A serious question:

[murielm99]

Some of you know that I am the new chairman of the Ogle County Democratic Central Committee.

Today, I received a letter from the Ogle County Clerk. I have to be at the courthouse on March 20 for a lottery to determine the order in which the parties are listed on the ballot for the November 4, 2008 election.

The letter lists the time, the date, and the parties to be included in the election:

Democrat
Green
Republican

We are, of course, the DemocratIC party.

This is a red county. There will be a certain amount of enforced civility required on my part. I intend to be polite and cooperative to everyone in my dealings with them. But I would like to take the clerk aside, and let her know that I feel we should be referred to by our proper title.

We have spoken in the past, but this will be our first official interaction.

Does anyone have any diplomatic suggestions?

[frogcycle]

1. I really don't think you need to overthink it

I agree that telling her in private is a good idea - no need to embarrass her publicly - but you don't need to say "I really feel we should...". That sounds like you are askign a favor.

Just say they have the name wrong and to please correct it. You could even say it is misspelled - that will make it clear that it is WRONG, not that it is some sort of acceptable alternative.

[Nickster]

2. I really like that tactic, say it's misspelled. No confrontation, just please correct the spelling.

[Brazenly Liberal]

3. What I've done on occasion:

There have been times when I've had to diplomatically address issues like that one and I usually present it as though I'm assuming it's some third party's doing and assuming s/he will find it as odd and inappropriate as I do. I say something along the lines of:

"Oh, fercryinoutloud! Did you see the printer left a typo on the ballot? They put "Democrat" instead of "Democratic." I hope your office isn't TOO flooded with complaints about it"

Of course, that will be more effective if she actually gets some complains.

[madrchsod]

4. why am i not surprised??

my sister( legal secretary) told me when ever they dealt with ogle county she had to reread any legal document from ogle because they would change wording to benefit anyone in ogle county over lee county.my lawyer refused to practice in ogle because the the officials in the court house were to corrupt.last but not least the former states attorney was going to blackmail a guy who he was having a big fight over a school if we could produce some nasty ass letters the guy`s daughter wrote to our son...he was going to drop all charges if we had them..but my son threw them away...that`s ogle county...

[murielm99]

5. I know about some of this.

Do you know the former states attorney is in trouble for sexual harassment?

There are a few other things going on here that I know only as rumor or conjecture.

Our county clerk is weak. We have found mistakes she has made in the past. Even the republicans dislike the circuit clerk. Another republican ran against him in the primary, but she was unable to defeat him. I can't tell you how many people asked me if he had a Democratic opponent. I hope that we can get to the point that Democrats here are willing to run against these entrenched guys.

[rosesaylavee]

6. Let us know how it turns out.

I think if Kane County can go blueish... Ogle can too. I agree with the above... pointing it out as a misspelling. You may be asked for verification so be prepared to point them to an authority other than you.

And what county is not corrupt? I think anytime you have weak-minded politicians (of any party) and money in the same room you will have problems.

[orleans]

7. i'm thinking if you take her aside and quietly tell her--she might not

do shit to change it because she'll say later "no one told me"

i would bring this up in front of EVERYBODY

just tell them the party is OFFICIALLY the DEMOCRATIC party

bring some literature to PROVE this to the asswipes in case they have any doubt

print this front page from the dnc up which clearly says "THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY"
http://www.democrats.org/splashcrowd.php

on edit: don't cower to them and this bullshit--it is a total lack of respect when they use the term wrong--just like bush does. they shortened it because in their minds we are shit and mean nothing and deserve no respect. stand tough with this and make everyone aware of this error.

"This article refers to a political epithet; for information about the U.S. Democratic Party, see Democratic Party (United States).
Democrat Party is a political epithet used in the United States by some people (in many cases, conservative commentators or some members of the Republican Party in speeches and press releases) instead of the name (or more precisely, the proper noun) Democratic Party.

"Many members of the Democratic Party object to the term. New Yorker commentator Hendrik Hertzberg wrote: "There’s no great mystery about the motives behind this deliberate misnaming. 'Democrat Party' is a slur, or intended to be - a handy way to express contempt. Aesthetic judgments are subjective, of course, but 'Democrat Party' is jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams 'rat.'" <1>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(phrase)

[murielm99]

8. We will be first on the ballot!

I went to the courthouse this morning for the lottery. The way the law works, our clerk must notify us if our party is going to be on the ballot, but it is not required that any party representative actually be present. (I think it is my job to be present at events like this, and similar things, like checking the voting machines before the election).

The republican party chair is out of town, and the green party did not send anyone. Only a newspaper reporter, the clerk and I were present to witness the drawing. A judge came in and drew the pieces of paper out of a basket.

The party order will be Democratic, Republican, Green. Yay! That will help, in this red area.

The clerk and I have always been pleasant to each other, and it should stay that way. Until the judge came in, we chatted with the reporter for awhile, about local government and other events. After the reporter took his pictures and left, I told her that we are the Democratic, not the Democrat Party. She told me that no one had ever told her that before. That is not true. She has been corrected in the past. One of the times she was corrected was at a monthly meeting where we had her as an invited speaker. She spoke about voter registration, precinct committeemen duties, and took general questions. I remember several people telling her we were not the democrat party. There have been other occasions, too.

I showed her the piece of paper, and asked her to correct it. She said, "Right now?" I said yes. I hope I do not have to correct her again. I will remain pleasant for as long as possible, because I know that we will have to deal with each other for a long time. But I will correct her as many times as necessary.

To me, this is not a small matter. It is a matter of respect. And on official documents, especially those that are required by law, our name should be correct, and it should be spelled correctly. I know that this will the be first of many times that I mention this matter.

[orleans]

9. well, you seem to know her (i don't) but you did say she was corrected

on several occasions. so...you may get along with her and be able to speak in a polite fashion, but the fact that she KNOWS better tells me she's just being an asshole. so now i'm interested in finding out what happens--will she fix it or will she forget and deny you ever said shit to her, or will she not and say she forgot. (i'm so tired of their crap, it's hard for me to cut any republika slack).

i hope you post about this again--let us know if it got corrected in the final wash, and hopefully i'll see the thread -- because, like i said, i'm invested in this story/interested/curious as to the outcome.

glad the dems got on first! that is really good news.

[murielm99]

11. Since this was our first official interaction since I became

chairman, I will cut her some slack. But this will be the only time I do so. If I have to say this again, I will say it with an audience. You are right. She is just being an asshole.

[orleans]

12. (smile) and if you do have to say it again make sure you start off

by saying: "like i told you before" or "like i pointed out to you before" or something to that effect--where your audience will know it is not the first time you have had to say something about it.

(you're certainly more patient than me)

[rosesaylavee]

10. Congratulations!

Thanks for posting the results. She may change it without any more todo. I hope so. She just may have needed to see it written out to get it or remember it. I am that way - a visual learner more than an audio learner. I remember almost 90+% of what I read or see and about 70% of what I hear. Just how I process new info.

Good on you!