A group of practical, victory-minded progressives is meeting Saturday in Rapid City to discuss forming a plan to help Democrats win local and Legislative elections:
- TIME : 9 AM to 12 Noon on Saturday 15 November, 2014
- PLACE: Shelter50, 602 St Andrews, Rapid City, SD.
Organizer Bajun Mavalwalla tells me there will be coffee, donuts, and fruit. Donuts = victory.
Saturday's planners may want to call the Committee on States:
Liberals know that they have been steamrolled in the states, and that Democrats will have a tough time growing their ranks in the US House of Representatives if they don't win at the state level. And they have a $100 million plan to do just that, according to internal memos revealed by the conservative Washington Free Beacon. The goal: to notch more state-level victories and reclaim political power before the next round of congressional redistricting after the 2020 census [Andy Kroll, "This Is the Left's Confidential $100 Million Plan to Win Back the States," Mother Jones, 2014.11.14].
Given the focus on redistricting, one would think the Committee on States might have little interest in single-district South Dakota. But their internal documents show they are already spending money in Wyoming and want to expand into Montana, states that also have just one seat in the U.S. House. So maybe South Dakota will make their radar.
Money from outside groups didn't move the needle much in 2014 Senate races. But spend that money wisely on proven door-to-door canvassing in local races, and maybe some COS spending on South Dakota's Democratic-rebuilding efforts could make a difference.
After talking with a few legal folks, it sounds like the best time to protest perceived gerrymanders is immediately following the redistricing exercise. The longer the redrawn districts stay unopposed, the less likely a protest is to have any success. That means everybody has to be right on top of it.
speaking of lawyers, seriously, a big difference between the SD and national legislatures is, there are very few lawyers in the state and their experience is more limited. We are a tiny state, and a tiny bar association, comparatively.
dems are extremely limited in this regard as the minority. EB5 investigation by GOAC, AG Jackley, and Dems in the year of an election showed this extreme limitation in an environment of a hyper-legal, somewhat complex set of facts and players.
larger states with "big city" lawyers have greater sophistication in such matters. However the example of NJ's "bridgegate" makes it clear that politics and out-lawyering the other side with bigger money (rounds "$9 mill. campaign") and state-wide resources (Daugaard Administration) gives horse-power that Dems are gonna have to deal with somehow.
I'll give you a good starting place for a constitutional amendment to restore the integrity of the redistricting process. It's Rep. Bill Thompson's House Bill 1220 from the 2010 Legislature, "An Act to provide for legislative redistricting by a bipartisan, nonlegislative commission."
http://legis.sd.gov/docs/legsession/2010/Bills/HB1220P.pdf
Why can't South Dakota lead the reform movement in America to take the partisan hacks out of the redistricting process and provide a redistricting map that isn't gerrymandered to death.
Protect your vote. It's not the property of the corrupt spoils system in Pierre.
Right. Because the best way to move our party forward is to further try to divide it. I know you think the 2020 an might not be all bad, Cory... I'm just not certain that we need a. Self anointed "savior" (who's an outsider that doesn't understand either our state or it's people) to fix what we already know how to do ourselves. There are many of us gearing up to take leadership positions within the party who have formulated a strong an of attack that includes dems on all ends of SD. I and others feel like the fact that this meeting was scheduled during tomorrow's caucus is no small coincidence. We need to pull together as a party now more than ever, not splinter, divide and faulter.
It is interesting that the little gathering happens right when the caucusing is going on to vote on Mr. Hunhoff and Ms. Bartling is it not? If you had this meeting in the afternoon you could have beer and sausages instead of donuts and coffee. I fear...nay I hope that you may have the libbie version of the Messrs. Howie and Nelson contingent on your hands. That will be most entertaining.
12, you've done a wonderful job of describing one of SD's biggest problems:
"Self anointed "savior" (who's an outsider that doesn't understand either our state or it's people) to fix what we already know how to do ourselves."
Nope, South Dakotans don't need to listen to no damn Outsider!
Yes, South Dakota absolutely Does need to listen to someone who is not a long term resident. SD is not a one-of-a-kind state. We're like the rest of the USA much more than we are different.
Jeez, this is so frustrating!
BTW, Mr. Mavalwalla never described himself as a "Savior," that is Your Word, 12.
Colorado has some very good ideas. So does Minnesota, and Oregon, and Washington state, and, and, and . . . all the rest of the states. Why on earth wouldn't we want to listen to them?
The SDDP hasn't accomplished much of anything for several years. Why the hell Not go all in for a new thing?!
I agree with you that splitting the SDDP is not a good idea. So join with Mr. Mavalwalla and the rest in Rapid City. Even if you can't be there tomorrow, get in touch with the folks who are there ASAP and ask how you can help. For pete's sake, you've got a bunch of people eager to pitch in. Why are you trying to condemn them? Talk about splitting the party! The SDDP really Needs these people. Don't discourage them. ENcourage them!
It is not some outside savior that is splitting the SDDP, it is the Democrat Pierre social club that has refused to listen to concerned Democrats, like those here on Madville.
The SDDP apparently not learned the basics of running candidates and supporting them with a strong party campaign, when the SDGOP ruthlessly attacked Kathy Tyler for outing them on EB-5, the party remained mum when they should have given her support.
SDDP started out the campaign with their not so subtle support of Wismer when there was an excellent alternative in Joe Lowe.
Our party leadership in Pierre is as crony as the SDGOP except they have money and support their candidates.
Good answer Roger.
Why the SD Democratic Party needs to end the primary season and nominate candidates who will adhere to a platform adopted at convention:
http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/politics/mercer-democratic-shortfalls-assisted-gop-s-south-dakota-sweep/article_d97e0e6b-6d59-5464-8bb3-6d0c362618bd.html
When and where is the caucus, 12? Maybe I'm out of the loop, but I missed the press release. How many people will be at the caucus? Is there any reason that the two meetings cannot take place effectively at the same time?
Where 12 sees splintering, I see recruiting new allies in new roles. How exactly does the discussion of recruiting and supporting local and legislative candidates work at cross purposes with any other wing of the South Dakota Democratic Party? Believe me, if that's the net result of any activism staged on behalf of Democrats, I will not support it. But isn't it just as likely that we are getting more horses to help pull the cart?
Deb makes a very good point about our perception of "outsiders." Joe Lowe caught some grief in the primary for being from California, even though he's been in South Dakota for over a decade working for the state and running a business in Rapid City. When do we stamp a guy's passport and welcome him into our affairs? Isn't a willingness to help enough? And might not experience and perspective from elsewhere be useful? Or are we just going to rerun the Noem attack ad on Matt Varilek and shut our eyes to lessons (and, as I discuss at the top of this post, money!) from willing allies?
Larry, a slate of candidates nominated at convention by a clique of party insiders offers no comparative advantage. A superior candidate like Joe Lowe would have even less chance of making the ballot.
Your opinion only, Cory.
http://thedisplacedplainsman.blogspot.com/2014/06/mega-post-about-2014-south-dakota.html
Declaring opinions opinions advances no argument, Larry.
all we own are our actions, cory.