#DemEnter Goes to the DNC in ATL
Donation protected
Jason Eno (HI) and Michele Horne (SC), two of Bernie Sanders' delegates to the National Convention, have founded #DemEnter, and are seeking the initial funding needed to begin building the organizational infrastructure to offer the resources, training, and services that our almost 8000 members are in need of to rebuild the Democratic Party from the ground up. Jason was instrumental in networking to assist delegates in their funding efforts for Philadelphia, and Michele put together the network that connected and offered educational and solidarity opportunities for them prior to the convention, including the service project that collected socks for the homeless shelters in the Philadelphia area. Both have been elected to leadership positions in their county and state parties.
#DemEnter exists to bring disillusioned and disenfranchised Democratic voters into the Democratic Party on the precinct, local, state, and national level. Our premise is simple: fill every available seat in the party with a progressive that will strive to enact and reinforce the 2016 (and beyond) DNC Party platform (as a baseline) regarding education, healthcare, the workforce, the environment, among other issues. We endeavor to do this by assessing the vacancies in each county and state, identifying progressive members who are eligible for these positions, and assisting them in applying for, running for, and having enough registered members at each convention to support them. Beyond this, we encourage our members to become familiar with the officer structures that exist beyond the precinct level-county officers, state officers, caucuses, committees, and the DNC, and support them in every way possible to achieve these positions as well. #DemEnter will endeavor to educate and prepare our members to also become knowledgeable about all applicable rules and by-laws at each level of the party to effect any change necessary for a more progressive and responsive Democratic Party in every state and on a national level so that Democrats may win more electoral offices and ensure that more progressive policies are enacted that will improve the quality of life for citizens and residents of our nation.
Some of the highlights of the work that #DemEnter has already accomplished includes hosting several of the candidates for various DNC offices for Facebook Live Q&As in our group; helping get people registered in time to participate in the elections in both Michigan (which saw a 33% increase) and California party elections; launching a Young Democrats/College Democrats outreach project; and undertaking a creation of a state party by-laws resource library. Our members have been involved in particularly successful efforts in Missouri, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado, and progress is being made in many other states.
We hope to represent #DemEnter at the Winter DNC meeting in Atlanta the weekend of February 25, 2017, and further build the relationships that we feel will help grow our organization within the party. We have tentatively scheduled media appearances that week. We are also scheduled to attend meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington the following week. As you can imagine, putting this organization together from Hawaii and South Carolina has been challenging, and some time to work together in the same location is necessary for us to formalize our strategic plan, formulate our timeline, and work out some other pertinent details. We also need to upgrade our technology in order to collaborate more effectively. Our membership has outgrown Facebook's ability to communicate and organize effectively, and it is time for us to transfer our operation to an effective web-based platform.
We are beginning to see the fruits of our labor, and it is an exciting time for our organization. To see the transition in the conversations and the forward-focused, action-oriented discussions is heartening. It gives us hope that over time, the participation of progressives in the Democratic Party will grow to the point that we will begin to see a real change in leadership and policy at the higher levels. With some financial backing and publicity to assist in the above mentioned items, we feel we can launch some effective groundwork to continue our growth.
#DemEnter exists to bring disillusioned and disenfranchised Democratic voters into the Democratic Party on the precinct, local, state, and national level. Our premise is simple: fill every available seat in the party with a progressive that will strive to enact and reinforce the 2016 (and beyond) DNC Party platform (as a baseline) regarding education, healthcare, the workforce, the environment, among other issues. We endeavor to do this by assessing the vacancies in each county and state, identifying progressive members who are eligible for these positions, and assisting them in applying for, running for, and having enough registered members at each convention to support them. Beyond this, we encourage our members to become familiar with the officer structures that exist beyond the precinct level-county officers, state officers, caucuses, committees, and the DNC, and support them in every way possible to achieve these positions as well. #DemEnter will endeavor to educate and prepare our members to also become knowledgeable about all applicable rules and by-laws at each level of the party to effect any change necessary for a more progressive and responsive Democratic Party in every state and on a national level so that Democrats may win more electoral offices and ensure that more progressive policies are enacted that will improve the quality of life for citizens and residents of our nation.
Some of the highlights of the work that #DemEnter has already accomplished includes hosting several of the candidates for various DNC offices for Facebook Live Q&As in our group; helping get people registered in time to participate in the elections in both Michigan (which saw a 33% increase) and California party elections; launching a Young Democrats/College Democrats outreach project; and undertaking a creation of a state party by-laws resource library. Our members have been involved in particularly successful efforts in Missouri, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington State, Colorado, and progress is being made in many other states.
We hope to represent #DemEnter at the Winter DNC meeting in Atlanta the weekend of February 25, 2017, and further build the relationships that we feel will help grow our organization within the party. We have tentatively scheduled media appearances that week. We are also scheduled to attend meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington the following week. As you can imagine, putting this organization together from Hawaii and South Carolina has been challenging, and some time to work together in the same location is necessary for us to formalize our strategic plan, formulate our timeline, and work out some other pertinent details. We also need to upgrade our technology in order to collaborate more effectively. Our membership has outgrown Facebook's ability to communicate and organize effectively, and it is time for us to transfer our operation to an effective web-based platform.
We are beginning to see the fruits of our labor, and it is an exciting time for our organization. To see the transition in the conversations and the forward-focused, action-oriented discussions is heartening. It gives us hope that over time, the participation of progressives in the Democratic Party will grow to the point that we will begin to see a real change in leadership and policy at the higher levels. With some financial backing and publicity to assist in the above mentioned items, we feel we can launch some effective groundwork to continue our growth.
Organizer
Michele Horne
Organizer
Rock Hill, SC
