For the third straight year, I was able to enjoy my birthday with the the Democratic National Committee as it met in Atlanta for three very hot and humid days (August 21-23). The word of the meeting was “turnout” as Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gave a great speech and the various caucus and councils discussed ways to get out the Democratic vote and win on November 4, 2014 (about 70 days from today) [one thing I learned is most people don’t know the date of the election. So tell them.] For 2016 Convention and Rules highlights see here. Non-rules highlights included the following:
- One of the best things about DNC meetings is the opportunity to talk to people from around the world (literally, we have a very active Democrats Abroad group) about their efforts, processes, and issues. There are a lot of great people to learn from.
- As I have said repeatedly before, we should shorten the caucus/council meetings and devote more time to sharing information among constituency groups and providing workshops on the technology, messaging, and voter expansion roles of the DNC. I learned a lot at the black caucus meeting, but many members could have benefited from insights of that and the other groups.
- The DNC’s voter expansion (beyond voter protection) project is going full steam and we in Virginia will be working closely with DNC staff on these initiatives (I will post more on this later).
- Part of the DNC voter expansion efforts is targetting Secretary of State races.
- These DNC meetings do an excellent job of highlighting the host state’s Democratic candidates and initiatives. A friend from law school who represents Georgia on the DNC was kind enough to invite me to a fundraiser for Jason Carter, and I was able to greet a very spry President Jimmy Carter and hear from Andy Young as well.
- The DNC adopted a number of issue and memorial resolutions (see below), including one honoring Mame Reiley (which is similar to the one we adopted in Virginia). The meeting also featured a short video honoring Mame, Bob Strauss (featuring Terry McAuliff), and DNC staffer Geneva Jones. We definately missed Mame at this meeting.
- I attended an event at Alanta’s brand-new National Center for Civil and Human Rights and was able to tour the museum with fellow Va. DNC member George Wallace, which was a special experience.
- DWS announced that the DNC had reduced its debt from $18M last year to $2M (none of it bank debt), and it has been outraising the RNC. All those funds will go to good use in helping to hold the US Senate, increase seats in the House, and win more Governor’s offices.
- The DNC Labor Council held its first meeting.
- Rev. Bernice King was able to work the Atlanta Falcons into her benediction.
- I visited Zoo Atlanta and saw Mei Lun and Mei Huan – the twins are one month older than Bao Bao. The Zoo also has an incredible Gorilla area. See Agenda below.
DNC Summer 2014 Meeting - Agenda (370.7 KiB, 1,718 hits) DNC Summer 2014 - Resolutions (310.0 KiB, 1,461 hits)
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve on the DNC. For more frequent updates, follow me on twitter @demrulz.