Enough already.
The headline on the Delaware County Times and weaselly caption is bad enough, but it's my observation when voting that have inspired my frustration. Philadelphia voted for change. But by all apearances, Delco, Montco, Chester County, and Bucks County all voted for the status quo. I'm left with no possible alternative hypothesis other than the Democrats don't care about Delaware County (or suburban Philadelphia) politics.
The Delaware County Times delivers no value as far as local political reporting, save the occasional 1-inch column. The "Sound-Off" section sounds like a cross between internet forum and local bar circa 1:55 AM. And you can always count on a trio of Gil Spencer's Opinion Local Columns heaping negative criticism on Democratic challengers or lauding compliments of GOP incumbents landing in your mailbox. The Inquirer and the local TV-news networks only cover Delco for crime and scandal. We are horribly under-served. Perhaps we like it that way.
As election day drew nearer, my wife, as she does, collected the various print endorsements. I'd say we received GOP mailings on a 5:1 ratio as compared to the Democrats for the County level council seats. I saw no TV ads, no radio ads, and no door-to-door visits by any of the candidates. No robo-calls, no visits from local leaders, nothing. I understand that there's no money for these things, and that the GOP is entrenched and backed by an all-powerful machine.
The DelcoDems are horribly positioned. The only reason Joe Sestak was able to win his House Seat in Congress was due to his backing by the party establishment, with little discernable thanks to be given to the county leadership. Except for the occasional rant against George Bush and the Iraq War (a brave stance, now that overwhelming majorities oppose both) you hear nothing from them.
No attempts to build an infrastructure. NO GOTV (get-out-the-vote) effort. No effective information gatherer or disseminating device. No go-to-person for sound-bites or commentary. Nothing.
(And yes, I do understand that they get no national or state level [party] financial support. That just means they need to be more creative).
Visiting my fire house, I see Township Manager Jack Ryan handing out ballots. No Democrats to be seen. I go in, sign the book, and vote. I know nothing about any of the Judicial Races (thanks liberal media and DelcoDems), and I take special note the DA Michael Green, Delaware County Township Commissioner Jack Hennessey, and the entire Southeast Delaware County School District;s up-for-election seats were run entirely unopposed.
You mean there were no suitable candidates amongst the county's residents? Or that we didn't look?
One party rule has been devastating both locally in the City of Philadelphia and nationally in Washington, DC. Elected officials, when no longer threatened with re-election, become increasingly complacent, indifferent to constituent concerns, beholden to campaign contribution and single-issue ideologies, and not-infrequently corrupted, either morally, ethically, or criminally.
So why is it? Why isn't there any serious attempt to fix things, to bring some sort of balance? Daddy Democrat pointed out that the GOP ran (since what, 1980) county council voted unanimously 2012 times since 2003. That's a fascinating number, isn't it. Were they all in agreement about what was best for the county and their constituents? I wonder.
So I'm left with a singular conclusion to all of this. Up until recently, the Republicans had a significant advantage to the Democrats in voter-registrations. Despite this, on the National and State level, those voters consistently have delivered Democratic candidates while maintaining the status quo locally. I suspect that the national and state Democratic Parties realize this, and do not wish to spend additional money to benefit local politics.
To be fair, we're not exactly clamoring for change, are we? If the citizenry won't do it themselves, perhaps they don't want it. And that can't possibly be true, can it? Think we can do better? Email me.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Scott Alberts // Nov 7, 2007 at 10:22 am
The Democrats locally have been working hard to change the things that you are complaining about.
“No attempts to build an infrastructure. NO GOTV (get-out-the-vote) effort. No effective information gatherer or disseminating device. No go-to-person for sound-bites or commentary. Nothing.”
You should do some more research on this before making superlative statements like that. We have been building a committee infrastructure and have been taking over individual municipality governments one-by-one. Just because we haven’t had as much success as we would have liked does not mean that “no attempts” have been made.
There was as much GOTV as there was volunteer resources to devote to it. Not every precinct can be covered with the people we currently have.
It’s true that we don’t have the money to disseminate information effectively, but if you want a go-to person for soundbites, you could just do what every local paper does and call Cliff Wilson, our County committee chair.
