A Call for True Believers

Qualifying for state and local Democratic party positions opens today across Louisiana and the future of the party is riding on who among us will step forward to lead the effort to build this party.

Build is right word because there has never really been a Democratic Party in Louisiana. There has been a Democratic banner under which candidates have run for office, but there has never been much of anything resembling an actual party organization. There have been factions and organizations built around personalities, but there has not been a party organization per sé.

That is one reason why the Louisiana Democratic Party is in shambles today. It has never been more than a device to aid in the election of the top Democrat on the ticket in any particular election year. This year, there was no Democrat at the top of a statewide ticket — in fact, there was not a statewide ticket. There were House and Senate caucuses that managed to stave off Republican efforts to win veto-proof majorities in the Legislature, but there was no party behind any of those efforts. The state party was a mailing permit and a checking account.

This is just what the party was in 2010, only this time there were no statewide Democratic candidates on the ballot that could in any way be considered to have been standards bearers of what passed for the party this year.

The qualifying that opens today provides the opening to begin to change that.

The 210 seats on the State Central Committee are open for qualifying as are the 986 or so seats on the various parish Democratic Executive Committees.

These are the bodies charged with building and maintaining the party at the state and local levels. Based on the results over the last four years, the leadership at the state level has been an abject failure. That failure has many sources, but none more glaring than the fact that the party has not appeared to stand for anything; or, if it did, it could not articulate it. As a result, the party sat in silence as what passed for public policy debates took place (can there really be a debate when only one side is talking?).

For the Democratic Party to have a future in this state, we need committed Democrats to turn out at Clerk of Courts offices across the state and qualify to fill those state and parish party committee seats.

But, not just any Democrats need apply.

What we need now are true believers. Democrats who burn with a passion for our party and its principles (see "What It Means To Be A Democrat" for some ideas). Democrats who stand ready to build a political organization that will provide the boots on the ground for Democratic candidates at the local, state and federal levels. Democrats who will fight the Republican assault on working families, minorities, teachers, public employees and others rather than seek an accommodation with those who are out to dismantle the essential public services that are the pathways to social mobility in this state and this country.

We need zealous Democrats to turn out to qualify for these positions, run strong Democratic campaigns for those seats, and then to engage in the work of party building after those elections are settled in March.


In the church that is the Democratic Party, the state central committee and the parish executive committees are akin to the clergy. They are the keepers of the flame of the party, where the passion must be the greatest and the belief must be the strongest. Why? Because the members of those respective committees swear oaths of office to promote and build the Democratic Party in this state.

As in religions, there are many levels of faith and conviction in our party as is the case in other political organizations.

But, when it comes to party committees, the job calls for the efforts to be focused on building the party and advancing its mission — not in finding middle ground with our opponents.

That is the work of elected officials who serve in the Legislature and other government positions.

We need to look no further than our opponents to catch a glimpse of what the role of party organizations are relative to elected officials — parties put the stake in the ground on issues; elected officials find the middle ground that is somewhere inside of where their party put that stake. One problem with our side is that our party has not put often enough and thus ceded the defining of the terms of the argument (the framing, if you will) to the other side. A result of that has been a radicalization of the other side because not enough of their crazy ideas have been challenged.

Democrats who care about the future of this state, who care about the future of the middle class here, about access to public education, about access to public services, about the ability of their children to find rewarding and challenging work in this state, need to commit to at least four years of work aimed at protecting those things that encompass what we have long stood for as a party and as a people.

We need you to turn out to qualify. We need you to commit your time, effort, and creativity to the task of building a political organization that can first stem, then turn the tide of greed-driven anti-social behavior that masquerades as public policy that spews like an uncapped gusher from our opponents in the party that now appears dominant in our state.

We did not get in this mess overnight. We won't get out of it overnight either. But, if we commit to work harder and smarter to reverse this we can, because as a great American once said, "the arc of moral universe is long but it bends towards justice."

If you're ready to fight for your party and your state, go qualify for a party position this week — and let's get to work!

What It Means To Be A Democrat

 (This is a speech delivered at the Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee's fourth annual Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet which was held on October 6, 2011. I got to deliver the speech by virtue of the fact I was the Democratic candidate for Lafayette City-Parish President.)

