Democrats FLATLINED in Michigan Yesterday (but it's not what you think)

peregrine kate for Michigan, My Michigan

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday November 07, 2018 · 8:30 PM PST

2018/11/07 · 20:30

no image description available — Two of our wonderful, amazing, smart, and dedicated Precinct Delegates, Anna Shelton and Lauretta Codrington, passing out last-minute Democratic slate cards at a Washtenaw County polling station on Tuesday, November 6, 2018

For the past four years, my local Democratic Party colleagues have all been working hard to end the dreaded midterm turnout slump. You know, the horrible dropoff in Democratic participation that happens in non-Presidential-election years.

In Washtenaw County, that pattern has looked like this:

We need to be consistent, like the Republicans, only at the 120,000+ vote level.

We have called this the “W Graph” (maybe to remember POTUS 43? It would be fitting.) In presidential years, Democrats beat Republicans by at least 2 to 1. In midterms, we’re lucky to beat the Republicans at all. The Republican voters, meanwhile, turn out no matter what. Same old story almost anywhere in the country, as we have all lamented for years.

In 2014, we made a big commitment here to implement a precinct-based program inspired by the grassroots, bottom-up design of the 2008 Obama for America campaign. Between 2010 (obviously, a hugely dispiriting election) and 2014 we had some limited success, but our comparatively poor results in 2014 indicated we had to do things differently. So we devoted a lot of attention and resources to the development of a Precinct Delegate system throughout the county, one in which we recruited, trained, and deployed neighborhood-based Democratic activists to be resources for their own local communities. The table below shows our gains so far.

Precinct Delegates in Washtenaw County (MI), 2014-2018
	2014	2016	2018
Precincts	139	141	150
Positions	288	300	330
# elected	96	147	182
% filled	33%	49%	55%
# contested	5	7	17

Thus we have almost doubled our elected precinct delegates (by count) in four years. I assure you that the proportion of active and engaged Precinct Delegates has also doubled, at least.

We’ve not contented ourselves merely with increasing our elected Precinct Delegate numbers. Our Precinct Delegates have been busy hosting neighborhood events for the sake of getting people involved and informed, including town halls for candidates to come to discuss issues of local concern with voters. We have some precincts now with block captains and their own lists of residents and activists. And we have a wide network of local political groups who are ready and able to coordinate with our teams to support the final push to Get Out the Vote. Here, that meant we were able to drop about 30,000 Democratic Voter Guides to people’s doors in the space of ten days. (These supplemented the 45,000 that we mailed out as well as the version of the guide available online.)

On Election Day itself, we took advantage of one last opportunity to get information into the hands of voters. We had a slate card (which Lauretta is holding in the story photo) which listed all our endorsements, candidates and proposals, partisan and non-partisan. We printed 50,000 copies of this card and distributed them to about 200 volunteers who were to cover about 300 shifts, total, at the 61 polling places in the county with the highest historical Democratic turnout. And then we said, “Go!”

LoveWins

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday August 14, 2018 · 8:05 AM PDT

2018/08/14 · 08:05

The shoes I have worn canvassing, circa 2014, for my third election cycle now. They're still alive and kickin' after countless miles, sweating on brutally hot days, even with back issues that some days make me feel like I'm 86 instead of 36. So, why do I put on these shoes? Because I believe in change in Kansas. I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk, quite literally.

But this isn't about me. I walk because of the people I encounter. The people who make me want to fight for a better system. They are the reason I walk.

peregrine kate for Michigan, My Michigan

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday August 08, 2018 · 11:18 AM PDT

2018/08/08 · 11:18

Photo of Michigan Dem Party bag with key supplies for canvassing — Some of the key items in a precinct delegate's toolkit while canvassing voters MDP

Let’s have a roll call for Precinct Delegates across the state of Michigan! Did you have your name on the ballot and did you win? Or did you run as a write-in? Time to find out who we have here to serve in this hugely important role.

Please note where you live, to the degree that makes you comfortable. I won’t boot you out of the conversation if you are a Precinct Delegate (or whatever you call a precinct-level Democratic Party organizer) from another state.

I’ll start: I’m a Precinct Delegate in Washtenaw County, and won re-election handily. Not much competition, yet, though we hope to change that next cycle. We had a great crop of returning and new delegates this time around, including the woman who is quoted in the diary title. We hit our key goal of filling at least half of our Precinct Delegate slots, and I’m guessing we increased over the last cycle by close to 20%.

Even more exciting: we had turnout in our precinct of over 40%, which is more than double the turnout we had in August of 2014. Let’s build toward our big blue Democratic wave!

Our next project and major focus is campaigning on behalf of Sam Bagenstos and Megan Kathleen Cavanagh, the two candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court endorsed by the Michigan Democratic Party. (By the way — we have joint slate cards for them, with the campaigns’ hearty approval. See the story photo above. If you would like to get some printed for your local Dem party, send me a Kosmail and we can talk logistics.) And, for that matter, Sam Bagenstos has been endorsed by Daily Kos, and you may donate to his campaign here:

Please give $3 to help elect Sam Bagenstos to the Michigan Supreme Court!

I’m convinced, now more than ever, that the up-close-and-personal contact we have with our neighbors and potential voters will make the key difference in the critical Supreme Court Races. Please join me in flipping the bench!