The reason you didn’t see a Democrat at your polling place was probably because no Democrats in your neighborhood wanted to get involved. If nobody called you to ask you to do it, it’s because there are only so many people to make those volunteer recruitment calls, and so many calls to make (the same goes for door knocks).
Instead of complaining about it, you can volunteer to be the committee person in your precinct and then you can hand out the ballots.
Our problem as Democrats is that most of us vote once every four years while the average Republican voter votes every year, if not twice a year. Another advantage the GOP has is volunteer power. The GOP machine has the ability to use their power to compel county and municipal employees to take time off to work the polls on election day, and the money to pay them $100 for the day.
Democrats in Delaware County do not have street money to pay volunteers, and we don’t control patronage jobs. Many municipalities that Democrats do control were bled dry long before the Republicans abandoned them to their fate, leaving precious little enthusiasm for any effort that doesn’t involve rebuilding their own towns (Darby, Yeadon, East Lansdowne). In more affluent areas that the Democrats control (Media, Nether Providence, Lansdowne), Democrats are unwilling to compel public employees to do political work, mainly because it’s not right, but also because it’s illegal (and the court system and prosecutor’s office are controlled by GOP partisans). We’re trying to dismantle machine politics in this county; we’re not trying to take over the machine. That’s not to say that Democratic employees in those towns don’t volunteer, but the Republican employees in those towns are free to be Republicans and to volunteer for Republican candidates without fear of losing their jobs.
So, instead of complaining on the internet, contribute some time and money to changing things on the ground. We may not be winning it all yet, but we have made gains in every local election for the past decade. This year, all of our incumbents maintained their local offices, and preliminary reports indicate that we’ve gained elected officials in Millbourne, Ridley Park and Colwyn. Change doesn’t happen over the course of a single election cycle. We are better off than we were last time, but we need your help to do better next time.
Email Delcodems@aol.com to find out how you can be a part of the solution.
2 rzklkng // Nov 7, 2007 at 10:48 am
Scott - I welcome your comments and your passion on the subject.
I’m happy to hear about the efforts being made - unfortunately, you’re the first that I’ve heard of it. It wouldn’t hurt to talk about these things. There’s no blog, no newsletter, no emails - I’ve been a registered voter in Delco since 2000, and a Democrat since 2003. No mention of these things on DelcoDems. So where and how could I have found them out?
Here’s the point though - what I’m looking for here isn’t bumper stickers, key chains, and TV-spots. I fully understand and appreciate the grassroots nature of the Democratic Party. What I’m looking for is party leadership. You don’t need to destroy the machine, and you don’t need to become the new machine, you just need to disrupt it.
You want Democrats at the polls? How about primaries? Running a primary for County Council would have attracted enough attention to influence turnout and interest. And what about ballot issues?
My last paragraphs say exactly what you’ve said:
Lastly, these internets are meant for agitating and sparking controversy.
You’re not going to endear yourself with the online community by saying things like “instead of complaining on the internet, contribute some time and money to changing things on the ground.” Not everyone has the opportunity to devote time and resources t being an activist, and we all give in different ways.
I know I learned something from your exchange - I hope you found something to take away too.
3 Daddy Democrat // Nov 7, 2007 at 11:42 am
Actually, there was a vigorous and hotly contested, 6-way primary for the Democratic ballot spots.
The problems in Delco are systemic and going to take some time to punch through. At every polling place I was in contact with yesterday, 2-3 Republican “volunteers” (county employees) were working strike lists and dragging bodies out to the polls.
No use crying about it. It’s a big-ass machine. And it’s not going to get dismantles in one cycle.
You also must know that the Democratic party is still highly split. They get together to support candidates in the fall, but the other months of the year, there are serious differences about how the party should be run.
4 Laura // Nov 7, 2007 at 8:45 pm
I’ll second DD and Scott here. There was significant effort and in fact, I got a call from my precinct volunteer at 7 p.m. last night because I hadn’t voted yet. I got other robo-calls from dems. The party is split here and there’s way too much infighting and vying for power. But I think that will settle eventually. It’s just going to take some time.
5 daddy democrat // Nov 8, 2007 at 3:52 am
Leave a Comment