There are a lot of people thinking about this these days, particularly in our state and in our parish. Our state party was not able to field a single well-funded candidate for statewide office this year. The so-called smart money has abandoned us. Republicans have achieved the kind of dominance on the state level that some in this room have come to accept to here in Lafayette.

While conventional wisdom has it that these are bad times to be a Democrat, I believe we are exactly where we need to be in order to put our party in working order. There is no recognizable advantage to being a Democrat, so the opportunists have left us for greener pastures.

Clearly, for our party, the time has come to get back to basics. With most of the deadwood out of the way, we can now get down to the work of rebuilding our party.

In preparing for this speech, I went back to the very basics, starting with the root word “demos” in an effort to understand literally what it means to be a democrat.

The dictionary defines “demos” as being the common people of an ancient Greek state.

But, in the centuries since it originated, Demos has come to mean “the common people” in any political unit.

That form of government based on the notion of power flowing from the consent of the governed is called Democracy. Again, based on demos.

Democracy is defined as government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

The United States and Canada are democracies, although there are some in our own country who are working hard to restrict the right to participate in our elections. They are anti-democratic in both the little “D” and big “D” meanings of the word.

Democracy is also defined as a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. That is, there is only one set of rules that we all agree to play by and that those rules produce a level playing field where your chances for success rest at least as much on what you know as  who you know.

There can be no privileged class in a democracy. We are all equal in terms of rights, duties and privileges.

So, demos is the common people. Democracy is rule by the common people, in a place having free elections, and where people have equality based on rights and privileges.

A democrat is an advocate of democracy.

That is, a Democrat is a person who believes in the political or social equality of all people.

We know this is an accurate definition, because for the past five decades in the South, our friends in the other party have used our commitment to equality as a wedge to turn some people away from our party. It worked so well on race, that our friends in the other party have tried to turn our support for equality for women, gays and others into wedges that they can use not just here but across the country.

In Louisiana, a state where we have 32% African American population and 37% total minority population, this tactic has worked to some extent, but has no long term chances for success here, so long as we remain true to our roots.

Our party, you might have read, no longer constitutes more than 50% of all registered voters in the state. We’ve known for a long time that not all people who are registered as Democrats actually support or event vote for Democrats.

The key to rebuilding our party is to embrace who we are and to run with it.

That is, to return to our great Democratic tradition of standing up for equality for all people. We stand for equality for women, for African Americans, for Asians, for Hispanics. We stand for equality of gays. We stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. The poor. The elderly. The infirm.

But also for the people who are the foundation upon which the wealth of this nation was built and continues to be produced. The people who build our roads; who clean our schools and offices; the people who wash those fancy cars; who mow those beautiful lawns; who work two or three jobs to ensure that the lives of their kids will be better than their own; those who teach our children; who work in the oil patch; those people who work countless hours trying to turn their small businesses into a bigger one.

Standing up for those people is the work that once defined us as a party. And that history shows the way up off the canvass and back into the fight.

Our friends in the other party like to defend the people they call “the job creators.” Fair enough — although they don't seem to be doing it very well now. But, let’s call the hard working people that we defend by their true name — They are the wealth creators. Nothing more and damned sure nothing less. These are our people — The people Democrats need to stand up for, to defend, to protect and to champion.

It is the work that we were called into being to do. It is the work upon which our future depends. If this is work that you are not willing to do, then you’re in the wrong party.

This is the work that makes calling ourselves Democrats meaningful. I'm Mike Stagg and this is what being a Democrat means to me — and I hope to you, as well.

Laying Claim to Louisiana

 

Progressives and Democrats from across Louisiana will gather in Alexandria on Saturday, August 27, to unite behind a strategy to plug grassroots activists into Democratic legislative campaigns this fall.

The event -- "Laying Claim to Louisiana"-- is the first part of a 500-day strategy to renew and revitalize the Louisiana Democratic Party and change the course of electoral politics in the state.

At the core of the strategy is the belief that all politics is local and that the key to renewing the state party is to harness the enthusiasm and passion of Democratic activists who have been motivated and engaged primarily by national campaigns and national issues.

The organizers of the event include officers and members of the Louisiana Democratic Party at the state and parish levels, traditional Democratic constituencies, and the in-state leaders of organizations active in national Democratic campaigns.

