The Only Party Worth a Damn
Advice to DNC Chairs for 2018
Participants were asked to offer 2018 advice to party officials. Some encouraged officials to be as brave and progressive as possible, while one participant pointedly observed that only a message appealing to a “wider audience” will ultimately unseat Trump. Many spoke to gerrymandering as a major reason for the national party to be concerned with statehouse races — that there’s no winning general elections if too many votes are suppressed. Participants also listed issues they felt would win in their districts, from healthcare and women’s reproductive rights to marijuana legalization.
“Be bold,” wrote a city planner (29), white male, in Detroit. “Do not apologize.” Longtime Harlem activist and social worker Wilhelmina Perry (82) black female wrote: “Get back to progressive principles. I feel at a loss with the current conditions in our country and reactionary politics.” Vermont writer Lea Belair (67), white female wrote: “Let the progs take over. They are the future of the Democratic Party.”
“Please put the people ahead of party, ahead of politics,” wrote a lifelong Republican (81), white Protestant male international banker who voted for Obama but when faced with Trump v Cruz switched his registration to D. “To be candid, you Ds are not a whole lot better than the Rs. I’ve stopped contributing to the DCCC. The combative language with every day’s newest fundraiser really puts me off. [Jon] Ossoff didn’t lose for want of support. He lost because he was not a strong, capable, experienced man of character. Not even close.”
Los Angeles film executive (45), white Jewish male critiqued the new party effort “A Better Deal”. “It was very memorable when Republicans announced their Contract with America. It was the best non-presidential event/declaration I can recall. It blows me away we have never successfully recreated that in all of Bush’s presidency and still today — ‘A Better Deal’ isn’t it.”
Some participants focused on state houses — to stop gerrymandering. “It’s time to put an enormous effort into taking back state legislatures,” wrote a Tennessee writer, white female. “No one seems to have been paying attention as they slipped away and got gobbled up by right-wingers. You want everyone to have the right to vote in national elections? It’s time to do battle on the state and local level.” A Houston Chief Administrative Officer, white Catholic male, suggested the national party not focus on US Senate races: “focus on winning legislative races in the states and in the US House. The Senate candidates can take care of themselves. We have to take over state legislatures to eradicate that awful pest, the gerrymander.”
More than once the “50-state strategy” was invoked in name or concept. “Stop writing off whole sections of the country,” wrote the Detroit-born attorney (70), white Jewish male. “DNC Chair Howard Dean was right — we do need a 50-state strategy. We also have to be patient enough to recognize that it won’t be an overnight success as a strategy. It took us a while to get this myopic. It will take a while for the public to see that we are not.”
Some participants critiqued personnel. While Bonnie Russell, an independent news producer in California, white female, simply wrote “retire”, a New York small business owner, South Asian female wrote that despite the new leadership of Tom Perez and Keith Ellison, and previous chairs Donna Brazille and Debbie Wasserman Schultz: “The DNC appears to be a group of old white men — it does not yet reflect the diversity of their constituents — changing the dynamic would make a huge difference.” And Houston non-profit administrator (38), gay white male wrote: “Ditch the old guard and get a brand new crop of faces/voices. Call Kamala, Cory, and the Castro Brothers and have them save the party. Put Maxine on the 2020 ticket.”
“Pelosi and Schumer are good at inside-baseball and Perez/Ellison hopefully are good at the handshaking grassroots we need,” wrote the Los Angeles film executive. “But we need some rock stars — our 3/4/5 baseball home run hitters you want to be friends with and can’t take your eyes off and can speak truth better than most (Clinton, Obama, etc.). And can’t be deemed liberal lefties (i.e. Bernie, Warren, etc.).
The Democratic base is paramount, wrote participants. “The best practices I have seen work are when candidates speak to their base (the people and groups who have supported them in the past and are the most ideologically aligned),” wrote Kimberly Peeler-Allen (41), a New York non-profit leader, black female. “[First] solidify your base and then move on to other constituencies that are likely sympathetic. The candidate then goes back regularly to the base to make sure they are not forgotten. You don’t want an Al Gore situation where you lose your home state because you haven’t spent enough time there.”
“The DNC seems somewhat out-of-touch,” continued the small business owner. “They must get the base more involved, but more organized, start listening to local leaders. I was told by several activists that the DNC/Hillary’s team never contacted them until the last moments in 2016. They were very upset about being ignored and then taken for granted that they would support the ticket!”
