best practices can you share? What improvements would you like to see?
How can we make our local Party offices as effective as possible? How can we develop great candidates and provide them with great turnouts?
http://election.democraticunderground.com/10024519577
a handful of replies on the first attempt. No Nads the political reporter. No OS the professional candidate.
I can tell you in the bluest of blue state I reside in they are doing absolutely nothing for local seats.
Local seats being the most important to affect real change.
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Here's what our democrat party did to address the issue of the NY-21 congressional seat, which is in play due to the quitting democrat currently seated there. They went behind closed doors, and after very brief interviews, announced their democrat candidate for the November elections. A person nobody has ever heard of, who has never heard of us, who spends half his time living in Brooklyn, and makes documentaries.
Everybody up here just said "what?" :confused:
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Our local democrat party is driving a wooden stake into it's own heart.....a crazy black woman and a black transsexual is now head of the local "D" party.
They had about a dozen people at their last meeting..... :lmao:
Oh, there are plenty of democrats around here, especially the Yankee transplants but they do their dirty work separate from the official "D" party.
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I started a thread on this over the weekend and it sunk like a rock.
Get used to it.
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I live in one of the 10 most conservative counties in the country (according to the Daily Caller (http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/19/americas-top-20-conservative-friendly-counties/2/)) and what the Dims are doing can be summed up in two words: "jack shit." There are campaign signs all over the place for local and state races around the area and I can't remember seeing a Dim sign. It's all Tea Party versus GOP.
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Here's what our democrat party did to address the issue of the NY-21 congressional seat, which is in play due to the quitting democrat currently seated there. They went behind closed doors, and after very brief interviews, announced their democrat candidate for the November elections. A person nobody has ever heard of, who has never heard of us, who spends half his time living in Brooklyn, and makes documentaries.
Everybody up here just said "what?" :confused:
I sooooo hope for a good candidate,have not heard any names mentioned yet.
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I don't know about anyone else, but I despise getting those "make sure to vote" phone calls when election time rolls around. I vote in every major election, and I don't need a dork calling me to make sure I vote. :banghead:
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I don't know about anyone else, but I despise getting those "make sure to vote" phone calls when election time rolls around. I vote in every major election, and I don't need a dork calling me to make sure I vote. :banghead:
Sign up for the DNC's phone list. there's nothing like getting a call from them and acting like a depressed democrat that's not going to vote. You could hear the tears falling to the desk in '10
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Sign up for the DNC's phone list. there's nothing like getting a call from them and acting like a depressed democrat that's not going to vote. You could hear the tears falling to the desk in '10
This has potential! O-) :whistling: :tongue:
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You can drive them to the polling place but you can't go into the voting booth with them and tell them how to vote. Rush cited a poll this morning that said even a majority of Democrats wouldn't vote for the boy king if they had it to do over again. Everyone, except for you nutjobs, is concerned with his power grab. The IRS, Karl Rove, Democrat political machines won't help this time. People are sick of business as usual. Money thrown at the Establishment and all their negative ads won't work (it's part of the problem). The Washington bubble is going to burst.
Cindie
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I sooooo hope for a good candidate,have not heard any names mentioned yet.
For NY-21? Are you in that one too? Elise Stefanik. And she's been busy busy busy.
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For NY-21? Are you in that one too? Elise Stefanik. And she's been busy busy busy.
Yeah,we got thrown into it last election cycle so am no on the outskirts.
Going to look.
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Our local democrat party is driving a wooden stake into it's own heart.....a crazy black woman and a black transsexual is now head of the local "D" party.
They had about a dozen people at their last meeting..... :lmao:
Oh, there are plenty of democrats around here, especially the Yankee transplants but they do their dirty work separate from the official "D" party.
I always knew Lindsay was a black transexual, regardless of the makeup.
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Almost all local Dems do the same damn thing, pander to minorities.
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Sign up for the DNC's phone list. there's nothing like getting a call from them and acting like a depressed democrat that's not going to vote. You could hear the tears falling to the desk in '10
Oh, now that's a good idea.
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Oh, now that's a good idea.
It works great! If you can rattle a volunteer's nerves, pretty much every other call beyond you is going to have a bit of doubt in it. I plan on hammering how my insurance got dropped and wondering if dems are somehow responsible. Of course, you're always coming from the angle of being lazy anyway.
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It works great! If you can rattle a volunteer's nerves, pretty much every other call beyond you is going to have a bit of doubt in it. I plan on hammering how my insurance got dropped and wondering if dems are somehow responsible. Of course, you're always coming from the angle of being lazy anyway.
Impersonating a liberal over the phone is really no different than how I impersonate one at DU- I just blurt out the stupidest thing that comes to mind.
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Not much of a change, but just might be the face of things to come:
http://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/localnews/story/Major-parties-lose-more-ground-among-Calif-voters/MSB2vxicE06q82jd1IQzzg.cspx
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Hey Carl, Matt Doheney just announced too, for NY-21. He's a republican, so it looks like we'll have a primary. He ran last time and nearly won. I think Owens got 50.3%. :mad:
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Scuba (35,208 posts)
What is your local Democratic Party doing to develop candidates and drive voter turnout?
They illegally record names and numbers of new voter registrants in order to pester them before elections. That's what.
See Latest Breaking News comment posted by Chris_.