The goal is to build a new, working coalition that begins with electoral politics but extends beyond that into joint work on legislative and public policy issues.

The redistricting process completed earlier this year by the Legislature provides a new map from which the leadership of the Louisiana Democratic Party will be elected next year (qualifying is in early December). The state party leadership is going to change because the legislative map has changed.

We will plug in these activists into that new map to bring new vitality and energy into the state party through the election of members to the state party central committee, as well as to parish Democratic executive committees. The aim is to utilize the structure of the Democratic Party to channel the efforts and enthusiasm of the activist base into Louisiana state and local politics. We want to build a functioning political party that can provide resources, technical skills, and people to help Democratic candidates win election across the state.

It's a model that has been shown to work for Democratic parties in other states. Hell, it's worked for the Republican Party in Louisiana.

The election calendar provides the road map to guide this effort. The October 22 primary election and the November 18 runoff provide great opportunities for activists to connect with Democratic legislators and their allies to help those legislators stave off the attacks coming at them from Republicans led by David Vitter and Bobby Jindal.

Many of the activists who have been drawn to politics by national campaigns have not been as active in Louisiana politics. They have been turned off by Democrats who tended to run 'Republican-lite' campaigns. The exodus from the party of many of those candidates combined with the explicit targeting of Democrats by Vitter and his operatives, Democratic candidates must now follow the model of their Republican peers and understand that winning campaigns begin by securing their base — not in trying to themselves from it.

In Alexandria, there will be a list of targeted races presented where activists will be asked to help Democrats win election. That cooperation can serve as the springboard to greater cooperation between the activist wing of the party and legislators who, prior to this year, tended to operate independent campaigns with little or no regard for party.

The explicit external threat posed by Vitter's Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority has produced a willingness to engage the party's activist base among Democratic legislators that did not heretofore exist.

That opportunity to cooperate shows the path forward for the entire party, not just the legislators.

The entire 500-day plan will be discussed in detail in Alexandria. Keynote speaker Melissa Harris-Perry will put our fight in the national context of other fights in places like Wisconsin and Ohio (the same anti-labor, anti-women, anti-democratic forces at work there, are working with Vitter and Jindal here).

The days of Democrats being able to hide their party label are over -- Vitter and the Republicans have seen to that. The path forward is to embrace to our party. We are the only multi-racial, pro-middle class, pro-education, pro-small business party in our state.

If we lay claim to our party, we can once again lay claim to our state.

See you in Alexandria on Saturday!

St. Martin Parish Democrats Get Out the Facts on Health Care Reform

The St. Martin Parish Democratic Executive Committee will run this 30-second spot on Cox Cable's Eastern Acadiana System through the end of October.

It was a pleasure to work with these committed Democrats!

A Smear Campaign! I'm honored!!!

Tonight, someone hiding behind the nom de plume "Michael Hahn" circulated an email alleging that I contributed to Republican Woody Jenkins' campaign in the 6th Congressional District. The email contained the image you see above, which purports to be a money order that I sent to the Jenkins campaign.

There is no doubt that Jenkins got the money. But the money did not come from me.

I have never voted for a Republican — nor ever contributed to a Republican campaign.

This is a smear campaign.

I guess this is my official welcome into Louisiana Democratic Party politics.

Thanks, "Mr. Hahn," for the honor!

To Build the Party, Close the Primary!

The following is the text of an email I sent to the members of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee today regarding changing current party rules on who gets to vote in our party primaries in the upcoming federal elections. The research on voter registration that I did for this piece led me to make this call to limit voting in our party primary to registered Democrats only.

Dear Fellow Democrat,

I am writing you today on a matter of great urgency to our party.

As you know, qualifying for the federal election cycle is early this year due in no small part to the fact that — for the first time in decades — Louisiana will use party primaries to determine the nominees of the two major parties who will face each other in the Senate and Congressional races in the November 4 presidential election.

There will be one major difference in the way Louisiana Democrats and Republicans choose our respective nominees: Republicans will choose their nominees in a party-only primary; Louisiana Democrats are going to have to compete with independents and others to determine who will represent our party in those November races.

