GA Democrats: Don't panic. Stay focused. Get ready for a difficult road back.

With all the talk lately, there's plenty to get dismayed by and distracted from when it comes to the DPG. You guys know I'm a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I can't sugarcoat it. It's been a challenging two years and the picture right now isn't pretty. Finances, organization, planning, morale: all indicators are on red. Still we can't lose sight of our main objective. Remember, we exist primarily to find and elect good Democrats to office at the local, state and national level. Period. There's a huge amount of work ahead for us to rebuild the foundation and relationships that will make us a viable organization, vital to the future of Georgia. I implore each of you. Don't panic. Stay focused. Stay determined.  There's heavy lifting ahead and we'll need each of you to do it. It won't be easy and it certainly won't be handed to us by the gods of demography.

The noise level right now is so high that we've forgotten the folks we are here to fight for; our elderly, our veterans, our youth and the disenfranchised. First, we've got the media/blogs pumping us up with these articles about the good weather ahead for us. HuffPo, Roll Call, DailyKos, you name it, they're saying the numbers are looking up, the environment is ripe for a turnaround and GA Dems are in a prime position to strike. Pay no attention to it! Really. It's like being on that doomed Carnival cruise ship before all hell breaks loose. The weather ahead may look great and the waves may be favorable, but it means nothing when the toilets are overflowing and the ship is listing to one side. While it does appear that Georgia is trending toward more potential Democratic voters, we've got to have the financial resources and sweat equity to actually get them out to the polls. Sorry to break it to you, but we've got a long, long way to paddle before we can even begin to see that port.

Then, we've got the endless naysayers who say it's all hopeless right now. They say we should just lay dormant for a decade or so. Wait until the numbers catch up, then put our good stuff out there. Are you kidding me? What in the world are we doing if we're just going to sideline it for the next few election cycles? Pay no attention to it! There's plenty to be said for fighting the good fight. There are times when you, against the odds, put your best plan forward and charge, head down, into the breach. I guess sitting out a couple of elections is one way to go. I'm a worker. I'm a fighter. I'm for gathering up the best candidates we can support and fighting the good fight. Governor Deal I'm talking directly to you and your "free pass" friends.

So again I say let's tune out the noise and get ready to do something that will be near impossible to do in the time that's left to do it. We've got to rebuild our treasure, rebuild the troops and most importantly rebuild TRUST. People have to trust us with their hard earned dollars. People have to trust us with their precious time. They've got to trust that Georgia Democrats, at every level, have a plan to improve the economy, increase educational opportunity and create an equal playing field for everyone. Yes, trust can be broken, but trust, with very hard work, can be renewed. I'm going to start on Monday by signing up to make monthly contributions to the party via the Yellow Dog Club. I trust you will join me in doing the same. rj


RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair
Congressional Districts and County Parties
(404) 274-9281

Letters to the Editor: Barely 16 and standing his ground!

Well I was already hyped up after last night's JJ and seeing so many good friends from around the state. Then I got this awesome response in the Dalton Daily Citizen from our Whitfield County Chair, John Anthony.

http://m.daltondailycitizen.com/TDC/db_265590/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Q9Z4O2Ae&full=true#display

Christian Hurd is not even 16 yet and he's already calling out the Republicans for their foolishness and double-talk. This is exactly the kind of response we need to push for in every county. Heading into 2014 elections, we've got to call them out for every lie and half-truth.

I'm already making moves to get Christian down to the Young Dems Convention in Atlanta April 12-14. I challenge each of you to send a young Democrat from your county to this event. Great job Christian! rj

RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties

rj4dpg@gmail.com

Make the Most of It!: Strategic Planning for County Parties

Let's face it - as a county party leader, you're working with limited dollars and a constantly shifting volunteer base to find/elect good Democrats. Often you're working in a very challenging political environment and, by the way, you only have a 2 year term to get it all done!   You need something that will help you set priorities and focus your committee's energies on common goals. You need a Strategic Plan.

If you haven't already discussed it, please make this a topic of your next Exec. Committee meeting. If your next Exec. isn't scheduled until after March 31st, call a meeting. County parties rarely engage in strategic planning and it lessens our statewide effectiveness.

