OHIO - why it's weird, why we can win this time. . .,

[eileen from OH]

is that we (at least my county, Portage) isn't relying on the official Ohio Dem Party for organizing, registering, etc. It's us - the grassrooters. Disclaimer here - when I say "we" I mean my fellow grassrooters. I had two family emergencies in quick succession that forced me to curtail the time I have to give right now, so full credit goes to them. I also haven't posted much here, but you may remember my whin. . .er, complaint that the OH Dem party was pathetic and pleading with the Kerry campaign to get some coordinators here.

Well, they did and the Kerry/Edwards folks quickly discovered exactly what I meant. Hell, the chair of our county Dem party wouldn't even return their calls, for Gawd's sake! They (you won't believe this) resented giving space at the local Dem office to the Kerry/Edwards folks AFTER the same grassrooters went over and cleaned and painted, etc. So we went elsewhere.

The Kerry/Edwards coordinators alos discovered real fast that WE were the ones that could make things happen. And we did - WE raised money, WE organized and presented events, WE found and fixed up and opened a real, very visible HQ, WE get Kerry stuff and distribute it, WE man booths at fairs, etc., WE organize the canvassing and phone banks, etc., etc., etc. Our HQ is bustling with TONS of volunteers, gets TONS of traffic, the ratio of Kerry yard signs/bumper sticker is 10:1 over Bush, etc., etc., etc.. All we ever hear from the county Dems is whines for Kerry gear (which we don't get for free, btw.)

I know this isn't true across Ohio (Summit Co, for example, is working well.) But I am VERY curious if other Ohio Counties are having similar experiences.

I'm also writing to:
- give notice that we ain't going away after the election and if our "official" Dems won't get off their asses, we'll do it for 'em.
- give kudos to the wonderful, unselfish, totally dedicated grassrooters everywhere.


eileen from OH

[wryter2000]

1. You go, Eileen!

Thanks for everything you're doing!

[wtmusic]

2. I hear ya

from one grassrooter to another! :thumbsup:

[CrispyQ]

5. I love your photo!!! So many times I've looked at it in the past week . .

...& thought 'that is the wierdest looking little girl' & hated myself for thinking that. Today I finally saw the truth! LOL!

[Eurobabe]

13. great LOL!!!

[Jokinomx]

3. Give em Hell eileen!!

:toast:

[dumpster_baby]

4. maybe they were bribed; the corporate money behind the GOP is...

...an irresistible force.

[Blue-Jay]

6. Clark County: We've registered hundreds of new voters

And I can honestly say that the newbies who will vote for Kerry FAR outnumber the Bush-leaning voters. We were barely blue in 2000, but Clark Co/Springfield will go blue by a much wider margin this year.

Montgomery County (Dayton) will also show a much wider margin than in 2000.

[cmd]

7. Not so here

Our county headquarters was given over to the Kerry campaign. The county dems bought yardsigns, bumperstickers, provide us with water, snacks and emergency aid for our computers and copiers. In short, they have been wonderfully supportive. Our young dems came in and set up a fantastic computer system with a server connecting all stations. We're lucky to have them.

[mongo]

9. Tuscarawas county ROCKS!

So does Guernsey. Perry has a very small party, but they are all very involved.

I wish I could say the same about Muskingum, and I do think they are getting more involved, but they kinda run their party more like a candidate family coffee clutch than a political organization.

I really shouldn't judge them like this, but it is definitely the impression I've gotten from them.

-No Kerry stuff at the county fair, because so-and-so didn't go to Columbus to get it even though he said he would.

-I don't think they would have a HQ if it wasn't for the fact that the Kerry people found someone to Volunteer space for a Kerry office.

I must say that I have been somewhat less involved lately. I found that my campaign work was starting to affect my job, and I really like doing my lone wolf stuff. I have also found that I HATE PHONE BANKING! It really trips my social anxiety triggers, and I am not one for leading a conversation. I probably will do it at least a few more times.