Considering the substantial rebuilding work ahead of us, I believe it is a mistake to give people who have no allegiance to our party so much control over who represents us.

I am asking you to use your position as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee to call for the party to change its party primary participation rules before qualifying opens in July.

No laws need to be changed to change this rule. The decision to open the party primaries to non-Democrats was made last year, before you and I became officers in the Louisiana Democratic Party (I'm an elected member of the Lafayette Democratic Executive Committee).

There is no evidence that it reflects or complies with the views and wishes of the newly constituted DSCC because it has not been a matter for discussion at DSCC meetings — despite the impact it will have on our party in the upcoming federal elections.

Please call or email LDP Chairman Chris Whittington and LDP Executive Director Britton Loftin to convene the DSCC in emergency session within two to three weeks so that this topic can be thoroughly discussed, debated and decided.

This is too important a question and the stakes are too high for this to be left in the hands of the executive committee alone. It demands the attention and input of the largest organized body in the party and that is the Democratic State Central Committee.

Rebuilding our party means making being a Democrat mean something both for voters and for candidates. We saw some of that in the spring presidential primary when many non-Democrats learned that it took being a member of our party in order to vote for the most progressive candidates in the presidential field.

We have the opportunity in these federal elections (the only elections where party primaries are allowed under Louisiana law) to re-enforce that message by making clear to voters that if they want to have a chance to choose between the best candidates in the fields in the various congressional races this fall, they'll have to be members of our party in order to do so. I'm hoping there is no need for a party primary in the race for Senator Mary Landrieu's U.S. Senate seat.

Whatever benefits the party might gain by allowing others to control our federal candidate selection process is far outweighed by the costs this decision imposes on our party.

Opening our party primaries to non-Democrats dilutes the votes of our party's most reliable constituents and most ardent activists. It insults them and denigrates their loyalty to this party. Rather than dilute the impact of these party loyalists on our candidate selection process, our party should use these primaries to reward our base and our activists by giving them more — not less — influence over the processes that determine who will carry our party's standard in the general election. That's how you build a party!

I'm sure that we all sought office in the party in order to build it into the effective political operation that we have not seen in recent years. I believe that building our state party depends on building upon the efforts that we are making in our respective communities to build up our local party infrastructure.

When you signed up to run for a seat on the DSCC you were indicating your willingness and commitment to work to build this party; that you had some idea as to how that might be done. I don't believe you got elected in order to sit back and take orders out of Baton Rouge.

This is our party. This matter goes to the heart of rebuilding our party. Demand that you have your say in how this matter is decided!

Please call or email Chris Whittington and Britton Loftin today. Tell them you want Democrats to be the only voters to determine who will represent our party in the general election this fall. That can only happen if we restrict participation in our party primaries in September and October only to registered Democratic voters.

The current rule can be changed — and you can change it! This is our party!

The shortest path to rebuilding our party is to make being a Democrat matter again. That begins by letting Democrats decide who will represent us in the federal general election this fall.

Mike Stagg
At Large Member
Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee

P.S. I welcome your feedback on this issue.

LDP run by Scofflaws?

Is the Louisiana Democratic Party run by scofflaws?

It's beginning to look that way to me.

My March 27th post about the party's Congressional District Caucus elections not complying with state party by-laws did not prompt action by the party to correct the error. Instead, the leadership of the party worked to suppress the post from various moderated Democratic lists "for the good of the party." I've appealed those decisions, but party insiders who benefited from the tainted elections are part of the appeal process, so I'm not hopeful.

The March 27th post also prompted an after-hours phone call from the party chairman, which I missed. I responded to the call by placing a call to his law office the following day, but he did not respond.

So, on Monday, March 31, I composed a letter (PDF) formally calling on the chairman to call Congressional District Caucus elections in the manner called for in the by-laws. As the image of the letter on the right shows, I cc'd copies of the letter to several key officers of the party: the First Vice Chair; the Parliamentarian; the Legal Counsel; the Clerk; and the Executive Director.

The letter said:

Mr. Whittington:

This letter constitutes a formal call for you, as chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party (LDP), to enforce the party's by-laws with regard to the formation and election of leaders for the Congressional District Caucuses.

