First a disclaimer. I am a DPG State Committee member, though one whose law school exams will likely put a damper on his voting ability come December. That having been said, I have heard arguments on both sides of the coin (some of which I will expound upon below), and I understand everything that people are saying. Frankly, at the moment, I’m undecided, because the plan that I personally think is the best is one that will likely not be adopted (again, below). So, having said all of that, I expect a friendly, respectful debate to occur.
For those of you that are just tuning in, there is a proposal on the table that would allow County Parties (and possibly individual State Committee members?) to endorse in Democratic primaries. This plan has evidently been handed down by the DNC, and has gotten both praise and consternation. I’m sort of in the middle. I think the idea behind the plan is good, but the implementation could be a disaster. Rather than try to wow you all with my impeccable prose, I’ll just list the pros and cons, as I see them.
Pros
- Given that, both nationally and locally, we have seen an influx of “fake Democrats” running, which requires both more effort and money on the part of good, real Democrats, endorsements may be able to help weed out the fakes from the reals
- Our State Committee and County Party members may be empowered with some real power
- Though we love our incumbents, there are surely some of them who are neither active in the community nor with the county party. This sort of plan will force incumbents to stay active, rather than relying on the (i) next to their name to carry them to the next victory.
Cons
- This could and likely would allow for endorsements in races between two “good Democrats,” which would likely cause infighting unnecessarily, and possibly turn a non-endorsed winning Democrat against the party
- Unfortunately, there are some people who may not make smart endorsements, and the weeding out of the fake/bad Democrats may be for naught
- Do we State Committee members really want to have candidates calling us constantly for our endorsements?
So, all of that having been said, I’ve been musing on how we can solve the pros by avoiding the cons. The idea I spit out isn’t exactly user-friendly, and frankly there are problems with them. But ultimately, to me, we do need to have a mechanism in place to ensure that fake Democrats are SOL from the start. The fact is, having the “real Democrat” put on a mailer “Johnny Republican isn’t a real Democrat! He’s an SR on Votebuilder!” will probably not resonate with a single voter, less us nerds that know what Votebuilder is. Having the County Parties be able to publicly support the true blue Democrat is necessary, in my opinion.
Basically my plan is as follows (rationale is in italics):
- Only County Parties, and not individual State Committee members, will have the ability to endorse in inter-party primaries. That having been said, individual State Committee members can endorse the same individual as their County Party, if they so choose, assuming that the County Party makes an endorsement. A SC member may opt not to endorse as well, but he or she may not endorse someone that their County Party does not (note: this does not except a County Party from endorsing more than one candidate). This will prevent a “rogue State Committee member” from simply making an endorsement, especially against the better judgment of the majority of the Democratic Party.
- The means by which a County Party may endorse is by a 4/5 vote of the voting body (however that may be defined in the individual county). All State Committee members from that county must have the opportunity to vote. This would allow for endorsements only in situations as described above, where a “fake Democrat” is running, or that one of the candidates is so egregious (perhaps someone with severe past criminal or ethical conduct) that they should be distinguished from the other, better candidate. Such a high threshold will ensure that endorsements are only made in such situations.
- County Parties may only make endorsements in local, non-federal races. In other words, County Parties may not endorse for President, Senator, any statewide races (such as Governor), or Congress. However, if the Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Committee so allows (by means of a majority vote), a County Party may endorse a Congressional candidate. The State Party, however, may make endorsements in such races, through similar methods. We want to avoid, at all costs, messy, inter-party fighting. Normally, when we see primaries in any of the above-listed offices, there are at least two qualified Democrats running. The last thing we want to see is a County Party, its leadership, or its members fight because they rightfully disagree on their personal choice for one of those offices. Furthermore, statewide offices should be the propriety of the State Party, so if the State Party does not want to endorse, it should not be allowable for County Parties to endorse.
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