A few days ago jasiu wrote, “We’re pooped. I can still fall asleep any time of the day just by sitting somewhere comfy and closing my eyes. And when I do fall asleep, I have dreams (or nightmares if you prefer) about having to cut more canvass turfs.”
I sympathize. For the first several days after an election I wake up trying to orient myself. Where do I need to be? When do I need to report in numbers? Are my canvass kits ready? Have my confirmation calls been made?
But that was a few days ago. We have had TEN DAYS to recover and regroup. Now is the time to start organizing again. What can you do?
1) Bring folks together. Have a potluck, a pizza party or a night out at a local restaurant. You weren’t in charge? Doesn’t matter. Organize something. reach out to the people with whom you worked. Whether it’s a celebration or a discussion, set something up that works for you.
2) Support the Democratic Party infrastructure. This year we had the situation where we didn’t have a Democratic primary and a clear front runner. Remember folks, it started here on BMG on August 11. Within a few days it was clear who the nominee would be. It won’t always be like that. We need a strong infrastructure ready to keep things going during the primary and prepared to activate everyone willing when the primary is over. Get involved in your community’s Democratic City, Town or Ward Committee. Already involved? Reach out to people who helped during the election and get them involved.
3) Start thinking about the upcoming caucuses, Democratic platform, the upcoming convention and how you can get involved. One must be a registered Democrat as of December 31 to take part in a caucus or serve as delegate. Reach out to people now to get them registered as Democrats. If you are not a Democrat yourself, now is a great time to make that change.
4) Are you looking for something beyond your town and ward committee? There are additional ways to get involved. The Massachusetts Young Democrats are a great group. Progressive Massachusetts has been doing some interesting work. Democracy for America offers a framework. There are regional groups across the state. Drinking Liberally is not specifically a Democratic group but offers the opportunity to socialize and stay connected. The structure of the Democratic Party is important and should be the place to start. Other efforts should be in conjunction with other groups, not in competition.
5) Stay connected with Democratic events across the state by subscribing to the Democratic Dispatch. It is a more or less weekly newsletter of Democratic events across the state. Subscribe by sending an e-mail to DDemDispatch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .
Other suggestions?
As far as I can tell, my Democratic Town Committee is essentially a monthly lecture series.
If your committee is doing monthly lectures that is great! It might not be for you, but it is a way of people staying together.
As far as I can tell they don’t get active in political campaigns.
…if only once monthly, then you’ve got, once a month, a captive audience doncha?
RIGHT NOW is such an important time to pull people together. If you had a great team during the campaign, find a date now–before the winter holidays–and get together, touch base, check in.
Progressive Mass is asking people to do that and will have some materials and ideas that you can use to structure your meeting (Or not). My opinion is whether you do it as part of DTC, Progressive Mass, DFA, whatever, it doesn’t matter: progressives organizing benefits all of us, however you do it*.
John K’s post from 2 years ago was right on/urgent then… and still is. And don’t forget the tremendous energy and anticipation of great possibility after 2008. We didn’t quite achieve the promise of the moment. OK, lessons learned–let’s learn and go forward. What I learned is that it’s up to us to make sure this happens. And that means individual organizers doing one more “ask”…but it’s an easy one. Get together one more time before the holiday craziness. Relax and socialize. Have a beer. And talk about what just happened and what we want to see happen.
I can’t wait!
Thanks for posting Harmony. I agree with what you say. I do urge people to work with their Democratic Town or Ward Committees. But I acknowledge that in some cases it’s not practical. I’m starting a drinking liberally chapter to allow people to get together informally in social setting. Kate