Caucuses to elect delegates to the Democratic State Convention are coming up soon. The locations are listed on the caucus page of the Mass Dems website. Caucuses are a great way to get connected to the local Democratic Party.
The Preliminary Call to Convention states:
The Massachusetts Democratic Party, in fulfillment of the “Charter of the Democratic Party of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” hereby calls a Convention for the purpose of adopting an action agenda and amending the Party Charter. Said convention will be held at the Tsongas Center at UMASS Lowell on Saturday, June 4th, 2011.
BMG’s own John E. Walsh, fka “John from Abington”, says the following;
Let’s work hard this year to recruit new people to participate in party activities and do things to help keep our electoral “muscles” in shape. In addition to the normal proceedings, the June convention is going to focus on training in party building, electoral techniques and issue-based organizing.
It is often easier to be elected a delegate to an issues convention. But issues conventions can be quite exciting. At an event I was at today, a Democrat recalled that the first time he was elected as delegate was to the issues convention in 2009. He recalled that it was fascinating and dramatic from start to finish. The Party expects to have a strong training component, similar to what we did on 2008. BMGers and other members of the BlogLeft community played a strong role in that effort. As the “Call” states, there is always the potential for Charter changes.
This year there is the opportunity to be elected as a delegate, even if you can not attend the caucus. First preference is given to those who are able to attend, but if you simply can’t attend and want to take part, just notify the town or ward chair of your interest and you name can be placed in nomination be a 2/3 vote.
Each community is different and each year is different. I will say that in my community it is easier to get elected to be a delegate in a nominating year if you have taken the time to be a delegate in an issues year. It is early to predict what 2012 will bring, but I expect that more than one candidate will be looking to get his or her 15% at the convention.
The opportunity to meet and network with other activists is itself worth the trip! I’ll let Lynne comment on whether or not “There’s a lot to like about Lowell.”
I second Kate’s suggestion that attending an issues convention is one of the best ways to learn and connect and become more effective politically. Also, major improvements were made to the party’s platform at the last issues convention by committed activists who had taken the time to attend, and learned how to create and advocate for change.
And thanks Bob for front paging this. If you don’t find your caucus on the list, do try calling the local chair. It is not uncommon for a caucus to be scheduled, but it doesn’t end up on the website. Here’s the list of town and ward chairs.
That list of ward and town chairs is bound to help someone out there.
There are opportunities to be selected by the DSC to be youth, disabled, or minority delegates. Preference has generally been given to those who run unsuccessfully at caucus and to towns, wards, and senate districts who do not elect many of those at their caucuses. Add-on applications should be available from your chair at caucus or the state party website. Historically, applications during off-years are granted on an ask and ye shall receive basis, provided that the form is filled out correctly.
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p>Also, not to steal Lynne’s thunder, but I can attest that there is in fact a lot to like about Lowell:) Seriously, they’ve always gotten great reviews as a convention host city for us.
Add on applications are available now in both English and Spanish.
In the past we’ve had a separate/concurrent youth convention for younger kids. Are we planning that this year?
Here in Needham, the same group of insider town employees goes as Needham’s delegates every year.
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p>It’s called the ‘Unity Slate’, and they’ll take some input as to how they’ll vote (in years that it matters), but none in who goes (them). They and their friends just vote for the entire slate — and the speaker at the Caucus is one of them. She uses proceedural actions to close debate on the issue, preventing organization at the caucus itself.
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p>It would be possible to bust this anti-democratic arrangement, but it would take pre-planning and lots of people.
So, pre-plan and bring lots of people.
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p>It’s possible. I’ve done it in a year when it should have been impossible.
Just saying.
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p>And… There is a progressive group in Needham, somewhere. Mac D’Allessandro took it in the 9th congressional district primary and it seems there was a special primary election for state senate that the “insiders” lost last year as well. I am sure people from those campaigns are around and sympathetic.
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p>The organizing needs to happen before the caucus. Like now, or sooner.
Are the procedural actions legit?
what needs to be done to keep debate open, get new names on the slate?
The rules are listed in the “Preliminary Call To Convention” on the caucus page.
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p>The rules call for a caucus to be conducted in a specific way. Nominations are opened, candidates are nominated, candidates are allowed to make up to a two minute speech (unless speeches are waived by the caucus) and people vote. “Procedural actions to close debate” is most likely following the rules, which do not call for debate.
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p>A caucus is sometimes seen as un-Democratic. I actually see it as one of the most Democratic forums that we have. The more people you activate to support your issue, the more likely you are to win.
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p>A carefully constructed slate is hard to beat, especially in larger caucuses. For example, if you have ten people on your slate, and each of those ten people brings just two other people, then you have a voting block of thirty. Generally on a slate each person agrees to support “the slate, the whole slate and nothing but the slate.”
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p>People sometimes think that all that they need to do is show up and make a really good speech and people will vote for them. This can work in some situations, but if you are running against a well run slate, it just doesn’t work. In a slate driven caucus, people attend either because they are candidates for delagate or because they have been recruited to support candidates.
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p>So one of your options is to call the person who is organizing the slate and express your interest. I can’t speak for any particular community, but for an issues convention, it is usually fairly easy to get on a slate. The other option is to build your own slate.
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p>In my community we usually have a slate. Generally people start off as alternates and if they find that the convention interests them, eventually they become delegates. I typically reach out to people who have been involved and suggest that the consider attending the caucus and maybe the convention. In my community it’s easy to include people if we know in advance that folks are interested. But it can be hard to rearrange people on caucus day.
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p>Organizing for a caucus is a great way to build a team. I believe in Democrats working together. For some people, attending the Convention is very important. Others would gladly defer to someone new and interested. While you can organize your own slate and defeat the people who traditionally attend, I would encouarge a less adversarial approach.
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p>I’m happy to discuss either the rules or how to get involved. I am at katedonaghue AT aol DOT com.
How is a Unity Slate that is organized enough to ensure that they are elected to be delegates at a caucus “preventing organization at the caucus itself”
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p>Isn’t it that they are more organized than you and getting the votes needed to win to show up?
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p>We lauded John Walsh and the Governor’s team for a winning GOTV effort based on impressive organization – isn’t this exactly the same thing at the local level?