Sorry to say but activists are working harder than our national party.

[Ninga]

Taylor Swift did more for Democrats than the DNC.

I'm convinced once again that our perennial disease of "tone deafness" has taken root at the top.

Did anyone see the NBC News segment doing man on the street interviews at Southern Cal?
Did anyone see the deer in the head lights response when the reporter asked a large group of students "who's voting in Nov"? *crickets*

I've been beating the same drum for weeks...why not a National Rally?

Do this but not that?

I'm pounding the pavement just like many many other DU'ers, doing GOTV.

Many many teevee watchers are only seeing tRump rally's, tRump lies, the Kavanaugh dog and pony show.....

Is it too damn much to ask the national party to show up?

[jodymarie aimee]

1. this is how it has always been

I am 67....we the young ones stopped the VN War....we got the pols to listen to us...

[Ninga]

2. I'm 74, and yes I agree. tRump burned the playbook....he rules the airwaves and keeps on lying

why? Because he knows it works.

And we watch.

[Cha]

3. BULL.. I'm grateful for Taylor Swift's Activism

.. we're all in this together.

You're being divisive and harshing on our Dems.. you have no idea what the DNC has been doing to help with our elections and the DCCC.

Link to tweet

[Ninga]

4. Perhaps I did not make myself clear. I apologize. My point is that in these inchartered waters

we need to do as much as needed.

i am surprised at your response.

[DURHAM D]

8. Agree. Activists are the national party. nt

[EffieBlack]

34. Thank you!

[mtnsnake]

5. I couldn't agree more.

For example, the DNC has done nothing to combat Trump's ridiculous, but effective, pep rallies.

[Ninga]

6. My entire point. Why is it enough to to this but not that?

[mtnsnake]

41. Hard to say

Hopefully they'll come up with a better strategy soon, though, one with a little more fight it in it.

[EffieBlack]

35. Because Dems aren't sheep or need to get riled up atvpep rallies

Rallies like Trump's work on ignorant, easily led people.

We don't need rallies - we need on-the-ground voter registration, education, mobilization and engagement. That's not sexy, it's hard work, door-to-door, person-to-person, and takes a lot more time and effort than throwing a rally and building a crowd of hollering people whom we don't even know whether or where they'll vote.

[WeekiWater]

7. The comparison to Taylor Swift is nonsensical.

10 DNC Efforts You Need To Know About

Seema Nanda, DNC CEO

With just a few weeks to go until Election Day, November 6, 2018, Democrats aren’t taking the youth vote for granted — especially because only 30% of young women said they will “definitely” vote in the midterms, according to a recent poll by Refinery29 and CBS News.

That’s why, especially with the party newly fired up after Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, more initiatives are springing up to get out the vote among youth. The newest one is New Blue Crew, which aims at engaging and mobilizing young voters to elect Democrats, who have recently lost ground with millennials, some of whom are gravitating toward groups like the Democratic Socialists of America.

The program is focused on recruiting volunteers on college campuses to “organize for big days of actions around events like school move-in days, homecomings, classics, and the final days leading up to the 2018 election,” according to the Democratic National Committee. Youth leaders receive training, support, organizing tools, and merch from the DNC. Since September, New Blue Crew has launched in 33 states and held voter registration drives on more than 150 campuses. (Click here if you’re interested in joining.)

DNC

DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR TOM PEREZ: Well progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability, Margaret. And we're working our tails off everywhere. I feel excited because we're organizing everywhere we're fielding great candidates everywhere. You see the energy out there. Democratic turnout in the primaries in 2018 has been up 84 percent from 2014 and so you see that out there

Face The Nation

RI Democratic Party Receives $100K Grant From National Committee

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that the Rhode Island Democratic Party will receive a $100,000 grant in order to “support the party's efforts to organize in communities across the Ocean State to re-elect Governor Gina Raimondo, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Reps. David Cicilline and Jim Langevin, and to put Democrats in offices up and down the ticket in Rhode Island in 2018.”

Go Local Prov

There is so much more out there and good work they are doing right now. If you compare them to the couple of day media blitz Swift will get then there is nothing that can be done. That is a feat of mental gymnastics that I don't think can be overcome when analyzing these things.

[Ninga]

9. Ok, you win. I'm totally wrong. Democrats are doing enough. We don't need a teevee presence.

Sorry.

[WeekiWater]

13. Tom Perez

Don't forget to look over some of their more recent expenditures, some of which have to do with TV and social media.

https://www.opensecrets.org/parties/expend.php?cmte=DNC&cycle=2018

I'm not looking for a win against you and I never feel we are doing enough. Give them a nice donation so they can do more.

[OneBro]

16. A quote worth repeating.

“Give them a nice donation so they can do more.” Can someone put that to music, please!

[emulatorloo]

17. No need to get defensive/agressive. You said the party was doing nothing, turns out you were wrong.

Everyone makes mistakes, no one will hold a mistake against you.

[Ninga]

20. Either we need a strong national presence or we don't. i didn't say the party was doing nothing.

I said the activists are doing more.

[emulatorloo]

23. Point to the posters who said we don't need a strong national presence.

No one in the thread said that. We all agree on that.

I don’t understand why you are trying to pick fights with people over things they didn’t say.

[EffieBlack]

37. Activists ARE the party

Who do you think is doing all the work on the ground on behalf of the party?

[Cha]

10. Mahalo, WeekiWater! You are the bestest!

I'm sure Dems would love to be on the damn tv machine if the freaking suits would let them.

Taylor Swift is great but she's not "working harder" than the DNC or DCCC.

[we can do it]

11. No bashing please

[Cha]

12. Thank You!

[EffieBlack]

14. Based on what?

Do you know what the party is actually doing? And that Taylor Swift sending a tweet is more work than what we're out here doing?

