The Reform Debate Continues

Your Ideas and Comments #2

Shortly after the November election defeats, the New Democrats’ Co-chairs Bob Coble and Floyd Nicholson and Director Phil Noble wrote an editorial, "What Next for SC Democrats?" about how to reform the Democratic Party in South Carolina so that we can again win elections and bring real reform to the state.

The editorial appeared in a number of papers around the state and has created quite a stir. Lots of people – party veterans, candidates, activist and interested citizens - have offered their ideas and suggestions as to what we need to do to reform the party.

In early December we published Your Ideas and Comments #1 with some of the responses we received. This led to even more comments and discussions.

And now the debate continues with this second edition.

We at the SCDLC do not necessarily agree with all of the ideas and opinions expressed here, but that’s not important. What is important is that everyone has an opportunity to express their ideas and can join the discussion.

None of us individually are as smart as all of us together and if we are to reform the Democratic party then everyone – and their ideas – must be heard.

It’s your turn... tell us what you think... email us

Stay tuned...

From an ‘Old Pro’
While I have spent my entire career in government arguing that government is not a business, I feel very strongly that the South Carolina Democratic Party is indeed a business and should be run as such. There is no room for our Party to not operate on a daily basis as a professional organization with goals, objectives and a strategic plan. We continue to respond to each election on an individual basis and start from square one every two years. If we are to survive at all, we must make the South Carolina Democratic Party a strong, viable and most importantly; professional business...

Ginger Crocker, Columbia
vcrocker@sc.rr.com

Another ‘Old Pro’ Offers Advice
After looking at the returns and talking with party leaders across the state, it is obvious that there was no significant "get out the vote" drive organized by the state party this past general election, as has been the custom for decades. This usually consists of phone bank operations, short-term field staff, the hiring of drivers and rental of vehicles for Election Day.

None of this happened this year, and I have had a lot of confirmation of this since the election. Our state and local candidates' campaigns sometimes kick-in to help raise the funds, which have been in the neighborhood of $300,000 in past general elections, but no one took the lead and made it happen this year when the rest of the country was electing good Democratic candidates.

As a resulted our base vote dropped by 15% or more. Look at the returns yourselves. It explains the loss of great candidates like Robert Barber, Drew Theodore, Grady Patterson who could have won if our party leaders had done their jobs.

Finally, to respond to the good dialog from Linda, Marie-Louise and Nikki, (see Three Women email discussion in #1) I have almost always found that women make the best challengers and best incumbents as Democratic candidates because they can connect with more independent voters about reforming public education and health care and, they almost always work much harder in campaigns than male candidates.

So the road map to success in two years is right in front of us.

Bud Ferillo, Columbia
CTFJr@aol.com

From A New SC House Member
I read with interest the comments coming from so many Democrats from around the state. They all have valid points. Now it is up to the party to transfer some of the concerns of so many people into reality.

Let us not wait until three months out from an election to start planning and organizing this big state. There are many issues/concerns that need to be dealt with and they cannot be resolve three months out from any election.

What are we going to do with the women population in this state? They must be involved, they vote, and they give, they participate and they organize, but have been left them out of the picture.

How are we going to harness the interest of Black folk and not wait until three days out to put money, "on the streets" and expect Black folk to turn out in numbers?

What about the "faith community", nobody has mentioned that piece of the puzzle, which is a major piece in both parties?---The faith community has been left out of the Democratic mix for so many years, whereby the Republicans have taken advantage of this population and the value/moral issues of this state. They have become the moral voice of both parties. We have allowed them to dictate the issues for discussion.

THE PROCESS OF ELECTING DEMOCRATS IN THIS STATE MUST BEGIN RIGHT NOW...

Terry Alexander, Florence, House District 59
ber2mat@aol.com

New Precinct Project
Although the recent election included a few bright spots for Democrats, it should have provided another wake up call that we cannot sit idly by, hoping that things will improve on their own. That is not going to happen. From my perspective it has become painfully clear that we are losing the war in the trenches.

We have not engaged at the grassroots level by doing the hard work that it takes to organize precincts. I have lived in several states during my lifetime and I must say that SC is the only one in which I have seen such precinct neglect. Precinct organization can engage people at every income level and can provide a way for them to become actively involved in the party process even though they may have nothing to contribute to the cause but time and specific skills.

Time and skills provide as much value as money, yet money seems to be the overriding asset that we pursue above all else. Why would people want to contribute money, even if they have it, if they don't know who their Democratic leaders or neighbors may be, what the Democratic Party believes in, or how they can become an important ingredient to the success of the party without always being asked to open their pocketbooks? I firmly believe that this is the reason Republicans keep beating us up and beating us down. They are organized at the precinct level; we are not.

