Here's A Radical Solution: How About We Take Over The DNC?

[Harlan James]

I don't know about you, but the passivity and "reasonable at all costs" fecklessness of those who claim leadership in our party positively sickens me. The vitality and ability to raise any issue or push forward any cause (good or otherwise) that typifies so much of what we see here at DU is totally lacking among those overly cautious careerists with their soaring eagle ads and often repeated claims that this time they're really going to get tough (just as long as we keep sending them money).

So here's my radical solution: Let's take over the DNC. Why are we the outsiders and they the unchallenged internal leadership? The DNC crowd has been in control for so long they've completely forgotten how to fight. You can't help but think that for many of them the point isn't winning, it's holding onto their gig.

Besides, God knows we couldn't fuck things up any worse than they have.

[NVMojo]

1. good idea. What are they for anymore?

[cybildisobedience]

2. Okay, I'm in...

so how do we do this?

[Junkdrawer]

5. Well, as Mike Moore says: "If ten people walk into any local Democratic...

club, they will almost instantly become the majority."

[Misskittycat]

20. I think this is the way to do it. We should certainly try. eom

[Mist]

3. I like the idea but

the party hacks who have been around for years will hang on with their toenails to their positions, even in an organization that is becoming irrelevant. It's probably easier to just start a new progressive organization.

[w4rma]

7. If you can't take over the DNC at this point, then you surely can't take

over the American government at any point because to take over the American government you'd have to get past the Repugs and their corporate backers and it's the corporate cartel who are really in charge and they tell the Repugs what to do, not the other way around.

The primary reason that Dems are out of power is because our base has decided to fight against the multi-national corporate cartel who is, and has been for a while, in charge of this country and who are also destroying this nation for the sake of their own greed.

[K-W]

16. That is absolutely false.

Political parties are organizations of politicains. The politians control the party, that is why party hacks stay in power, because the politiians stay in power or new politians who owe something to the party hacks get in power.

All you have to do to completely take over the democratic party is get progressives elected in democratic primaries.

That is it.

[secedeeconomically]

4. I agree

Besides the DNC is nothing more that GOP light these days

[Poor Richard Lex]

6. Excellent idea

Dr. Dean has been saying this too. The question is, how?

There needs to be a core group who runs the operation. True believers. We really need organization and leadership in this endeavor.

I was just saying on another board that a candidate from DU would have no problem raising funds. The left blogosphere is a fund raising monster. Let's unleash it.

How about running our candidates in the democratic primaries for every race in the country, right down the ballot from senator to dogcatcher. Lets challenge the DNC right on their doorstep. Some seats are right out there for the picking. No democrat ran for my house district in Va(1) this year. WTF is up with that??

We could build an organization that raises the money and controls the message. Every candidate on the same page, and the cadres of DUers sending out press releases, LTTE and researching.

We could and should get the entire left blogosphere on board. All it needs is some organization.

Solidarity. Leadership. Organization. We've already got great ideas, and a proven track record. We need to take this country BACK. NOW.

[ooglymoogly]

10. count me in

[ieoeja]

11. Self Deleted n/t

[K-W]

17. We need local organization. We need candidates and voters.

Political movements go from the ground up. The trends start at the local levels. We need to start pumping progressives into local elections who can then move up to state and then federal.

This drive would create a trend, and then all the politicians in office would fall all over themselves to join the trend.

This is what the DLC did, folks. This is what the fundies did on the right.

This is how it is done.

[IrateCitizen]

8. How do you do it? From the ground up, that's how.

Those calling the shots in the DNC have money on their side. If you don't have big money on your side, then there's only one other real option -- the power of ORGANIZED numbers.

We may have numbers on our side right now, but we clearly DON'T have organized numbers. We have to start on local, county and state levels. We have to start identifying and supporting progressive candidates at these levels -- and start running ourselves. It is at these levels that future national leaders will come from.

It's not something that will be immediate, which is, sadly, what all of us seem to want. But if we are to be serious about this endeavor, it is what we must be willing to bear. Otherwise, it will simply be continued screaming at the wind.

[Lone_Wolf]

9. I think you are on the right track

Reforming the DNC is only going to be accomplished at the grassroots level. My biggest problem with the Democratic Party as it stands now is the party is undemocratic. The way the party functions now is a few decision makers make the major decisions for the party with very little input from the party members. Our only function as party members is to ratify their decisions and vote for their candidates.

In a true Democratic party, the members should decide the direction by majority rule and our leaders should follow our wishes. Once this starts happening, we will see more people start to get involved and the party re-energized.

For example, Howard Dean was on the right track when his supporters voted whether he should accept or opt out of federal funds. You can bet this scared the shit out of the DNC/DLC leaders who probably loathe popular involvement when it comes to party decision making.

[Poor Richard Lex]

12. kick it . . . n/t

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Poor Richard Lex]

15. kick

[ckramer]

18. How many DU membership are there?

All you to do is to establish a DUC, and let Howard Dean take charge.

[sariku]

19. Point me in a direction

I'm tired of the dems. The problem is that, for dems and repubs alike, they are more into maintaining the status quo than anything else. If we want true leadership, we need change. Change is radical. Not supporting the status quo is radical. We need this.