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How are you? It's been a while - i hope you're doing well.
I just joined this site a couple days ago and ran across your question. I don't know how long you have been waiting for the answer in disappointment, but according to the time listed on your post, i am answering you before you actually posted. Now that's service... :)
First, I'll ask you a question: What do you expect them to do - the DNC members? And i ask that sincerely.
I ask that question, because there are few real guidelines in the party rules or anywhere else on what exactly DNC members are supposed to do. The National Charter talks about what the National Committee is supposed to do in general, listing things like: Issue call to the National Convention; Conduct Party's Presidential Campaign; Fill vacancies in the National ticket and DNC executive positions, and; "all other actions necessary or appropriate in order to carry out the provisions of this Charter and the objectives of the Democratic Party."
So, each DNC member basically decides on their own what he or she will do or not do.
Going into candidacy for the DNC, I knew how little influence DNC members have on the operation of the DNC, so I ran with my own goals in mind. When elected, I became the youngest member to ever be elected to that body from any state up to that point; so it won't surprise you to know that my goal was to use the position to attract and train more young people into the party.
My goal shifted during the last presidential election when i saw so many new activists show up who were not necessarily young; so my goal shifted from "more young people" to "more new people."
So, I go around training new activists on how to organize their precincts and how to move through the Democratic Convention process; I speak regularly to Democratic organizations on a variety of subjects; and along with friend and fellow activist, TG Caraway, I record a podcast twice a month with the purpose of keeping Dems across the state informed on what is going on in the party and campaigns.
Other DNC members in Texas do drastically different things - only one or two i'm aware of do little at all.
But you should also understand how our DNC members are elected. At the state convention in each Presidential campaign year, DNC members are elected following a tradition that you will not find in the rules or anywhere else.
We have ten directly elected members of the DNC from Texas and they are nominated by the following tradition to assure diversity: Two nominations are made from the Coalition of Black Democrats; Two nominations from Tejano Democrats; One nomination from Labor; and the other Five are nominated "at-large." The DNC stipulates that the delegation must be divided as equally as possible by sex - five of our members are men; five women.
Logically, then, the various members make certain that the constituencies who nominate them are represented by whatever method they find of establishing that representation.
My seat is considered "at-large", but i am determined that tradition become that it is always held by a Young Democrat (defined as under 35). If it does stay a youth seat, then you can expect that the holder of the seat will concentrate their efforts as a DNC member on making sure young people are represented.
I mentioned in passing above that DNC members have little influence on the activities of the DNC and this is very true. I am in the middle of my second term and the only votes that have ever been taken are for the election of two National Chairs (and they were each the only candidate in the race by the time we got to vote) and votes on filling various other vacancies on the DNC Executive Board.
There is an Executive Committee (chosen by the Chair) that makes some substantial decisions, but for all practical purposes, the daily operation and overall direction of the DNC are solely in the power of the National Chairman.
I would love to have more influence on the body to which i was elected, but essentially, John, each and every Democrat in the country has as much power as i do to influence the direction and actions of the DNC - through participation in the convention process (writing the platform, establishing rules, etc..); through direct appeal to the National Chairman; and through activism.
So in summary, what do your DNC members do for you? The National Party rules are designed in such a way that your DNC members have little, if any, influence on the direction of the DNC, so each of your DNC members does what he or she can do to represent those who nominated and elected them. In my case, that is to train and to inform with every resource I have to do so.
david holmes Democratic National Committee, Texas
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