TOWARD A democratic PARTY
Friends,
I had been planning for months to take an extended break after the election. I was putting in a ton of hours, energy, and money working to elect Democrats across the state, and I expected to want to rest in bed for at least a day, probably a week, after leaving everything on the field.
Instead, the election has jolted me into even more action. And I'm not the only one. I've started four new organizing campaigns in the last week, and all of them are moving faster and growing bigger than things I had been working on for months. All across the city and country, people are waking up and getting involved in demanding a new path.
If you are reading this, I would love your support and participation in any of the four organizing drives. Here's a quick summary of each:
1. Vision Zero Task Force citizens' accountability group. 14 people had dinner last night to plan out how we can lend urgency and demand accountability and transparency from the newly formed Vision Zero Task Force, while supporting the city's goal of zero traffic fatalities by 2035.
2. Revitalizing and growing DSA. Our local Democratic Socialists of America group, like many nationwide, has seen an explosion of growth since last Tuesday. I am working to help new members feel ownership of their organization and welcome them in to planning new organizing campaigns. 52 people came out to our social event last weekend!
3. Movement Campaigns 2.0. Following up on our successful statewide training call from April 2024, trainers are starting to plan the next iteration and we are targeting January 4th and 5th for the huge training. We will kick it off with a big social event for up to 350 people.
4. Demanding Deep Reform in the Democratic Party. It's this fourth organizing project that is the main focus of this week's email. With the help of several elected and appointed public officials, as well as constituents, I've prepared this open letter to Democratic leaders and call to action below.
Again - email me back if you'd like to get involved in any or all of these efforts. Many hands make light work, and those of us who have been organizing seem to be much more mentally healthy and hopeful than those of us who have exclusively been fearing or grieving the election results.
TOWARD A democratic PARTY
Democrats in Indiana and nationwide this year attempted to enforce party unity through noncompetitive primaries, backroom conversations, and calculated maneuvering by party insiders. This strategy failed spectacularly.
The Indiana State Democratic Party leadership selected a gubernatorial candidate behind closed doors and conspired to ensure only that one candidate for Governor was available on Democratic ballots this May. This summer, the same insiders pulled out all the stops to prevent a competitive Lieutenant Governor election at the state convention. On the local level, Democratic Party leaders in Indianapolis work hard to suppress outsiders from having a role in the party.
Guess what? There aren’t enough party insiders to win elections. Democrats can change or we can lose; there is no third option. Here are some changes that must take place.
Democrats in Indiana must insist on public discussions. Democrats must create a culture of engaging and learning from critics to produce self-improvement.
We should seek input on our activities, policies, and messaging, and reflect upon all feedback we receive. We should insist on public discussions and enable this same culture of improvement with any other organizations we work alongside.
We must educate and organize our base to reject charlatans and snake oil salesmen, rather than use procedural rules to restrict ballot access to those without connections to party insiders. Primaries should be as open as possible, and a site of rigorous debate between ideas. Party unity should be the end result of a healthy internal debate and primary election; open arguments should be nurtured, not prevented.
Candidates should reject corporate and PAC money. Instead, finances should be shared and celebrated with constituents, and constituents should be asked how the money should be spent.
I refused to take money from any organization or developer in my primary race last year. After I won my surprise victory in the primary, law firms and developers offered me donations. I simply rejected them. I didn’t start a big public fight about it, I just said “No, thank you” and ripped up the checks.
While not every aspiring politician will be able to take such a hardline against big money if they want to be able to win, there is a second option that can be wildly successful.
Just before my November general election, another politician sent me an unsolicited $1000 donation (at a time when I was not actively fundraising, was only facing a libertarian, and was widely expected to win my election by 30 points). This was an obvious attempt to buy my loyalty - and I said as much in an open email to my supporters and constituents. I asked them what they thought I should do with the money. They responded that I should use a small amount of money to reach more potential voters prior to election day, and should give the rest of it away to progressive candidates across the state. I did so - which allowed me to benefit from the money without being bought or controlled by the person who gave it. This also helped me get my constituents and supporters into the practice of exercising power over my decisions as their elected official, and into the practice of expecting to be in the driver’s seat of government. People who feel that their opinions and actions are sought-after, important, and powerful are more likely to continue flexing those muscles and growing stronger.
Democrats must trust in and love the people of Indiana - not smear them as racists and monsters when they don’t vote for our candidates.
A political party designed for the people would treat empowerment and enablement as its two most important directives. The average person in the United States does not see politics as a means of directly improving their own lives. We must change that by providing excellent constituent services, responsiveness, resources, and access to decision-making. Further, we must do this work for everyone, even those who don’t vote for or align with us. I’ve convinced libertarians, Trump voters, and centrists to support me and rise to my defense when both parties come after me, simply by consistently answering emails, demanding answers to their questions, and inviting them into conversations about how to solve problems.
The way to change someone’s opinions is to engage them in conversation and treat them respectfully, even if their ideas offend you. I feel quite strongly that most Trump voters are not voting in their own best interests. Instead, they are voting in their perceived best interests, and we have to meet them where they are if we want to change their minds. Right now, the majority of voters in our state vote for candidates that many Democrats find abhorrent and objectionable. We should ask our neighbors why they voted the way they did, what values they hold, and find the connection between those reasons and values and a better politics.
The Democratic Party must, in fact, be democratic.
Precinct Committeepersons are the lowest level elected position in both major political parties. For a people-powered party, this grassroots neighborhood liaison role must be the most important one for us to fill. Right now in Marion County there are hundreds of vacant Precinct Committeeperson spots, meaning hundreds of neighborhoods around Indianapolis have no point person to contact the party or bring neighborhood concerns up the chain. The very first priority of the Indiana Democratic Party must be to fill every single Precinct Committeeperson slot in the state, with a regular person democratically chosen by their neighbors for the job.
Appointed positions should be rare, and party finances should be easily understood and accessible. Elected officials should encourage and promote primary challengers and explain to newcomers the way that politics work. The party should not tolerate the same individuals serving multiple roles or for decades at a time without a break. Every elected official should have a public-facing shortlist of proteges who could carry on the torch if the official wins higher office, needs to resign, or falls ill.
Precinct Committeepersons should be trusted and empowered to do the work of the party.
We should share precinct committee member contact information with all precinct committee members, and encourage them to talk regularly with each other with or without party leaders present. Party leadership should create instructional materials about how to fairly and diplomatically resolve disputes. Every elected leader, from Precinct Committeeperson on up, should have public-facing duties and should have their effectiveness measured and discussed as a group. When Precinct Committeepersons vote in elections, we should first have open conversations as a group about the candidates and political situation.
The Democratic Party must recommit itself to the cause of organized labor.
A people’s party should interact with labor unions and other working-class organizations on the basis of shared values and goals, accountability, and clear boundaries and the ability to enforce them. That’s a far cry from the current prevailing Democratic strategy of cozying up to specific individuals within the union movement and developing transactional relationships at best. These relationships are scorned by rank and file unionists and have not resulted in the type of policy victories that organized labor needs in order to win better contracts and lead new organizing drives. Elected officials should be present on picket lines, loudly weighing in against corporate greed, and insisting on higher wages and better benefits for all working people.
The current “realignment” taking place within the Republican and Democratic parties is largely a sham - the same corporate overlords continue to dominate both parties, despite any surface-level nods towards populism. However, this change in optics and rhetoric is being caused by a very real and growing disillusionment and dislike of the existing political system. I believe that both major parties are teetering on the edge of dissolution, and the time is right for a new party that is focused on putting the people in the driver’s seat of government. The Democratic party must become such a party, or it will die.