The March 15th elections of chairs for the LDP's Congressional District Caucuses do not comply with the processes specified in Section 17 of the LDP by-laws. Therefore, the people named as holding the 14 seats on the LDP Executive Committee linked to the election of chairs from the seven respective Congressional District Caucuses cannot be considered duly elected.

The number of seats in question (14) constitutes half of the Executive Committee of the party. The failure to provide for elections in compliance with the party by-laws for the Congressional District Caucuses undermines the credibility of the party. The failure to follow the by-laws in these elections also undermines the legitimacy of the Executive Committee and the credibility of its actions.

As a member of the party and as a duly elected member of Lafayette Parish Democratic Executive Committee, I call upon you, the other officers of the LDP Executive Committee, and your staff to follow the instructions provided in Section 17 of the by-laws to convene the Congressional District Caucuses and to then conduct the elections for the offices of the caucuses in compliance with Section 17.

This is not about personalities; it is about process.

Adhering to clearly delineated party processes as specified in the party Constitution and By-Laws builds confidence in the party's systems and legitimacy for the party itself.

Sincerely
Mike Stagg

I mailed the letter to the chairman via certified mail with a signed return receipt (PDF). The image on the right is the receipt for payment of the service and the signed proof of receipt that was returned to me today (April 3).

As the March 27th post explained, this is a matter of "shall" dictating party actions at one point in the March 15th meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee but that same "shall" being declared optional later in the meeting.

This is the very kind of opportunism that created the notion that the LDP is a club operated by party insiders for the benefit of party insiders.

Duly elected LDP officials have been formally notified that the Congressional District Caucus elections held on March 15th do not comply with party by-laws and, therefore, are not valid. They have no excuse for not enforcing those by-laws.

The party website indicates no change in the status of those seated via those invalid elections.

Is the party leadership committed to building the party, as they say? Or, are they scofflaws who can only gain power through manipulation of party processes?

This is not about personalities. A number of the people claiming those 14 seats are friends and acquaintances. It is about building a true party that operates transparently in a manner that builds trust and confidence in party institutions among the members.

So, far, the LDP's leadership is failing this test.

Where I've Been

As some may have noticed, I have not made a post since the March 15 election of officers for the Louisiana Democratic Party. It was a bitterly disappointing day. Not just because my candidate for party chair lost, but also because of the manner in which the meeting was conducted.

In short, it is clear that the people who currently run the Louisiana Democratic Party are people who believe that elections are charades to be tolerated on the path to pre-determined outcomes.

On at least three occasions since that meeting I decided to leave the party because I did not feel it was worth the effort of working to save it from its own bad instincts. I talked myself out of it the first time. Friends talked me out of it on the other two occasions.

A factor in the process of deciding to stay was the matter of what I would do if I did stay. I decided I would not stay if I did not believe I could continue to work to change the party.

Despite all the anger I felt after the March 15th LDP meeting, the basic fact is that there is a core group of people on the state central committee and in the parish executive committees who are committed to the longer fight of transforming this party. I decided that my desire to be part of that effort was stronger than the revulsion I felt as a result of the lies, betrayal, and opportunism displayed by people I once respected.

So, I've decided to say and fight.

Let's get at it!

Donald Cravins, Sr., for LDP Chair

In order to be able to seize an opportunity, one must first recognize it.

The Louisiana Democratic Party, just a few months away from a pretty dismal showing in statewide elections, has before it the opportunity to re-invent and re-invigorate itself this year thanks to developments in national party politics to which Louisiana Democrats have already contributed significantly.

The opportunity is not only to re-elect our senior United States Senator and retain our two congressional seats, but to take at least two more congressional seats away from Republicans and place Louisiana firmly back in the Democratic column where it belongs.

In order to seize those opportunities, we cannot play defense. Democrats must be on the offensive, using what will likely be a highly energized party base — with Barack Obama as the national party standard bearer — to re-establish Democratic control of our congressional delegation and to lay the ground work for retaking control of state government in the elections of 2011.

Why We Have Fallen
Louisiana Democrats don't need another voter registration program. What we need is a party and candidates that address and respond effectively to the needs of our core coalition. That coalition is the historic Democratic coalition of African Americans, women and wage earners that dominated Louisiana politics in the last half of the 20th Century.

