Don't (er... Muck) With Democrats

Mary Tse Tung, the would be dictator of the Weld County Democratic Party, in an apparent defense of Mark Udall and his disgraceful voting last week, has pointed out to the officers, including Pam Shaddock and Chair David Delgado, that public dissent of nominated Democratic candidates is not tollerated. This means that I have been asked to resign my post as a precinct committee person in Weld County. Or so I assume.

Actually, Chairman Mary, ruler of volunteers (maybe that's why it's so hard to get folks to canvas neighborhoods), took issue primarily with my language, so I'm not sure. I mean, I checked party rules, and there is no means of removal of PCPs for potty talk, nor is there for ad hominen attacks. So, I guess I have to assume that saying I'd vote for Kinsey is the only reason that actually exists for asking me to resign.

In a sense, I suppose this is important for the party to do. I mean if dissent were tolerated, then the people might actually have a voice in the process. We might be able to question things like why the county Democrats are so totally unable to recruit candidates for races like House-48 or District Attorney? Why the folks we do are so damn week? Why the best new candidate to run in Weld (Joe Whitcomb) had to fight his way past the party establishment as it tried to recruit one of its own? Why Pat Waak anointed (against the rules that seem to be in place for other races) a candidate in CD-4 while three candidates (Angie Paccione, Eric Eidsness, and Betsy Markey) were still in the race, but then refused to take a position on the Presidential race, citing the need for fairness?

Many of these questions are simply answered. For example, the party can't create a foothold in HD-48 because the HD-48 regional coordinator, Bob Stack, Chairman Mary's husband, thinks he's both smarter than everyone else in a room, and refuses to actually lead by example. He's on school board, but only because no one else ran this past election, and thinks it's his duty to kiss the ass of our superintendent, instead of serving as her boss and demanding an ever improving standard. Chairman Mary, on the other hand, is a control freak. She demands that all activities are coordinated through her, and even caused a dispute with the one person in the Weld party who actually has a clue about how HD-48 works, over her need to control things.

We can't develop candidates because the party is not serious about its job: getting candidates elected. We spent almost 16 months arguing about artwork to represent the party, but most of the debate was a weird sort of proxy fight about who got to control the party, a faction led by Bob and Mary, or a faction led by the only folks in HD-50 (who incidentally have actually gotten a candidate elected - twice).

Hell, there's even a group planning a get out the vote effort from the top down. It's a one size fits all solution designed by (who else) Chairman Mary, and it will apply an ineffective model, based on affect rather than effect, to trying to get democrats to vote. Republicans, this is how it will work: We'll do nothing until the week before the election, and then we'll call every single Democrat in the county, angering them because they will also have gotten calls from every progressive 527, and convincing our good party members to vote, something they will already have done, or have planned to do. That's how it's done. Then, Chairman Mary will host a debrief meeting at which everyone will talk about how they "feel" it went well - based on nothing, especially not results. And no once will write down and distribute any notes about how things actually went, so in 2010, we'll have to reinvent the wheel. Again.

So, Betsy Markey, Joe Whitcomb, and any other candidates seeking to be elected through Weld County. Do it yourself. If you want to win in Weld County, you are going to need to develop a more advanced strategy, find your own volunteers, and execute it without any help from the Weld Dems. If you're Jim Riesberg, you can count on the folks in HD-50 helping you, but if not, you can't count on anything. The folks in HD-48 aren't paying attention to the store, and don't have anything to offer you.

It's pretty sad that trying to be involved is more about knowing your place than it is about having some ideas about how to help, or trying to hold candidates accountable for their votes.

Maybe it's time to actually register as an unaffiliated voter. I think it's the same thing as being a Weld Democrat, but without the annoying in-fighting. If I lived in HD-48, I'd become a Republican so I could vote in the primary and help Glenn Vaad (a decent moderate) hold on to his seat against a radical challenger.