Ben Tribbett has written about turmoil in the Prince William County Democratic Committee (PWCDC) following the loss by Jeff Dion this past Tuesday (Dion was running for Board Of Supervisors, Occoquan District). Now, the Potomac News weighs in on the resignations of three PWCDC leaders - Vic Bras, Matt Harrison and Jim Alcauskas - following the Dion loss. According to the Potomac News:
The three said much of their decisions to resign revolved around disorganization, cliques and personal agendas taking over the committee.[...]
Bras had been the chairman of the committee for about a year and was chairman of one of the magisterial districts prior to that.
Bras said although he will no longer associate with the county's Democratic party, he said he will continue to support the national party and candidates.
Meanwhile, Matt Harrison charges that "some of the senior members [of PWCDC] haven't supported many of the past Democratic candidates for various positions over the years," and also that "the county's party has been taken over by some local and state Democratic representatives, such as Supervisor John Jenkins, who have held their positions for a long time and 'think the party exists to elect them.'"
On the surface at least, this does not look good, not good at all. The question is, what next for a county that Jim Webb carried by more than 2,000 votes this past November, which Tim Kaine carried by about 1,200 votes, and which has been trending Democratic for several years now (in 2000, George Allen carried the county by around 7,700 votes over Chuck Robb)? Will it continue trending Democratic, in spite of turmoil in the PWCDC? Will the PWCDC pull together after the last week's turmoil, or will it continue to lose key members and potentially harm the Democratic cause in this crucial county? My guess is that the Democratic trend will continue, since it is based heavily on changing demographcis. And hopefully, the PWCDC will continue to be a big part of that.
Still, having said all that, I remain concerned that problems in the PWCDC - or any other Democratic committee, for that matter - could cause Democrats to "underperform" below their potential in their respective areas of operation, and that this could hurt Democratic candidates at both the local and state levels. Which is why I wish the PWCDC well, hope that they are able to overcome their latest difficulties, and look forward to their moving "forward together" as united Democrats in 2007 and beyond.
You can add closed system, clubbiness, and control freaks to the list.
I called and got tickets the first morning they were available since Obama events have a tendency to boil over past organizers' expectations, i.e. UMW & GMU.
I find it hard to believe it is this hard to get a straight answer. The fact is, they are disorganized and probably playing petty clique games.
Somebody needs to call Howard Dean and tell him we need a one-state strategy down here. Hell, a monkey can pick up a stupid telephone.
Committees are composed of volunteers. And by that fact, all too often local committees can easily be taken over by the local elected official(s) for their own benefit and to the detrement of other Democrats who might wish to run for office but can't get the committee support resources needed, if they are given any at all (I've witnessed this first hand). Everybody knows this happens. It is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that so many will not talk about, including those who try to run for office and aren't given the support to win and yet remain silent. It is bad for the Democratic Party in Virginia.
One paid party official said the job of the DPVA is "to support the local committees...that is what we are paid to do." I'll ask once again: DPVA talk to all Democrats in the state, not just those who've happened to join a committee; return phone calls (I've experienced that too); respond to e-mails; implement the 50-state strategy over the entire state; let us know what you are doing; intervene in committees that are having problems (don't just say there's nothing we can do). DPVA -- you have a challenge this year -- show us you are up to the task.
As to the 50 state strategy, the DNC site says the following:
The 50 State StrategyHow Democrats can and will win in every state, every county, and every precinct.
The Democratic Party is committed to winning elections at every level in every region of the country, and we're getting started right now with a massive effort to fund organizers on the ground in every state.
The ultimate goal? An active, effective group of Democrats organized in every single precinct in the country. Here's what we're doing to get there:
The Democratic Party is hiring organizers chosen by the state parties in every state -- experienced local activists who know their communities.
We bring those organizers together for summits where they can learn from each other the best practices for getting organized to win elections.
Armed with the knowledge they've shared with each other, Democratic organizers return to the states and recruit and train leaders at the local level.
Those local leaders recruit more leaders and volunteers until every single precinct in their area has a trained, effective organization of Democrats dedicated to winning votes for Democrats.
From my reading of Governor Dean's plan, the strategy goes down to the precinct level. There has been nothing on the DPVA's website, nor have I received a demo memo explaining how it will be implemented in Virginia. If you know and understand how it will be implemented here in Virginia, then please let us all know. We want help in supporting our candidates running for office this year.
Can we get this diary back on Lowell's topic? The problems with getting tickets to the JJ Dinner are certainly frustrating and, as I said before, I've experienced unreturned phone calls from the DPVA. But what Lowell brought up -- that troubles like PW's may forebode a wider problem in 2007 for Democratic wins -- is important and worthy of our ideas and thoughts. It's important to discuss.
The Prince William committee seems to be in trouble, other committees definitely are in trouble, and we need to address what's wrong, how we can fix it, and then start working on fixing it.
This is the last thing Bruce needs down there. Can somebody get these folks together and explain to them the importance of working together as adults to get rid of Marshall!!?!?