Still confused as to how the Repubs couldn't figure out that Eck didn't even live in district?!?!  But I'm not complaining.  If only the DFL could've won the mayoral race.....

A media based organization is what the Dems have relied on in the past. And lets face it, TV ads, even good ones, don't exactly win races. In all fairness, they may make close races easier to win and put our guys over the top.

Let me address the concern about people based organizations not being as profitable as media based organizations. I personally don't believe we've seen the true fudraising potential of a truly organized base. I strongly believe that if the base of the Democratic Party is organized precinct by precinct, county by county, and state by state, and if we put them all on recurring donor programs (like Democracy Bonds) we will raise tremendous amounts of money. That amount will be far larger than what a media based organization can raise. Also, the donation amounts in a recurring donor program are constantly coming in month after month. They're not one lump sum that is spent instantly.

Read more about recurring donor programs at my blog:

http://reformfloridasdecs.blogspot.com

You make the claim "There's a fight right now in the party between organizer-based political operatives and media-based political operatives."  What is the nature of this "fight" and how is it playing itself out?  How is it playing itself out in Minnesota?

What evidence do you have for the existance of this "fight" in Minnesota?

I frame your claim differently.  There are two legacies at work in Minnesota:  the Wellstone Legacy (which has as its focus the grass roots campaign) and the McGovern Legacy (which focus on the grass roots party).  

Today's DFL is not a grass roots party.  As a organization, it is largely disfunctional.  (This is evidenced by the fact that despite the talk of grass roots involvement, many or most DFL District are largely inactive and have not been able to nurture any kind of organization at the precinct or neighborhood levels (in many districts, precinct chairs are largely non-existant the day after caucus).  Many district (and county chairs) are concerned about this problem, but they do not the resources -- including a support group -- to nurture the party at the local precinct and neighborhood level.  The DFL Party leadership seems to have neglected their "gardening" responsibilies all together and rather have focused their attentions providing support for campaigns  (the party has also served as a rompa-room for DFL factionalism wherein candidates seeking endorsement and their supporters slice-and-dice one another badly, leaving political wounds that do not easily heal).

There have been an influx of "organizer-based political operatives" into the DFL at the district and county levels, but despite their grass roots  rhetoric, many of these enlightened souls seem more interested in having influence on or as a part of the DFL Central Committee rather than helping nurture progressive political community at the local precinct leve.

So much for the McGovern Legacy -- there is no grass roots party in Minneosta.

So what about the Wellstone Legacy (and its living legacy, Camp Wellstone)?  There are a number of problems here.  First, this legacy is of the grass roots campaign and winning elections.  That is the focus.  It is not on nurturing progressive politcal community at the local level -- though graduates of Camp Wellsonte (and members of a campaign) are often remain in contact with one another.  The problem is that (a) after the campaign is over, the organization withers (b) the campaign is candidate focused and (c) organizer-based opporatives of today (unlike the populists of the the post civil war Minnnesota Anti-Monopoly or of the Farmer's Alliance Party and People's Party of the 1890's) have not show much interest in growing the party at the precinct  or township levels.  If I am correct, one of the problems that the DFL faces is that  that  fact, many organizer-based opporatives take little or no interest in helping to grow a vibrant DFL wherein there is a active network of progressive leaning residents in each and every precinct.  The fact of the matter is that in many, many precincts, the precicnt chair cannot even identify 10 to 20 activists, and in fact, in many districts, the district chair cannot even identify more than a handful of active precinct chairs.  

Where is the strength of the DFL, if not in the party.  I would agrue that its strenght is largely in the elected representatives whose own campaigns have both undermined and become a cruch for a disfunctional DFL Party.  It it is these elected representatives -- through their DFL Campaign Committee that provided the organizational support that was required for victory in St. Cloud. I would suggest that it is these representatives -- who understand the art of practical politics -- will provide the functional leaders for the DFL Party in 2006.  I would suggests that these leaders will rechannel some of the enegry of the political operatives into a DFL Precinct Revitalization Initiative.  

Matt,I would agrue that at present, both factions (the organizer-based political operatives and the media-based political operatives) are responsible for the "organizational root rot" that undermines grass roots gardening efforts within the DFL.  The  organizers seem to be much to focus on "harvesting votes" instead of tending to the date to date grunt work of tending to the precincts.  

You seem to have a very different perspective.  Do you think the DFL is a health organization?   If so, in what ways?  Or do you believe that (unlike the populists of the past) we don't really need a healthy progressive party to be successful at the polls?

Sorry to go on for so long.  This is my first post.  Hope I didn't violate any protocol.

PS My critical views of my DFL obviously do not represent the offical views of the DFL and those associated with it.

Stephen
SD 60 DFL Program Chair
grassrootsminnesota@hotmail.com

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