Can we take back this state?

[tosh]

This year has been bad for us. We've been publicly shamed by not 1 but 2, TWO, of our congressmen. We've re-elected a man of despicable character for the Senate and our state offices are filled with lying, slithering repugs.

We need some youth and vitality, some forward-thinking individuals on the state level.

I haven't been involved in any official way with the Georgia Democrats, but some friends asked me a couple of years ago to help organize the party in this county. I declined because of personal time constraints but I'm rethinking that now.

Is anyone willing to have some discussions on how we might take back Georgia?

[BlackmanX]

1. I've been thinking the samething since Barnes lost in 02.

It's like all the statewide dems are either nutless (Martin), closeted repups (Miller), or shameless assholes (Mark Taylor). We need to draft Cathy Cox for either governor or senator in 2010. Maybe Barnes or Cliff Oxford wants back into the game but something has to be done immediately because we've lost the title as the most progressive state in the south and that's saying alot considering NC and FL went blue. We need someone who'll build back up the party. We're going to lose Bishop we already lost McKenneyand 1 or 2 more dems in the middle part of the state. All the talent is being purged and right now we're no better than those backwards people in Al.

[tosh]

3. "...we've lost the title as the most progressive state in the south..."

This is the absolute truth and it's what I'm having such a hard time accepting!

I'm not sure yet what *I* can do but I'm vowing right now to find out and to stay as informed as possible. I plan to seek out and make contact with other dems in SW Ga. We've got the votes down here but we need to be connected, county by county, then region by region. I think that's where I'll start.

Cathy Cox - I agree. We need more!

[CitizenPatriot]

2. there are groups devoted to this cause

I get emails from them all of the time. Call the Atlanta Dem Office for more info on the rest of the state, if you don't have a local office. Our local office works hard to take our county in the right direction -- and it seems like that is what we need; a great ground game, locally run by people who are members of the communities.

I'll post the next email I get if you want. I support your idea 100%.

[tosh]

4. Thanks! I just went to the site to make sure I'm signed up for emails.

I discovered that the ones (the very few) that I've been getting were coming from group "Georgia Democrats" from the Obama site. There are so many "groups" from the Obama site and also from the offical Dem Party site (national) that it looks like we're fragmented!

It's a little sad to see so little activity her on the Ga forum at DU. Maybe we can change that.

Let's do it!

[CitizenPatriot]

5. I'm in:-)

I also bring in folks from the drinking liberally crowd when I can.

[Laelth]

6. Credit where credit is due.

The "charter" of the Democratic Party of Georgia sat in one of Burt Lance's file cabinets for years because the DPG had filed for bankruptcy and Lance had been appointed as the party's trustee by the Bankruptcy Court. Howard Dean got the DPG out of bankruptcy as part of his 50-state strategy. Georgia Democrats had allowed the state party to go bankrupt, at least in part, because they wanted the state power structure to remain a whites-only (and Atlanta only) club. Once out of bankruptcy, the party became an organization that better reflected the people of the state.

But what must be remembered is that the DPG is, for all intents and purposes, a brand new organization with a fragile structure and no institutional memory. The multi-decade bankruptcy that was a reaction to the civil rights movement of the 1960s destroyed the state party. It will take some time for it to regrow itself and flourish.

My hope was that the people who volunteered for Obama and formed the Obama campaign infrastructure in Georgia would, quite literally, take over the state party. Sadly, I don't see that happening now. The Obama campaign machine in Georgia evaporated after Nov. 4, 2008. I was astounded when I visited the Martin for Senate campaign headquarters here in Macon (after the election and before the Dec. 2 run-off) and found it staffed with people from New Hampshire and Maryland. The Obama volunteers and local Obama campaign leaders were absent. It seems they were content to see Obama elected and had little interest in working for the state party. Most likely, they (for whatever reason) didn't feel welcomed by the state party, or, perhaps, the state party still has so little power that it's not worth bothering to control. Either way, the state party remains weak, and I am not sure what can be done about that.

And, for those who care to know, I have no interest in seeing Cathy Cox in an elected office in this state ever again. She's a closet Republican, imho, and she's the poster-child for Diebold. No, thank you.

Bring back Roy Barnes, a true progressive Georgian.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country and Georgia is a moderate state.

:dem:

-Laelth


Edit:Laelth--clarity.

[wyldwolf]

7. yes, but many on DU won't like how we'll go about it

[CitizenPatriot]

8. LOL-- do tell, what do you mean?

I have had someone (LPC) on here tell me to "stuff it up your ass" today as I defended POTUS elect, so I'm not exactly in a pleasin' kinda mood.

Would love to hear your plans:-)

[wyldwolf]

9. no specific plan.. but..

Our next Democratic governor/senator will resemble GA congressman Jim Marshall much more so than OH Congressman Dennis Kucinich. It is a moderate state, as you said.

However, I have a different account of Dean's 50 state strategy in GA than you do mainly because I know one of the main staffers Dean put here very well.