The Real Winner in PA-18: Organizers!

David Michigan

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 16, 2018 · 9:34 AM PDT

2018/03/16 · 09:34

CANONSBURG, PA - MARCH 13: Supporters cheer as they watch election returns at an election night event for Conor Lamb, Democratic congressional candidate for Pennsylvania's 18th district, March 13, 2018 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. As of 10:00 PM, Lamb's race against Republican candidate Rick Saccone is still too close to call. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Lara Putnam, professor and chair of the department of History at the University of Pittsburgh, has written a short and very informative article for Democracy Journal arguing that:

Grassroots women and organized labor pulled voters together in support of Conor Lamb. Conversations made it work.

If you’ve been following the punditry, you already know that some have chalked up Lamb’s surprise victory to “enthusiasm,” while others have claimed — after the fact — that he won because he ran as a “Republican lite” and not as a “real Democrat.” (There has also been some good political analysis of the results, but I haven’t seen it getting much traction in the national press.)

Both takes, Putnam shows, are wrong. The “Republican lite” narrative, most recently tweeted out by Cheetolini himself, is patently ridiculous: Lamb campaigned on his opposition to the core GOP goals of slashing taxes on the filthy rich, gutting the regulations that protect the public, and eliminating the promise of health care for all.

The “enthusiasm” narrative isn’t wrong in the same way. The enthusiasm was real, but as Putnam shows, it wasn’t enthusiasm alone that lifted the Democrat to victory. It was the organizing carried out by a reinvigorated opposition to Trump, beginning before Lamb even entered the picture.

Grassroots democracy groups of the kind that popped up across America’s red and purple suburbs in the wake of Donald Trump’s election had been mobilizing in the Pittsburgh suburbs since the start of 2017, seeking a challenger to Republican incumbent Tim Murphy, who had run unopposed in 2014 and 2016. These groups, often growing out of friendships forged in the Women’s March and honed over the subsequent long summer of protests in support of the ACA, were thickest on the ground in PA 18’s affluent Allegheny County suburbs, which had been trending more liberal for years. Yet even deep red Westmoreland County saw the flourishing of “Voice of Westmoreland,” a grassroots group founded by three angry and inspired women in response to the same national events. And in PA 18’s center-west, the new independent Washington County Democrats club powered up along that same timeline. Grassroots women were organizing for action.

(If this argument sounds familiar, it is the same one that Lara Putnam and political scientist Theda Skocpol made in their article “Middle America Reboots Democracy,” published in Democracy Journal days before the PA-18 election.)

But it wasn’t the Women’s March organizers alone who pulled off the election! The other key to victory was union organizing — and the eagerness of suburban women and union workers to join forces for a common purpose.

Meanwhile, those of us canvassing in Washington County and Greene County heard echoes of a separate set of conversations—likewise carried along pre-existing personal ties—among union members, as they reassured each other that this time, this Democrat shared the values that mattered most. “Me and the guys down at the shop were just talking about him!” “I walk with the Silver Sneakers every week, there are other veterans there too. We’re pretty impressed with that young Marine.” “A group of us retirees from the plant get together every week: One in leadership was talking about Lamb and pensions.” “We’ll spread the news down at the Fish Fry.”

Putnam’s conclusion?

“Enthusiasm” doesn’t get absentee ballot request forms into the hands of potential voters three weeks before an off-season election. Organization does. “Moderation” doesn’t ensure suburban moms and retired mineworkers will discover the common ground they share. Conversations do.

And that’s the path to winning in November.

Tips From The Hitchhiker's Guide to Persuasion Canvassing in Virginia

JamesShelton

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 21, 2017 · 10:30 AM PDT

2017/09/21 · 10:30

Author Canvassing For Virginia Candidates, September 2017

As I knocked on what was at least my 1,000^th door canvassing for Virginia candidates in 2017, I wondered. Will it be a solid consistently-voting Democrat? An independent? A low-frequency voter? Would I be able to connect with them? Ever hopeful, as the door opened and I saw someone answering the description of my walk list, I began:

“Ms Jones? My name is Jim Shelton. I’m a volunteer with the Democratic Party here in Manassas. We’re reaching out to voters in the neighborhood to talk about the upcoming election in November. We’re interested in hearing what’s on voters’ minds and what’s important to them.”

Because I’ve had so many of such conversations, I’ve decided to lay out for you the persuasion canvassing techniques that seem to work for me, also drawing on research and basic behavior change principles. You can find the full write up here – the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Persuasion Canvassing in Virginia.

The guide is oriented to the “persuasion” phase, targeting people who might not have made up their minds or be aware of the candidates or election. (Canvassing approaches shift in the later “Get-Out-The-Vote” or GOTV phase.) I’m omitting basic walk list mechanics, because you will pick that up easily or already know them. Although every conversation is different, and the order and content will vary, here are some key concepts:

Overriding Principle: Connect with the voter at a genuine, personal and human level. Be open and sincere. Listen and adapt as the interaction proceeds, recognizing differences among people. Not really so hard - something we do every day.

