You know I'M a Democrat, Lowell, nothing less.  So when I say that the DPVA is almost totally non-responsive to legitimate complaints about failure of a county committee to do ANYTHING about electing Democrats, I'm not blowing smoke.  That's a WHOLE county lost to voting progress.  Think--Deeds lost by 324 votes, his non-appearance anywhere in the pre-election discourse im my county easily cost him the election.  Kaine could have had support instead of antagonism from the second most important office in the state, but for 324 votes.

Further, Though I haven't complained before about this at this site, as a long-time registered Dem I find it offensive that I receive almost nothing in the mails (snail and E-) from the DPVA and exactly ZERO from my county committee, the latter group composed of a non-working, non-appearing-when-it-counts Chairman who has delegated ALL his duties and responsibilities to another non-performing officeholder (vice-chairman) who believes that to follow rules of order, legitimate elections, democratic procedures, and rational discourse is somehow un-Democratic.  Again, as a lifelong registered Democratic voter, I find this totally un-Democratic, have complained with offered proofs of argument to the DPVA, and have seen the DPVA accept lies from the committee leadership without even checking the validity of their statements made.

I hope you accept the fact that I have nothing to gain from my displeasure--I didn't seek office, money, standing, psychological benefits or anything; I just want to see a county committee and state party work to elect our candidates and it ticks me off to see the lack of work and intent.

Such is my displeasure.  As for the 10 voters in this poll who said the DPVA has done a superb job, I have my suspicions about a potential job-seeker (unnamed) who might have stuffed the cyber ballot box to curry favor with the ruling Richmond heads.  Just a suspicion, not paranoia, but to my mind I can't see anyone rating the DPVA in the Mickey Mantle class of politics.

But I can't and won't talk about why until the 2nd week on November..... We don't have to give away a few big advantages we have had this year because of DPVA that are not obvious to those that are not involved in them day to day as I have been able to observe them. In all the years I have been around in one way or another the political activities, this year we are finally doing the kinds of things that have been done to us by the competition. Only we have learned from their mistakes in many cases and have not yet had to lower ourselves to the kinds of dirty tricks and garbage that we have had used against us.  I've heard said we don't have the belly for the really radical stuff that must be done to win (i.e. Rove style tactics). I'd argue that there are other ways and things that can give better results especially log term. This year, the team work by DPVA has been better than anything I've ever seen.

Last night at the Mark Warner for Chuck Caputo fund raiser at the MacNabb house was a great example. Volunteers were doing valet parking and even running a Van shuttle to pack the attendees in..... I helped with the name tags, so I know how many RSVPs there were and the walk ups were great too.... But most of all the same energy that you have talked about for all these Kaine and Warner sponsored activities was AMAZING. The parents of the girls that were campaign workers for Caputo last cycle who were killed at Virginia Tech were there and lots of the "usual suspects", but if you were to ask anyone who attended I would bet they will tell you there was a big difference and an contagious energy like we saw during and after the Webb campaign.

DPVA, and a whole lot of people from the state committee down to the the precinct captains have been there week after week working in an "Off year". If we win this cycle as much as we hope and may, the additional boost going into next year's national cycle should be just as amazing. And say what you will about what else DPVA can be doing, what they have been, they have been doing reasonably well..... To me they get the "A" for effort as well as technique in a whole new world of "Netroots", "YouTube" and politics at the speed of the Internet. It's a new ballgame and we have been helping them set the new rules...

As for stuffing the ballot box, I know several others who also voted as I did.... I don't think it was the work of any one person.....

Used2Bneutral:  Reread what soccerdem wrote and then read what you just wrote.  Soccerdem says he never hears a peep from state nor local Dems.  You on the otherhand are "in the know" about everything that is going on. 

So there's a BIG chasm here....and it's called communication.  So I'll have to agree with soccerdem since I too receive next to nothing from the DPVA and my local committee. 

Cut out the "I know something you don't know" stuff.  It's irritating and just makes soccerdem's point. 

I just wrote a diary about the NC Democratic Party's Chair who sees fit to send out newsletters as much as 2 times a week.  We have a Chair and a Communications Director and I don't know that I've ever heard from the Chair and as to e-mails from the Communications Director, I can count them on one hand. 

Get out of the "insiders" ivory tower and realize that communication means:
--regularly sending e-mails that inform us about what is going on with Democrats in the state;
--regularly sending us e-mails about events that are going on in the state;
--regularly sending e-mails, telling you where you can volunteer; and finally
--regularly sending e-mails that ask "What can we do better for you, Virginia Democrat?". 

The DPVA is missing the biggest slice of Democrats in Virginia by their refusal to communicate with us "outsiders" (and that's what it is now, as we've talked about this DPVA ommunication problem on RK for almost a year now).

