Friday, October 13, 2017

#StrongerTogether ! The Democratic National Committee, the Association of State Democratic Chairs, & the DNC Unity Reform Commission To Meet In Las Vegas October 18-21


~ Personal Commentary

The first meeting Democratic National Committee Reform Commission (DNCRC) was held in April. The meetings have been advertised. They have been posted on the DNC website. There has been opportunities for Democrats to attend meetings, to follow them on the website and to share thoughts with the Commission, as well, also on the website.

But. We are all busy people, so here's a reminder of what might be the last chance for interested parties to inform selves and share your constructive thinking as our Party works to become a serious 50-state party on a year-round basis. 

Today, after watching the past three meetings, I will update my survey and I will attach my updated six pages of comments in the “leave a comment for the unity commission here” block where I suspect they are expecting a paragraph or two-- not six pages -- but, oh well.

To give you an idea of what I am saying to them, here's an edited version of my lead into the my comments:

...First,

I am going to ask every Democrat sitting on the DNC Unity Reform Commission, as well as on the Democratic Committee (DNC) in preparation of the possibility that Commission recommendations my go before the full committee for a vote, to keep in mind what the essence of the DNC is:

“ ...home of the Democratic Party, the oldest continuing party in the United States...fighting for progress and helping elect Democrats across the country to state government, Congress, and the White House... “

i.e., dedicated to “perfecting the union” and providing qualified candidates up and down the ticket to work to legislate per a fairly elected majority willing to compromise for The Common Good.

And, I am going to keep my comments very focused on my areas of immediate concern.

One

Clarity of Democratic Party vision, mission, strategy, goals and objectives.

Two

Being a family-friendly organization in practice.

Three

Providing opportunities for Party Members and Supporting Members to be informed participates on a variety of organizational levels – easily.

Having said that, our values and principles and vision and mission must be the backbone of our Democratic Party. We can be flexible in the context of diverse tactics and in the context of renewed Party Platforms every four years

– reflective of the process of acting, analyzing, adapting and acting again – but our backbone is who we are and our backbone must remain our touchstone, our fall back position if you like.

We are in the midst of the GOP hostile take over of our country and that ongoing crisis has made it clear the DNC must also stand up and defend our representative form of government, defend our Party Platform and field and support the most informed and qualified Democratic candidates available to us to win elections up and down the ticket and

And, I am of the mind that it is not the job of the DNC to imagine otherwise.

In response to some of what I've heard in past Unity Reform meetings, in the context of The DNC should do this and the DNC should do that – I do not see the DNC as arm of some local and state parties efforts to gain new and dedicated members through the remnants of a chaotic and inefficient caucus system that is primarily an obstacle to many 21st Century voters who do not have the time to participate in them and, secondarily to that, is oftentimes a vehicle for the ill-informed and/or for the users and abusers of the system to come in and disrupt and bully, respectively -- 

which is not to minimize the intention some of good people in the Party who truly desire to connect Democrats in a manner that is warm and welcoming and informative and may also serve the Party in growing the membership and the volunteer numbers but the process must be accessible if new Democrats are to come in and new ways to be inclusive, informative and grow the membership and to inform re the organizational structure and process must be found.


Second,

 I'd like to focus on my number one concern -- that the Democratic Party talks family friendly but does not act family friendly, particularly in the context of bringing income limited Democrats, specifically women, to the table whether it goes to their ability to attend relevant meetings, to serve in Democratic Party positions and/or to actually run for office.

My history, personal and professional, has primarily been in working with income limited, single moms so I will make my comments in that context but most what I have to say can apply completely or partially to any community, of course...

(I will come back and share my recommendations once the submission process is over for anyone who might be interested in reading more!)

*** Although I will say that although I think a creative way needs to be found to create a sort of "Friends of Democrats" membership category, the foundation of my comments are based on the premise that the Democratic National Party is a party for Democrats --

people who freely choose to commit to the vision and the mission and the goals of the Party who also choose to implement the objectives that will lead to the success of the Party, i.e. what is best for the government which, of course, is The People.

#ForwardNotBack !


Focused Read in 2 minutes 


 Pictured in the center from left to right are DNC Chair Tom Perez, Unity Reform Commission Chair Jennifer O'Malley Dillon and Vice Chair Larry Cohen at the first DNCURC meeting in Washington, D.C. 


Last call for the Unity Reform Commission Comments Coming Soon as the Last Meeting is Scheduled 



The media Advisory provided the following information on the upcoming meeting:


WHAT: DNC, Unity Reform Commission, ASDC Meetings

WHERE: Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Las Vegas, NV

WHEN: October 18-21, 2017

Next week, members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from across the country will gather for the DNC’s Fall Meeting in Las Vegas, where the party will elect caucus and council leaders and will focus on organizing and winning in every single ZIP code across the country. DNC members will offer volunteer services to those recovering from last week’s deadly mass shooting.