Warm Up: Campaign scripts generally move quickly to the candidate(s) – e.g., asking whether the voter knows and supports the candidate(s.) That can certainly work. But I like to stay in the listening mode. Key questions:

“Have you been following our election in November?”
“As a voter, do you tend to vote in most elections or just selectively?”
The Trump Card – the great icebreaker – “How do you feel about how things are going in Washington with Mr. Trump?”

Soliciting Voter Views. “Let me ask you, what things or issues are important to you now?” Typically it is one of these:

Health Care
Women’s Health
Transportation (and overdevelopment)
Environment
Education
Gun Safety
Gerrymandering/Voting Rights
Bad things happening in Washington

Ask them to elaborate. Listen, validate, affirm, connect, and bring in your own experience. Be respectful and don’t get in debates. Remember, such active listening is really motivating.

Use the voter’s issue(s) to focus on the candidate(s.) For each issue it is good to have a simple “sound bite” message contrasting your candidate(s) with their opponents.

For example, for education: “I really agree about the importance of education, Ms Jones. Our children’s futures depend on it. And my candidate is strongly in favor of much better support to public schools. But you know the Republicans want to take money away from public schools and give it to private schools through vouchers.” Then comes a good opportunity to introduce the candidate(s). You can present the campaign literature and point out their faces, reinforcing their support for education as well as personal qualities.

The campaigns provide talking point bullets to help. You don’t have to be an expert on every issue. You are just a volunteer and can refer a question to the campaign if necessary.

Target the entire Republican legislature as wasting time on distracting ideological issues like - bathroom bills, transvaginal ultrasound, defunding Planned Parenthood and voter suppression.

Voters who are not issue-oriented. They vote more on likability, things in common with the candidate or “character.” Point out positive characteristics, e.g. family background, military service, leadership experience, community service, gender. The campaign literature will help.

Closure. Many “persuasion” voters will at best only move several notches in the blue direction, but sometimes you sense the voter is leaning Democratic. If so, reinforce it. But manage your time. You have other doors to knock. When concluding, come back to their issues and your candidate(s).

Low-frequency voters are crucial. They may readily agree with you. The real key is motivating them to turn out. The Trump card is often highly effective. Reinforce the importance of the election stressing connection to their issues, and the need to vote for all the Democrats. Note for the campaign that this voter merits a return visit during GOTV.

Key Actions for the Persuaded

Commitment Cards and handshakes. Some campaigns use commitment cards that I like to call reminder cards that demonstrate the voter’s commitment and are later mailer to them. If the voter declines to fill one out, I will say. “Okay, I respect that. But in that case can we at least shake hands and say we have a deal?” At which point I extend my hand, look them in the eye and without fail they smile and shake my hand.

Reaching out to others. Ask who they know that they can encourage to vote. If they provide examples, reinforce them. Importantly, thinking through whom they might contact, enlists them in the voter turnout process.

Greater involvement. For really committed voters, I ask if they are willing to volunteer, make donations or put up a yard sign, in that order. If they agree, note it on the walk list.

Registering the voter’s tendency (Voter ID). Campaigns really want to know how likely it is the voter will vote for your candidate(s,) especially to come back at a later time to those strongly supportive or leaning. Register on the scale of 1 to 5 (where 1 is the most likely) their likely support for your candidate(s.)

Some additional thoughts,

Write liberally on the walk list.
Talk to anyone who answers the door. Ask for the person(s) the walk list specifies. But otherwise talk to household members or new occupants when it seems useful.
People are very seldom hostile in my experience.
For the voter in a hurry, adapt to the situation. Focusing on the candidate(s) and providing the literature is generally the highest priority, although for low- frequency voters, stress the importance of their participation.
Talk to people on the street if it seems promising. It can be very rewarding!
When people are not home, leave the literature in a secure place, e.g. not under the doormat and of course never in a mailbox or mail slot.
Take food and water with you.
“Mentoring “– i.e. partnering new canvassers with experienced ones really helps new canvassers learn and gain confidence.

The more you canvass the better you will be. I find canvassing rewarding because I really enjoy the conversations – and I’m contributing substantially to a vital effort both for Virginia and our country. Canvassing really is the best tool to win elections. Do it your way, the best way you can. When we vote, we win!

Colorado State Open Thread, 7-31-17; The Election Fields lie Fallow

Thinking Fella for State Open Thread

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday July 31, 2017 · 9:13 PM PDT

2017/07/31 · 21:13

In the middle of this Summer, our election fields lie fallow. 2017 is an off-off year in Colorado politics, so the only electoral action is local. And in my County, that means I may not even get a ballot for the 2017 election—it will be up to my local School District to give me anything to vote on. I called my trusted & beloved local County Clerk to confirm, and she tells me that if I lived within Durango Town Limits, in 2017 I would vote in a City Council election (non-partisan), a Fire District election (a bond issue actually, and also non-partisan), and a School District election (non-partisan)—provided more than one person runs for an open seat, which is a 50-50 proposition anywhere in my County. When I say “non-partisan”, I mean that neither political Party is allowed to be active; neither Party may endorse or support a candidate. Certainly that doesn’t mean that individuals—whether a Party Chair, Officer, or simply a Dem or Repub voter may not be involved, only that the Party itself may not endorse or financially support a particular candidate. In a small town, certainly everyone knows what the Party affiliation of any given candidate is—but we also know that they are not receiving financial help or support from their Party. Do partisan voters vote in a non-partisan election based on their knowledge of the candidates affiliation? Of course! Maybe not 100% Party-line, but, sure they do. Also, if a well-known member of a Party runs in a non-Partisan race, you can expect mostly members of their own Party to knock doors & make contributions for them. That is understood here, and I think is also vastly approved of here.

