In response to my article,  The Dayton Daily News Cut Fifty Words From The Heart Of My Article, where I suggest that MCDP needs to be transformed, Stan Hirtle asked a good question — Can I provide any model of a local political party that has accomplished such transformation?  The answer is “No. Not yet — but here is a start on a two part strategy by which such a model might be developed”

Stan, the problem you cite — “imagining a political party being anything other than bosses and insiders raising money, handing out jobs and advancing and protecting themselves” — is exactly the problem that needs to be solved.

The problem of imagining what a transformed political party may look like is a systems’ problem, and, as readers of this blog know, I like to apply W. Edwards Deming’s insights concerning systems whenever possible. To imagine a transformed system, we need to remember that every effective system has two key aspects:

1. a well defined mission and
2. an organizational structure thoughtfully designed to best accomplish that mission.

Political parties are so focused on producing winning candidates that winning seems their entire mission. The “political bosses and insiders raising money, handing out jobs and advancing and protecting themselves” is defended as a structure that works to produce winning candidates. Boss centered, hierarchical organizations are defended as being effective in reducing internal conflict, and effective in conserving scarce resources. The argument is that winning an election takes effort and discipline and that a party that is organized as a anti-democratic hierarchy is much more likely to win elections than a party that is organized as a pro-democracy deliberative assembly.

A politics of winning at any cost has led to a big increase in the distrust, cynicism and apathy within the electorate. The resulting decrease in the number of citizens who are voting has benefited the Republicans. The response of political parties to growing voter cynicism has been to sharpen and expand their marketing efforts. This further increases voter cynicism. It’s an ever accelerating cycle.

The challenge for the Democratic Party is to break this cycle by consciously transforming itself. The Democratic Party is a huge organization. It is a huge system. Every successful organization is guided by a mission that inspires and motivates. A local church, for example, does not define its mission as constructing buildings and raising a lot of money. The effort to construct buildings and raise an ever larger budget is inspired by a bigger purpose that motivates its members.

The purpose that should animate the Democratic Party must be one that transcends simply winning elections. Here is one suggestion for how the purpose / mission for the MCDP should be stated: To empower democracy to work in all aspects of Montgomery County. 

To accomplish such a mission, the MCDP would encourage the growth of grass roots democratic structures throughout the county. Brainstorming what such structures might look like is the next step. For one thing, the MCDP itself should be structured as a model of a democracy empowering organization. As I said in my DDN letter, “Democrats now are looking for a 21st century organization that is democratic and inclusive, and that welcomes them into a meaningful and connected community.” Not only Democrats would support such a transformed party, but such a party would have wide appeal to many who currently are disengaged from the whole political process.

Success for the MCDP ultimately would still be measured in terms of how many elections are won by Democrats. My premise is that an engaged, connected, empowered and informed electorate is much more likely to vote Democratic, rather than Republican and so winning elections would be a side-effect of pursuing the mission of empowering democracy to work. Here is the analogy: The mission of General Motors is to produce quality automobiles.  Making a profit for its shareholders is by-product of accomplishing this mission. The MCDP needs to focus on making democracy work — winning elections will be a by-product of such effort.

This notion that MCDP should be seen as a system guided by a mission and empowered by an organizational structure that advances the mission should provide a platform for thoughtful discussion — a good structure for imagining what a transformed political party may look like. The devil, as usual, is in the details. To help inspire discussion, I intend on continuing this line of thought with further analysis and development.

The Dayton Daily News finally published my letter — on the editorial page (p. 9), under a large headline “On Your Mind”, and under an eye-catching cartoon by Mike Luckivich.

Fifty words, exactly, are cut from the article I sent to the DDN — 50 words from the center of the article and at the center of the message I wanted to deliver. Most of the third paragraph was cut — the very part that I worried most about, because it is the most accusatory and antagonistic sounding. The DDN kept the first sentence of this paragraph and merged it with the fourth paragraph. (The part omitted is in bold.)

 If you are a loyal and active Democrat, you may be scratching your head and wondering why  you’ve never heard about this important meeting. In fact, the lack of any effort of the MCDP to inform the grassroots is an indictment of the MCDP. The insiders want to maintain their right to make endorsements and to hand out patronage jobs, and the prospect of empowering grassroots Democrats to change the status quo is unacceptable. 

