We need to get local - PATHETIC turn out at local Democratic Caucus

[debbierlus]

I went to my local democratic caucus today. I am going to be a delegate for the Progressive Governor canidate in Massachusetts - Deval Patrick. Out of a town of about 10,000 people - NINE people showed up for the caucus.

Nine.

Less then one per thousand.

My husband came & wasn't going to run due to a very busy schedule, but the chair asked him to go and the state rep present offered to PAY for him to go. So, he is going to be a delegate to...They did not have enough people to run for the seats!

Everyone there was over fifty other then my husband and myself...

Great people. I got to talk to the state senator about a univeral health care coverage bill the legislature is hoping to pass in the next two months in MA. I got to meet one of the canidates for Lieutenant Governor. I met a wonderful woman who I am going to work on the campaign with...And, I was courted to be secretary of the local democratic committee.

If we can get organized, the progressives could EASILY take over the democratic party. They are hungry for new blood.

If any DU'er has the time, I would highly encourage you to attend your democratic local meetings.

NINE people, folks. NINE.

[yurbud]

1. 1 per 1000? that's pretty damn good!

[debbierlus]

4. You are kidding, right?

One per hundred.

That would be good.

One per thousand?

I don't think so.

[Kire]

8. Yes, that's great.

Did you mean 10,000 people in the town or 10,000 Democrats? If it's Democrats, then you've got a bigger problem than the rest of us. If it's 10,000 regular people in town, welcome to my world.

But, we don't get Lietenant Governors or State Senators at our local meetings. We don't even get them at our county meetings. I'm in a red county in a blue state, so they have plenty of other places they'd rather be.

I'm not saying you're not right that it's a tragedy, but you're wrong if you think this is unusual on a statistical basis.

[yurbud]

2. Go to your local college or community college and find the progressive

student groups: black student union, environmentalists, etc. and tell them they can take over the country.

[usrbs]

3. Wow! And this is in a voting convention year.

I think it all depends. In my town, admittedly the largest town in the U.S., we are having the caucus tomorrow on the day of the Superbowl , and are anticipating at least 80 participants.

But hurray for supporting Deval Patrick. It's starting to look like he's going to do very well indeed - just look at Reilly's attempt to lower expectations.

But you're right about the party being ripe for a progressve take-over. The Democratic town committees are always looking for new members, especially the few willing to take on responsibilities and to do work. These committees are truly politics at the ground level, but in the hands of committed dedicated activists they can be a good progressive force. By all means join the town committee and work at growing it. The program committee and being responsible for recruiting new membership are also good places to start.

[LiberalPartisan]

5. You're so right

I'm sick of working to get the vote out, to spread the word, to get people involved when the net result is they don;t get off their apathetic ass. If the Christo-fascists win this time around it will be because people are too lazy to get out of thier own way on this.

Whomever coined the phrase that people get the government they deserve was spot on!

[zippy890]

6. good news here in my town!

there was a great turnout for the caucus - 6 delegates - all for Deval Patrick,

the room was full, and there were more young people than the last democratic meeting!

chins up!

[John Q. Citizen]

7. Way to go debbierlus and congrats to you and your husband. This

is the reality in most of the Democratic Party local organizations around the country.

There are a few long time older folks who have been doing this a long time, and no one else.

Meanwhile, other people bash the party for not doing this or for doing that, while never even considering getting involved.

You are in a much more powerful position now than you were yesterday. You will be helping to shape democratic policy and positions. The world belongs to those that show up.


I have to laugh when people suggest launching a 3rd party and running someone for President. These are the same people who can't show up and help hammer out a platform, do the volunteering, or coming up with smart fresh ideas to help elect town counsel candidates or County Commissioners. I don't want to turn this into a debate about 3rd parties. I do want to restate your point about how much easier it would be to utilize the existing infrastructure of the Democratic Party to bring about a progressive change than it would be to elect a 3rd party presidential candidate. Let alone a governor.

Thanks for telling us about your new job.

[sandnsea]

9. We get about 30

at Dem meetings. But that drops to around 10 to anything requiring real work. We have retired people though, so we always have plenty of people who want to go to the state meetings and can afford to pay, so I don't worry about them. Our population is a little less than 10,000, way on the other side of the country, Oregon. So you don't sound much different than here. Not sure how often you go to your meetings, but ours are just like DU, much more left leaning than people I talk to otherwise.