As I do not live within the Durango City Limits, I only get to vote in County-wide elections, local School District elections, Judicial District elections, and of course, State & Federal elections. In 2017, my County considered putting some sort of marijuana issue on the ballot, but decided not to. I have no idea what the issue was, but if I had to guess, it would be either increasing the tax on marijuana, or creating or changing regulations of grow facilities. At any rate, the County decided that they did not want to go to the ballot with whatever it was, so—no County-wide election items for this Fella.

My local School District is having a Board election--however, if only one person files to run for a seat & is not challenged—no ballot is mailed (all elections are conducted by mail in Colorado) since we know who will win—the only person running. The candidates themselves have a few time-sensitive hoops to jump through, but since no political Party may be involved, the things a School Board candidate must do are somewhat hidden from voters. Well, not hidden, just that no one cares so it isn’t publicized unless they blow a filing deadline (AND someone else files a complaint about it with the State—nearly unheard of, but it does happen). These are things that matter to the County Clerk & State S.O.S., such as filing deadlines & financial disclosures. For a voter, all they know is who filed (if they bother to investigate & 99% of voters do not), and if the candidate is not opposed, that they will assume the School Board seat. In the instance of a complacent voter, when only one candidate files per seat, the only way they hear about their new School Board member is if they attend a School Board meeting or the newspaper has an article. Sadly, in my local School District, it is a true rarity that 2 people file to run for one seat. If I were considering running for higher office (and I am most assuredly not), my local School Board would most likely be a shoe-in for me (or anyone else).

My County Clerk also advised me that last week was the deadline for School Districts to file with the County Clerk that they intend to have an issue on the ballot. All 3 Districts in my County have advised her that they intend to have Ballot issues—however, the Districts have another month or so to advise the Clerk exactly what that issue is. So to say—my local School District is having a Board election. They need to let the Clerk know this is so, as it may need to be included on the printed Ballot. But at this point—no one knows who will file to run for those seats. If only one person per seat files to run, they will not be on the Ballot. A School District may also decide to float a bond, say for new school construction or library funding, that must go before the voters. The District has advised the Clerk—“we have Ballot issues” “What are they?” “We don’t know yet”. It is up to the School District to make their Bond Issue conform to election Laws and I guess the State Constitution & then decide to place it on the Ballot. The only way to know if this is happening to to attend a School Board meeting or check the State S.O.S. website. Maybe one side of the issue will advertise. Or wait to see your Ballot I suppose. I’m waiting on that one…

Ah, but 2018 will be a large State Ballot as well as a large local/County Ballot, with a Federal portion as well. We’ll be voting on one (of 3) County Commissioner seat, County Treasurer, County Sheriff, Coroner, Surveyor, and County Clerk. State District-wise, we’ll be voting for D.A. for the 6th Judicial District, the 59th House District, & 6th District State Senate. State-wide elections will include the Governor, State A.G., State S.O.S., and State Treasurer (and possibly State University Regents, something I do not follow at all). I am learning that my CO-3 election is a Federal election. In fact, the only elected positions we won’t vote on are U.S. Senator (so we have plenty of time to work on the Cory Gardner problem), and President. 2018 will be a huge election here in Colorado!

Dailykos Elections has already called the 2018 CO-3 Congressional election in favor of incumbent Scott Tipton (R), stating in essence that no one can beat him. I will heed their wisdom, and not bother to involve myself in the next Congressional race here. Why spend my time or money on a lost cause, right? Candidates for Statewide races will come through my town once or twice between now & November 2018, but besides mailers & newspaper ads, there will be no other campaigning here—or extremely little. Since a vast majority of voters in the State are concentrated in the greater Denver & Colorado Springs metroplexes & they are 300 miles from here, candidates rarely come to town, and if they do, you can guarantee it’ll be for a fund raiser—not a free event or a Town Hall. If they have no name recognition, they may come to my County to introduce themselves—but they’ll hit you hard for a contribution, bank on it.

As far as the 2018 election, the only local candidate to have filed & announced is a person running for Sheriff. I doubt he has much of a chance to unseat our current Dem Sheriff, as the incumbent just recently announced an arrest in the long-stalled, 5½ yr old murder case of local child Dylan Redwine. Our current Sheriff, elected in 2014, displaced a drunken, throw-back redneck who fumbled that case for 2 yrs. The challenger for Sheriff was a member of that old Sheriff’s Command Staff—so he’s toting some large, smelly baggage. I will work hard for my current local Dem Sheriff—he is a good Sheriff who has much improved his Dept & keeps them out of the newspaper for f ups, which in a small town only happens if there are none—something the previous guy hard a hard time doing…

So how is it in your neck of the woods? Will you be voting in any elections in your local & State juristictions in 2017? Care to add anything about your local election climate? I’m all ears.

**Also!! I am looking to form AND FUND a local, rural PAC or SuperPac. Any help you may provide would be sincerely appreciated, by me as well as any Dem candidate who’s election said PAC could influence. Thank you!