[cmd]

14. Thanks for the report, Mongo

Phone banking is not much fun. I'm glad I don't have to work as a telemarketer. The only good thing I can say about phoning is that we have a good time laughing at some responses. We have a group of people who have bonded and will be life long friends.

I know what you mean about lone wolf stuff. I've never been one of those people who like working in a group. I get so much more done when I'm on my own. Have a good day. Peace.

[Kukesa]

8. Montgomery County Ain't So Hot, Either.

I've never witnessed a more disorganized bunch of people.

We wouldn't even have yard signs if my Visibility co-chair hadn't independently ordered them and put the cost on her credit card. We charged $5 for them until she was reimbursed.

We have 2,500 signs sitting at Dem HQ -- they can't be handed out because someone (HQ people) ordered the wrong size wickets and the poly-bags don't fit. WE suggested they have one of the union Ironworkers' guys have a look and maybe they could be bent into the correct shape -- have they done that yet? You guessed it: nope.

People come into Dem HQ to get signs and bumper stickers (we don't have any more of those, either) and leave angry and empty handed.

No one communicates and no one follows up.

Events are not publicized unless WE do the publicity or make a million phone calls on our own; WE're usually too late to expect a good turnout.

WE register voters on our own, WE attend "visibilities" that WE hear about through the grapevine, WE sell T-shirts on our own.

If it weren't for the wonderful group of people I've met, I'd have given up by now.

Oh well, WE will persevere, WE will do what WE can -- WE don't want glory or thanks -- all WE want is a DEM victory in November.

[Blue-Jay]

11. There was some good work happening during Savor Dayton.

My band played at the festival last Sunday, and the Montgomery County workers were there all day. Talking to people, getting signatures, handing out stickers for people to wear. It was a great thing to see. I loved looking out over a crowd of people wearing K/E stickers. Got to talk to a bunch of them too.

Might indeed be a lot of disorganization in Montgomery, but the message is still getting out. I wish I'd seen you there, Kukesa.

[Kukesa]

12. OK, that's an uplifting bit of news, Blue-Jay.

But I'll bet those were volunteers doing all that work without the "guidance" of the paid staffers.

And I still feel bad about not getting your T-shirt to you a while back.

Keep the faith, BJ.

[AngryOldDem]

15. I'll Drink to That

I was down there Tuesday for about two and a half hours stuffing newsletters for the information walks this weekend, and the traffic coming in off the street was great. BUT...most wanted signs and they went away with nothing. One guy bought a cardboard sign, and one of the stuffers gave him advice about how to hang it when he got it home.

I actually felt embarrassed when I saw these people leave without wanting what they came for. Of course they understood, but what were they thinking when they walked back out the door? They WANT their support to be visible. What kind of impression does this leave?

My hat is off to Kukesa and all the other dedicated people in this county. These volunteers are doing most of the heavy lifting here, and if it goes to Kerry, we have THEM to thank (whether you want it or not, my friend :D ).

So here's to you: :toast: :yourock:

And to the Kerry staff in Dayton: Get your act together.

[Kukesa]

16. Aw, geez, AOD -- you're makin' me blush. n/t

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

18. You all need to take over the local party structure somehow...

...get yourselves in power on the local party comittee or something so you can organize it better.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

19. What really really concerns me about your post is this....

....that you said there is no follow up and that no one communicates.

The NYT said there is a very big spike in new voter registration in Ohio, with most of those registrants coming from heavily Democratic areas...which seems to indicate they are likely Democratic voters.

What has to happen, what must happen, if this new bloc of registrants is to vote, is follow up.

The new registrants need to be identified, and then they need to be informed of their polling place, and they must be contacted and persuaded to actually go out and vote.

I dead serious about this...new registrants are not enough, they must be mobilized.

If the local party is so disorganized they are incapable of mounting a GOTV drive of both current voter and especially these new voters, well, then we are sunk.

