Who among us could have predicted record low turnoutfor the 2014 Midterm Elections?
Not me. I was in an area of the nation that experienced record high turnouts.
But record high turnouts in North Carolina and Maine weren't enough to keep or gain Senate seats. And those were anomalies. What happened to Democrats in midterms?
Death of the Unions
Make no mistake about it. Republicans knew what they were doing when they set their sights on dismantling skilled and trade labor unions. The unions were an engine for the Democratic party.
- They trained workers in organizational techniques.
- They endorsed candidates in Primary elections.
- They provided people for canvassing, phone banking, electioneering at polls.
- They educated workers about the democratic process.
Now, they're dismantled. A shadow of their former selves.
The Ballot is Bigger Than Ever
Once upon a time, I worked at a non-profit organization that held citizen panels that interviewed candidates for local office. We then made non-partisan endorsements. We did this for local elections every two years. I had the misfortune of running the election review process in a year when there were elections for mayor, council, judges, school board, and county commissioner. Oh, I forgot to mention the three, highly controversial ballot issues, too.
I almost quit several times.
My boss couldn't understand why this was a full-time job for me when my predecessor was able to do it part time. I showed her the difference in ballots. Mine was loaded up. If I could barely coordinate what amounted to 26 candidate interviews and write-ups, what about the average voter.
Paper? What Paper?
Let us bow our heads in silence and remember the daily newspaper.
OK. Where do you get your local news, now? TV? When is the last time you saw a candidate's debate on TV? OK...maybe for governor. What about school board? How about Circuit Court Judge? County Commissioner? Buehler?
Let's face it. You're uninformed. I'm uninformed. I'll admit it. I got my recommendations for school board from my Facebook feed. My Facebook feed. I'm not proud of that.
I voted early in my state, which meant that I voted in advance of any sample ballot being mailed to my house. I had no "Democratic Party Endorsement Guide" either. I didn't realize there were two ballot issues.
Oops.
How about you? Were there any surprises on your ballot?
Silly Rabbit. You Can't Do That At a Polling Place!
Have you noticed all the silly hoops you have to jump through just to vote?
1. Register by the deadline
2. Show up at your correct polling place (and if they change it at the last minute, hope they sent you a notice)
3. Bring whatever ID they're requiring of you this year. Oh, and if it's your driver's license...and you've moved... you realize you have to go back and change your license to have your new address on it, right? It's not enough to register...
Oh and 4. YOU CAN'T LOOK AT YOUR CELL PHONE WHILE VOTING. Not everywhere, but in enough places that this becomes annoying.
I was electioneering at a polling place on election day. Hundreds of people walked past me, faces buried in their cell phone, intending to use the online voter guide they found.
I was handing out Democratic voter guides and there was someone handing out Republican guides. I can't begin to tell you how many people came running out to get a guide after finding out they couldn't look at their cell phone.
It's a silly rule. If you live in a state with silly rules like this, PRINT YOUR GUIDE OUT. And mind the silly rules. They'll bite you in the ass if you're not paying attention.
Are We Spending Money On the Right Stuff?
I'm convinced that if we took 30% of the TV advertising budget and plowed it into voter education efforts, we'd do much better. Here's my wish list:
1. Full-time voter registration staff who do nothing but reach out to civic groups, schools, churches, etc... and register people.
2. Full-time voter education. I'd host primary candidate forums. Provide day care. Serve food. Get those candidates out and about. Have folks host coffees in their home. Provide your slate of (school board, council, judge) candidates to any civic group that wishes to interview them and make endorsements.
Hold candidate free voter education sessions where people can read or watch candidates speak of their positions and then talk amongst themselves. These would be opportunities to learn just what a probate judge does or the role of the water and land use commissioner or county sheriff.
3. Train volunteers to get out into the community and talk to their friends. We need trained community organizers. These are people who will infuse the talk of the election into everyday conversation. "Well, Hank, you'd have an easier time making ends meet if the minimum wage were raised. Mr. XX supports raising the minimum wage, you know." "How's that bursitis, June? You know that Ms. YY supports expanding Medicare so that low income people can get good health care.."