On Wednesday, October 18, the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission will hold its fourth meeting and the Association of State Democratic Chairs will hold their regular business meeting. Both meetings will be open to the general public.

The DNC meeting will begin on Thursday, October 19 and will conclude on Saturday, October 21. Over the course of three days, DNC members will participate in caucus, council, and committee meetings as well as training sessions. There will be one general session meeting to discuss party business on Saturday, October 21 from 10:30 AM PT- 1:30 PM PT that is open to the general public.

Highlights: 

At Wednesday’s ASDC meeting, DNC CTO Raffi Krikorian will brief members on the party’s technological upgrades and provide an update on available tech tools for all 57 state parties. 

Throughout the week, DNC members will offer volunteer services to those recovering from last week’s deadly mass shooting. 

At Saturday’s general session, the Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States under President Barack Obama and current chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, will deliver keynote remarks. 

Other speakers throughout the week include U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Congresswoman Dina Titus, Congressman Ruben Kihuen, and Congresswoman Jacky Rosen. 

The DNC meeting general session will be open to the press and the public.

Additional details, including a detailed schedule of events, will be made public in subsequent media advisories.

You can read the original media advisory here

(Where links are also available for the public to RSVP for meetings that are open to the public!)


Focused Thought 1-3 minutes

Please give serious thought to your responses to the Democratic National Committee Unity Reform Commission Survey, you know those who may not be fond of our Party will be.

Thank you!


Focused Actions in 30 seconds



You can find the survey here


Focused Point of Interest in 3 minutes




"Man Who Put KKK Behind Bars Will Now Try To Stop Roy Moore From Reaching Senate



Democrat Doug Jones has seen an uptick in attention since Moore won the GOP primary

Jones, in many ways, is about as good a candidate as Democrats could get in Alabama right now. 

As a U.S. attorney in 2002, Jones was the lead prosecutor in the case against two of the men responsible for bombing the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sept. 15, 1963. The heinous act killed four African-American girls during church services. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called it “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.” 


Civil rights are a central part of Jones’ campaign. He recently wrote an op-ed for HuffPost about history repeating itself with the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

“You can put it in different terms, but everyone wants to be treated fairly,” he told HuffPost on Wednesday. “We certainly don’t see that equality or fairness on the other side. It is going to be a big part of my campaign. I made a promise to myself and my wife and all of those people who supported me in the primary ― we’re not going to move away from that. It’s very important to me.”


...“What we’re doing is running an Alabama campaign. I am focused on these issues. That is going to draw, I believe, a lot of interesting support from around the country. ... We’ll see where help comes, if it comes at all,” said Jones, who noted that he’s had Republicans and independents reach out to him to get involved in the campaign.

The Democratic candidate has worked hard to avoid making the Senate race a referendum on Trump ― a wise decision, perhaps, in a state where the president remains relatively popular. Trump endorsed Strange, convinced by advisers that the sitting senator would be a more reliable ally, but said before Tuesday’s election that he may have made a mistake. Many of Trump’s backers, after all, supported Moore. And after Moore’s win, the president deleted some of his old tweets boosting Strange. 

Instead, Jones said he will focus on how polarizing Moore is and point out that his opponent has twice been removed from office for ignoring the rule of law. 

“It’s one thing to just talk about issues,” Jones said, “and it’s another to actually have a record of getting things done, as opposed to simply following a personal agenda.”

You can read more here

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 Direct sources for Democrats:

* ( Personal favored and most informative follows are shared here with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone.  #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify I am using a star rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )


The Democratic Party Website

The Democratic Party on Facebook

The Democratic Party on Twitter


Also

C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))


 Some of my favorite, most informative
 follows on Twitter include:


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC
⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ You can find Verrit:"Media for the 65.8M" here


 Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:


📰📰📰 Mother Jones

📰📰📰 The Washington Post

📰📰📰 The New York Times

💻💻💻 News And Guts on Facebook



 Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:


📺📺📺 Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

📺📺📺📺📺 AM w/Joy Reid on MSNBC

📺📺 Chris Cuomo on CNN

📺📺📺 The Beat With Ari on MSNBC

📺📺📺 Velshi & Ruhle on MSNBC


Thank you for Networking for Democrats today!

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(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.

It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."

You can read the Platform here



 (Remember 2018...)

   
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Curated by Gail Mountain, with occasional personal commentary, Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!

( You can also find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GKMTNtwits )


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You can find Vote411 here 


Thank you for focusing!

g., aka Focused Democrat


...Committed to Staying Focused

✊ Resisting "Fake News"


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