 

It would behoove me to point out that "soccerdem" and "Dianne" -- who is a frequent critic of DPVA -- come from the same IP, and frequently echo each other's comments.  So I am suspicious about this statement that "I haven't complained before about this at this site."

I personally think the DPVA is doing a very good job managing the different races across the state, from what I hear from friends on campaigns.  To a limited extent, I agree with Dianne/soccerdem that they could do more in terms of keeping grassroots in the loop. But I'm also inundated with info from Born Fighting PAC, Moving Virginia Forward, various state and local campaigns, and formerly One Virginia (soon to be Mark Warner 08). I think that the crucial assistance that DPVA can (and does) provide is in assisting campaigns, while these campaigns are better suited to keep people in the loop.

Soccerdem and I are married, share the same computer (and IP address), have worked our tails off for Democrats. 

I've closely followed Virginia politics from abroad for years now.  So my vote is based on the general success of Virginia Democrats in recent years.  Having not lived in Virginia, I haven't received phone calls or literature or worked personally with most people outside of the blogosphere (I have voted absentee).  I understand that the level of campaigning in the last weeks of the Webb campaign was surreal.  I don't know  to what extent the DPVA can take credit for the successful campaigns, or if campaign teams and other organizations did all the heavy lifting.

But I'm impressed!  I would've never thought we'd be in a position to have at least one house of the legislature, the Governor's mansion, and both Senate seats by 2008.  That's amazing!  The DPVA is obviously doing something right.

That said, I gave a B.  No politician or political organization should ever feel complacent!

To Noonan and JD I can respond only with this:  I concede that I have bedded the person with whom I share a computor, but though we think the same, LIBERAL and LIBERAL, we don't always agree on the importance of certain issues or the means of achieving goals.  But one thing we both know--not agree upon, but BOTH KNOW--is that though we are forever-voting registered Democrats we are not getting sh-t from our State and local committees.  Occasionally, we hear of some gala, to which we may or may not be allowed to go, depending on whether we are willing to shell out $500 to $1,000.  I remember getting one or 2 of those in the mail.  But info, feel-good propaganda to keep me energized, barbeques, etc., to be among other like-thinking Dems--Forget it!

As for saying that there is something that insiders of the DPV know that gives the DPVA an A rating, what the hell good does that do to Democratically-inclined voters in Backwash, VA, in the far outskirts of some county.  There, there might have been the 324 votes to get Deeds elected if only some communications/public education type in Richmond had done his/her job, had gotten off his/her dead ass, looked at a list of Democratic voters in that county, and had gotten the county committee there off THEIR dead asses and made them proselytize for the Democrat candidate.

You'll get some good donations from the insider parties, but the votes to ensure victory must come from those who are not insiders. Those who go to the balls, the yachting trips, the $1000 a plate dinners will not ensure a win.  The votes needed come not from those lucky people. Remember, the Webb victory to which you referred was a fluke that came about ONLY because a fool denigrated a kid by calling him "macaca," and luckily it was caught on video.  The victory was not brought about by the acumen of the DPVA or the monies it collected.  Remember too, the current and favorable status of the Dems has been brought about not by the fiery speeches of Harry Reid, Kaine, Webb, Pelosi, and others (obviously, I kid), but by the incredible depths to which the Republican machine has sunk, with their war, their hypocricy, their jingoism which we are sick of, and their fleecing of the public, including the childrens.

Finally, this poll was created so that the readers of RK could vote on how they perceive the DMVA is doing its job, and only 87 voted.  How can we readers know of secrets within secrets pursued by the DPVA?  We can only vote on what we see the DPVA as DOING, and that ain't much.  You can't say that what we perceive is not what we perceive, can you?

Signing off as a loyal Democrat who will ALWAYS vote for his party, no matter my criticisms.

I didn't say anything at all about your IP address.  I wasn't suspicious, and tend to agree with both of you quite often.  And even if I were suspicious, I would probably just have attacked your ideas rather than your credibility.  That's just my style.  So I'm a little confused as to why you directed your last comment to me. 

All I said originally was that I don't know enough about the DPVA to know how well they're doing, but I gave them a B based on the fact that we're winning elections.  It had very little to do with your comment because obviously you have a better idea than me of what its like on the ground.  I had no intention of rebutting  you.

I'm sorry that I won't get into some of the really good stuff about DPVA and the campaigns they support are doing, but come on, why do we have to give away all our technigues and methods, especially when we are doing some stuff really well right now..... I physically am participating in activities all over northern Virginia and am constantly bumping into herds of DPVA staff who are out there side by side with the individual campaigns. Also they are manning countless phone banks at atleast 6  differnet locations that have enough phones to handle their armies.... In an "Off-year" I have never seen this level of campaign support. You want to talk further, then find me on email at JimS at NoVa.org...... or wait until the week after election day..... we give and have given our competitors way too much to help them and hurt us....