You'll find lots of resources on strategic planning, but some of them are a little cumbersome. Check out this County Party Strategic Planning Resource as a starting point. The breakdown of steps:

1. Identify Who Should be Involved with the Planning (Stakeholders)
2. Establish Short and Long-Term Goals
3. Determine the VISION and the MISSION to Achieve It
4. Analyze your Internal Strengths/Weaknesses
5. Analyze your External Opportunities/Threats
6. Develop your Strategic Objectives
7. Writing the Draft Strategic Plan
8. Communicating the Plan for Feedback
9. Writing the Final Strategic Plan
10. Execute and Constant Evaluation for Effectiveness

Of course, you will adapt these steps to the needs of your particular county. The important thing is to at least begin the discussion. We'll dive into each step over a series of future posts. rj


RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties
rj4dpg@gmail.com

Useful Grassroots Handbook from Texas Dems

I volunteered for President Obama with the Texas Dems in Austin and learned a lot from my time there. I've always admired their commitment to the grassroots.  Check out their Texas Democratic Party Grassroots Manual to get your party jumpstarted in the right direction. Let's start talking strategy over the next series of posts. rj


RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties
rj4dpg@gmail.com

Letters to the Editor that work

County committees must constantly look for ways to promote the party and Democratic ideals. Letters to the Editor can be used to highlight important issues, call out Republican false claims, recruit new members/candidates and also increase fundraising potential.

Success here means finding party members who are good writers and tasking them to daily/weekly search for opportunities to get published. It really comes down to a numbers game. To increase your chance of publication, you will have to increase your submissions. In addition, you have to build relationships with your local editors even if they are right-leaning. To get you started, here are some good links with best practices.


Community Tool Box: Writing Letters to the Editor

Vermont Democratic Party: 4 Tips for Writing a Good Letter to the Editor

Reclaim Democracy!: Tips on Writing Effective Letters to the Editor


Whether you get published or not, please let me know when you send in letters or post here in comments. We all can learn from reading letters that worked and one's that didn't. rj


RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties
rj4dpg@gmail.com

Parliamentary rules: Party meetings that work (part 2)

So I spoke to you earlier about the importance of parliamentary rules to maintain tight, orderly party meetings. Unfortunately, I've sat through plenty of meetings where one or two folks dominate the discussion and nothing gets done. It's a total waste of time and the fastest way to run newcomers off.

Last time, I talked about Robert Rules in Brief as a good resource. Another option is this handy pdf short course on parliamentary procedure. County Chairs READ THIS and DISTRIBUTE to your Exec. Board and committee members. It's no good if only a handful of people have the knowledge of procedure and keep others out of the process. ALSO I highly encourage each county to designate a Parliamentarian to help keep things on track and show membership that following meeting rules matter. rj


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

Awesome feeling: New Democratic county parties

As Vice-Chair of County Parties, it's been a real privilege and honor for me to witness the formation of new county committees, the growth of some and the rebirth of others. Take Bryan County. Amy Tavio has been our Party Contact there for years. Sometimes it's hard to get solid activity in a county. The best you can do is just have a Contact there and wait for the environment to swing. Thanks to Amy and our 1st District Chair, Jeana Brown, I'm excited to welcome Andrea Conrad as the new Bryan County Chair.

Amy Hupper Tavio

Thursday near Richmond Hill, GA

Congratulations to the new Bryan County Democratic Committee. It's been over 15 years since Bryan County has had a Democratic Party presence, and I am thrilled to have had the support of so many great citizens to make this happen. Wishing our outstanding new Chairwoman Andrea Conrad, her executive committee, and all the great people who stepped up to fill all the county commission district post positions and at-large positions much success!

Maybe you live in a county or near a county that's desperately in need of a Democratic organization, but you don't know what to do. You can always just reach out to me or the DPG District Chair for your Congressional District. We can talk about next steps and I'll outline those steps in a future post.

One county at a time, there are these inspiring stories, like Bryan County, of small groups of Democrats coming together, in long-dormant counties, to push our party forward. I know it's a little corny, but I do get choked up about it. When I make my first visit to Bryan, I'll be sure to keep you posted. Uphill and worth it. rj

RJ Hadley, DPG Vice-Chair of County Parties

rj4dpg@gmail.com