Is anybody Else Afraid of Obama Overwhelming local Democratic Committees?

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

I'm in Tallahassee, Florida, and last night the local Democratic Party held a meeting @ a bar. Mind ya'll, the Dems in this city are a fun group with the best kind of leadership; however, the response in sheer numbers seem to be overwhelming.

At the meeting, the expectation was for roughly 20-30 people. Well, the bar could barely facilitate the 85+ people who showed up for the meeting. Because of the local committee's leadership style, it wasn't really a problem, but I could see how it could be overwhelming for other Democratic groups.

My fear is that some of the midsized to small towns in this country may not be fully prepared for the response. Given that fact, I'm also wondering if, at times, we might not be tapping into our full voting potential if we get these numbers per meeting.

If this many people showed up @ a regular meeting in a midsized town, then imagine the number of people who would actually volunteer and work for the campaign.

[Alter Ego]

1. Not at all.

A little dose of Obama would be good for a lot of lower-ticket races.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Yes. More and enthusiastic Democrats is just AWFUL....

WTF are you talking about?

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

6. I think you're misunderstanding me.....

....which isn't necessarily a fault of yours. I guess my OP deals with a concern I have for local committees who have customarily had 10-15 people @ their meetings who are now getting 50-60.

I don't think it'll be a major problem, but in some of these towns we have people who are used to raising money via the annual bake sale and who are used to having their meetings in small, picnic areas

This is a different campaign. Again, it's just a concern of mine from what I've seen first hand.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. No it's a good point guys. He's talking LOGISTICS here

People might need to scale up to handle the surge of new voters!

[blondeatlast]

9. So explain the problem? Specifics? I don't get where this should be a real concern? nt

[KittyWampus]

13. Well, the point is that Obama does have really well trained professional organizers working shoulder

to shoulder with local Dems. They can definitely help locals expand their base.

As someone who started and headed a small organization, a large influx of people does require effort.

[On the Road]

10. Accomodating More People

may be a problem, but it is a very good problem to have.

Hopefully in four years, they'll need to hire the ballroom at the Sheraton. :)

This would not be a good problem to have on election day. Hopefully, one of the tasks of local Democratic groups will be to assure enough capacity for a large turnout.

[JimGinPA]

33. They Will Break Into Smaller Groups For Efficiency...

That's how we were organized for the primary here. It's effective.

[SoCalDem]

40. You may have to meet in parks or other open spaces that can accomodate crowds

or make people RSVP, by a certain date so you know how much room you'll need:)

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. Having too many Democrats is the kind of "problem" I'd like to have.

[blondeatlast]

4. Nope, the coattail effect will be wonderful! AZ has a chance to win some local Dems this year. nt

[blondeatlast]

5. Too many Democrats? Mind if I CELEBRATE?! nt

[Pirate Smile]

8. That is what happened in all the caucus states. The numbers that turned out swamped the numbers

they were expecting which were even increased numbers.

Yesterday there was an article about election officials searching for additional election workers because they are assuming there will be a big increase in turnout.

What a problem to have. :)

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

18. Oh, I agree...

....it's not the worst thing that can happen, but I'm thinking about the bigger picture here. Come election time, we want to have facilitated all of these people in some kind of way. By doing so, they'll be involved and motivated to support the campaign.

If a person who's never been politically involved comes to a meeting and has to sit in a folding chair on the periphery of that meeting, then I doubt if that person's going to be motivated. He'll/She'll vote for Obama, but I wonder if that person would be less likely to come to the next meeting.

All in all, I don't think it's a "major" problem, but I do think preparing for this kind of response is going to benefit us in the long run.

[yellowdogintexas]

28. our precinct caucus which normally could be held in a booth at Braum's

next door filled a room

our district convention which usually is held in a high school auditorium had to be held at Will Rogers Coliseum and the next one over which historically could have held theirs in a Denny's had to use the Gaylord Convention Center.

it was chaos but in a good way.

