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How Gerrymandering Defeated An Outstanding Candidate And Sent a Weak Candidate To Columbus

Posted on March 5, 2008 by Mike Bock

Vic Harris lost to Roland Winburn for the 40th OHD Democratic nomination yesterday by 44% to 56%. I noticed that some voters walking through the parking lot in the rain to the polling place were clutching their Democratic Party Endorsed Candidate slate in their hands. These lists of officially endorsed candidates were mailed to Democrats, and, on primary election day, Party workers were also passing out these slates to voters at the polls. It’s hard to run against the machine.

The results for the 40th District shows Roland with 10,000 votes, Vic with 8,000 votes and, this is surprising, 8000 blank votes. 8000 people made it to the polls to vote for president, but then skipped voting for either Roland or Vic. If Vic could have reached just a fraction of these blank voters, he would have won. I am dismayed that the 40th OHD Democrats chose a weak candidate, Roland, and rejected a very outstanding individual, Vic, and I keep analyzing how and why this result happened.

What gripes me is that many people voting for Winburn were simply wanting to be good Democrats and felt that the way to be a good Democrat was to follow the Party’s endorsement. On my last post, someone commented, about the Party’s endorsement that “Endorsement comes from the decision of the Party that one candidate is better qualified than the other.” This is the view of endorsement that a lot of voters who selected Winburn must believe to be true. But, this view of endorsement is out of touch with the reality of what endorsement really means.

In any endorsement, it is important to consider the source of the endorsement and the motivation of the endorser. If I endorse my brother-in-law to you as being a good real estate broker, you might wonder if my endorsement is motivated by an honest evaluation of my brother-in-law’s skills or simply by my desire to help a family member. When ordinary Democrats see that the Montgomery County Democratic Party has endorsed a candidate, they need to consider the source. A Party endorsement is not the result of an objective democratic process involving the deliberation of many MCDP active members. Far from it. The “Party” really boils down to a small handful of insiders who know how to get their way.

The explanation of why these insiders chose Winburn over Harris has to do with the concept of playing by Party rules, the concept of waiting one’s turn. It has to do with insiders seeking to advance their own political careers. Endorsement does not come from a fair analysis of who would best serve the people. Those Winburn supporters who know both Vic and Roland will admit that this analysis is true. These supporters do not claim that Roland is better qualified, or that Roland would be a more effective representative. They are loyal to the MCDP and feel that the Party should have the power to advance whomever it thinks most appropriate — for any number of reasons.

It seems, usually, the biggest factor in endorsing one potential candidate over another is “electability.” For example, a person is seen as an attractive candidate if he or she can show the capacity to raise money, because the capacity to raise money greatly impacts electability.

But in the 40th OHD, electability is not such an important concern, because the 40th OHD usually votes 70% Democratic. If the 40th OHD District was a competitive district and if the MCPD had anticipated that a strong Republican would run for the 40th OHD seat in the general election, then the matter of electability would have been the deciding factor. If the 40th was a competitive district, playing around with insider politics to the point of advancing a weak candidate, like Winburn, could well have meant losing the 40th OHD.

So, one way to look at it, Vic Harris is a victim of gerrymandering. In a competitive general election race, there is simply no question that Vic would be a much stronger candidate than Roland. There is no question that if given the chance, Vic would be a much more effective and energetic representative of the people than Roland. But gerrymandering gives a Party a monopoly, and monopolies have little motivation to innovate or produce quality.

Because of gerrymandering, the Party has a monopoly in the 40th OHD. Because of gerrymandering, the Party knew it could play insider politics, and could advance a weak candidate without the fear of penalty.

Clearly our democracy is not working as it should. There are fundamental faults in our democracy that conspire to keep the best leaders and the best ideas from emerging. This experience with Vic’s campaign has emphasized to me how gerrymandering undermines our political system and how gerrymandering empowers political corruption.

Posted in M Bock, Opinion | 12 Comments

What It Means To Be An Effective Representative; Why Leadership and Community are Essential

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Mike Bock

What follows are some thoughts I put together for Vic Harris that reflects ideas discussed during his campaign. –MBock

I am seeking the Democratic primary nomination to be elected representative for the 40th Ohio House District. As one representative out of a group of ninety nine, some representatives are more effective than others. I’ve been analyzing what it means to be an effective representative.

I find it interesting that the those in control of the government in Ohio decided to give an annual windfall of $460 million to the top 1% of incomes in the state — incomes that average $650,000 — and that these same representatives, because of decreased state revenues, are now diminishing and cutting important state programs that benefit average Ohioans. This is interesting because I am amazed at how those controlling the government advance such indefensible actions. You would think that in a democracy such a government would not stand.

What seems obvious is that our system of government that we are rightly proud of — our representative democracy — is simply not working as it should. If our system was working as it should, our government would not advance indefensible actions, our government policies would reflect the consensus of the vast majority, not the selfish interests of the few, our government policies would work to promote the common good.

So, when I reflect on what it means to be an “effective” representative, it seems to me the central question that needs to be asked is, “effective” at what? It seems the majority of the political class first of all seek to be “effective” at getting elected. And reelected.

In my thinking, an “effective” representative, is a person who, first of all, focuses his or her dedication on promoting the general good. As a core belief, this definition of “effectiveness” is huge. Can you imagine the impact that a political party could have that could become driven and controlled by this central core belief ? The name of that Party, of course, should be, The Democratic Party.

The general good is what advantages the vast majority of citizens, so it makes sense that a representative of the citizens would make promoting the general good a central aim of his or her leadership. If our democracy were working as it should we would be empowered to choose representatives who would be effective in promoting the common good. One impediment to our democracy, as it turns out, is the undemocratic practices of political parties.