We must become again the party that stands up for the interests of the men and women who, as Bill Clinton famously put it, "get up every day, go to work and play by the rules." Too often in recent years, Democratic candidates have tried to pass themselves off as "Republican-lite," running campaigns calculated to make them look like Republicans. That might have worked during the open primary days, but the days of that system have already ended in federal elections and are probably numbered at the state level as well.

Party matters. Principle matters. Stand for something or fall for anything. Too often of late, Democrats have been unwilling or unable to say what it is they stand for. "Winning elections" is not an answer to that question; in fact, as we've seen, if this is the answer given the likelihood of actually winning goes down.

Democrats believe that there must be social justice if there is to be social peace.

We believe in the right to a decent living in exchange for work. We believe in the fundamental dignity of our fellow citizens; that every American and every Louisianan has rights and duties as citizens and that it is the availability of those rights and our acceptance of those duties that constitutes the fundamental exchange upon which our success as a country has been and must be built.

We believe that every citizen has the right to a good education that will enable each of us to fully develop the talents that we have inherent in us.

We believe that every citizen has the right to affordable healthcare regardless of their ability to pay.

We believe that we are stewards of this earth and that a fair measure of the value of that stewardship is the quality of the world we turn over to our children and future generations. That means we must care for the environment, but also take care that our social and civic institutions, our communities, and our government nourish and enrich our culture so that the better angels of our being can be called forth to meet the challenges of the day.

We believe in the audacity of hope.

This Great Struggle
We are all participants in a great struggle between freedom and oppression, fear and hope, generosity and greed that is taking place across the planet. The struggle is not new. It has been going on for as long as people have been on this earth.

It is, perhaps, more sharply drawn on the national level where a string of Democratic candidates for president have articulated platforms and programs that have had the unifying trait of being fundamentally optimistic and appealing to America's steadfast hope for the future.

That hope has trickled down into Louisiana. It inspired record turnout in the February presidential preference primary. And that hope is coiling like a might spring waiting to be unleashed to send America bounding on a new course and the challenge facing Louisiana Democrats today is to capture the energy that has been unleashed here, yes, to win elections — but not only just to win elections!

The opportunity that Louisiana Democrats have today is to capture that coiled energy that is fired by candidates at the national level and focus enough of it inward into Louisiana so that we can remake our party and, in the process, our state.

Louisiana Democrats lose elections when they don't give voters compelling reasons to vote for them; when they don't inspire voters; when they don't draw sharp enough distinctions between themselves and their Republican opposition.

If Louisiana Democrats are going to tap the energy that these national campaigns have injected into our core constituencies, our party must align itself with the issues, interests, and themes that have fired that energy and hope.

We must return to being the party of the people. We must regain the understanding that well-financed campaigns devoid of principles produce candidates who don't stir the base and who don't inspire voter loyalty.

I'm not saying that money is not important. Money is essential to successful campaigns. But, what this historic moment fired by inspirational candidates focused on messages of change presents Louisiana Democrats, is the opportunity to remake our party in the image of the most successful of these campaigns — a tech-savvy party built on the passion of grassroots activists, fueled by small but steady donors and by heavy hitting contributors.

This is the model Howard Dean's campaign created in 2004. It's the model he's taken to the Democratic National Committee. It's the model that Democrats across the country used to win 'un-winnable' congressional elections in 2006. And, it's the model upon which the Obama and John Edwards campaigns employed successfully this election cycle.

The Leader We Need
Louisiana Democrats need a leader who is a match for the times; who recognizes the historic opportunity before us; and who is up to the challenge that we now confront.

The 2007 statewide elections marked the end of several political eras in Louisiana with the retirement (forced and otherwise) of a number of long-time Democratic leaders. A new generation of Democratic leaders is set to emerge; leaders unburdened by the past failures (perceived or real) of previous Democratic leaders. These new leaders deserve — and will need — a new Democratic Party that can work with them to advance the Democratic agenda.

In order to do this, the party needs new leadership, committed to a new business model for the party. One that will operate it as a party and not a club. A party open to activists and donors alike. The party needs a leader committed to bringing the activist base and the big donor base — "the streets" and "the suites" — together into a single, unified, powerful organization.

