Answer #2 to "Why a political party?"

My second answer to my question I posted on the Nebraska Democratic Party CD3 Facebook page of "why does a political party exist?" 

#2 (with more to follow): A political party exists to serve its membership by providing up-to-date information and all means of support that its membership requires.

 A political party should provide a useful service that is attuned to the needs of its adherents. This means that all documents, policies, rules, etc. that delineate the rights and responsibilities of the various officers and members are kept up to date and made readily available to all of its members at all times. It should be responsible for doing all it can to assist its constituents in the sharing of ideas and following their wishes in how the party is governed. It should serve as a hub for the free flow of communication and sharing of ideas and opinions. What we currently have within the NDP is an office in Lincoln that serves to suck money out of every Nebraska Democrat that it can, a center that disseminates propaganda generated by a very few "authorized" spokesmen of the party, a leader that continues a policy of censorship against any party members that hold heretical thoughts, and an absolute dearth of current, necessary information. 

A county chair or committee that exists outside of Lincoln or Omaha has practically no influence over the guidance of our party. They also have practically no access to the tools that they actually need. The are given a Vote Builder that may be helpful in the cities, but is absolutely worthless in the rural areas. Help that does come is usually late and inappropriate. I remember getting a packet of materials for our county fair two weeks after it was over, mostly consisting of flyers to sign up and send your dollars to the state office. This did nothing to help us in my county. 

The NDP website is a disgrace. The current NDP Constitution and Bylaws has not been updated. The one displayed, if you can find it, was approved by the 2010 State Convention. The lists of officers, county chairs, SCC and SEC members, committee members, etc. is all outdated. The website serves only to put out propaganda from the hierarchy. There is nowhere on there that a common registered Democrat can have his/her voice heard. And as far as I am concerned, the common registered Democrat in this state is our party's "most important Democrat." 

We have an excellent opportunity to place a Democrat in the Governor's Mansion and to send three Democratic Representatives and one Senator to Washington in 2014. We need to find valid candidates for the Unicameral and all of the open statewide offices as well. But if a common Democrat in this state can't even find the information of how to go about it, what good has our party done them? Most Nebraska Democrats only know the party as that pain-in-the-ass that keeps begging them for money.

Answer #1 to "Why a political party?"

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.

Question: Why a political party?

(This is a post I recently wrote on the Nebraska Democrats CD3 Facebook page)

At our last CDO3 meeting, just before lunch, hoping that it would create at least a modicum of debate, perhaps some thought, perhaps some introspection: I asked, "What is the purpose of a political party?"

My query was greeted as though I had asked everyone to swallow a turd. Did anyone take me up on it? Nobody approached me with their thoughts on the topic. Not one person indicated that they had given it the slightest consideration.

Because of this kind of response, I am given to thinking that perhaps none of those present really cares about questioning what the true purpose of our party is. I am often told that it is to "elect Democrats." Well ... we have been failing quite miserably at that, haven't we?

There is currently not a single federal or statewide elected official from our party. Can anyone honestly tell me that what we have been doing is being done right? If so, where is the evidence? I sure as hell don't see it.

Later, at the same meeting, I queried a representative of the state party why my thoughts are still censored from the NDP Facebook page. I was given the usual, "We'll look into it." Well, I'm still blocked from participating there.

While I was discussing this, one person from Hastings rudely interrupted me, as she does to practically anyone who dares to disagree with her. Another woman, from Grand Island, invited me to "Take it outside."

Honestly, I ask each of you, is THIS the kind of party we have become, one in which you either toe the ideological line set by a few, or get the hell out? Do we hold the moral authority to use the word "Democratic" in our name when debate is stifled and those with diverse views are ostracized and marginalized from our party? Are we nothing but sheeple - gutless followers of those who dictate the direction our party takes without ever having achieved any kind of consensus from us?

I'm going to ask you all again, "What is the purpose of a political party?" If I receive no replies, then I'll have to assume that you all haven't a clue.