Listening Tour Launch in Washtenaw Co. (MI) last Sunday: 1st Step Toward Our Goal of 65,000 Contacts

peregrine kate for Motor City Kossacks

Daily Kos Staff

Friday June 30, 2017 · 10:00 AM PDT

2017/06/30 · 10:00

In 2016, a small group of about ten volunteers in Washtenaw County, Michigan (where Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are the largest cities) made some gains in creating a grassroots-based, precinct-based, Democratic Party infrastructure. We succeeded to some extent — our county returned MORE votes for the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate than we did for the 2012 Democratic presidential candidate, becoming the ONLY county in the state to do so while going blue.

But it wasn’t enough, as we all know. And yes, we also know that there could have been another 11,000 more Democratic votes in Washtenaw last year, if only….

Our loss overall has motivated many hundreds of people to step forward and become engaged in political activism, some going far beyond their experience or comfort zone in doing so. The stakes couldn’t be higher, given our GOP-dominated state and the very real specter of continued GOP majorities in the state house and senate and the retention of the governor’s seat in 2018 despite the terrible performance of Snyder and his associates in almost every area of policy and legislation. (I give Snyder props in two issues, and two issues only: his promotion of Medicaid expansion over the wishes of the GOP legislative leadership, and his refusal to let Matty Maroun derail the construction of a new Michigan-Ontario bridge.)

It has required some time for us to get our plan underway, and we still need to refine our strategy and implementation. Waiting for a perfect time or a fully complete plan does not serve our purposes, however, so despite having a few more holes to fill in our approach we have officially launched our 2017 Listening Tour.

Please follow me below the jump for a few more details as well as information about what we plan to do next.

peregrine kate

Daily Kos Staff

Monday April 24, 2017 · 2:14 PM PDT

2017/04/24 · 14:14

Organize! Sign with a school of little fish forming a stars-and-stripes fish to eat the one big Trump fish (with a yellow toupee). — Small fish can do a lot when we band together.

I’ll be speaking on Tuesday, May 2nd at the IBEW Local 252, 7920 Jackson Road, Ann Arbor, at the 7th District Dems general membership meeting starting at 7:30 PM on the topic of Precinct Organizing. My co-chair and I from the Washtenaw Dems Precinct Organizing Committee have lots of materials, lots of strategies, and lots of interest in fostering a positive approach to voter outreach, engagement, and empowerment, based at the most fundamental level. This is how we do it, one precinct, one county and one CD at a time.

If you’re anywhere nearby, please come join us for one of our first discussions of the 83-County Strategy that the MDP plans to implement across the state starting right now. If you’re not, but you’d like to get in touch with us about our goals to connect with activists all across Michigan, please let me know. We have other such meetings in the works for later in May and into the summer with details forthcoming soon.

Before the 7th CD meeting, I’ll be wearing my Daily Kos hat and holding a Coffee Hour at the Grand Traverse Pie Company a little bit NE of the meeting, from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. That address is 291 N. Zeeb Road, at Exit 169 off of I-94.

Feel free to respond here in the comments if you have particular points or topics you’d like to see addressed at the public meeting. Also, feel free to RSVP to the Coffee Hour here in comments, via Kosmail, or via my email address, peregrinekate AT gmail DOT com

I look forward to a busy and productive spring, summer, and fall of organizing. #Resist!

Michigan Kos: Rebuilding the Dem Party One County, One Precinct at a Time

peregrine kate for Michigan, My Michigan

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday April 13, 2017 · 6:31 PM PDT

2017/04/13 · 18:31

It sucks that we lost Michigan’s Electoral College votes last November. A mere two votes per precinct would have changed the outcome here. We have a lot of work to do to make sure we’re not just as miserable on November 7. 2018. For me, that work will be focused on rebuilding a solid Precinct Delegate structure for the Michigan Democratic Party.

Precinct Delegates constitute the grassroots of party membership. If we’re sufficiently strong, we can not only influence elections, we can influence candidates and office holders. I see our task not only to cultivate voters, but to empower voters — to support the development of small-d democracy all year round, election year or otherwise. We do that in part by making it possible for people to know they can effect change on their own behalf.

I am convinced that many of our non-voters stay home because they have no incentive to vote that’s strong enough to overcome the many hindrances there are to voting in Michigan. The only early voting we have (as we know but many don’t) is by absentee ballot; and absentee ballots are supposedly to be given only for “reasons.” Early voting is prohibitive because of our hyper-local voting system, and so far voting by mail has not gained much momentum. And this is to suspend discussion for now of the awkwardness of voter registration for large groups of citizens in our state.

The good news is that it is doable. It is possible for us to fight back, to organize, to cooperate in raising each other up and giving each other the tools of effective civic engagement. Are the barriers high and the obstacles forbidding? No question. Are our congressional districts gerrymandered to hell and gone? Absolutely. Will the DeVos cabal throw millions and millions and millions of dollars into campaigns for GOP candidates? Without a doubt. Am I overly optimistic for thinking we have a chance? No way to tell. Except that we will certainly lose if we don’t try.