We need a leader with the experience and insight to see the big picture and grasp the significant detail. We need a leader who is both tough and smart who sees the potential of this party and who is committed to turning that potential into reality.

I believe we need Donald Cravins, Sr., to be the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.

Why Donald Cravins Sr.?
Donald Cravins, Sr., is nobody's fool.

He's served in the Legislature in both the House and the Senate, and is now serving his first term as mayor of the City of Opelousas. He was in the insurance business for a number of years, running agencies that bore his name in Opelousas and Lafayette. His son Donald Jr. now serves in the Louisiana Senate.

Throughout his career, Donald Cravins has always run grassroots campaigns. He has built campaigns from the bottom up and, in the process, cultivated new leaders who have now emerged onto the scene in St. Landry and Lafayette parishes.

He's a fighter who doesn't like to lose. He's got a keen sense for strategy and tactics.

He knows Louisiana politics from a position that only a few do — as a candidate and as an officeholder.

Donald Cravins was not looking to run for this seat. The opportunity came to him.

I had lunch with his brother Charles several weeks ago in Opelousas. I had requested the meeting because I felt that there was something missing the conversations then taking place about the chairmanship. What was missing were the voices of Louisiana's African American political leaders. I got to know Charles a bit during my 2006 congressional race.

At that lunch meeting in Opelousas, I explained to Charles what — to me — appeared to be missing in the conversation about the chairmanship. We discussed the just-passed presidential primary, the coming federal elections and the possibilities that the fall election presented to Democrats.

I explained my view that I believed the party was faced with a poor choice for chairmanship because the major candidates were essentially a replay of the election that took place two years ago. In my view, that re-run quality ignored the work that many Democratic activists have done in and for the party since that earlier election.

Charles asked me if I was interested in the job. I told him that some people had discussed it with me but that I was a realist and recognized that a successful candidate would have to have more standing in the party than I have.

He then asked me, "Is this a job that you think Donald could do?"

And it hit me. Not only is this a job that Donald Cravins could do — he is the ideal person for the job!

Charles talked with the mayor about the job and told me later that day that Donald was willing to have his name mentioned as a potential candidate.

The response has been both as I expected and surprising. It has been as I expected in that I sensed from conversations that the re-run of the race two years ago is not a race for chairman that has inspired much passion or excitement. The surprising part has been the truly enthusiastic response so many people have given when we've discussed the idea.

Hope and Fear
As a Democrat, my hope has been that our state party would eventually recognize the need to return to its principles and to change its business model in order to capture the energy and passion that grassroots activists have brought to Democratic campaigns in other parts of the country and to the national party itself.

I believe that Donald Cravins, Sr., is the person who can lead this transformation now. He will bring to the chairmanship the necessary sense of urgency that can enable Louisiana Democrats to tap the energy that the national campaign has and this can turn what could have been a long and arduous process into a speedy transformation.

He is the right man for the job at this moment in our party's history.

I know that there are Democrats out there who are scared by the idea of Donald Cravins becoming the head of the party. They need not be. The party is in desperate need of Donald's bluntness, knowledge and political skill right now. Those are the skills that will be needed to orchestrate what can be the highest turnout election in Louisiana since the Edwards/Duke race into Democratic victories for Senator Landrieu, Congressmen Melancon and Jefferson, as well as new victories in the Fourth, Sixth, and possibly other districts in our state.

I predict that in the next few weeks the fears of those Democrats will dissipate as they see the impact Donald's leadership will have on the party.

I predict, however, that in the next few months a new group will come to fear Donald's leadership. These people are Republicans. They will fear Donald's leadership because they will recognize that their days of being the only truly organized political party in Louisiana are over.

The election of no other candidate for party chair can inspire even the mildest discomfort among Republicans.

Our party leadership should reflect the party's make up. African American voters constitute 46 percent of registered Democrats in this state and they usually constitute a higher percentage of Democratic votes than that. They are the core constituency of this party. White Democrats need to get comfortable with that fact and get comfortable with the fact that the party's leadership must do more than just pay lip service at election time to that constituency.

We are approaching a historic moment in American politics. If we are smart enough and tough enough, Louisiana Democrats can be part of that historic moment and write some history of our own.

