January 25, 2010

Fed Up with the Democratic Party? Be the Democratic Party!

Run for Committeeperson. It's Easy!

By Stan Shapiro

Here's HOW to run for Committeeperson. And here's WHY you should run.

The Democratic Party. One day it lifts us so high . . . remember November, 2008? Of course you do. But then it wins and it tries to govern. And suddenly it gets completely torn between the interests of its grass roots supporters, and those of its corporate, big money sponsors. It tries to walk that narrow line and it falls on its face. And then we do the bleeding.

If you are fed up with the right wing drift, lack of coherence, and/or governing incapacity of the Democrats, then here’s what you can do about it this very Spring: BECOME THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

...Continued from home page

You won't have this chance again until 2014!!!

That’s right, every four years, and only one time every four years, the entire leadership of the Democratic Party is up for election, neighborhood by neighborhood, and in every neighborhood, throughout PA.

The Party is not some mysterious apparition that comes through the night to foist milky-toast political candidates on us. It is actually an elected leadership body, elected by thousands of committeepeople, each one of whom in turn is elected by party voters in a single geographical division (what regular people call a neighborhood.) Each one of these divisions contains somewhere between 500 and 1000 voters, and one polling place.

In Philadelphia, divisions are collected into larger neighborhood groupings that are called wards. There are 69 wards in Philly, each with a ward leader elected by the Commiteepeople in that ward. These ward leaders, in turn, elect the Chair of the Democratic City Committee, who is now Bob Brady.

Ward leaders also get together to figure out who the Democratic candidates will be whenever there’s a vacancy in the middle of a term. That’s an incredibly important power. Lots of officeholders started their careers by being appointed in this way by the ward leaders, without having to go through a primary first. Once in office they become entrenched, making it incredibly hard for good, independent candidates to ever get off the ground.

We need progressive ward leaders who stand for something

So, here’s the bottom line: if you want the Democratic Party to produce progressive candidates, we need progressive ward leaders. To get progressive ward leaders, we need progressive committeepeople. That could START WITH YOU! And you’d be surprised how easy it is to get started.

First, you need to get on the ballot. That’s right, the position is on the ballot, the same primary ballot you’ll be looking at when you vote to nominate candidates for Governor and Senator on May 18. And all you need to get on that ballot is a nominating petition signed by 10 registered Democrats who live in your division.

So how do you do that? Well, first you get the forms from the City Commissioners’ Office at Room 142, City Hall, or from the Committee of Seventy Office, 1628 JFK Boulevard Suite 1002. The City Commissioners’ Office should also give you a “street list” showing the names and addresses of the registered Democrats in your division. Some of them will be your friends, others will be people you’ve passed in the street that you may have wanted to say hello to but somehow never did. Some will be complete strangers, but great people that you might never otherwise meet.

So here’s the other great part about doing this. It gives you a basis to start conversations that you really want to have with folks anyhow. Just knock on their doors, tell them you’re running, and ask them what they think Democrats ought to stand for. Odds are, you’ll agree with them on lots of stuff, and then you’ll be able to give them a way to practically advance their goals, namely by signing your petition, and then voting for you on May 18. After 25 or so of those great conversations, you’ll have the signatures you need (because you really should have about 25, even though, technically, all you need is 10.)

You might have a friend in the division who would like to help. That person can run as your partner, or just help you by also circulating a petition on your behalf.

Now here’s another important part: there’s a narrow window for getting these signatures, from Tuesday February 19, to Tuesday, March 9, three weeks later.

Want to know more? Go here for more info on Seventy’s technical resources for people running for Committeeperson.

In addition, Neighborhood Networks may be holding workshops in various areas of the City in which we help people understand the process. If you’re interested in helping put such a workshop together, or if you know a good spot for one, please be in touch with me at shapsj@comcast.net and we’ll be happy to work with you.

Remember, it’s now or . . . not until 2014. NOW is the time -- as we often told everyone who would listen just a year ago -- for all of US to be the change.

© 2005-2007 Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, All Rights Reserved. Site Design by Nancy Brigham; logo design by KC Ellis. Special thanks to Don Engel and D. André Dhondt for the software.