Did you just say that you won't tell us how the DPVA wins elections for fear that it will give the other side ideas?  You would rather limit the communication with the Democratic base?!?  That's the most disingenuous thing I've heard in a long time.  First of all, we beat the Republicans by energizing our base, which requires communication.  Second, we beat the Republicans because we have better ideas, which should be communicated.  Third, there's a bigger picture than any given election.  We may squeak by in November, but unless we win the broader war of ideas, we'll never accomplish much in the long run.  Communication is the only way.  In the scheme of things, I don't really understand how a super-top-secret "technique" gives us the edge.  Winning public elections shouldn't be based on some secret trick or loophole.  In fact, that's downright scary.  It should be based on an open battle of ideas. 

Plus, I can't help but notice that your argument sounds a lot like Bush's claim that "we can't tell you how we get information because it will embolden our enemies." 

I was blown away by that comment.

Used2B:  You sound like a great Democrat who happens to live in an area where there are lots of other great Democrats.

But you need to listen to what is being said here (and by all the other people who commented last fall at RK, after the election, about how DPVA doesn't communicate). 

Who said anything about giving away secrets?  But if it's a secret that there is a phone bank somewhere that I could be helping out with....well then you're starting to sound like Republicans to me.

I feel that I'm not going to make any headway with you on getting you to understand the importance of bringing everyone in on what's going on.  So I'll not belabor this anymore. 

But just for a moment, just a moment, try to imagine not knowing what you know....for just a moment.

In places like Richmond and NOVA, the elections are the Democrats' to lose.  Naturally enough, you worry about dropping the ball, and so you conclude that saying too much could ruin everything.  I think you should relax and realize that maintaining your energy up there is more important than any specific method.

In more rural, conservative parts of the state, the embattled Democrats have to focus on changing people's minds.  Its more of an uphill/long-term process, but its totally worth the fight.  And to do that it sounds like the hillbillies, (I include myself), could use a little more energy and communication from you city slickers. 

Based entirely on this discussion, it sounds like the DPVA is writing off some of the more rural areas.  Boooo!  Hiss!

Used2B:  I apologize if I've sounded condescending. 

But please understand that we can't know what we don't know.  And that's dangerous in politics when you need all the resources and ideas you can muster to win. I've worked in several grassroots campaigns including one right now and our strategy has always been good communications and it's proved a good principle. 

Email me and I hope after we exchange some ideas you'll understand, but just search back through all the blogs you've read in the last few years and how many times have you ever ever ever had one of our competitors explain how and why they did something???? Its like trying to find a yard sign from a Republican candidate that has "Republican" on it this year.....

IN terms of communications, There are a lot better ways of doing things than face to face, but some stuff, that is the only way until the trust that needs to be earned is there. Yes a news-letter would be helpful, but there isn't a day that goes by that one of the mailing lists I'm on and I'm sure you are on too, doesn't send some kind of empowering update.... DCCC, DNC, DPVA, and anyone of a dozen different PACs.... IF DPVA wants to do it their way and it's working as well as it appears to be, I'm not arguing.... but if I have question, they have staffers everywhere THIS YEAR and all I have had to do is ask and answers start arriving rapidly. Everybody I know is getting that same level of service and support THIS YEAR.... I don't feel I have a reason to explain what and exactly how they are deploying their resources from what I observe almost daily, but I did feel a need to explain why I gave them and "A" and I am truly sorry you don't feel the same, or more importantly, apparently have the same level of support I and others here in NoVa I know are getting.

I do not pretend to know what or to speak for DPVA as to what they are thinking. But, I know I'm seeing solid results. As I understand the way things are, DPVA is a very "Tactical" organization in the short term now.... Their mission doesn't always have to include everybody because they generally have their resources so focused at this time of year. I got into this discussion because I was explaining that my experience right now THIS YEAR has been great and that was what I considered when I gave them the "A" grade I did. Obviously that is not the only experience that others have with DPVA from the other votes that others have posted.

Because I don't really know enough to report one way or the other on how the DPV is doing.

I have always gotten directly involved in specific campaigns, and some have had fantastic resources while others have had to make do with bits of string and bailing wire.  I don't know if that is because the ones with great resources contract out, or if the DPV has simply favored some campaigns over others... but I have been astonished at the difference in quality between campaign voter turnout databases, canvassing sheets, software, equipment, literature, and financial support.

I'd like to believe that the DPV is busy working on things that I am not focusing on, though I confess that once in a while a nagging doubt creeps in that they don't have any better idea how to go about winning elections than any of the rest of us.

I have not received a lot from the DPV - but then I have not asked for much, and I tend to be annoyed when organizations contact me without invitation to do so.  I don't really know what to ask of the DPV.