Before I finally decided on the 332 words I sent to the DDN, I almost settled on a version that omitted this “indictment” — wondering if a less harsh sounding argument might, in fact, be more effective in interesting Democrats to become involved. It was a close decision and after I sent the letter in, I kept wondering if I should have omitted the very part that the DDN eventually cut.  So, in one sense, maybe cutting these words improved the article, but, it bothers me that the DDN make the decision to omit those words, not me.  And, now the third paragraph seems haphazardly written. The article as it appears in the paper is seen below:

How Grassroots Democrats Can Transform Their Local Party

Every four years, Democrats have a rare opportunity to change the constitution and leadership of the Montgomery County Democratic Party (MCDP) at a “reorganization meeting.” This important meeting is scheduled for June 2014, and the deadline to start the process to become a delegate is February 5.

A reorganization meeting is structured much like a political convention. At this meeting, decisions are made according to the majority of delegates voting. Every precinct can send one delegate, but in 2010 out of 360 possible precincts, only about half elected a delegate.

If you are a loyal and active Democrat, you may be scratching your head and wondering why  you’ve never heard about this important meeting. The big task for the reorganization meeting is rewriting the MCDP constitution. The current constitution harkens back to a time when political parties centered around “bosses.” Today, however, this boss system hinders the success of the party. Democrats now are looking for a 21st century organization that is democratic and inclusive, and that welcomes them into a meaningful and connected community.

The MCDP constitution will not be changed unless a majority of delegates vote for change. The reorganization meeting is a wonderful opportunity for grassroots Democrats to have real influence in setting the course of the local party for the next four years, and in creating a party structure that will encourage and inspire new commitment from Democrats.

Time is running out to meet the February 5 deadline. Any Democrat living in Montgomery County who is interested in being a delegate to this important meeting should contact me at mcbock@me.com.

Mike Bock

Democratic Party, Kettering Ward 4 Leader

.

At the Dayton rally announcing her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor of Ohio — as the running mate of Ed FitzGerald — Democrat Sharen Neuhardt said that the election will come down to who voters believe will protect the middle class, and that she and FitzGerald are ready to make that case.

Neuhardt said that she has complete confidence in FitzGerald and that she and FitzGerald are both staunch supporters of women. She said women’s issues are issues that impact the whole state — not just women. She said, “When women are making 23 cents less for every dollar earned by a man for a comparable job, that is not just a woman’s issue. That is a family issue, that is an economic issue.”

She said, “When 100,000 women in need can/t get access to basic pap smears and mammogram and birth control they need simply because Republicans want to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, that is wrong.” She said, “Memo to Jonh Kasich: You are going to be really sorry that you messed with women, come November.”  

Excerpts From Sharen Neuhardt’s Speech

I believe in Ed FitzGerald. You are going to love him, a former prosecutor and former FBI man. He came into Cuyohoga County after its largest scandal. He’s done an amazing job. He is going to do great things when elected. He is the reason I am here. So Thank you Ed.

Election will boil down to one question: Who do you trust to protest the middle class in Ohio? I think when we make our case to the voters, the votes will say that it is the Democrats. … In Ohio we are 46 out of 50 states in job growth. Thousands more Ohioans out of work today than were a year ago. Things are not good — not good for the middle class. …

Just this week, I was at the grocery store and heard complaints about the high cost of groceries. … My sister Cheryl lost her job last week — after being with a Dayton company for 26 years — regardless she is the best person in her department….  Too many Ohio jobs are going oversee. I have a vested interest in this fight — I’m going to do it for you, Cheryl.

John Kasich and other Republicans say Ed picked me, basically, because I have ovaries. You and I both know that is not the case. Ed FitzGerald picked me because I have a brain. Kasich and his Republic led legislature thinks we cannot have both. Ed and I are starch supporters of women’s rights. The Republicans want to say that Democrats want to make this all about abortion but the truth is women’s issues are much broader than that.

When women are making 23 cents less for every dollar earned by a man for a comparable job,  that is not just a woman’s issue. That is a family issue. It is an economic issue and it is holding Ohio back. And when 100,000 women in need can’t get access to basic pap smears and mammograms and the birth control they need — simply because Republicans want to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood — that is wrong.  It’s not just a women’s issue, men care about women’s issues too. They care about their family budget, they care about their wives, daughters, family members and friends. Men know that relegating women to second class citizens is bad business for Ohio.

Here is what I say to Governor Kasich and the Republican legislature: I am happy to be a champion for women’s rights …  Women have a memory and we vote. So memo to Joh Kasich: You are going to be really sorry that you messed with women, come November.  …

I know I can count on you.… This is what I need you do: You can’t go home and sit on your hands. We are within seven points of Kasich. Right thinking people across the state are ready to stand up and tell the truth and elect somebody new to our state governorship. And that person is going to be Ed FitzGerald.