527s in peril
The House has passed a measure that would essentially kill most of the last election cycle's biggest leftie orgs, the 527s like America Coming Together, by capping donations from individuals. The legislation would also remove party spending limits. It's a direct attack on the Left, as the DNC is always far behind the RNC in fundraising, and most 527 spending was in support of Democrats, and financed largely by small numbers of wealthy donors. Republicans should be criticized for their blatant partisanship and cynical abuse of power.
That being said, this could be a very good thing for the Democratic Party. Wha?
In 2004, I worked for several 527s, some paid, some volunteer. I think all of them had received significant outlays from billionaire George Soros. What became more apparent as we approached election day was that the work I was doing, because it was so poorly coordinated with other groups, was actually in large part a duplication of what other organizations had already done. With ACT, I called likely Democratic voters in Northeast Ohio, all of whom seemed to have been called previously by other get out the vote operations.
At the same time, Republicans were operating everything through their party apparatus. Even activists in their grassroots (who organized neighborhoods for months ahead of time instead of ACT's two days, but that's another story) were coordinated by the GOP directly. I think they benefitted greatly from this, while the ACT effort served largely to confuse and annoy our target voters.
The question now becomes one of party culture. Republicans have long been the party of organization and monolithic structure, while Democrats traditionally have been a more multifaceted coalition of a party. I think this heterogeneity is important, but useful only to a point; it's great that we represent so many different views and respect different lifestyles, but it doesn't help us forward the things we agree upon if those differences lead to political defeat by way of nightmarish disorganization. Perhaps quelling the 527s will force us to regroup, and to start giving again to the DNC, to start trusting, if only out of necessity, in our ability to win as a unified team.
Perhaps it has been the only way to win all along.
That being said, this could be a very good thing for the Democratic Party. Wha?
In 2004, I worked for several 527s, some paid, some volunteer. I think all of them had received significant outlays from billionaire George Soros. What became more apparent as we approached election day was that the work I was doing, because it was so poorly coordinated with other groups, was actually in large part a duplication of what other organizations had already done. With ACT, I called likely Democratic voters in Northeast Ohio, all of whom seemed to have been called previously by other get out the vote operations.
At the same time, Republicans were operating everything through their party apparatus. Even activists in their grassroots (who organized neighborhoods for months ahead of time instead of ACT's two days, but that's another story) were coordinated by the GOP directly. I think they benefitted greatly from this, while the ACT effort served largely to confuse and annoy our target voters.
The question now becomes one of party culture. Republicans have long been the party of organization and monolithic structure, while Democrats traditionally have been a more multifaceted coalition of a party. I think this heterogeneity is important, but useful only to a point; it's great that we represent so many different views and respect different lifestyles, but it doesn't help us forward the things we agree upon if those differences lead to political defeat by way of nightmarish disorganization. Perhaps quelling the 527s will force us to regroup, and to start giving again to the DNC, to start trusting, if only out of necessity, in our ability to win as a unified team.
Perhaps it has been the only way to win all along.
posted by onlooker at 10:16 AM
1 Comments:
You make a great point about the democrats. The Republicans might be ruining the country but they sure are organized.
Or maybe WERE organized... I just read that Libby has officially pointed the finger at Bush as the leaker in the Plume case. www.thestar.com Goooo self-destructing republicans!
Post a Comment
<< Home