My hardworking colleagues and I in Washtenaw County have been putting together some plans and strategies in support of these goals, some of which we discussed at the Michigan Democratic Party leadership summit last month. We already have tentative dates for presentations involving Democratic Party clubs, county parties, or CDs in the 1st, 6th, 7th, 11th, and 12th between now and the end of May. After the jump, I’ll explain briefly what we have in hand already — hoping that some of you will either A) want to arrange a meeting to discuss these topics in your own area; B) plan a Michigan Kos meetup in connection with such a presentation; C) both. 😎

Meteor Blades for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus

Thursday March 30, 2017 · 8:38 AM PDT

2017/03/30 · 08:38

"The most important job I ever had was Precinct Captain." —Harry S Truman

In the past few months, starting shortly before Christmas, the founder of this blog has several times made comments about future elections that make me grind my molars.

He has said Democrats likely will win the elections of 2016, but we will lose in 2018 because "our voters" turn out for presidential elections but not in the midterms. He has said we will be stuck in this conundrum until we figure out how to change the dynamic.

I hate this message. Because Markos is right. And making him wrong will require lots of what used to be called shoe leather and what my grandfather called "organizational calluses."

We are stuck in a rinse-repeat cycle in which a relatively large percentage of Democratic and Democrat-leaning voters turn out in presidential election years followed by a steep fall-off in said voters every midterm year. Nobody needs persuading that this has massive and massively damaging consequences for the progressive agenda and the vast number of rank-and-file Americans who would benefit if that agenda were turned into policy.

It's true that the older, whiter, richer, more conservative, more male cohorts in America who turn out big in presidential years also don't vote in as high of percentages in midterm elections. But their fall-off is not as precipitous. This Republican advantage is added to (and helps make possible) other right-wing advantages. Two of those: the impact of gerrymandering, which is analyzed here here by Jeff Singer using a Daily Kos-developed metric premised on the "median district"; and the impact of a move away from split-ticket voting, analyzed here by Steve Singiser.

These aren't the only advantages for a Republican Party that has become increasingly right wing. For instance, young people when they do vote, are more likely to choose candidates who campaign for liberal rather than conservative policies. But young people are the least likely age cohort to be contacted to vote.

As we know all too well, chief among the right wing's advantages is the deluge of money—much of it now delivered from secret sources, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court. While it's not, of course, going to be true in every contest, overall the Democrats will never be able to outspend the Republicans. Plenty of examples show that money—even well-spent money—doesn't always win a race. But it confers a big edge. So, to win more races, we need to engage in an asymmetric electoral approach. In blue states and red ones.

Read my reasoning below the fold.

peregrine kate for Democratic Precinct Organizing

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday February 16, 2017 · 5:55 PM PST

2017/02/16 · 17:55

Belated but no less sincere thanks to those who responded so eagerly to our first post announcing the Democratic Precinct Organizing group here at Daily Kos.

Like so many of you, I am squeezing in my organizing time around a full-time job and extensive responsibilities to myself and my family. These past two weeks have been busier than usual for me due to two Saturdays in a row consumed by all-day Democratic Party meetings, first the DNC Future Forum and then the MDP Spring Convention. They were both interesting and successful events, but they do take time that is then not available for other tasks, and some obligations simply cannot be postponed.

Now that I am on the other side of these and of several related local Dem meetings and tasks, I’m interested in making some more headway with this group. It’s clear already, at least to me, that it will need to be a team effort, because I’m at capacity or very close to it as it is. Hence the poll at the foot of this post to ask what you think the next installment of our group posts should address — with an open invitation to those who are reading this and who are members of this group to volunteer to write it. Let me hasten to say that I imagine all of you feel similarly pressured these days! Our hope is that sharing the writing load will make some of the logistical aspects of organizing a little easier to address.

For this post, I’d like to promote some discussion about how Precinct Delegates function in your state. How are they chosen? What do they do? To whom are they accountable? How do they fit into the organizational structure of your own state Dem Party? All of these do seem to vary considerably from state to state, and we’ll do better if we have some sort of common vocabulary and understanding of our respective processes.

I’ll prime the pump by describing some of our process in Michigan. Please join me below.

Poll

17 votes Show Results

What topic do you think we should cover next in this series?

17 votes Vote Now!

What topic do you think we should cover next in this series?

How do you recruit your precinct delegates?

3 votes

What training and support do you supply to your precinct delegates?

7 votes

What are your most notable accomplishments as a precinct delegate?

1 vote

What is the most discouraging aspect of being a precinct delegate?

1 vote

What's the most important message you'd want to give a new precinct delegate?

3 votes

Other (please describe in comments)

2 votes

Colorado GOP Senator Cory Gardner gets a visit from 150 Unpaid Protesters (Updated!)

Thinking Fella for Four Corners Kossacks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 14, 2017 · 6:09 PM PST

2017/02/14 · 18:09

Today, Indivisible Durango teamed with other individual resistance fighters as well as other aligned groups to send a message to Colorado Senator Cory Gardner. Again. I can’t imagine seeing newspaper stories describing his local office being picketed, again, sets all that well with our good Senator. No politician wants coverage of the drumbeat against him. The last time we picketed the Senator’s local office, not only did the Durango Herald publish a story with pictures, we received a mention in the NY Times. Sadly for our Senator, the NYT article was about unresponsive GOP Senators...

