My first answer to my question I posed on the Nebraska Democratic Party CD3 Facebook page of "why does a political party exist?"
#1 (with more to follow): A political party exists to advance the philosophies, ideals and principles of its membership.
A political party should use its resources to educate the voting populace about the things its adherents collectively have agreed upon, as embodied in its Constitution, its Bylaws, its Platform, and its Resolutions.
The Nebraska Democratic Party has become an organization that follows the will of what some of its "leaders" have called its "most important Democrats," i.e. its elected politicians or its candidates. Rather than selecting candidates that subscribe to what the party's legally elected delegates have debated and agreed to, the party hierarchy has subjugated the will of the party members to the whims of the candidates. They have put the cart before the horse.
Our party has a roadmap to the future, but if those holding the reins fail to follow it, they then bear the blame for straying from the road and leading the team off the cliff. Those members who were elected by their counties to represent them at our State Conventions, then go there just to hobnob with the bigwigs, listen to speakers while clapping mindlessly, eat the free donuts and fill a seat only to rubber stamp the will of others, are guilty of having allowed our party to decay into its present state of irrelevance. Those who were elected to fill the positions as members of the State Central Committee but merely sit on their hands without ever questioning anything, nor advancing any fresh ideas are guilty of abandoning the duties they were entrusted with. Those who were chosen to sit on the State Executive Committee but then feel they have the authority to usurp the power of the SCC or the State Convention are traitors to our party. Those who use their offices for the mere exercise of their "power" over others are nothing but egomaniacal cancers within our party.
Being elected to an office means having to serve others, not having them serve you. Anyone that has made promises to win a position within our party, and then not attempted to succeed in fulfilling those promises is just a liar and a thief. They lied to get the job, then have stolen the opportunity from someone else might have had the wherewithal to actually serve their constituents.
I am no longer willing to hold my tongue, acerbic as it may be, because there is too much at stake for me to remain silent. The woman that kept interrupting me at the meeting in G.I. once told be to take my copy of the NDP Constitution and throw it in the wastepaper basket because I insisted that we should be following it. And yet, she continues to pretend to be a "leader" of this party. People like her serve only themselves, NOT the registered Democratic voters of this state. It is time we elected people to the roles of leadership within our party that are willing to do the hard work of advancing the causes that Nebraska's Democrats have collectively decided to support.
If we are to become a party that WINS elections in this state, then we must become a party that is willing to FIGHT. Sometimes, that will mean having to fight amongst ourselves. If we can't do that, then we deserve to lose.