For our democracy to flourish, we need leadership. I’ve given a lot of thought to this — what leadership is, how leadership is developed. A effective representative of the people should be an effective leader for the people. A leader is one who raises up everyone around him and who inspires and empowers others. An effective leader raises up other leaders.

But, here is the problem, I’m convinced that leadership is a function of an effective community. Without community, leadership is void. And, the truth is, community is lacking.

Right now, there is not a 40th Ohio House District community as such. There is Trotwood, Northridge, Riverside, Brookville and part of Dayton that is contained in the 40th District. But these together do not make a 40th District community. And, a more profound problem is that there seems, other little community anywhere. How many people who have a Trotwood mailing address really participate in a Trotwood community? How many with a Northridge address participate in a Northridge community? Hillary said, “It takes a village,” but it seems that the village itself, the community of people who know and care about each other, has largely disappeared.

The model for effective community that is often cited is the New England Town Hall Meetings. These meetings occur in small towns, and all interested citizens in the town have a voice. In such a communities, effective leadership is nurtured and potential leaders have many opportunities within the community to prove their capacity for leadership.

The thought I want to develop is this: I believe it is possible to create effective community here in the 40th Ohio House District. All the pieces are in place ready for us to create an authentic cyber community.

In the 40th District, there are 104 precincts. I believe with the right invitation, that on average, at least two or three persons from each precinct would come forward to volunteer to be a regular participant in a 40th District cyber community. I believe that there are many citizens who would welcome the opportunity to meaningfully participate, if given an invitation.

I think here in Dayton we can become known for making a new breakthrough in innovation — a breakthrough that effectively uses the technology of the day to vitalize local democracy. So I’m thinking what such a web-site for such a community might look like, how it might function.

So here are my conclusions. To be an effective representative means to be effective at defining and promoting the general good. An effective representative is an effective leader, and leadership is always a function of community. So, in order for me to be an effective leader, I plan to invest my time and skills in creating an authentic 40th District community. If I am to effectively “represent” the people of my district, I need to be part of an authentic community that reflects the whole district.

My thinking is that although we are not a New England town, we can create a Town Hall feel and a Town Hall reality by creating an organized group of individuals, each dedicated to communicating and respecting each other, dedicated to learning how to function as a community. I think such a group should be internet based.

The 40th House District must be united as a community. Even twenty years ago this would have been much more difficult to accomplish than it is today. Our opportunity is to use the power of the tools of our age to help solve the challenges facing our democracy

Posted in M Bock | Leave a comment

The Empire Strikes Back: The Ohio Democratic Party Spends Big Bucks on Lieberman and Winburn

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Mike Bock

I received a professionally produced full color handbill in the mail yesterday praising Debbie Lieberman and urging me to “Re-elect Debbie Lieberman on March 4th.” In large print is the statement, “Endorsed by the Montgomery County Democratic Party.” On the front of the handbill are several nice pictures of Debbie, one by herself, one with her and Commissioners Dan Foley and Judy Dodge and the statement, “Team Montgomery County, Working Together for a better tomorrow.”

There is no mention on the handbill about the fact that Debbie a few weeks ago was arrested for drunk driving and that the video of her embarrassing drunken encounter with the police was widely shown on local TV.

The handbill has a boxed statement printed on it, “Paid for by the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, Chairman” Producing these handbills and mailing them to Democrats throughout the county, I’m guessing, must have cost the state Democratic Party something close to $30,000.

Debbie has no Republican challenger in the fall general election. She does have a Democratic opponent in the March 4 Democratic Primary, a man named Mark Anthony Newberry. I don’t know much about him, but, I’m voting for Newberry.

In the 40th Ohio House District the state Democratic Party is distributing a full color, great looking handbill urging 40th District Democrats to vote for Roland Winburn. The headlines say that Roland is the “Endorsed Democrat,” and that “Democrats Endorse Roland Winburn for State Representative.” It features pictures of State Senator Tom Roberts and State Representative Fred Strahorn along with statements of endorsements. Again the handbill includes the boxed statement, “Paid for by the Ohio Democratic Party, Chris Redfern, Chairman.” Producing these handbills and mailing them to 40th District Democrats had to cost something like $9,000.

Roland’s competitor is Victor Harris, the non-endorsed candidate, and Victor has been advancing a good campaign — sending two mailers to all 40th District Democrats, TV and radio ads, and door to door visits with Democrats throughout the District. A huge boost to Vic has been the unprecedented strong support of the Dayton Daily News which in several prominent editorials has urged 40th District Democrats to support Victor. This post explains.

The Empire — the Democratic Machine — is striking back. This outpouring of money from the State Democratic Party to support Debbie Lieberman is outrageous. But even more maddening is the fact that the State Party is spending money in the 40th District to promote one viable Democratic candidate over another viable Democratic candidate. The Party is corrupting the primary system and is showing itself to be corrupt — focused on promoting its own insider interests.

This $50,000, or so, that the state machine is pouring into Montgomery County for Winburn and Lieberman is wasted money. This money should be used to help elect Democrats in marginal Districts.

Word is that the Democratic Party also is organizing workers to hand out pro-Winburn literature at 100 ft from each polling place in the 40th District. The Party will pay each poll campaigner a wage for the day. I don’t know how much. This action is simply outrageous.

Victor is organizing poll campaigners to match the Party machine’s poll campaigning efforts. He needs help to make this effort successful. If you have any time on March 4 to campaign at a polling place in the 40th District — to talk with incoming voters and give out Victor’s literature — send me an e-mail ASAP at mbock@att.net. Or, leave me a message at 298-8703. I am going door to door this afternoon and I will respond to any e-mails or messages this evening. We really need a grassroots uprising to help Victor in this election effort.