I had to stand in line to vote for cryin out loud

[KittyWampus]

11. The Obama people are professionals who can help local Dem organizations expand in a balanced way

I heard good things about Obama's campaign working ground up and utilizing local talent and allowing them to influence how things operate.

So be assured that there are professionals who can help long-standing local Dems keep pace with the influx.

[DinahMoeHum]

12. Methinks you mean "overlooking" . . .i/o overwhelming ??

that you're concerned that people will be so enthusiatic about Obama that they may overlook the fact that there are "down-ticket" races happening as well - and that $$$ and support may be sucked out of those races as a result??

[w13rd0]

14. Lol...

...RUN! TOO MANY DEMOCRATS! RUN AWAY!

[WCGreen]

15. I was the Treasurer for the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, Cleveland,

in 1996 and 2000 and yes the team from DC can sometimes overwhelm the local effort. But after the pissing matches and the turf wars are settle, it usually calms down and the people there for Obama will realize that the local party isn't full of hacks, idiot cousins and ne'er do wells and actually knows a thing or two about the area they live in.

Move On was horribly arrogant in 2004. In fact, the college students they sent alienated so many of the local people that they just wasted their time. The Move On people had an "elitist" 'tude, they sent Harvard kids to work with working class folks who of course were treated like yokels, about them and basically conveyed to all who wanted to help that the locals had no clue how to win elections. They targeted all wrong and did not ask for any local input into the mix. And when some was offered, they ignored it. Their efforts added nothing that wasn't already here and in place for North East Ohio.

The number one complaint that I had, as a person who cared about the president but also the local judges, the county office holders, the state reps and senators, was that that nothing else mattered to the people on the presidential team. Of course that heppens with the governor as well. But it all usually changes after about two weeks when the newbies and the implants realize that the local offices need to be in place in order to get the job done once the election is over.

It's good they are coming out this early because all of that will be settled before the convention and a good relationship should be worked out long before the Fall Election kicks into high gear.

[OzarkDem]

31. Not so sure

After he moved the DNC to Chicago today, its very possible he could exert control all the way down to the local level.

I'm a member of the Democratic Party, though, not the Obamacratic Party.

[WCGreen]

38. True that....

[Cant trust em]

16. This is one of the best things about Obama's candidacy

He's driving people out to participate that wouldn't necessarily have done it with another candidate.

[Midlodemocrat]

17. How could this possibly be anything but a good thing?

Oh noes!!!! Too many volunteers!!!! Too many voting for Obama.


:eyes:

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

21. I think you may.....

....be missing the point. I suspect your feeble attempt @ sarcasm belies the fact that you may not have the capacity to get it, though.

[zulchzulu]

19. Are you a concern troll or just not getting what you are witnessing?

So too many people are showing up to want to get involved...

THAT'S A PROBLEM?

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

22. Concern troll.....

....never heard of that, but maybe I am. Again,there are two points I'm making here.

1. There may be so many people @ these organizing meetings until the local leadership may be overwhelmed. As a result, many first time people may feel alienated, leaving them less likely to get involved in the process.

2. We may be missing out on untapped talent if we have such overwhelming numbers.

I appreciate the vitriolic responses, but I'm not absolutely sure if condescending attacks are always necessary.

We're....like...on the same team here.

[zulchzulu]

23. I wasn't...

...trying to be vitriolic.

In terms of untapped talent, I've actually organized meetings with people (sometimes over a 100) on grassroots stuff and there is a really easy way to get experienced, talented people to sign up. Have them sign up! Ask people to raise their hands if they were on a campaign before and even have people introduce themselves briefly to the rest of the group with their experience, etc.

It's no time to be shy. The really good, DEPENDABLE people know what to do. It certainly makes sense for people organizing the meetings to have several clipboards to have people write down stuff. I even use a couple laptops with Excel for people to sign in with.