Howard Dean visited the DPG office in 2005 shortly after being elected party chair. I recall that vividly because a friend of mine (mentioned above), called me and asked if I wanted to come meet him. Well, I was over an hour away in Atlanta traffic so I had to decline. Anyway, Dean visits the DPG and finds a fully staffed operation (they employed 20 at that time), including directors with years of federal and state experience (my friend being one of them.) So what was Dean’s ultimate contribution to GA? He tranferred a few of the DPG staffers to the DNC’s payroll. Big whoop!

As for grassroots activities, nothing much changed. We knocked on doors in 2006 the same way we did in 2004, 2002, and 2000. There were more canvassers in 2004 than 2006 by my experience. The DNC did provide us with some nice door knob hangers, but some declined to use them in some districts because information on them was strictly national party stuff and in the south, that doesn’t always play well.

As far as congressional seats, 13 were in play in 2006. Only one was determined not winnable - the 6th district. That’s Tom Price’s district where I live. I know the Democrat who ran - Steve Sinton (he was a founder of Air America Radio.) I recall one afternoon in his campaign office asking his manager (now his wife) if the DNC had provided any assistance. She told me no.

The seats that were determined safe - we won (without any DNC aid). The two winnable ones, we won, too, and again with no DNC assistance. The money spent in the congressional races of Jim Marshall and John Barrow came from the Rahm Emanuel’s DCCC. Canvassing and phone banking came from local Democratic organizations the same as it always had.

Plus, Georgia continued to lose previously Democratic-held seats. We lost the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Sec. of State races.

In all honesty, that is how I saw Georgia play out in 2006.

[Laelth]

10. I have no personal knowledge.

The information I provided about the Georgia Democratic Party came from here:

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/2006/11/backstory_on_ca.html

I should have provided a link in the post above.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[wyldwolf]

11. I won't dispute the main facts concerning the GA party - racism and sexism still exist there

... or so some believe.

Of the fourteen paid staff positions listed on the state Democratic Party's website, four are held by women and none of the female staffers hold any of the "director" positions (i.e., executive director, communications director, field director, finance director, canvass director, or call center director).

Georgia Politics Unfiltered has learned that two of the Democrats' four female employees, Anne Bartoletti and Stacey Chavis will be leaving their positions for unspecified reasons. Bartoletti is white and Chavis is black.

With Anne Bartoletti's departure, the state Democratic Party no longer has any person on paid staff with institutional knowledge of how the Democratic Party of Georgia, including the state Democratic committee and each respective county Democratic Party, works.

The white-washing of the Democratic Party of Georgia's paid staff comes just two years after the Party had numerous females and minorities on the payroll including a black female deputy director, a black male field director, a black female FEC compliance director, a black male research director, and a white female director of county affairs.

The Democrats' staff shake-up, in an important election year, has many wondering if the Republicans will be facing any real opposition from the left side of the aisle come November
http://georgiaunfiltered.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-democratic-party-staff-lacks.html

My bone of contention, so to speak, is with those who believe Howard Dean swooped into GA, put boots on the ground, and saved the Democratic party. Like I previously stated, I know one of those who was on Dean's payroll (she's mentioned in the excerpt above.) And while she (and the few others) were excellent at what they did (the model was actually created up here in North Fulton), there was simply no way they could have made an immediate impact in GA. And they didn't. The two big House seats we retained were in conservative districts and Emanuel's D-trip paid close attention to them. We lost out ass everywhere else.

Now - do I believe they've layed some groundwork for the future? Absolutely. One thing Dean's team did was go to far-flung counties in the state and brought their parties up to speed.

[Laelth]

12. Very interesting blog.

Thanks for the link. Is the blog yours, by chance? I was unfamiliar with it.

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[wyldwolf]

13. no, but I know the blogger

[Kelly Hayes-Raitt]

14. Info helps too....Visitor to Iraq can speak to your group

Sorry to be slightly off-topic, but I'm having a terrible time posting.

I'm traveling through Atlanta between Feb 1 - 23, 2009, to speak about my pre- and post-invasion trips to Iraq. I also spent this summer volunteering in Syria with Iraqi refugees.

I'm happy to address your political club, church, temple, neighborhood association, Rotary Club or school while I'm in Atlanta....I've given this presentation over 200 times, including to a group of Congresswomen in the US Capitol. This talk may not turn GA blue, but it will make you see red!

My bio is on my blog, http://www.PeacePATHFoundation.org.

(I'll do a clearer post once DU allows me to post a thread. Thanks for your patience!)

[Laelth]

15. Welcome to DU, and thanks for the post.

The Atlanta-Athens based DUers might just take you up on that offer, but I can't speak for them. I can post your message as its own thread, however, if you approve of that. Just let me know.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Kelly Hayes-Raitt]

16. Yes!

Laelth, thanks! I've just hit the magic number and posted under "Speaker for your Club: 'Face to Face with the Women of Iraq.'" Contact me at BeInvolved (at) aol.com to schedule if fellow DUers are interested!

Kelly Hayes-Raitt

[Laelth]

17. Very good. The magic number isn't that high, after all.

:)

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth