Here’s another Democratic State Convention failure.
We schedule a state convention in Springfield on Saturday, September 19.
New Hampshire Democrats schedule their state convention for Manchester on Saturday, September 19.
New Hampshire gets Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, and Lawrence Lessig.
Massachusetts gets Howard Dean, Matt O’Malley, and Karen Higgins.
Yes, I know I am being evil and Boston-centric here, and I really do love my friends from Western Massachusetts, but what could be worse than holding our convention in Springfield (as far from Manchester as possible) on the same date as the New Hampshire convention?
If we were having conventions on the same day, and we were in Lowell instead of Springfield, could the candidates have done a two-for and make the half hour trip between the two venues?
If we were on a different date, could we have gotten the candidates to wander down from New Hampshire to meet with a bunch of hard-core Democratic activists?
$75 for surrogates? Bleh.
Christopher says
FWIW, New Hampshire’s is usually earlier as well and we have conflicted on our June dates in the past.
Pablo says
…but this year, you think MA and NH state parties might talk to each other?
I am sure the NH folks realize there’s an army of MA volunteers coming up to NH for contested elections with a national impact. I would think NH would see the advantage of coordinating or sharing with us.
jcohn88 says
How can they have had no communication at all?
I’m curious who scheduled their date first.
sco says
My understanding is that MA scheduled theirs first and NH scheduled theirs for the same day.
Pablo says
…the next time Jeanne Shaheen sends me another email asking for money.
fredrichlariccia says
how poorly coordinated these two conventions were by the parties. It borders on political malpractice.
That being said, I was impressed with the New Hampshire speeches of O’Malley and Sanders; but Hillary’s speech blew me away.
Fred Rich LaRiccia
Pablo says
However, there is no way I was going to pay $100 to get up at 5:30 and spend an absolutely gorgeous Saturday listening to surrogates in Springfield. Give me Hillary and/or Bernie, I would have happily paid the fee and shlepped to the other end of the state.
Fred, you are so right. The CSpan feed of New Hampshire was much more fun than the disgraceful show put on in Springfield.
Harrumph.
shillelaghlaw says
Traditionally, the Massachusetts Convention is in June? Why the change this year? Was it due to the party chairman being a legislator and June being budget season?
sco says
My understanding is that they changed the date to September SPECIFICALLY so that they would be more likely to get the presidential candidates (e.g. Hillary) to come to the convention.
So much for that.
SomervilleTom says
I’m reminded of a once-glorious church in decline.
In an earlier time, I was an active Episcopalian. During that time, one of the ways I participated was to work with struggling parishes to help them reverse the decline (in attendance and funding) that threatened them.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party reminds me of some of the once-glorious Episcopal parishes I worked with. I wonder if there are learnings for we Democrats in what did and did not work in the church.
The representative church I have in mind is an urban church in a struggling city (picture Lowell, Lawrence, perhaps Ayer or Haverhill). At it’s peak, it was physically a large multi-story stone building with grounds and on-site rectory. Inside, the seating is spacious, the ceilings towering, and the choir contains a pipe organ with an impressive display of pipes. When built, it was a physical symbol of a growing congregation with at least a few well-heeled prosperous members and a multitude of working-class congregants (yes, there were some non-Catholic church-going workers in MA even then).
Today, the physical plant is a mess. The rectory and grounds have been sold off. The stonework needs pointing and the roof leaks. There are Eucharists on the first and third Sundays, Morning Prayer on the others, and the parish proudly proclaims its continued use of the 1929 Prayer Book — all because “we’ve always done it that way”. The doors are locked except during Sunday worship. The building is dark and empty most nights, except for a small Wednesday evening bible study and prayer group.
The congregation is elderly and shrinking. It is behind on its commitment to fund Diocesan outreach programs (in the Episcopal church, each parish is assessed a tax used to support regional and national outreach and mission programs). Even though located in a minority community, the few remaining congregants are white. The only language spoken within the parish is English. There is no evangelism, no services for the local community, and the feeling between the parish and its community is thinly-veiled mutual distrust.
What was our approach? A combination of triage and pastoral encouragement of transformation. For some parishes, the needed changes are too dramatic and the hour too late. For those who choose to proceed, we encouraged a process of introspection, trust-building, communication and — most importantly — community involvement.
We found that the key is to LISTEN to what the community needs (“Find the substance that feeds the aching hunger”) both physically and spiritually. Examine those values through the lens of the Episcopal tradition and the shared faith of the congregation. Intentionally and explicitly seek common ground with the community. Make the parish a welcoming hearth for every newcomer who comes near the door, regardless of purpose.
Find a way to unlock those doors, at least during the day. When the parish is well-loved by the community and vice-versa, the benefits will greatly outweigh the costs of the occasional intruder.
In my view, the Massachusetts Democratic Party might benefit by doing something similar.
jconway says
Though I will say their liturgy appeals to this young fogey:
How lovely! So few places use the 29′ book anymore. I went out of my way to attend the Advent last time I was in town, and it’s apparently doing quite well with a lot of young families. I get that for some communities it wouldn’t make sense anymore. Much like the Catholic church, there is a growing Latino population and other ethnic congregations waiting to be served, not to mention younger people with a more emerging church kind of worship. So a good lesson for the DSC and local DTCs alike! Make it accessible, welcoming, and easy to adopt.
Pablo says
People don’t keep coming back for more when they don’t like what they are getting. After last year’s miserable experience in the rafters ($75 to be in exile), I now have two consecutive years in which the convention was simply awful. somervilletom is correct, we need to rethink this whole thing so the event has meaning, especially when there’s not an interesting contest for a nomination.
methuenprogressive says
There’s no guarantee the ‘stars’ would’ve come if the convention had been on a different date.
sco says
While nothing is guaranteed in life, if there hadn’t been a conflict with the NH convention, candidates may have come if only to aid their effort to recruit volunteers for the New Hampshire primary.
Also, MA is a pretty reliable source of dollars for those presidential campaigns.
You could do a lot worse than a conventional hall filled with the most hard-core Democratic activists in the state.
Pablo says
Hillary needs to construct a firewall against a strong showing by Bernie in NH. Bernie is up in Iowa and New Hampshire, but needs to develop a campaign and momentum beyond the first two states.
Massachusetts votes March 1. Seems kind of important to me.