Orange County Brainstorms: Turn NC BLUE!!

[supernova]

Report of The Orange County Democratic Party Brainstorming Session (1st of three meetings, others upcoming)
When: Saturday, December 4, 2004 10am-12am
Where: Homestead Road Community Center, Chapel Hill


We met this morning to come up with ideas to provide direction for the party for the next two to four years. When I got there, I signed in got my badge and sat at an assigned table. We were to be in break-out groups. Wow! I thought, very organized and business like. Not at all like your typical Dem get together. :P Forgive me, but it's true; we Dems can be scattered when we try to get together in anything larger than a cafe klatch.

Our goal is nothing less that to TURN NC BLUE!

First a few stats from the General Election:

- 18, 000 Orange County Dems voted early (35% of all eligible County Dems!!)

- Overall, an increase from 54% Dem voter participation to 68% Dem Voter participation.
- Increased by 12,000 overall Dem voter turnout for the 2004 General Election over the 2000 General Election. Yes, 12,000 more people voted for John Kerry than for Al Gore.

- Our US Repesentative, David Price, anticipated 2000 votes from Orange County. Orange County delivered more thant 10,000!

- Our State Supreme Court candidate, Jim Wynn, got 22,000 votes from Orange County alone. The other three candidates in that race got 18,000 combined, statewide. That's about 3-4000 apiece.

Whew! We were busy! :-)

We began by, at our tables, discussing some starter purposes on a handout and then trying to come up with purposes at our tables. After we did that, we then turned to the overall group and shared our findings by table.

The room eventually came up with a list of 25 items. Yes, some are similar and will be collapsed and melded with others. We then voted, by table, on our top 5 priority items. The same proccess will be repeated on Monday night and again on Wednesday night.


Here is a partial list of what bubbled to the surface this morning:

Maintain/strengthen high level of Dem voter registration and participation
Develop an effective grassroots organization including:
- keeping up ties at the precinct level. Regular contact between precinct chairs and volunteers. Have get togethers about issues, etc.
- Develop and groom new candidates and party leadership (all of present folks are older adults)
- Facilitiate and nurture volunteers
Identify issues that most concern Dems and which will resonate positively with the rest of the state.
- Educate citizens on the issues
- Take stands on issues
Outreach beyond the Dem voter base; attract new voters
Articulate values attractively
Define ourselves with consistent language.
Increase Diversity
Maintain on-going fundraising activities.
Bridge the devide, work on getting NC to vote for the Dem at the top of the ticket. (For those of you not in the South, split tickets are common. You vote Dem locally or statewide, and Repub for president)

Action Outcome: Party Officers will take the information from these Brainstorming sessions and publish a draft for discussion on the web by no later than the end of January. Eventually this information will wind up in the Orange County Democratic Party Platform.

Final note: Our county chairman has no great love for the state Dem party. Our totally ineffectual state chairwoman is stepping down and we have a candidate who would be great state-wide to get people more involved at the local level.

Thoughts, ideas?

[chomskysright]

1. ? re: Orange county vote

so given that you had so many additional Dem votes...have you looked at the data re: Orange county to see if there is something fishy re: THIS election?

You have seen this info, yes? http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=170&topic_id=2586&mesg_id=2586

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=170x2562

[email protected]: Asheville

[supernova]

2. I don't understand what you're asking

I looked at the data, but I'm not quite sure what you're asking in relation to my post. :shrug:

[BeFree]

3. Supernova

This, I think is what chomsky was referring too:


ORANGE,,"George W. B, 8549 25%
ORANGE,,"John F. Kerry 24482, 75%
16%swing
"ORANGE","George W. Bu ,,20673, 33%
"ORANGE","John F. Kerry / ,42683, 67%

That's the absentee/early vote vs. the final poll day results. Orange had one of the highest swings from A/E to final in the state. Any idea why?

Also, your words were a good read for a frustrated dem, it offered a deal of encouragement. Let's hope we can first, get our votes back, and then move NC into the solid blue column.

[supernova]

4. Well, I'm not a numbers person

so I really can't explain it.

There was the theory that the people who voted early were the frustrated, angry Dems. Everybody else just voted on Election Day.

[supernova]

5. Before this thread gets off track

I'm more interested in feedback on ideas/issues, than on whether or not the overall vote was valid. That's a seperate subject and I don't want this to degenerate into a numbers discussion. There are plenty of election stats threads to discuss that.

I'm more interested in ideas about how to increase party activism at the local level.

