For county chairs/local candidates: Time-tested campaign manual

One of the roles of the county party is to find good local candidates and get them elected to office. I hear from party chairs around the state looking for guidance to help their mayoral, commission or school board candidates. This DNC campaign manual is nearly 20 years old, but it is still a good starting point. Of course, they didn't have the slew of social media tools back then, but the basic approach still holds water. Check it out and tell me what you think. rj

RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties
rj4DPG@gmail.com

Think you're the only Georgia Democrat in your county? Maybe not.

Excited to know the history of Georgia politics? Then why are you reading this blog? Here's a good read if you're looking for such a book. Now back to my post.

There are 159 counties in Georgia and my job is to have stable, active parties in all of them. If you think your local party needs to be rebuilt or started from scratch, do something for me first. Be certain there isn't already a party in your county. It happens often that people contact me about starting a party in county X, when there's already one there. Perhaps your local party isn't working hard enough to be visible. Perhaps you've been too busy watching Scandal to notice. Either way, you'll have to work with any existing, recognized party organization.

First, check here for a list of party contacts by county. If you see a name listed in your county, that person is or recently was the Chairperson of your local Democratic Party. Send them an email and Cc: me at the email below. Ask them what's happening in your county and the time of the next meeting.If it's blank, then YOU will likely become the next Chair of your local party. (No really. I mean it.) In that case, just send me an email and I'll tell you more. rj


RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties
rj@georgiademocrat.org

East Coast Earthquake: Here come the crazies

So yesterday just around 2:00pm EST, there was an earthquake in the DC area. It was a record quake for the region and even the Washington Monument took a hit. Some even say they felt the aftershocks here in Georgia, but I sure didn't notice anything here in Rockdale.

After I heard the news, I immediately thought about how some would say this was a sign of the Apocolypse or a warning for those evil DC politicians. Well it didn't take long:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/07/was_that_an_earthquake.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110823120715AAJ2fK3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xwlvq1cOM

Land of the free. Home of the brave. smh, - RJ4US

Rallies and Pareto's Principle

Attended the Hope and Unity Rally yesterday. It was a nice gathering of people I already know. Monday morning, traffic was thick, dates were switched... tons of excuses why more didn't show up. At the end of the day, Democrats just aren't fed up enough. Maybe that's not a fair assessment. Perhaps many just don't believe attending a rally will make a difference. Perhaps they don't believe Democrats can make a difference in this sea of GOP foolishness. Huge "shut the city down" rallies/marches are impressive and affirming. However, remember Pareto's Principle also applies in political activism. 80% of the results will likely be delivered by 20% of the membership. I was glad to stand with some of that 20% yesterday - RJ4US

And then there were... oh who cares? Pawlenty is out.

After finishing poorly in the Iowa straw poll, Gov. Tim Pawlenty calls it a wrap on his Presidential bid.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61337.html

I'm not sure what the right-wingers saw in him, but hearing his name always made me think of Polenta. Polenta is a cornmeal based mush and I think it's an appropriate dish for Gov. Pawlenty. Polenta can be jazzed up with spices, meats and veggies but in the end there's not much going on with it. I mean when you get right down to it. Polenta is just... well it's just mush. - RJ4US

First look at redistricting maps tomorrow

After months of supposedly seeking public input, the GOP will release their proposed redistricting maps tomorrow. Well it's about time especially since the special session at the Capitol opens next Monday! Doesn't sound like the GOP wanted a whole lot of public scrutiny. There's already talk of packing and disenfranchisement of minority groups. Apparently the GOP drawn maps are also trying to knock off the few remaining non-Black Democrats in GA as well. Looks like a long road ahead to getting these maps approved and we still don't know what foolishness has been wrought on the Congressional map. - RJ4US

Can the activists tools of the 50's still serve us today?

I often like to visit the King Center, pay my respects to Dr. King, sit by the reflecting pool and... reflect. I wonder how it must have been for Dr. King to be a catalyst for societal change against such great odds. Could that 50's activism really work today? Oh sure, we still march, protest and demonstrate, but it's almost like the shock value of mobilizing large groups is gone. The media does a quick story on it and society yawns. That's the US story, but we have seen and are still seeing in places like the Middle East that people power can force change. What about economic boycotts? We just don't have that "we're all in this together" attitude to pull one off effectively. And let's face it with the economy in such turmoil, do we really have the stomach to shut down any business/industry sector right now? I'm just thinking out loud here, but different times usually require different tools or at least modification of the old ones. We've got technology and communication tools that Dr. King couldn't have imagined. Let's figure out how to apply them to and solve the growing wealth and education gap in America. - RJ4US