Before massing at our Senator’s local office, many folks—a capacity crowd actually, standing room only—packed our County Commissioners meeting. On their agenda was this: “Ratification of a Letter in Support of Federal Public Lands-Continue Federal Ownership (Requested by Jan Mayer-Gawlik, Administration Department)” You can read the letter here, it’s glorious & worth a read, but it’s also in pdf format… laplatacountyco.iqm2.com/…see: 2015-18 Stating Value of Public Lands. If you were looking for a letter that expresses how valuable public lands are, financially and emotionally, to a community, check it out—it’s really outstanding!

If there’s one issue to bring out supporters on both sides of the political aisle, THIS is the issue. We’re lucky here because...both sides agree! We love our open, public, federally-owned land here! In fact, 38% of the land mass of our County is federally owned AND MANAGED, and we like that. There are many folks employed in managing that land here, from National Forest to BLM employees, and other Fed. agencies, all federally paid. In addition to those wages being earned and spent here, that same beautiful land draws tourists from around the globe. Tourism & the outdoors industry is not only our financial life blood, what those tourists come here for, local hunters, fishers, hikers, bikers, horseback riders, skiers, and well the list of users is very long and suffice to say; we live here because we enjoy being outdoors, on “our” land. And while the natural gas extraction industry is quite large here—those workers like to hunt, fish, horseback, etc here as well. Here in SW Colorado, our Publicly-owned National Forests are truly the embodiment of the National Forest’s motto, “Land of Many Uses”.

I’m happy to report to you that every public comment, letter, & email was in favor of the letter to be sent to other elected officials in the Colorado delegation--locally, State officials, and Federal Reps. I’m even happier to tell you that our 3 County Commissioners voted unanimously to accept the letter as written & send it. Of those 3 County Commissioners, Kossacks helped elect 2 of them! Both Gwen Lachelt & Julie Westendorff were supported by readers of this site when I solicited contributions for them last year—so my county thanks YOU, and reminds you: all politics is local. Here’s a bonus—our 3rd Commissioner, Brad Blake, founded our local Tea Party. And EVEN the TEA Party guy (ran as a Republican) voted in favor of keeping public lands federally owned! Like I said, if there’s one thing we all agree on around here…

Driving into downtown Durango after an overnight dusting this morning. Driving & texting is illegal here, driving & photography less so...besides, you can’t prove nuthin.

Having assured that our local County Commissioners were representing us as we desired, it was time to move on to our next protest. Organized by our local Indivisible group, and supported by Great Old Broads for Wilderness, Trout Unlimited, San Juan Citizens Alliance, among other groups, we moved the show over to Senator Gardner’s office. You’ll be happy to know my Senator doesn’t pay those high downtown rents Durango can charge, no, his office is in a strip mall 2-3-4 miles outside town. And upon arriving there, we found a welcome from the owners of the strip mall—where my Senator maintains his local, public office:

Grrr. B-b-b-ut my tax Dollars! My Senator’s staff is in there! Grrr!

Now, we’re a small town, and if you’re from a small town you know—neighborliness counts for A LOT. Discussion ensued between the “Are we sheep?!!” crowd & the “Hey, we’ve got 4 people scheduled to talk to the Senator’s staff, let’s not blow that. We’ll still make the Durango Herald & the Durango Telegraph—there’s too many of us to be ignored” crowd. There was sulking, but comity & neighborliness won the day. We would not disrupt our local businesses, we support them. Instead, we would take our 150 people down to the easement next to the road, and later, we’ll let Senator Gardner know: It is complete bullshit that his office is in a place we may not exercise our First Amendment Rights. (that’s 202/ 224-5941 for Sen. Gardner if you were wondering, just sayin) But wait: Added bonus, in that now we’re right near the frontage road & Hwy 550/160. We’ll take those 1000’s of eyes driving past!

The reason we had assembled was to express our support for an Obama administration/BLM Rule on the extraction of natural gas. The Denver Post has a good explanation of the situation: www.denverpost.com/… wherein they say “Congressional Republicans are poised to zap the new federal rule requiring oil and gas companies drilling on public lands to control their hydrocarbon emissions.” when talking about the Methane Capture Rule.

And “The Bureau of Land Management rule aimed at reducing air pollution from venting, burn-off and leaks of methane was among the first Obama administration rules that lawmakers this week worked to repeal under a law that allows reversals when a new president takes office.

Lawmakers invoked the Congressional Review Act, which lets them roll back executive action taken during the past 60 legislative work days if a rule imposes excessive costs, exceeds agency authority or is redundant. Congress this week killed a rule aimed at protecting streams near coal mines; President Donald Trump still must sign off on their action.