If we win by wide enough margins, the influence of vote fraud, if there is any, will be insignificant. To do that we need to start talking to voters in ways they understand, not just pumping up our base.

[BeFree]

7. But really, there's no use unless

...the counting is done in the open. In fact, if the dems don't do that one little thing - make voting secure and safe from being hacked - I'm through being a democrat!

And get this: Lots of people who don't vote have told me it is because they feel their vote is useless and/or will just be stolen. So, given that little cookie, and the last chance for dems to get with the program by saving the voting process, rounding up others is gonna be pretty useless.

Them's the facts.

[supernova]

8. Let's be accurate

Them's your opinions. ;-)

I know lots of people aren't poltically active and/or don't vote because they feel disenfranchised from the system. I belong to the demographic that is least interested in politics; I'm a single woman. Conventional Wisdom says I'm not politically active. But here I am. And I don't discount the BBV issue. It is something that needs to be researched and brought out into the open. I want transparency in the system.

However, along with that, we have to make people feel that they matter. You can't just, in a rhetorical sense, say "See, we told you you're votes don't count and here's conclusive proof," and expect them to just get active. Quite the contrary, it further depresses people.

You have to give them some sense that, not only do they matter, but they can fix the problem.

We all have different talents. I choose to focus on the latter. I leave the numbers games to people who are best at that.

[BeFree]

9. Opinions or not

They carry a great deal of truth.

Ok, so why is it Supernova is active? Why, since you belong to the one pool of mostly inactive participants - single women - are you participating?

One thing I've an opinion on is that politics can be an abusive sport. Not physically, mind you, but mentally abusive, and women, being held down as they have been, are dis-inclined to get involved for fear of being abused.

The one question which comes to mind, overriding everything else, is this: Can I make a difference? My personal opinion is, yes, an individual can make a difference. It is that belief that bucks me up, but is a belief that has been rarely reinforced.

Were the rewards of participation plain to see for even the most disinclined, maybe they would then feel more inclined to step into the fray? What examples can we display showing those rewards?

In my case, the proof comes only after periods of time. The patience and preserverance required to keep active til the fruit is borne is not something most people have. They need immediate results or they drop the ball and go home. Do you agree?

[struggle4progress]

6. I think we need to find good community activists to run as candidates ...

... for even minor elective offices: this could increase the issue profile of the party, build grassroots interest and involvement, and help feed the pipeline for major offices. When we elect folk to the General Assembly or to Congress, we need to make sure they have good connections to grassroots organization, to increase the number of ordinary people who know what the candidate stands for, understand that they have access to the candidate, and are willing to work to keep the candidate in power.

[supernova]

10. We, talked about that

Barry Katz called it the farm team system. Grooming candidates.

It sort of ties into a point I made that we need to get together more often, have regular activities to invite the public to. You do get people who would eventually be interested in elective office that way.

We also talked about communicating at the precinct-level too. I made that point that you should just get together every couple of years when the election rolls around.

[struggle4progress]

11. Right. I'm saying it really matters what kinds of candidates you groom.

If you aim at candidates who are already involved with regular events for the public, they're more likely long-term to maintain that public outreach focus.

[supernova]

12. Yes, that's part of it

:hi: struggle4progress

and being part of the NC Progressive Caucus, (www.greendogs.org), you can also find people who are more progressive that way.

But we need to start having a more open social calendar.

[struggle4progress]

13. Greendogs look interesting!

[supernova]

14. There's a meeting this sunday in W-S

but I can't go. Here's the announcement:

We will meet Sunday December 12 from 1pm to 5 pm at the Forsyth County Central (main) Library, 660 W. Fifth Street, Winston-Salem, NC. Directions: come into Winston-Salem on BUSINESS 40, take Broad Street exit, north, right on Fifth Street. The library is one block east from Broad Street. You can park either on Fifth, or take a right on Spring Street and look for parking there, or 4 1/2 Street. Please carpool as much as possible.

Rough agenda

- Brief introductions, who is here, from where.

- What have we learned? Each group should take about three to five minutes to let us know what they have accomplished so far, and what has, and has not worked for them. Include goals for the future, what you need to make it happen, how you plan on making it happen.

- Questions related to local organizing - general discussion.

- Questions related to "where we go from here," the statewide perspective (goals and strategy).
Taking on party offices
The next State Executive Committee meeting: election of officers, passing a platform - our role in it.

- ... and if we have time left: open discussion

[struggle4progress]

15. Wish I could go, too, but can't. eom