I know I want Democratic candidates to win specific races very badly and that I'll do whatever I can to help make that happen.  So I volunteer, contribute, and talk about those candidates to my friends and co-workers as much as I can.  The DPV is clearly helping in some of those races (which is good) and clearly not helping much in others (I don't understand why not).  I have to trust that there are good reasons.

Prince William County Democrats (specifically Gainesville District) is a really well run group the last 2-3 years.  I love the energy level we have now, and I am proud to be involved.  I confess the meetings sometimes bore me to tears... but I figure hearing everyone out is part of being in a political party.

About 5 years ago, when I first moved to PWC from Fairfax, I was appalled at how little organized PWC Democrats was...  I could not even get them to understand that I was in PWC, yet in the 10th Congressional District.  They kept trying to direct me to Loudon (they thought the district line was the same as the county line).  I am happy that all that has changed.  The 2005 campaigns made sure of it.

I can't tell you what the DPVA's doing well, because I don't hear from them. 

Now, I can tell you my thoughts on what I'd like to see from the DPVA:

1.  A regular newsletter from the DPVA about what is going on in the Party (events, training, campaigns needing help, those sorts of things).

2.  An e-mail to every known Democrat in Virginia telling them that there is a LOCAL Committee that they could join or help (not everyone wants to join but sometimes folks want to help).  Give them the information with points of contact and meeting dates.  (I can't tell you how many Democrats in my county don't even know there's a local committee.  I haven't gotten an e-mail from my local committee in over a year!!!)

3.  A notification on the website, BEGINNING NOW, that every local committee will be reorganizing in December and January and folks who want to join a particular committee or RUN FOR AN OFFICE can do so.  Provide the requisite information so people will know where and when to join.  (In 2005, my local committee's Chair and Vice Chair refused to tell the members there was going to be a reorganization ... so just 13 days before the reorg they sent us an e-mail that there would be a reorg during Christmas week.  I filed a complaint to the DPVA and my District Chair but nothing was done to have another fair reorg where we all could participate.  So most of the working folks left the committee in disgust.) 

4.  Unless the bylaws of the committee limit membership to a particular number, do not allow committees to require participants to require a "pre-file" by a deadline or else they can't participate in voting for officers.  (Guess whose committe did that!  It sure worked for the current Chair to get himself re-elected!)

That's all I can think of at the moment. Not much really. 

or did not do

I want to see progressive, populist Democrats win the General Assembly in November.  To date, the only communication that I've had about the statewide elections is from candidates so I've assumed that the Party isn't involved (remember I can only perceive what I witness or am told).

Not to you JohnB, but to those who say the Party is doing great things (which I'm glad to hear), wouldn't it be a plus in their column if one day a week, someone at the DPVA put out a newsletter that is sent to all the e-mail addresses that it has, telling us what is going on?  Then come November 7th, whether victory or defeat, the DPVA supporters wouldn't have to defend the DPVA when we ask "where were you?"

Here's a very important comment from snolan (Scott) above:

I have always gotten directly involved in specific campaigns, and some have had fantastic resources while others have had to make do with bits of string and bailing wire.  I don't know if that is because the ones with great resources contract out, or if the DPV has simply favored some campaigns over others... but I have been astonished at the difference in quality between campaign voter turnout databases, canvassing sheets, software, equipment, literature, and financial support.

As to this, I'd bet he knows the answer but I'm glad he had the guts to bring up the subject. (Best to ask the candidates who've asked for DPVA help and not gotten it; or to ask the DPVA what their policy/procedure is on supporting all Democratic candidates.)  Thanks Scott.
 

I'm sure I'll get yelled at for this post, but I think part of the discontent with DPVA comes from differing views of the role the state party should play.  From your comments, Dianne and SoccerDem, it seems to me that you want the state party to be more of a standard-bearer than it appears to be their mission to be.  I believe (and I greatly agree with this view) that DPVA's role is more in the background, to support campaigns and provide them with resources such as staff, funding, institutional knowledge, the voter file, etc.  I do feel that it is appropriate for the party to remain in the background in a coordinating role and allow the candidates and elected officials to shine.  Isn't that the way it works on a federal level?  After an initial flurry of press, Howard Dean has remained in the background while Pelosi, Reid, Webb, and others have been the face of the party.  From my vantage point, it appears as though Senator Deeds, Minority Leader Armstrong, Caucus Chair Brian Moran and others are doing a great job speaking for the party.

I understand your frustration of desiring more information and a way to be involved.  I do think that the state party could stand to send out weekly newsletters, but I also think the progress they have made over the past year and a half is fantastic.

Did you have a chance to see Cvllelaw's post on Democratic Central concerning the power of the state party over local parties?  I believe it would be useful to you.  In the meantime, I think you could scratch your itch to be involved by volunteering with a local campaign (which you may be already.)