The blogging breakout session from last year’s convention was reviewed and we had some preliminary thoughts about what we should do at this year’s convention on June 6 in Springfield. The calendar function at MassDems.org was also discussed, as was a project that will remain classified for the time being. Suffice it to say that it’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever heard of as far as Democratic organizing is concerned – this is gonna be big!!
Probably the funniest moment of this meeting was when Kate gave us an inkling of her strategy for dealing with her political opponents with this joke:
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time!
Like I said – the best jokes are true!
After that meeting wrapped up, we all headed over to Coral Seafood for an organizing meeting of the Worcester County Democratic League. Since I live in Milford, I joined the league so I could vote for officers at the meeting. Lt. Governor Tim Murray was there to open the meeting, we all gave him a warm welcome as he gave a talk about the victories we’ve won since 2006, and the importance of staying organized if we want that trend to continue. Mr. Murray turned the meeting over to Joe O’Brien, who opened the floor for a review of the proposed by-laws from a prior meeting. Kate Donaghue got up and suggested some changes, which were voted on and approved, then the by-laws were accepted and we proceeded to the nomination of officers.
The total crowd was around 75 people, and we had 13 slots to fill – but by the time all was said and done, we had elected 16 officers. There were two excellent nominees for Youth Outreach Coordinator, so the by-laws were amended to create two positions and both nominees were accepted. The same thing happened with the position of Diversity Outreach Coordinator, where we had three excellent choices – all three were accepted. Two of my best Democratic friends, Kate Donaghue and Carol Berkowicz, were elected to office, Kate representing the eastern part of the county and Carol representing the southern part.
I’ll leave you with one last truism – and this is one for the ages:
What’s the difference between Iraq and Vietnam?
George W. Bush had a plan for getting out of Vietnam…
I love what is happening in Worcester and hope something along these lines can be done in the county where I live. I just could not make it to the Committee meeting today and your report makes me wish I had been there – but also helps keep me up to date. Much appreciated!
My email is in my profile…
Three jokes in one post? Is that allowed?
<
p>Thanks for posting this. We need posts like this not only to help other organizers get traction, but also to open things up so more people can participate.
…but your mileage may vary! And you’re absolutley right about participation – when I’m standing on a corner holding a sign for my candidate and some wingnut flips me the bird, I always yell this rejoinder:
<
p>
<
p>To me, participatory democracy means we stand up for what we believe in, and we encourage others to do the same.
<
p>I’m going to ask the executive committee to ensure that this program can be replicated in other counties, for starters – I like were this is going!
John thanks for writing this up and for your enthusiasm!
<
p>There are a number of regional groups across the commonwealth. Some are organized around a metropolitan area, such as the Greater Lowell Area Democrats. Others are based on State Senate District boundaries, while others are county based. The First Middlesex Area Democrats are based around a Rep district. The Martha’s Vineyard Democratic Council is specifically for Democrats on the island. There are groups that are more informal, such as the Monday Night Democrats that met for political conversation: no bylaws, no dues, no speakers.
<
p>I’ve worked to make information available to people who want to form a group. I have been active in two groups when we formally organized as PACs.
<
p>I’d like to take a minute to stress the importance of having strong Democratic City, Town and Ward Committees. The intention of regional groups I’ve worked with is to strengthen and grow local committees. I suggest to people that if they only have time to participate in one organization, it should be the local committee rather than the regional group. While I acknowledge that there are difficulties for small committees, I stress the importance of ensuring a strong local presence.
It is great to see the local and regional party organizations being active. Keep up the good work State Committee members!
<
p>We are a big tent party!
I live in a solidly Democratic town.
<
p>For the life of me, I cannot figure out what our Democratic Town Committee should be doing — never mind the ward committees. Right now, we gather to listen to speakers. Educational maybe but not very purposeful.
<
p>So my question is: get organized for what? to do what? Until such questions are answered, it’s difficult to say what sorts of organization or communication would be helpful.
We gather to caucus and send delegates to the yearly convention, of course, but we also have sub-committees for various purposes:
<
p>The Nominations sub-committee handles nominating a slate of delegates for the convention, and it nominates people for any open seats on the town committee.
<
p>The Events sub-committee plans our annual breakfast in the fall of every year, as well as any events with speakers like your committee does.
<
p>The Elections sub-committee works with candidates to GOTV, doing phone banks, visibilities, putting up lawn signs and handing out bumper stickers, buttons etc. I’m proud to say that I was co-chair of this sub-committee for the 2008 election – GOBAMA!!
<
p>We pay voluntary dues of $20 per year to fund the committee, and we make a few dollars on the annual breakfast, so we have a small budget to work with. The press release calendar discussed above would probably be a good place for your committee to start if you want to see the types of things you can do.
The purpose of the Worcester County Democratic League is to foster and encourage more active town and ward committees – if you’re not in Worcester County, you might want to contact Kate to see if whe knows of any such organization in your neck of the woods.