I'm really interested in taking back the Dem Party!

[LisaLynne]

Maybe turning it into something else, maybe just shaking it up and seeing what evolves. Does anybody with more experience in local politics have any ideas, tips, suggestions? How do you get involved? How do you find out about running for local office? So many local politians are never challenged. That was one of the ideas the Greens have -- a place to start. But, what about within the party? How can we--real progressives--start to have a voice in what is supposed to be our party again?

[welshTerrier2]

1. hmmmm ... no responses ...

well, here's one ...

this is the only action democrats can take that makes any sense ...

i live in a town with 15,000 people ... at the BIG democratic meeting this election year, how many "hard fighting" democrats showed up?

35 ... they were thrilled beyond belief ... "this was the best turnout we ever had" ... i couldn't believe it ...

so i figured, the mission between last March and election day was to get other democrats to participate ... we did virtually nothing ... a handful of us worked like hell for a couple of local candidates and of course, worked for Kerry ... an army of 5 or 6 people ... just pathetic ...

as far as i can see, we are not even a party ... we need to start talking to people NOW to get involved ... we need to have a network of activists to take participation in a democracy seriously ... what good does voting do these people if they don't work to achieve the outcome they desire ...

it is well past the time for democrats to start at the local level and begin building a real grassroots network ...

so there you have it ... one response ...

[quaoar]

2. Here's another response

If you want people to follow you, you have to lead them somewhere.

You have to step up and be willing to lead. Run for the school board, invite an inspirational speaker to town to get people fired up, start a blog.

[JusticeForAll]

3. Two very smart posts.

It starts with you and it starts with small scale local and incremental steps.

Define what your goal is, and what you need to accomplish that goal.

I find it interesting that you use the words "Take back the Dem Party" Who took it from you in the first place? What about it do you need to take back? What about it do you need to change?

Here's a personal story that is percolating in my head as a result of last night. I became a precinct Committeeperson during the past year. That has given me a lot of opportunity to learn a lot more about my neighborhood and my neighbors than I ever had before. Frankly, until this past weekend with the last ditch effort to GOTV, there were several apartment complexes that I was terrified to even bother with. A social worker visiting from California whose sole purpose was to assist in our swing state efforts persuaded me to do more in these neighborhoods, to reach out, to understand. We entered the neighborhoods and were greeted with suspicion-but we attempted to communicate as best we could and to get our message across. It may have had a small impact on the election, but it had a big impact on me long term. These are the neighborhoods we need to reach and these are the people we need to enlist in bettering their futures and their causes. From this experience, I may choose to pursue outreach efforts in my neighboring Latino communities-it would be manageable, worthwhile and meaningful.

Your story and personal situation is probably much different than mine. Good, it should be. Find what interests you, find what needs changing, and develop your plan to change it. and start.