As Democrats, we should acknowledge that we can’t out-polarize the Republicans. We can’t be more divisive than they are. The battle of partisanship is not a battle we seem to be able to win. We should fight a battle we can win. We need to capitalize on our big advantage.  Our big advantage is the system itself — if it is a system that works as it should. If the system was fair — if our system of representative democracy worked to produce a government for the people — Democratic candidates would be elected in droves, Democratic policies would be enacted.

To be the party of the people, the Democratic Party must change. We now are the party of a Democratic oligarchy.  Of 1.4 Million Ohio Democrats, for example, David Pepper was chosen to be the ODP Chairperson by a committee of only 148 — only 66 elected during a Democratic Primary, the other 82 party insiders. Of the 40,000 Democrats in Montgomery County, only a handful have a voice in the local party organization. The MCDP has operated with a “political boss” structure stretching back to its beginnings.

Hopefully things are changing for the MCDP. This past June at the MCDP Reorganization Meeting several changes to the MCDP Constitution were approved that, if implemented, would mean a big change in the organization. The new MCDP Preamble says: “WE THE REPRESENTATIVES of the Democrats living in Montgomery County — in order to form a strong party organization that empowers representative democracy within our party and throughout the county — do establish this Montgomery County Democratic Party Constitution.”

Strengthening representative democracy sounds great — it is easy to talk the talk. The challenge for Democrats in Montgomery County is to transform the MCDP so that it does the following:

1. Empowers representative democracy within our party and
2. Empowers representative democracy throughout the county.

The MCDP Central Committee historically has simply been a rubber stamp. But, constitutionally, the Central Committee is empowered to act as a deliberative body, governed by Robert’s Rules. The Central Committee members simply need to step up to the challenge. My hope is that the influx of new members — from the efforts of Tim and Alison Benford — will be fully engaged in the Committee.

The Reorganization Meeting also approved this statement of purpose for the MCDP:

The purpose of the Montgomery County Democratic Party is to represent and to serve Montgomery County Democrats. The MCDP advances this purpose: by connecting Montgomery County Democrats within an extended MCDP community where every member has a voice, by advancing candidates of the people who are dedicated to public service and whose principles align with those of the Democratic Party.

Imagine the strength of the party if we could engage even 5% of Montgomery County Democrats — 2000 individuals — in a connected and caring community where everyone has a voice.

The Preamble to the MCDP Constitution calls not only for empowering representative democracy within the MCDP, it also calls for empowering representative democracy “throughout the county.”  Again, the Central Committee should agree to a plan.

As Democrats we must shift our understanding of the contest we are in. We are distracted when we focus on the Democratic Party winning. We need to look deeper and see that the central contest of politics today is the contest to make our system of representative democracy work as it should. The Republicans seem to realize that if the system worked as it should, the public policies they advocate would not have a chance. It’s to their advantage to aggravate polarization, to advance misinformation and to repress voting. It’s to the advantage of Democrats to do the opposite.

Democrats need to focus on the contest that is winnable. We can win the contest to be the party of the people.

Lots of competition to Get Out The Vote and in this election every precinct in Montgomery County showed an increase in voter turn-out compared to 2014, the last election for governor. The average increase in voter turn-out in the county, compared to 2014, was 13.6%. This increase, however, was not shared equally between Republican and Democratic precincts. Republican precincts — that already, historically, have a bigger turn-out than Democratic precincts — got a lion’s share of the increase.

For each precinct, I calculated the difference between the 2018 turn-out and the 2014 turn-out. The 180 precincts with the biggest improvements in turn-out voted 47.18% for Richard Cordray. The 180 precincts that had the lowest improvement in turn-out voted 54.7% for Cordray.  The precincts with the most improved turn-out tended Republican, the precincts with the poorest improvement of turn-out tended Democratic.

• There were 133 precincts, out of 360, that voted for Richard Cordray, with a combined vote of 74.1% for Cordray. Those Cordray precincts showed a turn-out of 46.4% (a 12.6% increase over 2014)
• There were 227 precincts that voted for Mike DeWine with a combined vote of 62.5% for DeWine. These Dewine precincts had turn-out of 57.7% (a 14.2% increase over 2014)

Comparing the top 18 Republican precincts to the top 40 Republican precincts, this chart shows that the more partisan that Republican precincts become, the more that turn-out increases. The opposite is true for the Democrats. The top 18 Democratic precincts, have a decrease in turn-out compared to the top 40 Democratic precincts.

• The top 40 Democratic precincts voted 92.8% for Cordray — with a turn-out of 44.1% (a 13.2% increase compared to 2014))
• The top 40 Republican precincts voted 74.3% for Dewine — with a turn-out of 60.7% (a 14.5% increase compared to 2014)

• The top 18 Democratic precincts voted 92.9% for Cordray, but had a turn-out of only 35.6% (an 11.1% increase from 2014)
• The top 18 Republican precincts voted 78.4 for DeWine and had a turn-out of 60.5% (a 12.4% increase from 2014)

Amazing the number of citizens who never vote. Only 70% of eligible voters are registered to vote. But surprisingly, many citizens who are registered to vote NEVER do so. In Montgomery County, of those who are registered, 21.3% NEVER turn out to vote — NEVER — not in non-presidential years and not in presidential years, either.

In Montgomery County 43% of the youth ages 18-30 who are registered to vote, NEVER vote.

The percentage of registered citizens not voting, particular the high percentage of registered youth in both Republican and Democratic precincts who never vote, is shocking.

Meanwhile the percentage of citizens ages 65 and older who are registered to vote, but who NEVER vote, is only 6.3%