The opportunity is there. Donald Cravins recognizes. He is up to the task. The question for the rest of Louisiana Democrats is this: Are we up to it?

If we are, then Donald Cravins is the man to lead us.

THIS is how Democratic Activism Can Work

Republicans in the Louisiana House of Representatives got a glimpse at how Democratic grassroots activism can work when weeks of posturing and preening "on principle" caved into the reality of the needs of communities across the state.

Here's how the Associated Press reported it via The Lafayette Daily Advertiser:

BATON ROUGE - As senators approved next year's $29.7 billion budget proposal, a partisan logjam over spending ended in the House, with more than a dozen Republican lawmakers agreeing Tuesday to break a spending cap and tap into a pool of state surplus cash.

The 84-20 vote ended a long- running stalemate in the House between Democrats and Republicans over spending proposals sought by Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration and advanced plans to spend $1.9 billion in extra state money from this year and last year. The money would be spent on road repairs, hurricane recovery, coastal restoration, university research and more.

Snip:

Sixteen lawmakers in the House, all Republicans except one, switched their votes from a day earlier to support the surplus spending plan after money was earmarked for interstate repairs and a military project in North Louisiana.

The Times Picayune reported it this way:

It follows weeks of high-stakes brinkmanship and closed-door meetings between Blanco's legislative allies and upstart Republicans, who had successfully blocked several spending measures that required a two-thirds supermajority to pass. Republicans have been hoping to reduce the level of overall spending and create more room in the various budget bills for tax cuts and insurance rebates.

Education stays in

GOP leaders presented several alternative plans, which would have reduced the amount of money going to new "recurring" programs, such as higher education. Democrats countered with offers to double the amount of money set aside for tax cuts, to $300 million, from the $150 million proposed by Blanco.

But they refused to engage in talks about reducing the spending increases included in the operating budget.

Snip:

"There was tremendous pressure coming from the universities and the administration," [House Republican Caucus Chairman Jim] Tucker said.

Teacher pay raises

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, criticized House leaders for loading up the most popular spending items -- such as money for the Road Home and transportation projects -- in the bill that requires raising the spending cap, instead of including them in the operating budget.

"I would just hope that next year, the next Legislature, the next administration stops playing this game," Scalise said.

Once the cap was raised, the House voted 104-0 to approve the supplemental budget, House Bill 765 by Alario, which sets up a $23 million revolving loan fund that the city of New Orleans can tap for hurricane-related infrastructure repairs.

The pressure came not just from universities. On Tuesday morning, New Orleans civic activist Deborah Langhoff sent out a Legislative Action Alert on the LAROOTs email list that she and her husband Alan administer. Pointing out that hurricane recovery money was included in the supplemental funding bill, the email blast read:

How can Louisiana expect to receive more recovery money from the United States Congress when some of south Louisiana's own legislators in Baton Rouge won't spend the state's surplus?

Simply stated, we can bring almost $1 billion of the State's surplus to New Orleans. On Monday, 68 legislators (of the needed 70) voted in favor of raising the state spending limits in HCR 10. Unbelievably, while other Republicans crossed the political party line to help New Orleans, a few of our own area's legislators, (who are listed below) did not!

Legislators representing damaged neighborhoods in Greater New Orleans should not vote against their own constituents, should not vote against securing some of Louisiana's surplus funds for our recovery?

The email included the legislative email addresses for New Orleans-area representatives Nick Larusso, John LaBruzzo, Steve Scalise, Diane Winston and Alex Heaton.

The LAROOTS email was picked up on a list operated by New Orleans activist Cheron Brylski, and sent statewide. It then appeared on the US Democrats Louisiana Yahoo! Groups list.

By the time the votes were counted, on Tuesday afternoon, Republican opposition had crumbled. Larusso switched his earlier "No" votes to "Yes." Alex Heaton was absent. Winston, Scalise and LaBruzzo remained locked in die hard opposition to meeting the needs of the communities they serve.

Larusso was one of 15 Republicans who switched from "No" to "Yes," meaning that it was a matter of principle all along — until it wasn't. Call it a 'flip-flop' or call it an encounter with reality; neither one is going to sit well with the rabid Republican base.

All brought about by Democrats in the Legislature and in the grassroots making the connections clear between policy and people.