Having read my thoughts on a 21st century Democratic Party, suppose the Democrats in Montgomery County rise up and agree that they want the local MCDP party organization to focus on making our system of representative democracy work as it should. Suppose they labor together, discuss and debate, cry and pounds their heads and suppose, finally, they make this report:

We’ve come to this agreement:

A system of representative democracy that works as it should has the following elements:

• Nonpartisan civic groups dedicated to making the system work.
• Transparency in politics and in government
• A vigorous and open public square where issues are discussed and competing points of view are defended.
• A citizenry well grounded in civics and well prepared and practiced in civic participation.
• A competitive and broad-based system of finding the best representative “of the people, for the people.”
• Political party organizations, structured as deliberative democracies, designed to empower the grassroots.

 

As a partisan political party organization, each of these elements offer a distinct challenge. Here are some of our thoughts:

1. MCDP should encourage Democrats in Montgomery County who are active in the local party to also be active in helping to initiate and to support local nonpartisan civic clubs — with the goal of creating local clubs of Democrats, Independents and Republicans united in advancing a common mission.
2. The mission of these civic clubs will be civics education, broadly understood. These clubs will engage school-age youth in after-school civics education projects aimed at increasing in-depth understanding of politics and issues — local to global. These clubs will be debating societies that will provide forums for research, discussion and debate. They will conduct town hall meetings. They will follow the work of elected officials, especially those locally elected, and make that work transparent and easy to understand by the general public
3. One purpose of these nonpartisan clubs will be to nurture individuals, especially youth, who seek to serve the public in elected office. The goal is that these clubs, over time, will become local institutions of long standing and tradition and that leaders in these clubs will often be elected to public office.
4. MCDP should establish standards of excellence for elected officials and should develop rubrics for evaluating the work of officials. Candidates who seek election under the party banner should pledge to strive for excellence as defined by the party and MCDP should hold Democratic elected officials accountable to honoring and practicing those standards.
5. There are 50,000 voters in Montgomery County who consider themselves loyal Democrats. MCDP should engage at least 5% of these voters (2500 individuals) into active voting membership in the MCDP party organization.
6. MCDP should conduct its general meetings and committee meetings so that they are open for online participation by all MCDP members.
7. MCDP should encourage primary competition.

Our hope for the future is not found in our current politics. We are paralyzingly encumbered by a politics of division and polarization. We must do better. Our republic needs a politics of harmonization and unity if we have any hope to deal with the astonishing challenges that await us.

As the world’s oldest democracy with the most powerful economy and military, the future will bring great urgency for America to make its system of representative democracy work as it should. To imagine a 21st century Democratic Party is to imagine a 21st Century desperately in need of leaders of extraordinary character and wisdom.  The 21st century needs a Democratic Party that will be a large and representative community of Democrats acting as a deliberative democracy. It is in such a Democratic community where leaders of extraordinary character and wisdom can emerge.

We need a 21st Century Democratic Party built on this mission: To prepare and to elect leaders who are of the people and who demonstrate exceptional leadership skills and civic virtue. 

1. Such leaders emerge from a bottom-up, grassroots process, rather than a top-down hierarchical process.
2. They are known by their connection and service to meaningful broad-based communities and by their capacity to deal with conflicting points of view to find an avenue for consensus.

I like the TV ads for “Buddy” the carpet salesman who declares, “We don’t want to make money, we just love to sell carpet.” The 21st Century Democratic Party we need is one that can say, “We just love to make the system of representative democracy work as it is suppose to work.” By focusing on making the system work as it should, Democrats will be elected in droves.

Each of Ohio’s 88 counties has an independent Democratic Party organization structured according to a locally developed and locally approved constitution. The first step to imagining a 21st century Democratic Party, with a mission as stated above, is to envision a Democratic Party in Montgomery County where that mission is a reality.

I had the pleasant experience this morning to meet Nuponu Gorneleh who is seeking election to  the office of Mayor of Kettering, and Griffin Derr, who is seeking election to the Kettering City Council. I am impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment of these two twenty-five year olds. I enjoyed their sense of humor.

Nuponu Gorneleh and Griffin Derr explaining their campaign to be elected to public office in Kettering

Nuponu and Griffin have both lived in Kettering their whole lives and both graduated from Kettering High School. They say there is a tale of two Ketterings. In one there is the best of times and in the other, not so good. They want to help make a local government that serves the interests of both Ketterings and that cares for both Ketterings.

Nuponu and Griffin are in general agreement with each other.

Nuponu and Griffin think that too many Kettering citizens — including millennials like themselves — feel they have no voice in the decisions of the community. They feel left out. These young men say they are seeking public office in Kettering because they want to live in a Kettering where more citizens can have a direct say in local government, where more citizens have a direct say in how the local government spends money. One idea they are kicking around is the notion of a citizen forum. To gain more public support, I am urging them to write a specific plan — that as elected officials they would advance — that would work to give more citizens a direct say in local government.

It’s great to see young people who are making an effort to make a difference: Nuponu Gorneleh and Griffin Derr

I enjoyed talking with Nuponu and Griffin and I’m thinking of throwing the weight of a DaytonOS endorsement behind their candidacies. They would bring a new point of view in the discussion of the Kettering City Council. I think they would be a positive influence.