4. Replace phone banking with something more personal.
Your cousin, Mo signed up with Obama for America when they helped him register. Good for him! He's fired up and ready to go and all that....but when the volunteers called his house, your Uncle Joe answered the phone and he's a Republican. He had no idea his son, Mo came out as a Democrat...and there was HELL TO PAY. Did Mo even make it to the polls? All I know is that number had a "RUDE HANG UP" penciled in on the phone bank log.
We've got Mo's address. We have volunteers who would be more than happy to write to him, personally. At least Uncle Joe has the propriety not to tamper with Mo's snail mail. We can write to him about the election process, who the candidates are, where he can meet some personally and learn more about the election. Then, we can remind him where his polling place is and what times and days he can vote. Maybe he can call us back with a place and time he'd like to meet and talk to us. We make house calls.
Or maybe he prefers to receive texts or wants to engage on Twitter.
For some reason, answering that ringing phone makes people mental. TV ads get tuned out. We need to find other and better ways of reaching out.
5. Make sure every voter has a Democratic slate of candidates to take into the voting booth.
Make sure every voter has a Democratic slate of candidates to take into the voting booth.
I'd write it a third time, but you get my drift. Why? Because of all of the stuff I mentioned before. At the end of the day, a certain percentage of voters will declare victory by just showing up to the polls. Uninformed. NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.
Why is this important? Because we want voters to feel supported and feel informed. If we just tell them to figure it out, they'll skip names on the ballot...votes that could have made a difference.
And use some damn coattails.
Here's a story. I worked in Richmond in 2012 for the candidate who was running against Eric Cantor. Other than the little piece of paper he had with his name on it, there was no paper being passed out by the Obama organization with anyone else but Obama on it. No Congressional candidates. No state house or senate candidates....nothing. Obama had no coat tails. And in canvassing, I met lots of people who were voting for Obama but when I talked about the Congressional candidate, they never heard of him. How could Obama carry the county and not the Democratic candidate for Congress?
I don't care of so-and-so denounced you or doesn't want to campaign with you or doesn't want to be pictured with you. So-and-so wants voters to know about his campaign. You're the big kahuna in town. Your literature should have the whole damn slate. Yes, it takes some time and effort to work out the individual precincts, but if you aired 5 fewer ads, no one would notice. Everyone would notice a Democratic slate.
It's the "I don't dance" syndrome. Of course you don't dance if no one showed you how.
It's not that you can't dance, you don't know how to dance. Don't let a voter walk into a booth not knowing what do to. Support the voter. If the voter wants to split the ticket, that's the voter's business. But tell them where you stand as a party.
Contested Elections are Exciting Elections
Voter turnout was strong in North Carolina and Maine. Why? Hotly contested elections.
1. Primary, Primary, Primary. It makes the candidate better for the general election. Obama was a better candidate for having run against Clinton and Biden. Conversely, Anthony Brown had a weak primary field and remained a weak candidate into the general election and now, he's not Governor of Maryland, as he expected to be.
2. Passion, passion, passion. You are campaigning for office, not attending a coronation. Fight for what you believe in. Be bold. Be brave. Stand for something. And voters will respond in kind. Quite frankly, if you have minority populations in your area, GET TO KNOW THEM. Meet them at churches, social gatherings, festivals. Meet them, meet them, meet them. And they will vote for you. If the President is going to carry your county and the voters don't know you're running for Congress, it's partially your fault. NEVER LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.
3. Help your party find good candidates. Get to know the local Democratic Party leadership and ask them what they are doing to groom and vet potential candidates. If you think more needs to be done, tell them.
And maybe...run for local office yourself. It's fun!
No it's not...but it's important.
4. Be everywhere, even where they say you can't win. Because...well, you never know what might happen. Contest the election. Even if it looks like a losing cause.
From my perspective, there's a lot to work on for two years from now, but more importantly, four years from now. We need to get smarter about midterms because if you haven't noticed, this midterm business simply isn't the walk in the park it used to be.