The fact that the press runs after and covers the bright shiny object doesn't mean the party's not working their asses off. But they're never going to be able to compete with a pop star - and I don't want them to since there's more to political activism than sending out a tweet.

Do you really think a "national rally" (what is that, anyway?) is going to get those clueless kids to go out and vote? We've talked to and reached out yo these kids til we're blue in the face and get nothing but those dim, blank stares you saw on MSNBC.

Where in the hell are their parents? What kind of values did they instill in them? When are those kids going to take some responsibility for their lives and futures? When are their peers who are activists doing to reach them?

I'm out here busting my ass on the ground and working with national, statewide and local party activists who are doing the same thing and am pretty sick of being blamed because these kids who have access to more information and resources than any generation in history stand around with their scooters and iPhones shrugging and looking clueless. At some point, people have to stop blaming the party because the kids WE raised are too self-absorbed or selfish or ignorant or whatever to give a shit.

[Ninga]

15. I am an activist. I marched against the Vietnam War. I understand the value of GOTV. I

Canvass and I work.

My only point, my entire point is that a national presence might not hurt.

Not everyone watches Sun am political shows...

What is the big deal about not thinking the cake needs frosting?

For those here who don't agree I inderstand. If all of you see my point as bashing then you have recourse.

[emulatorloo]

19. People here fundamentally agree with you. It is ok you weren't aware of efforts of the national

Party. There is a lot to keep up with. We are all in this together, no need to attack those who let you know what the party is doing.

[Ninga]

22. I know exactly what the national party is doing. Always have, always will.

Clearly, people do not get my point.

[emulatorloo]

24. See above

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11258875

[EffieBlack]

25. I don't think a "national strategy" works in midterms - and, in fact is counteroroductivr

1994 being an exception.

This campaign has to be won district by district, not at the national level. People have already made up their minds about Trump - the folks I'm registering and trying to mobilize already can't stand him so we don't need to keep beating that dead horse. We need to show them that our candidates for the House, Senate and state and local offices will improve their lives. That has to be done locally and a one-size-fits-all national strategy won't do that.

[Ninga]

26. Respectfully, we have NEVER been through a tRump midterm. We don't know what we don't know,

Please help me understand how a big, positive Rally could hurt?

I am not sure I agree we don't need one. When is it ever wrong to give a coordinated, positive national message?

[EffieBlack]

27. Because very few people on the ground who haven't decided what they're going to do

aren't going to suddenly decide to vote for a Democratic House candidate because they watched a big rally on TV (if they even see it on CSpan, probably the only network to carry it live(.

They'll make up their mind in their community when they learn about their local candidates and how they connect to their issues.

[Ninga]

30. Valid point. I guess we just disagree that there is no place for a coordinated national message.

I say, there's room for all types of messaging.

[brush]

29. A reminder from Tip O'Neill: "All politics is local."

Are you working in your precinct at phone banking, door-to-door canvassing, voter registration at well-trafficed locations like supermarkets, DMVs, Social Security offices, etc., date inputting, fund raising?

If everyone does so locally that constitutes a "national presence".

Doing the hard work on the ground wins elections. Hope you're doing your part. Keyboard warrioring is fine but much more actual work needs to be done out in the community.

[zipplewrath]

18. I understand your point

Traditionally, GOTV is a state level activity conducted either by the party apparatus, or by certain statewide candidates (or both). Doesn't mean that the national organizations like the DCCC, DSCC, and the DNC aren't funding some of it.

That said, I also understand your point about Trumps rallies. They are for the faithful, and I'm not sure how useful they are for the midterms (since they really are just all about Trump). But we haven't seen many "heavy hitters" out in various states trying to drum up participation. That may be a "yet to come" thing. The last two weeks before an election are often the most important.

[Me.]

21. I Assume You're Referencing Jacob Soboroff

who always does Debby Downer pieces when it comes to Dems. 2016 he did piece upon piece how HRC was losing it, especially to Sanders.

[Ninga]

28. Problem is, besides you and me who else knows that? It's my entire point. We either

direct, write and present a coordinated national message, or we let others do the messaging for us.

These are strange political times.....I like all my bases covered.

[Funtatlaguy]

32. Bingo. When I saw his face or Log Cabin boy on msnbc, I change channel.

[WhiteTara]

31. Activists are showy; party workers

do so much behind the scenes the get little credit. But activists are just as needed as party workers.

[libdem4life]

33. All this is important, warm and fuzzy...IMO

GOTV, canvass, stuff envelopes.......

What we need is about 20 more Avenattis. Not afraid to go PUBLIC and to head to head with the nasty Rs. As it's always been, the Ds are "too nice and proper and follow the "rules" and repeatedly get kneecapped by the soulless Rs. Again, JMO.

[JCMach1]

36. Same as it ever was

[SharonClark]

38. Calm down and quit pointing fingers

That guy on teevee interviewing people on the street to show how ignorant or uninvolved they are is doing his usual shtick. It's lazy media like interviewing farmers at a cafe. Meaningless.

[LiberalFighter]

39. It is not all about what the DNC does.

The DNC is the umbrella organization for state, district, and county parties. It provides assistance to each. Campaigns receive assistance from each depending on whether they are federal or local offices. It is up to the state and local parties to provide help to campaigns and it is up to the campaigns to get volunteers to help them win.

Having a national rally would only divert money, time, people, and focus away from individual campaigns.

It is up to the campaigns to conduct events to motivate people to vote and provide support. Rallies have been or will be happening as the election draws close. At the local level.

Nothing can get done without the volunteers (activists). And there are people behind the scenes that provide the tools for the campaigns.