Whose Democratic Party Is It?

[Chathamization]

52. But most people don't need to volunteer; they just need to pay attention to make a difference

Not many people pay attention to even congressional/gubernatorial primaries. Very few pay attention to local primaries, and almost no one seems to pay attention to Democratic party elections. After ignoring these elections, they go on to bemoan the results. Hell, I've seen a number of people complain about the state of the Democratic party but who refuse to register as a Democrat to vote in the primaries (in states where that's a requirement).

We shouldn't need so many volunteers to get people to pay attention to what's going on around them. But are completely ignorant of 95% of the candidates on their ballot, because they'll spend hundreds of hours on the latest political gossip, but won't spend one hour looking at the positions of a local candidate.

I think most activists would be ecstatic if a lot of people merely paid attention to things. It's not that everyone has to go out collecting signatures (for example), but if you see people collecting signatures for a progressive cause or candidate, take 30 seconds to sign it. It shouldn't be such a huge effort to get 5% of registered voters in a liberal city to sign a liberal ballot measure (for example).

Anyway, thank you immensely for volunteering for a good progressive candidate like Donna Edwards.