Make no mistake, GOTV is the GOP strategy in Ohio..if the Democrats cant equal or best the GOP in this they lose the state.

[AngryOldDem]

20. I totally agree with this

A further point: Just because people are registered, and have stated a preference of candidates, does not mean they are particularly motivated to vote.

Stuff like this should fall under the responsibility of precinct captains, whose exact roles (other than canvassing) have been pretty much left undefined by HQ.

My husband, a PC, is planning to take off work on Election Day, in case he's needed. He is willing to drive people to polls, etc. But I wonder if he'll be contacted before then, with instructions on what he is supposed to do that day.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

21. I used to do precinct work in KY.

I worked for a precinct captain in a precinct on the South End of Louisville during the 1970s...

The point was to know your precinct..who was the Dem, who was the Republica.....who was registered and who wasnt, canvass, and get people to the polls. We also had to work with our Republican counterparts to walk the precinct every year to keep the voting rolls up to date...called "purging the precinct".

Also, my PC would have a political lawn party every year, and also a precinct meeting for all the Democrats, where hed hand out these little American flags as a "thank you for participating" thing.

In KY at the time, electioneering was permitted, so both I and the captain spent the entire day at the entry to the polling place handing out political stuff and reminind Mr & Mrs. So and So to vote Democratic....(it was also considered an excused absence from school to help out in elecitons if you had a letter from your precinct captain). Then after the polls closed we waited around and then phoned in the results after they where posted.

Though i didn't do it I did know precinct captains and workers in other precincts who did drive people to the polls....

Doing precinct work was alot of hard work and alot of walking and talking back in those days.

In short, what a PC and is volunteer support should be doing is a form of ongoing local, grass roots political "organizing"...organizing and getting out the vote in ones precinct.

[AngryOldDem]

22. He's new at the PC thing...

...but what you posted is more or less what he's doing.

[AngryOldDem]

24. Down at HQ on Friday...

...and I actually saw YARD SIGNS WITH PROPERLY-SIZED WICKETS!!!!

They had everything people wanted...except shirts, and other stuff (like hats) that they never had anyway. The shirts will be coming in next week. My sense is that the traffic today was especially heavy.

[Kukesa]

25. Fantastic!

Glad to hear we've got yard signs, AOD.

Frank The Printer should be delivering a new supply of shirts soon and we plan to sell them at the Volunteers' Meeting on Oct. 7; Hopefully we'll have some with long sleeves, too.

We also have a bunch of tote bags that read "Kerry On" and will sell them for $5.

I'm working on organizing that meeting and could use some help. Anyone interested in being Registrars, Greeters, and/or Reverse Greeters?

Anyone interested in coming early and helping to set up?

I'll take all the help I can get and, yes, I'm begging.

[Kukesa]

30. All the yard signs at Dem HQ in Dayton are gone!

All of 'em, and I think the count was 2,500.

Seems folks stood in line to get them -- this was AFTER the debate.

This is sounding good . . .

[AngryOldDem]

32. Funny....

...if you have the stuff, people will come.

I hope some of those people were those who went away empty-handed about a week ago.

Are they going to get more? (Silly question, but...)

[Kukesa]

33. As far as I know, NO, they're not going to get more yard signs.

I'll check again tonight, but the gal who runs the office told me they "probably" won't be getting any more signs.

Go figure.

:eyes:

[roseBudd]

29. you may want to call ACT if you are in Dayton

That is AmericaComingTogether Call ACT at 937-222-6550 and ask for Liz

[Toucano]

10. I am familiar with those kind of frustrations

although, we've been pretty lucky here. There's only been a few minor conflicts here.

This part is UNBELIEVABLE!

"They (you won't believe this) resented giving space at the local Dem office to the Kerry/Edwards folks AFTER the same grassrooters went over and cleaned and painted, etc. So we went elsewhere."

