So You Wanna Be a Democrat? Our Voice in the Party
Unless we had an activist parent or some teacher who pushed us toward poli-sci, International relations, public management etc, most of us were Democrats in registration and lozenge-blackening only. That is, we read the news maybe, tried to stay informed, voted in the primaries and generals, maybe even penned a Letter To Editor. But a ‘voice in the party?’ Well, that was for the movers, shakers, Hillaries and Georges (Clooney? Soros? Washington?)
That we could actually have a ‘voice’ that might be heard, well, it really didn’t occur to most of us.
Now? Now the airwaves and ether are full of … something. Can they be full of ink? No, but they’re raising a lot of dust. Dems are having internecine battles! Why did we lose in 2024? What should we do now? Go Left, young man! Stay to the center but avoid oncoming traffic, Mom!
Well, if all else fails, at least, click that LIKE button on your social media read. Right?
Wrong. Sorry. But that’s just wrong … although we won’t say no to your clicking LIKE or whatever. We get seen by others outside our close circle, when the algorithms let us, and they really are only fed by LIKES and boxes of chocolates on Valentine’s Day. And usually just by LIKES.
The truth of the matter is that Dems Abroad offers us a more direct influence on ‘the party’ than we grew up expecting. More than our stateside compatriots realize. Here’s how it works:
We join Dems Abroad, becoming a member of a Country Committee. This gives each of us:
- The right to elect the officers of said Country Committee (aka CC)
- The right to sit in on CC board meetings, referred to as ExCom and Board.
- If we have enough friends who agree, we can demand to be heard in said ExCom meetings.
- Our CC Chair and Vice Chair always get to vote for global DA officers, Charter changes, Platform planks and between Presidential years, Resolutions.
In other words, your and my little vote counts in a very general sense.
- If times are tense and there’s some thorny issue on the table, our voice, our offer to elect or threat to vote for someone else, can help our ‘leaders’ see their way to staying in office and adding a new CV entry. Or not. 😊
- If the ‘wonk thing’ starts to seep into our blood stream, we might attend regional and global meetings and events. Most of them are online now, even if you and I can’t afford to fly to Berlin/London/Tokyo/DC to attend in person. And as we get to know people, connect the names with the faces, speeches and ideas, we form opinions.
- If we’re not careful, we get interested in some issue and volunteer for an event (June 14 No Kings rally in our CC?), committee (GOTV and help make calls to members?), caucus (really worried about climate change and want to help DA ECCC?).
We have power in the party, just as we have power in the body politic!
There are SO many ways to be part of something bigger! And there are so many ways to get sucked in, think your voice is valued, realize no one’s listening and that you’ll have to yell louder. And also, that some folks don’t like your noise, so you’ll have to act smarter. And you'll want to quit (THAT'll show em!)!
And then you realize, THIS is how it works. It’s dirty and human.
That’s why we call it politics.
It’s heady and heartening. It’s negating and maddening. It’s a band of brothers and a band of thieves. You love your fellow Dems but wonder why they still have their heads in a sunless space. You want to quit, write ‘em that scintillating and totally ‘lessoning’ letter of resignation, but you realize it would leave a big hole in your life. And they wouldn’t read it anyway, cause they’re busy looking up vegan influencer memes on Instagram.
And this is just about the only way you can save the Earth for Mankind and any descendants you may expect.
Back to the question we started with. Can you effect change in the party, at your local CC level? Global DA level? The DNC? The country? The world?
And the answer is, yes, you/we/all of us can. Together.
But within Dems Abroad, there's an even stronger culture of 'members have voice' and a history of our exercising it. Here, possibly more than stateside, we can feel our place within the effort and our strength in helping things happen further up the line.
It's worth the effort.
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