Lifelong Dem, former WY Dem legislator, social activist and ordained minister Rodger McDaniel wrote an op-ed that appeared in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. In it, he sounds the death knell for the Wyoming Democratic Party. Rodger has posted this first on his blog, at which time I made a few comments about it.
Apparently, e-mails and letters and FB posts have been flying fast and furious today. I missed it all, due to a full work schedule and my occasional cluelessness.
Ken McCauley, unsuccessful candidate for WY Legislature in 2010, vice chair of the Laramie County Dems and former A-10 Warthog driver, responded. I volunteered for Ken in 2010. He's a dogged campaigner and not one to give up on a cause. I like what he has to say in this response. He's not ready to bail on the WY Dems, but he has his frustrations -- as all of us do.
Here's his communique:
In today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle is an op-ed the paper pulled from Rodger McDaniel's blog. The Tribune-Eagle entitled the piece "Wyo. Dems write their own obit.”
The WT-E does not have the article on their website. It is posted on Rodger's blog here: http://blowinginthewyomingwind.blogspot.com/2011/10/wyoming-democratic-party-1890-2011.html
There are several ways to take this article.
Ignore it -- which sadly I think many will, and this is a mistake.
Become angry and consider it a rant. Again this is a mistake.
Take this as a plea, a call for help, a call for leadership.
That is my take on the article. There are many in our party who know the Democrat/liberal cause is still vitally important, but we've become silent. We aren't dead yet, but a doctor would say we have a very faint pulse and would hook up a defibrillator. the monitor shows that here in Wyoming we are almost flatlined.
Many of our base members have expelled their last breath. We've seen staunch liberals leave the party. Many believe the party itself has given up the fight. They need to know there's still a reason to hang on. They need someone by their bedside calling their voice. And maybe now, they need a jolt of electricity and a shot of adrenaline to get them going -- to wake them up.
This article is that plea from our party -- not just from one person.
Should we just let them give up? I think not, but we need to realize that they are the life of this party, and we need every last breath we can hang on to.
As the leadership of this party, it is OUR JOB to feed the organization and to give it exercise and a cause to go on. As parent, we all know that we set the tone for the family. If the parents are inactive, the child most likely will be too. If we don't communicate, most likely the children won't either. We need to be more active, more open, more aggressive, assertive, and vocal. We need our children to know we are alive!
This article from Rodger isn't a negative article -- it is a plea. Consider it a call to the party's suicide hotline. Someone has just called -- will we hang up, or will we motivate and encourage them to hang on and show them that there is a reason to live?
Sincerely,
Ken McCauley, Vice Chair, Laramie County Democrats
2 comments:
Mike,
thanks for posting my comment on this article. Sorry there are a couple of typos in it, but the emotions and the emails and even a phone call or two kept me busy most of the day.
We will have to wait and see what the response is from fellow Dems. Will they roll back over and fall back asleep, or will we see a renewed interest to get involved at all levels? I'd love to see some Dems get so angry to come to a meeting and ask how to revive the party.
Perhaps this could be summed up in a simple phrase: Occupy Wyoming Democratic Party!
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