[NatBurner]

25. dude, you're no concern troll, trust me

also, just to add to what you're saying-

we had the same problem in my district in the primary

whomever was in charge was simply not ready for the large turnout, ESPECIALLY for the caucus portion

by the time the dust settled? more people left than stayed for the caucus vote

[whistle]

20. Nope...Orlando FL I hope it results in defeating Tom Feeney (R-Dist 24 FL) along with

....other repukes here in Florida

[butterfly77]

24. No..

[dsomuah]

26. Care to share how you guys dealt with it?

You said it turned out not to be a problem in your case. I'm sure other local dem organizers would like to know how you guys dealt with it, and if there's any advice you can pass on.

[H2O Man]

27. No.

I do not think that is a problem. I've never heard anyone from a local democratic committee express concern that there is a large number of people interested in participating in democratic politics. Quite the opposite.

I do think that republicans will be concerned that the Obama campaign will cause the type of interest that you mention in your OP. But democrats will be happy with the increased interest.

[jazzjunkysue]

29. Barack can come over and overwhelm me anytime he wants.

Bring it on!
:loveya:

[roseBudd]

30. Cincinnati got 700 to volunteer before the primary on a snow day & no off street parking

[OzarkDem]

32. Its not a good idea

No one wants to work in such a top down, controlled operation. Local grassroots clubs and organizations know their communities best. Any time a campaign comes to town and pushes local leaders aside, the candidates lose. Voters want to feel the local operation is theirs, not just a franchise.

Local party organizations also have other candidates to support in Congressional, state and local elections. They need to focus on those also.

I'm not a fan of machine politics, I've never seen an instance where it worked for very long and it always weakens and divides local party operations.

[JimGinPA]

34. See #33 nt

[OzarkDem]

35. There are other races

other candidates on the ticket besides the presidential race. Those need attention, support and volunteers, too, and it shouldn't be a struggle with the national campaign to focus volunteers, funds and operations on local and statewide races.

Top-down national campaign underlings often don't understand the nuances of local campaigning, either.

[JimGinPA]

37. That's Why You Supported Hillary - For Her Grassroots Campaign?

Because of her aversion to machine politics? Really?


:rofl:

[Tatiana]

36. My suggestion is to plan for 2-3 times regular turnout in advance.

My local group (of about 25 regulars) has grown to about 150 regulars plus an extra 50-100 at any given regularly scheduled meeting.

We used to meet at a local pizza joint, but grew too big for it. Now we alternate between two local union halls for major outreach initiatives and use the entire top floor of the restaurant for conducting regular business.

We are so thrilled to be blessed with such a problem.

Check with your union locals to see if you can use their space for meetings.

[vaberella]

39. Why are you afraid?! This is the demand that has been needed for years...

Do you not realize why we are in the situation we're in. It's because people were negligent. We forgot who this nation belongs too. It doesn't belong to the Government and it certainly doesn't belong to the nation. It belongs to the people. Because we forgot this fundamental aspect of us as citizens, we let clowns run the show and elect whoever they please while we sit back.


Obama, I'm sure wasn't even aware, or maybe he was, by how fed up we are and I like the fact that these totals are 4x or more than the expected. It shows that people sincerely care and they are realizing how negligent they have been in the past and without pro-active and continous moderation of our political officials we won't get what we deserve nor will we be able to enjoy the social welfare freedoms our Government should be providing to us through our taxes.

[FrenchieCat]

41. Fear is a GOP value......

I have neither fear nor "concern".

But thank you for asking.

[TexasObserver]

42. Obama is a rarity - He's a Party Builder

Obama has done something we boomers could not do - he's infused the party with a huge new group of committed voters, people under 30 who are suddenly driving the most successful presidential campaign we've seen any Democrat assemble in a long, long time.

We need the turnout to party functions to triple or more in every town. We have to bring the new blood in, and get new faces energizing the party all over the nation.

New Democrats are welcome. They're some of the best Democrats, often not yet jaded by time and losses.