However, a Silicon Valley corporate developer (42), Asian male, gave this warning about the need to broaden appeal: “If there are not significant changes to the messaging of the Democratic party to appeal to a wider audience, Donald Trump will absolutely be re-elected. Absolutely no Trump supporter that I know personally is wavering in their support of Donald Trump. I see absolutely no Trump regret.”
“Reconnect with the working class voters who have been a vital part of the party for decades,” wrote Shari (53), a New York filmmaker, white Jewish female. “Keep it simple. Your message needs to be clear and work for the Twitter era. You should lead with the Rose Garden beer party for House passage of the ‘mean’ and brutal health care bill.” A Michigan woman (44) suggested Democrats “appeal to seniors and pre-seniors. Galvanize local senior advocates to help with campaigning.”
“Speak clearly and consistently to all Dem constituencies: people of color, women, LGBTQ, urban poor/middle class, rural poor/middle class,” suggested an Ohio executive (59) black male. He also suggested turning to the former president for leadership. “The best way [to find a solution to Bernie v Hillary strife] is to deeply engage Barack Obama (de facto party leader) to communicate the message to Dems.”
On messaging, a participant spoke to how the meaning of the word “entitlement” has become warped and negative. “Stop calling them ‘entitlements’ wrote a New York actor (48), white female. “Call them ‘earned something’. I don’t even care. [Just] make people understand that they are paying into these things and have earned them. ‘Entitlements’ makes it easier to turn it into a them/us thing.”
The New York small business owner offered this advice: “The DNC needs to start educating voters and providing a targeted road map for engagement. They need to encourage dissatisfied voters to be involved instead of deluging them with a ton of TV ads and robo calls which do not work.”
And New York professor and writer Carolyn Ferrell (55), black female simply wrote: “Take nothing for granted.”
SPECIFIC ISSUES
Participants were asked if local campaigns should focus on specific issues. A Memphis-based professor and writer (45), white female suggested: “the healthcare betrayal [and] the dysfunction of the current government. I think people’s imagination has been captured over the past few months as mayors and governors have started playing by their own rules. I think congressional candidates could play of that same sense of independence.”
“Social justice…it’s not a bad word,” wrote a Portland health care receptionist, white female. “Feminism, women’s health, including but not limited to abortion and reproductive rights, health care and access in general. I’ve worked in healthcare all of my adult life, the last few years as a receptionist in a neighborhood with more than our fair share of Medicaid/Medicare recipients. It was amazing the number of people who came in who had never had insurance before, whether they now qualified for Medicaid or were able to afford insurance and healthcare for the first time in years. On the flip side, my daughter’s employer took almost all of their employees down to part-time status for a while, to avoid providing health insurance. Luckily, because of the ACA, I was able to keep my part-time student/part-time worker on my health insurance.”
Bonnie Russell, independent news producer in California wanted elected officials to focus on women’s safety from violence. She criticized elected officials— local, state, and national — for not caring that “women are paying taxes for police and court services [and] are routinely refused them.” She continued: “I have yet to understand how women can support any man or woman running for office who refuses to make the safety of women their first priority.”
Candidates in Michigan, wrote the Detroit-born attorney (70), white Jewish male wrote Democrats must tell voters what they will do to “defend the Great Lakes and create economic growth in Michigan, how they will create long-term prosperity by expanding the ACA, lifting the minimum-wage nationally, and moving toward free college tuition.”
“LGBT issues, including the ‘bathroom bill’ and the adoption rights of couples of various religious affiliations” wrote Houston professor and writer (37), Asian female (bi-racial). Also: “Immigration policies, especially with regards to deportation.”
“[Democrats] need to make ending mass incarceration a priority,” wrote Detroit activist Amber York (38), black female. “It was a glaring omission from their ‘Better Deal’ platform. Everyone touched by this vicious system knows how much money prisons suck out of families. Video visits, clothing, and commissary are all extracting dollars from poor families whose loved ones are jailed mostly because they can’t afford what has become the privilege of freedom.” York also spoke to issue of high car insurance rates in Detroit: “when we see high insurance rates for poor Detroiters accompanied by law enforcement that imprisons people for lack of insurance, while politicians stand idly by — we know the politicians don’t have our best interests in mind.”