How many more defeats must we suffer before we finally GET IT?

Carol Dodson, Columbia
cdodson7@yahoo.com

Tax Cuts and Off-shore Drilling
I think some of the following would go a long way toward elevating South Carolina. The Democratic Party should:
•Eliminate Real Estate Taxes For The Elderly (over 65 Years of age)
•Eliminate Vehicle Personal Property Taxes, (remove the $300 cap)
•Enact meaningful Impact fees to cover actual costs, ie; if a new development will bring costs of $1,000,000 for a school district for 100 new homes- then the minimum Impact Fee would be $10000 for those who are "Newcomers" to the state, residents who move from one county to another would pay impact fees, an exception should be granted to those Over 65 and who have no children.
•Allow drilling for oil off of the coast of South Carolina as long as the state gets them revenue from the drilling. (this is coming, either now or later, we need to get in front of it).
•The so-called Educational Lottery money should be redirected to grade/elementary schools. It does no good if someone cannot get a high school diploma.

Carl Corvin, Summerville
sammon42@juno.com

Three Women’s Comments and the Democratic Party
In the first edition of Your Ideas and Comments, we published a lively email discussion among three women from Charleston. This comment is in response:

Steadfast devotion and genuine concern for public interest was expressed perfectly by Linda Ketner’s continuous emphasis on the phrase, “They weren’t afraid.” When I read this, I literally sat back in amazement. Somebody finally said it. Fear is holding back progress and political achievement by women in every state. At issue is, afraid of what? Who is afraid and what are the fears? The very fact that only three women had the temerity to speak out in a public forum is evidence that our voices are subdued. I know women care about the issues so why only three female voices?

As a member of the Richland County Democratic Women, led this year by the completely fearless Margaret Feagin, this exact topic has been the subject of many conversations. Women are afraid to speak out and men are afraid of what women might say. It upsets the status quo, the comfort zone where men, and many women I might add, like to reside. It’s a national, cultural illness.

After years of working on campaigns, from local to national levels, I finally came to understand the fundamental truth about voters, my painful “Aha Moment.” Women do not support women in an election. Women may say they will, they may even contribute financially, but when it comes down to being alone in the voting booth, women give away their power to male candidates. Of course, this assumes that there is even a female candidate on the ballot. And it all boils down to fear and years of cultural molding not to create controversy or not to “be different.” Difference and disparity are the cornerstones of the creation of the United States of America. When and how did we contract amnesia?
More

Connie Green, Columbia
cygreensc@yahoo.com

More on The Three Women’s Discussion and SC Democratic Party
I read the conversation among Charleston women with great interest and agree with most of it.

I must point out, though, that there is a difference between the SCDLC, which is not an official part of the Democratic Party and has just 2 -4 women on its board, and the SC Democratic Party, which like the national party and Democratic Parties in every state divides its state executive committee, delegate slots, etc, equally between men and women.

Carol Khare Fowler, Columbia
carol@fowlercommunications.com

Big Ideas for Education in South Carolina
Michael Wukela has developed a policy paper entitled Re-thinking Public Education: A Plan to Define the Education Debate for Democrats on what he thinks needs to be done to dramatically improve education in the Palmetto state. Below is the introduction:

If the Democratic Party can be defined in a single philosophy, it is the fundamental and essential equality of all and few enterprises more completely embody this philosophy than the institution of public education. As a result, public education has long been the cornerstone of our platform here in South Carolina as well as nationally.

Unfortunately, we have allowed the education debate to devolve into a financial question. We argue for increased school funding while our opponents argue that more money is not the answer.

This is not a debate that we can win and our continued participation is costing us both elections and credibility.

We must go beyond these questions and offer the people a vision of public education that goes beyond budget allocations and property taxes, that goes beyond drop-out rates and Pact testing.

We must offer an overhaul of our state’s entire public education philosophy and set a goal for our state and for ourselves that clearly draws the line between “for” and “against” leaving no room for fence sitting; a goal reminiscent of an ambitious pledge to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade prompting our opponents to criticize us as doe-eyed idealists.

Let us propose a 10-year plan that guarantees state university admission for any student who graduates from a South Carolina public high school.
Full Text

Michael Wukela, Florence
michael@wukela.us

White Voters and Race
We (need to) determine why southerners in the lower level of the income scale still vote Republican. We must get the message out that we represent them better as well as the middle class. The Republicans have duped them. Is it racism?

We must win back the poor and middle class southerners. There are more people working minimum wage in SC and (they) stay there. The blacks stay Democrat, but feel that they have no voice. The poor whites stay at low pay and continue to vote Republican. They just don't know why other than not being like the blacks or the Yankees.

Kenneth Curran, Florence
kcurran41@aol.com