Question For red Staters:Help From Blue Staters

[Beacho]

What would the red staters feel about dems from other parts of the country helping dem organizations in their states?

Would it be appreciated or would it be seen as patronising amd hurt more than it helps?

I maybe taking several trips to Texas in the coming years, to visit my brother and doing some consulting work for his firm. My though is that while I was there, I would contact the local democratic clubs and help out.

I was also thinking of doing it in a more organised fashion. somthing along the lines of getting people from 'safe' democratic districts to volunteer in red areas.

My question is, would this be a help or a hindrance?

Thanks
Chris
Washington State

[NMDemDist2]

1. Californians came to AZ and NV to help out a bunch

no reason not to continue the process I should think

[Vincardog]

2. Chris you might do beter to contact local Progressives.

[mairceridwen]

3. well...

it depends on what kind of *help* you are talking about

I am sure that any dem organization would appreciate more volunteers regardless of where they come from

but if you feel like you are somehow a better democrat or know what's good for us because you are from a blue state well then just fuck off.

part of the problem is trying to figure out way to raise people's consciousness, to turn people around down here. being from a blue state hardly qualifies you for that. in fact, it may put you at a disadvantage because you are coming from an otherwise liberal cultural atmosphere. but nothing is ever as simple as that. There is a difference between a liberal from boston who knows about two republicans and the liberal from rural michigan who deals with conservatives on a regular basis.

yankees may be met with resistance if they canvass in red states, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't help.

[Warpy]

4. I'd add an additional caveat

and say be very, very careful when sending helpers to regions they are not familiar with.

In other words, transplanted southerners who wish to help rebuilding the party in the south might be the only help from New England that the south would tolerate. People can get awfully prickly when they're getting lectured by folks who don't understand them. After all, that happened during the civil rights struggle, and they're still smarting from it.

[Cheswick2.0]

8. okay, we'll fuck off.... could you fucking figure out how to educate your

neighbors? Let me know if I can make the power point for you or bake cookies for the meeting.

[DU9598]

5. Is your state entirely blue???

I doubt it. My advise would be to make your own state entirely blue and then come calling.

[Cheswick2.0]

10. Is your state blue at all?

I suggest you stop treating us like carpet baggers and accept some help.
Santorum is one of my senators. I appologise for him. Bring your southern accent (or western accent) and come help us get rid of him. I think people whould love to hear from their southern neighbors. We like people from other states.

[TomClash]

6. Hundreds went from NY to FLA

We were welcomed.

[charlyvi]

9. Florida's not really a southern state.

There's a world of difference between Florida and Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Louisiana, etc. The Hispanic Floridians and retirees lend a different flavor to the state entirely.

[TomClash]

14. Hey, if Alabama Dems asked, I'd probably come n/t

[charlyvi]

16. And this Alabama Dem would more than welcome you!

But some would not, I'm afraid. They would listen politely, then talk about your Yankee hide comin' down and tellin' them what to do! LOL

[muse]

7. Keep in mind that the DNC put NO money into the 2004 election in TX

You heard me right. The DNC put absolutely ZERO resources into the 2004 election in Texas. Obviously, that is not true for other red states, but I know that they didn't put tremendous resources into most southern states. In many cases, they pulled out of southern states, when the polling data showed that Kerry's chances didn't look good or they did the opposite - they jumped in late when Kerry's chances all of a sudden looked up. They had a strategy to focus on the few swing states that they knew would make or break the election.

I supported that decision, although the chair of the TX Democratic party did not. He was furious with the DNC for taking Texan's money and not putting ANY of it back into Texas - not even for our congressional races which were crucial because of DeLay's redistricting nonsense!!

So, no one, absolutely no one, should be surprised at the huge lack of Kerry support in the South. Very little was done by the DNC or the Kerry campaign to help our local grassroots efforts. Here in Houston, we had meetups with people standing out the doors, we had visibility events on street corners, we finally got the DNC to give us phone banks during the last two weeks on the election so we could call Florida and Colorado voters - we did everything we could think of - but without DNC support.

So, really, the "outside" help we need is really from our party leadership.

[Cheswick2.0]

11. maybe we can all figure out a way to help each other fund furture efforts

No way should you all be left there to swing in the wind. That's just not right. However I understand the parties position too.
Maybe we can figure out how to work together Grassroots to Grassroots and get something done.

[leyton]

12. I'd be careful.

I personally wouldn't see it as patronizing, but a lot of people would, just as you might be annoyed if some Republican from the deep south came knocking on your front door. In addition, southerners are going to be suspicious if they hear a foreign accent on the phone urging them to vote for whoever.

But there are plenty of things you could do, like office work, holding signs, etc. I would just keep in mind that the more it becomes obvious that you are from the North, the more it will count against you in a lot of minds.

[Beacho]

13. I was thinking more about bypassing the national party

Doing things on a grassroots level.

Aslo communicating between groups on a regular basis and allocating resources.

I'm hearing a lot on this board about how many progressives there are in 'red' regions, prehaps some support from others around the country would help.

It also works both ways. How about some of you red state progressives coming to blue areas and addressing us here? Let us know what's what in your area and see each other face to face to put to rest regional biasas. Bulletin Boards and emails are great, but seeing someone live and in the flash puts a human face on the issues.


And yes, there is some work to be done in my area. I live in Pierce County, which gives a lot of support to the GOP/Bush.

As I said, the main point is communication to help dispel the phoney divide that Rove, et al, use to great affect to keep people, who should be working together, at each others throats.

I also guess that dropping the word 'help' would be useful and make it more about building relationships.

[cosmik debris]

15. What we need in TX

Is a candidate that appeals to Texans. As long as we let Iowa and New Hampshire pick our candidates, you won't get a lot of support in Texas no matter how many volunteers you send down here. Give us better candidates and platforms that we can get behind and we won't need any other help.

viva la raza