DNC Summer Meeting
Which type of Democrat are you?
- Pretty busy with ‘life’ but usually vote and try to support the Party when I can.
- Read the daily news and tweets! Frustrated! But I do what I can to change things!
- Really fascinated by the Party’s inside workings.
Most of our members probably fall in the first group. However, the Trump reign has moved a lot of folks to join the activists in the 2nd group.
And then there’s that handful of ‘political addicts’ who also involve themselves in the inner workings of the Party. That includes the DAGR Chair and Vice Chair, our voting members of DA, who have to attend the meetings.
And then there are the pundits, the TV analysts, the talk-news hosts. Their bread and butter is controversy. The inner workings of all parties are grist for the daily headline mill, but they’ve had particular fun predicting the fracturing and demise of the Democratic Party since November 2016.
The social media echo chamber picks up the theme. McDonalized blog louts (soft trolls) love the negative news, picking up a sleek phrase from their latest twitter feed: Dem duplicity, Dems depleted, Dems at loggerheads, Dems doomed! They think it makes them look sophisticated. No ‘my party right or wrong’ for them!
Sorry, guys! But the Democrats do self-correct. We’ve been working hard on this one ever since the fiasco of 2016. And here’s a major result. Predictions to the contrary, the DNC Summer Meeting this past weekend in Chicago:
- Reduced the number of automatic/unpledged aka super delegates by 60%
- Limited their votes for the presidential nominee to the second ballot at the Convention (unless those votes match the popular vote of their constituency).
While this will not change the 2016 outcome nor the anger in some quarters over how that was achieved, it will affect the 2020 selection process. OUR votes in the primaries will not be offset by deals made ahead of time by party leaders.
The Saturday plenary meeting was extended by 2 hours to accommodate more debate. And some of that debate was heated. At the end of the day, realizing the Unity Reform Commission (URC) recommendations were going to pass, the opposition conceded and the package of reforms was passed by acclamation. (unanimously)
In the ‘big tent’ that is the Democratic Party, unity is seen as the underlying need. Our message is clear. It’s called The Platform. And our way to passing that message into law is winning elections with renewed emphasis on transparency, inclusion and grassroots organizing.
If you want to know more detail about how it works, what it was in the past, how it’s changed, try these 4 short articles from DemList Daily that cover the process as it moved forward.
Oct 26, 2017 – Who IS the DNC? And What Did They Vote in the Winter Meeting?
Dec. 11, 2017 – Recommendations of the Unity Reform Commission
March 13, 2018 – The Old Way and the New (Maybe) Way (Superdelegate details)
Aug. 24, 2018 – The Plenary’s Decision