In Vermont, writer Lea Belair (67), white female, argues marijuana legalization is a key issue. “We are facing a huge budget deficit as the funding from the federal government will shrink substantially in 2018. Vermont is second in the nation in marijuana use. The legislature and/or governor have been kicking the can down the road for so many sessions now I have lost count.”
A FEW FINAL THOUGHTS
I remain struck by how many vital points and poignant observations were made by the 46 participants. I will end this series with a few passages that can serve as final thoughts.
“There’s a narrative that Hillary lost, that the polls were wrong. It’s not true. She beat him by 2 million votes and over 2 percentage points. The media has done a good job of taking on Trump, but they’re allowing a narrative to go uncontested. And that is that the Electoral College has to be addressed. It’s broken and unfair. So does Jim Crow-style racial gerrymandering. I’m also very concerned about the anti-intellectual crowd who thinks they’re entitled to their own set of facts. It’s destroying our sense of community.” — Houston Chief Administrative Officer (47), white Catholic male
“[Democrats] have to return to progressive values with new candidates focusing on developing grassroots people at the local levels.” –Harlem activist and social worker Wilhelmina Perry (82), black female
“The system cannot be fixed from the inside. It is too radically corrupted. Small groups of people with love, concern, respect and courage are needed to plant food, protect libraries, keep neighbors healthy, promote education and save the planet by refusing to participate in this rapacious culture.” — Deborah Emin, New York publisher and writer, white Episcopalian female
“I fear we may never — yes, that great big word never — recover from the abyss of lost respect and aborted leadership globally that we are sinking further into day by day.” — Rhode Island international banker (81), white Protestant male
“I want Democrats to take a strong and committed stance towards social safety nets. I want them to be the party that says we are going to de-prioritize our military and re-prioritize a society that cares for its citizens and their basic needs. I want quality health care and education for everyone and I want a solution to joblessness that and homelessness that is as well thought out as our military operations. I want a government that chooses to afford social services over weapons. I also want a renewed commitment to diplomacy around the world and an acknowledgement of our destabilizing and dehumanizing practices in domestic and foreign affairs. I want a government that understands and learns from history.” — School principal Julia Putnam (41), black female, Detroit
“I am looking for an inspiring vision for the future… It’s time to speak about what kind of society we want to live in and if we want to survive as a nation and as a species. To survive, we have to understand that all of our wellbeing depends upon us all doing better. And take care of everyone. Medicare-for-all should be front and center. Equality and opportunity, public education, and the environment. Building a new society on a government that takes care of people, and people who work for each other.” — Tali Hinkis (43), New York artist, white immigrant Jewish female
About the Participants
Of 46 participants, 83% considered voting important (though 0% noted it unimportant), 72% considered themselves Democrats (though 100% had voted Democratic before), 46% considered themselves part of the Democratic base, and only 13% felt valued by the party.
Did they consider voting important? YES/83% NO/O% NO ANSWER/17%
Did they consider themselves a Democrat? YES/72% NO/22% NO ANSWER/6%
Did they consider themselves part of base? YES/46% NO/11% NO ANSWER/43%
Did they consider themselves valued by party? YES/13% NO/35%
Did they feel valued by the party? YES/13% NO/35% NO ANSWER/50%
(and one person said “no more, no less than before”)
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Stacy Parker Le Melle is the author of Government Girl: Young and Female in the White House(HarperCollins/Ecco) and was the lead contributor to Voices from the Storm: The People of New Orleans on Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath (McSweeney’s). She chronicles stories for The Katrina Experience: An Oral History Project. Her recent narrative nonfiction has been published in Callaloo, The Offing, Apogee Journal, The Nervous Breakdown, Entropy, The Butter, Cura, The Atlas Review, and The Florida Review where the essay was a finalist for the 2014 Editors’ Prize for nonfiction. Originally from Detroit, Le Melle is the founder of Harlem Against Violence, Homophobia, and Transphobia, and the co-founder of Harlem’s First Person Plural Reading Series. She received her B.A. in Political Communication from The George Washington University.
Read her interview pieces on the Pre-Trump Inauguration Concerns (“Disaster Can Be a Tweet Away”) and the 2017 Women’s March (“To Be a Force of Positivity, To Be Everything Trump Is Not”).
