yes, hope

Jul 28

Newsletter #60 / July 15, 2024

Flash! Shasta County Democratic Women’s Club (CA) and Huron Valley Democratic Club in Oakland County (MI) have both adopted The Democratic Creed. Congratulations and welcome!

Yes, hope

“Turmoil” is one word for the past few weeks. “Fractured” is another. “Despondent and helpless” is how many of us have been left to feel. A major turning point for this party and this country is at hand, and we .. the grassroots .. are powerless to decide what happens.

But there is opportunity in this as well, for us. The current crisis has laid bare the real issues we face. There is no more pretense about this being traditional politics. Winning is no longer about our candidate, and in truth it never has been. Long before the current crisis, we all came to accept that November 5th was about stopping Trump. The candidate became irrelevant other than as a vehicle to achieve it. Do you remember Obama and the emotions of “Yes, we can!”? The feelings of hope? That sort of thing has become a distant memory, lost in everything that has come into play. There is no Obama to excite us today, and there isn’t going to be. That leaves us pushing a negative as our entire campaign, possibly two negatives, and each and every one of us knows that’s a hard sell.

But that stripping-away of pretense means we have power after all. We, the grassroots, have the power to turn that negative into a positive. We have the power to make this about being for something: being for democracy, being for equal rights, being for the underlying principles of the Declaration of Independence.

But that power means nothing if we do not step up and use it .. if you do not step up, right now, step into the turmoil, armed with a practical way to change the dynamic of this election .. on the ground, with your candidates, in your community .. now.

“Values and vision” is not a slogan, it’s not messaging, It’s the nuts and bolts of how to convince people. It’s the practical way to reach the unaffiliated and disaffected voters who will decide the next election: your neighbors, the people you desperately need to reach.

Saving democracy is why the Democratic Creed was written. It’s why the vision of “a just society .. as long at it takes” exists. They exist because the majority of Americans still believe in these things, the majority of your community. And if you embrace these things before you go into politics, if you make them your identity, your starting point, you not only have a way to reach these folks, you have a way to inspire your own people. You have a way out of this mess.

But how? How does this translate into door-to-door? How does this work in actual conversations?

We have a hands-on guide, practical steps, complete with the materials you need. It’s called Campaigning with Values and Vision, and it will be released in August to our twelve-state community of county adopters. Know that being part of that community energizes. It inspires, and the time to join it is now. The time to stand up and adopt the Democratic Creed publicly is now. The time to say “enough!”, is now. And here is where you go to do it.

Changing America will take time. Spreading the basic values in the Declaration of Independence, making them our accepted national aspiration, is a long-term effort. Dems 101 will be here next year, and the year after that, and every year until it’s accomplished. But changing the dynamic of this election is right now. And it’s about you. However small and abandoned you may feel, you are the Democratic Party in your community, and your collective voice is what will change the national conversation.

Join us in making that happen.

PS: This oped is free to use. All of them are. Send them to others, use them as a basis for OpEds of your own, or as a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. The point of all this is to spread ideas.

Summer General Meeting

The Dems 101 Summer General Meeting was held last Thursday, an always-exciting event that brings together leadership from across the twelve states that make up our growing community. Discussion centered on the upcoming Campaigning with Values and Vision, local needs, materials that will be of use, and suggestions for moving forward. Details coming to this space later this summer.

Kudos to all of us!

And well-deserved. On January 26, 2022, the Huron County Democratic Party in Ohio, became the first organization to officially adopt the Democratic Creed, and a movement was born. Today, we are 65 strong, and growing fast (15 adopters during the past five weeks).

An idea has motivated every single adoption, but a tremendous amount of work by a lot of people has gone into getting this off the ground. We are growing fast, and 2024 is just the start. Take a look at who we have become ..

STATES (12) COUNTIES (54) ORGANIZATIONS (11)

CALIFONIA (2)

Shasta County Dems Shasta County Democratic Women's Club

FLORIDA (1)

Charlotte County Dems

GEORGIA (10)

Oglethorpe County Dems Gilmer County Dems Jasper County Dems

Union County Dems Oconee County Dems Stephens County Dems

White County Dems Rabun County Dems Banks County Dems

Harris County Democratic Committee

IDAHO (3)

Butte County Democratic Party Custer County Democrats