After the retirement of Tony Hall from congress, in the last seven congressional elections the Democratic candidate seeking election in OH-10 has fallen well short of the votes needed to win. A Democratic candidate can find the needed additional votes only from these two groups:

1. The group of those who habitually vote for Mike Turner, and,
2. The group of those who habitually fail to vote at all.

The outrage at Trump will generate some anti-Republican votes from both groups but, given the power of incumbency and the popularity of Turner, Trump outrage by itself is unlikely to produce enough votes for a Democrat to win OH-10 — not in a contest defined as a TV ad war where Turner, if needed, will have millions of dollars to spend.

I’m writing this to urge you to take advantage of a wonderful opportunity that has the potential to:

• Get lots of free media attention — attention that will gain you support from both of the two groups you must motivate.
• Empower you to demonstrate leadership skills and character needed to make our system of representative democracy work as it should
• Associate you with a big idea that captures people’s imagination, an idea that citizens, especially young people, can rally around.

People are sick of politics as it is today. Define yourself as a Dem that seeks to transform the Democratic Party. And show a plan of action to do just that. Demonstrating such leadership would make you attractive to members of both groups listed above.

1. For Turner voters, a key fact is that nationally 43% of all voters identify as “independents.” This means that it is likely that at least 25% of habitual Turner voters like to think of themselves as independent or nonpartisan. These nonpartisan-leaning voters are looking for someone to stand up to the system and to change the system.
2. For Dems who don’t vote, a key fact is that many are thoroughly discouraged with the Democratic Party. They are looking for someone to improve the Democratic Party.

Your opportunity is to raise up a 21st century vision of the Democratic Party that is attractive to both groups. Your chance to demonstrate leadership is to apply that vision to the local party organization — the Montgomery County Democratic Party.

• Rewrite the MCDP Constitution so that it corresponds to that vision.
• Engage Democrats to discuss and debate that vision.
• Elect a MCDP Central Committee that will implement that vision.

A contest to transform the local party would generate media attention because such a contest is timely. Every four years a new MCDP Central Committee is elected, new officers are chosen and a new MCDP Constitution approved. This quadrennial event happens this coming May at the 2018 Democratic Primary, and the subsequent Central Committee Reorganization Meeting. Each of the county’s 360 precincts can elect a member of the Central Committee. In 2014, only about 100 precincts fielded even one candidate. Your time is short, because petitions to get on the ballot for the Democratic Primary is February 7, 2018.

If you can lead Democrats to transform the local party organization — by infusing it with a new generation of active members, new ideas, a new Constitution — if you can develop a 21st century party organization that is member directed and community oriented, you will not only win the primary contest to be the Democratic Party OH-10 candidate, you will establish yourself as a leader that can inspire and accomplish actions that help heal our sick system. This is the leader that a lot of voters are looking for. Such a leader will appeal to some Turner voters and to some nonvoting Dems as well. I believe the potential is there to generate sufficient votes to win. It would be a great deal of effort — but then, voters are looking for someone who is willing to make the effort.

Turner has failed to show leadership that brings people together or that creates social harmony. This failure of leadership can be the predominate issue in the campaign — if you position yourself to make it so. Turner is the incumbent, but he is not a leader. Voters are worried about the sick state of our representative democracy. They want someone to demonstrate the visionary leadership and personal character needed to make a difference. The coming reorganization of the MCDP presents you with a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate in real terms that you are the leader that voters are looking for.

To vitalize representative democracy, progressives need to be working to bring two movements to reality: 1) a grassroots Democratic Party movement 2) a grassroots democracy movement. A grassroots Democratic Party movement would engage and empower grassroots Democrats to be positively engaged in the Party. A  grassroots democracy movement would engage and empower everyone of every political point of view in the grassroots to be positively engaged in our democracy. Both movements are of crucial importance, but of the two the grassroots Democratic Party movement is the one that right now seems more in reach.

According to the current Montgomery County Democratic Party constitution, at most, the Central Committee can have 360 members. But, why only 360 members?  Why not have a constitution that enlarges the Central Committee to allow every one of Montgomery County’s 36,000 registered Democrats who so chooses to have participation and voting rights?

MCDP actions that were appropriate for the horse and buggy age — greatly restricting the number of voting members and requiring members to be physically present to participate in meetings — needlessly encumber a 21st century MCDP organization. In the horse and buggy age, an MCDP organized as a direct democracy would have been impossible, but in the 21st century, everyone has a smart phone. Making a deliberative democracy work for groups of hundreds or even thousands of individuals is very doable.

A grassroots Democratic Party movement would be built on a new vision of the Democratic party.  The start of such a movement is when Democrats begin to brainstorm answers to these questions: What would a 21st century “party of the people” look like? How would such a party be organized? What would be its actions? What would its constitution contain?

The opportunity to engage in the local Democratic party organization is open to all Democrats — guaranteed by state law that empowers every Democrat in the county the opportunity to stand for election to the party’s governing Central Committee. Democrats in each precinct elect one person living in the precinct to represent them on the Committee. This opportunity comes every four years and the next opportunity to be elected to the Central Committee is 2018 — petitions are due on February 7, 2018.