The BLM rule requiring companies to control emissions on federally managed public land took effect Jan. 17. A federal judge in Wyoming had rejected an industry legal effort to block the rule. It was modeled after Colorado’s rule requiring oil and gas companies to capture rather than burn off or vent methane, a heat-trapping gas linked to climate change.” (bolding by diarist)

After listening to George Lakoff speak on ‘framing’, we know this regulation is actually a “Protection” for us here in the Four Corners, as well as for everyone downwind of ...the entire San Juan Basin, which is most of you. We can point to where this protection is truly a win-win for everyone. By blocking the venting of methane (a precursor to ozone) as well as other toxic gases that come along with that sweet, sweet methane out of the ground, not only do we help our local environment and our national environment, we help to slow the progress of Global Climate Change. And that other win? The profits of the extraction industry rise, as they are able sell, instead of lose to the atmosphere, that gas—a not-insignificant amount. In fact, the extraction industry says that in less than 12 months, they have recouped the cost of this ‘protection’, and have indeed seen a pleasant rise in sellable product, and, ergo, profits. (More gas to sell with no drilling or fracking = an extractor’s dream!) Nice huh? Can you stand a third win? Okay, how about this: We collect taxes on that newly captured methane that is sold! Woo hoo! Frankly, this Protection has me nearly tired of winning!

And about that high-lighted section above from the Denver Post. What isn’t quite said after the “modeled after Colorado’s rule” part is that, sure, Colorado has a great rule-the best rule, it’s terrific. So terrific that the Fed’s adopted it. But New Mexico? They don’t have no stinkin rule, er, ‘protection’. Arizona? Utah? Nope & nope. Durango sits about 20 miles north of the New Mexico line, and ~60 miles east from AZ & UT. So while we’re gonna make the extractors in CO abide, without a Federal ‘Protection’, those other States won’t have a Rule at all. All our State gets to do then is breathe in their f’n pollution & watch the enormous methane hot spot above us grow. My County has a little over 3000 natural gas wells(3400?)—the property taxes on the land around them & royalties are enough to pay nearly half our county budget. The neighboring county in New Mexico? 35,000 wells. They even want to drill right up into Chaco (Canyon) Cultural Historical Park, a sacred Native American site, a World Heritage Site, & a National Park Service area. And I shouldn’t even have to tell you that Bears Ears National Monument (Thanks, Obama!) is just over the State line in Utah. There is gas extraction going on all around us—but only my State has or had a Methane Capture Rule, er, Protection, until the BLM mandated it across the country. And while it became mandatory nationally just a month ago—it has been in force in my State long enough to know: it’s a win-win-win ‘Protection’—so much winning! Can I throw in yet another win? Okay. This ‘Protection’ requires parts & materials, and folks to install & monitor them. More jobs, and even more taxes being paid locally! Man, I’m going to need a chair from all this winning. :D

So why does the GOP want to relax this ‘Protection’, and why use the Congressional Review Act to dismantle it? By using the CRA, the ‘Protection’ can NEVER again be brought before Congress! (‘we had it, we got rid of it, don’t bring it ‘round here no more’—that’s a Law!) Oh shit! Yeah I know! Why get rid of a great Protection? I wish I knew. Even the stakeholders aren’t losing on this one. It’s good for the environment AND the extractor’s purse AND local payrolls & tax revenue. I can only assume that because it is an Obama era regulation, and less than 60 days old (meaning the CRA can be used), it is bad & ugly & dirty & horrible because...Obama. If anyone else knows another reason why, please lay it out in the comments, thanks!

While I may not know why the GOP Congress wants to remove a ‘Protection’ from me—I DO know they definitely want to. And, as you know, my neighbors & me—we LOVE our outdoors & environment. So if my Republican Senator is going to even consider (and he is, oh--he is) voting against a ‘Protection’ for us, he’s going to hear about it!

Let’s roll the pics, shall we? Here’s how 150 Durangotangs (we counted!) let their Senator know: “KEEP THE METHANE CAPTURE RULE!” And keep your lousy hands off OUR public lands—they are not for sale!

We’re (mostly) Democrats—we have a hard time focusing on one thing...

Call your Congressional Rep—We can’t have local Sheriff’s patrolling forests & wilderness, ffs

Oh look—the neighbors stopped by! (Mancos is a town ~40 miles west, right by Mesa Verde National Park)

The Methane Capture Rule (Protection!) definitely protects our air—yours too!

We were all having a fine time, listening to speakers from the supporting groups & voicing our discontent with our Senator, Cory Gardner. Until…

DUN DUN DUN!

The Man showed up:

Are those cops loitering? It looks like they’re loitering.

That guy in the brownshirt, er, jacket? The manager of the strip mall. His land, he can sick those cops on us. Except: 150 of us, 2 of them.

A game for two! Also, the Kachina Kitchen makes a fine ‘Navajo Taco’...

And since this is Durango, there is one constant when outside: Dogs! Yay! Rumor has it that these were, in fact, paid protesters—2 biscuits per protest.

How tough are we? Even our short-haired sight hounds go coatless at 35 degrees—THAT tough

So, let’s review our Resistance work for today. Descended en masse upon our County Commissioners to support their drafting of a letter to let everyone know—we love our federally-owned public lands, check. Proceeded to our MIA Republican Senator’s local office to voice our concern about a removal of one of our ‘PROTECTIONS’, check. Annoyed a strip mall manager, check. Listened to speakers discuss our agenda & inform us of our Senator’s & Congress’ actions, check. Petted a couple dogs, check. All in all, a fine day of resistance.

#RESIST!!

----------------------------—

UPDATE: The Durango Herald is out, and your diarist graces the front page with his sign! The article is about the first protest we had today, at our County Commissioners meeting. Read all about it!

durangoherald.com/...

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