I hope you get a new executive committe over that crap!

I know this much: win or lose, the Democratic party that remains in Ohio after this election will not be the same Democratic party it has been. A LOT of new blood is pumping in the heartland now.

It's good to see you back Eileen. Keep fighting the good fight.

[VolcanoJen]

17. eileen, what an encouraging and enlightening post!

This just shows how "Dem" we are in Ohio, really. Massive disorginazation at the national level, failure to rally the troops and organize at the state, county and local levels, no money, no supplies, nothing that anyone needs or wants.

Endless phone banks and Criss-Cross lists, though!

Sounds like Democrats to me... too many chiefs, too many committees, too much of the local power struggle/face-time in-fighting. My mom, Kukesa, has told me the same thing is going on in Montgomery County... she details it in her post within this thread.

Don't get down, and trust that your efforts are not thankless ones! We Ohioans are scrappy, and we do what we want, in the end. We know our neighborhoods and our neighbors, and the national campaign probably expected us to just take over eventually, anyway. As long as national continues to pump dollars into the state with advertisements and candidate appearances, I'm pretty comfortable with the grassroots crew taking over and getting it done on the ground. We're just not as rigid and rich and organized as Republicans. Not in real life, not in political life. But I'm confident we're going to beat them on the ground this year.

On the ground... that's where this war will be won!

Keep up your efforts, and thanks for the encouragement and inspiration, eileen!!

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

23. Hamilton County (Cincinnati)

Many of us have been disgrutled for years because the county party here is pretty much funded exclusively by organized labor. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you, but there's virtually no grassroots organizing going on. I'm embarrassed (but relieved) that 527 organizations like ACT and MoveOn have come into town and registered nearly 70,000 voters in the the County this year alone.

But why hasn't the party been doing this kind of basic spadework?

My advice to everyone on this board: Find out if you have a Precinct Executive (odds are that you don't) and run for that office. In the next primary, all you need is five Democrats in your precinct to sign a nominating petition, and you're on the ballot. If you want the change the Democratic Party, you've got to BECOME the Democratic Party.

[roseBudd]

28. Thanks to the newly registered 70,000 Hamilton Cty voters

All I have to do is fire up the haters when I do my innercity GOTV street canvassing!

They love TWO-FACED because * is a punk assed bitch!

[POAS]

26. Summit county is the same way

Here in Barberton the local Kerry/Edwards HQ was set up by a city councilman but he has never seen the outpouring of volunteers to do the groundwork that he has seen this year.

We have set up registration stations at a local shopping center, a gas station and custard stands as well as doing door-to-door canvassing and have gotten over 2000 registrations.

Beginning Tuesday the focus shifts to GOTV, without major funding for a "phone bank" we are going to do weekend "cell phone banking" and providing our own cells for the effort.

[eddiebrowns]

27. Champaign County

:kick: Here in Champaign County, which is heavily republican, our local Dems had a tent at the fair, and had ordered approx. 200 buttons and bumper stickers. By the end of the fair, 1000 buttons had been sold and over 900 bumper stickers had been given away! We've had phone banks, barnstorming events, house parties, & canvassing - all very well attended! Definite props to chairman Bob Hamilton and the rest of the committee in Champaign County for all they do! Also, they are very quick to replace all signs stolen out of our yards-one local candidate even had his sign burned in someone's front yard. Small but mighty here in central Ohio! Keep up the good work Ohio-no more Bushit!!

[Kukesa]

31. Welcome to to DU, eddie.

You'll like it here.

And thanks for the information about Champaign County.

:hi:

[WLKjr]

34. Hardin County HQ I think is Non-Existent

And I don't know why, I never heard anything back from them, so I skipped a county over to Allen, another volunteer HQ, very visable and it got thier County Dems officials involved. Very Nice HQ if you ever get around there. They are trying to get Kerry or Edwards to come to lima, This whole area is ripe for a HUGE democratic takeover if they come.