Monday in Maryland
(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)
Today was another full day of training and planning sessions here at the Spring meeting of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) in Annapolis, Maryland. I had to get up waaaay too early, as the various state party vice-chairs decided to meet at 7 am this morning (to save you the math, that’s 5 am to you and me in the Mountain time zone). Ugh. Nights usually run late at these meetings, and last night was no different. After a very nice reception at a local seafood restaurant sponsored by the Maryland Dems, several of us went out to eat at the restaurant downstairs in this historic inn — a restaurant that has a lot of history attached, including having some remote relevance to the American signers of the Treaty of Paris (they came here to eat and drink after signing it, or something like that).
Actually (and, yes, I know I’m veering off on a tangent), I’m really enjoying our stay here in Annapolis. I’m a big fan of history and all things historical — so much so that I ended up taking enough history electives in college that I accidentally ended up with a minor in History. We are in the oldest part of Annapolis — I walk past the State House each day on my way to the sessions on narrow cobblestone streets and past some of the oldest buildings around. The inn where I’m staying — The Maryland Inn — was built in 1776, and figures prominently in Annapolis history. I even skipped a couple of sessions this morning to take a quick drive along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, ending up at a very nice old village with a wonderful maritime museum. Being this close to a key part of colonial history is simply fascinating.
Anyway, I think I’ve digressed enough. As I mentioned, the day started at 7 am, with me showing up to the vice-chairs’ meeting cursing the folks who decided it was necessary to meet so early. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful meeting and opportunity for each of us to share what we do as vice chairs and how we cope with the sometimes-cloudy job description of being a vice chair.
After the vice chairs’ meeting, we all gathered for a session that included several topics, including an update from the DNC’s Executive Director, Tom McMahon. Tom talked about many of the challenges facing the DNC. What followed was a general discussion led by ASDC President Mark Brewer (the Chair in Michigan), which triggered some concerns about the need to lobby for the continuance of the “50-State Strategy” (a/k/a “The State Partnership Program”). As many of you know, Governor Dean has been a big boost to all 50 states in terms of providing resources and assistance, whether you’re a presidential target or not. That work put us in the position to challenge in a lot of states that we would not normally have been able to challenge last year for Congressional seats, including close shots in both Wyoming and Idaho.
The problem is that once we have a Presidential nominee, that person’s campaign will traditionally exert great influence within the DNC — even to the point of taking over the leadership of the Party. Then, once a Democrat is elected as President, the DNC is generally run by the White House. What is a problem, though, is when some of the Presidential campaigns don’t share the long-term mindset that is the 50-state strategy. I don’t think all of the campaigns think this way, and I don’t know which campaign thinks this way, but there apparently is at least one Presidential campaign staff that referred to the concept of spending DNC money in all 50 states as a “waste.”
If any of you are working with one of the Presidential candidates or are talking to their campaigns, it is vital that you work to get commitments from those candidates that the campaign won’t scrap or harm the 50-state strategy once they are the nominee or presumptive nominee. As state chairs and vice chairs, we’re doing that, too, but we need your help. Our field coordinators have been godsends to rural Colorado, and we need to ensure that they will continue to work for us, regardless of whether we are targeted.
This afternoon, we had a good session on working with campaigns, especially pre-primary campaigns, followed by a wonderful training on message and communications led by a two-time Emmy award-winning writer. We concluded the sessions this afternoon by talking about implementation of the delegate selection plans in each state and some logistical issues with the convention delegate process (not specific to Denver).
I’m headed out in a couple of minutes to go back to the meeting area, as Governor Dean will be meeting with us in about 15 minutes. Later, we’re to be treated to a reception at the Maryland Governor’s Mansion by newly-elected Democratic Governor Martin O’Malley. As always, I’ll write more later…