More on Denny White Quits and Ohio Dems Possible Rebirth

[Columbus]

Today
http://www.OhioHonestElections.org

has issued a call for Ohio Democratic Party renewal. The proposal is grassroots involvement in the selection of a new Ohio Democratic Party Chair via a series of town-hall meetings where the candidates for ODP chair would lay out their visions of where the party needs to go. Much like what Dean went through before becoming DNC Chair.

ODP has a process which completely excludes grassroots participation. This process has not worked out so well in the past and has led to part-time Chairs with no capacity for organization or skills in articulating the few positions the party does take. One of the reasons for the RON reforms failing was that the ODP remained neutral while the Republicans went all out against the initiatives (and yes that was not the only reason).

As an example of how disorganized the ODP is here is a post from Buckeyepolitics:

"The news of Chairman White's decision to leave ODP was sudden last Wednesday. It came as a surprise to staff as well as to the Vice Chair Mayor Rhine McLin. In a conversation with Mayor McLin she asked to start making calls to Executive Committee members. Our staff quickly ran a query on our database and sent a list hastily to the Mayor to allow her to get started. At the same time, as you can imagine, ODP was flooded with call from activists, friends of the Chair, funders and of course media. Later in the day when activity ebbed, after determining the quick query was not sufficient, our staff sat down and did a revised check, sending that list as well to Mayor McLin. ODP staff also determined late on Wednesday that a final check of resolutions from the Executive Committee be done over the weekend to confirm the list. We expect later today to have an official list that has been vetted by Minutes of past meetings. (http://www.buckeyepolitics.net /)

The post is from the guy (Brian Rothenberg) currently running the party wherein he admits that the ODP does not even know who is a member of the executive committee. If that is the level of competence in such a small database, we can only imagine the disarray which constitutes the voter file.

BuckeyeSenateBlog.com has endorsed the forum idea. "From Ohio Honest Elections - a damn fine Idea ! Make your calls." (http://www.buckeyesenateblog.com /)

Ohio Democratic Party needs to be straightened out before the 2006 and 2008 elections or we will all be crying after these elections.

Here is the text of the proposal from OHEC (they also have a page which asks people to call the Hackett, Brown, Strickland, Coleman, ODP, DNC offices):

"The upcoming election of a new Chair presents the Ohio Democratic Party with the rare and historic opportunity to reinvigorate itself and develop into a vigorous, effective, and election-worthy opposition party. The process for electing the new Party Chair must not be business as usual. The election of a new Ohio Democratic Party Chair must engage the Democratic grassroots, allies, and the citizens of Ohio. The process of electing a new Chair must not be restricted solely to the voting members of the Ohio Democratic Party Central Committee."

"All citizens of Ohio, whatever their party affiliation, need an effective opposition party able to articulate a governing vision, protect the voting rights of citizens, and effectively challenge the excesses of the governing party. An effective opposition party capable of electing statewide officials has not existed in Ohio for over a decade. During this decade-plus period of time Ohio government officials have engaged in criminal and unethical behavior which threatens to make Ohio government synonymous with scandal."

"The Ohio Democratic Party must emulate the Democratic National Committee and elect the new Party Chair after a process in which the candidates for Party Chair discuss their vision, plans and programs for the Party in a series of public town-hall style meetings (at least one meeting in each of the five geographic areas of Ohio - Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Central Ohio) easily accessible to the working public."

"These forums will reinvigorate the grass roots, which have been neglected after every election year plea for votes from the Party, provide the opportunity for an exchange of ideas and energy, as well as provide the candidates an opportunity to explain their plans and goals for dealing with Ohio's problems. These forums will also test the prospective Chair's abilities to engage and articulate their visions and engage citizens. The forums are an essential first step in achieving the goal of an effective, vital, and unified Democratic Party."

"The need for Party reform is evident. As one candidate for Party Chair has already stated: "I could point to dozens of groups, people and organizations across the state who never have been talked to since the presidential election. Our failure to embrace their enthusiasm is in stark contrast to the Republicans." The Ohio Democratic Party cannot "wait until the <2006> primary is over to start doing the kinds of things necessary to create a Democratic infrastructure that emboldens party activists." "Yesterday was too late to build a stronger party.. What we do know is that Karl Rove and his disciples will treat Ohio in 2006 as if it's a presidential election year. We have little capacity to compete with that."

"The Ohio Democratic Party must reorganize with the consent of those it implores for votes only during election time. The forums proposed should be well publicized and be held early in the new year. It is imperative that the Ohio Democratic Party prepare to have a new leadership team in place well before the regularly scheduled mid-year election so that Ohioans will get a vigorous exchange of ideas in the 2006 elections from a revitalized election-worthy opposition Party."