I am running for WCDP Vice Chair

This post is aimed at those of you who may be delegates to the 2007 Wake County Democratic Party Convention on April 21.

Some of you may have clicked over to my blog, The Stinging Nettle, from an announcement I circulated. I post this here to catch some of you who did not.

As you know, I have announced that I am running to keep my current position as Second Vice Chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party. Because we have a contested election for Chair between Keith Karlsson and Doris Weaver, I do not know whether I will ultimately stand for election as Second Vice Chair or First. Under the State Democratic Party Plan of Organization (somewhat amusingly nicknamed the POO - which is what you get in if you try to understand certain parts of it) - the Chairman and the First Vice Chairman must be of different genders. So, I am running for Second Vice Chairman under the current Chairman, Keith Karlsson.

Rest assured, however, that I seek to stay on the Board, regardless of the outcome of the election for Chair. We are all Democrats, and I am happy to work with anyone.

Some of you might not have known that DrFrankLives, my nom de plume (electron) was me, John Burns. I blog pseudonymously as DrFrankLives, in tribute to Dr. Frank Porter Graham, the greatest Democrat ever to tread the hallowed land of North Carolina.

In 2004, I was lucky enough to be appointed to the National Democratic Platform Committee by Senator Edwards, and a national magazine identified me and several other bloggers who were attending as delegates in a story on blogging the conventions. Since that outing, I have pretty much admitted to anyone who asked that yes, indeed, DrFrankLives ("DFL") and I are one in the same. So welcome, have a look around, look back at the things I have written, and the things I shouldn't have written, and make yourself at home.

I've been writing as DrFrankLives on DailyKos since 2002 and had several posts recommended and one or two front-paged there over the years. I have contributed to BlueNC, MyDD, Buzzflash (under a different name) and other progressive spots on the web. I've even been linked, twice, by Atrios (and I have the traffic spikes to prove it). I believe in the netroots and the transformative power of the blogosphere in politics. So, welcome to my humble abode.

Why I am a Democrat

The short answer, of course, is the same as it is for most people: because my parents were Democrats. They brought me up with a respect for others, an appreciation for what I have and empathy for those who have not, and an expectation that the Government is us, and it is where we try to act collectively for the benefit of all.

I believe that people who hate government should not be in charge of government. They are destined to fail - indeed in failing they justify their own arguments. I am happy to work with conscientious Republicans, with whom I may differ. I am hardly ever happier than when I am beating the type of Republican currently in the White House.

One thing my parents made sure to ingrain in me was a strong understanding that, electoral results aside, the country was better off with an honest President like Jimmy Carter than a crook like Richard M. Nixon, and that Nixon was the worst President the country had ever had.

Until now, of course.

As I have grown older, I have reevaluated my faith and my politics, and come to what I hope were independent conclusions about both that, to me, show that my parents might have very well known what they were talking about.

Dr. Frank (the real one) said it best, when he talked about what America should be. To me, he defines progressive liberalism. Allow me to just point you to this quote, and say "me too":

In this America of our struggles and our hopes, the least of these our brethren has the freedom to struggle for freedom; where the answer to error is not terror, the respect for the past is not reaction and the hope of the future is not revolution; where the integrity of simple people is beyond price and the daily toil of millions is above pomp and power; where the majority is without tyranny, and the minority without fear, and all people have hope.

Yeah. That sounds about right.

Why am I running?

I am running for Vice Chair because we have work to finish. As Second Vice Chair I am responsible for organizing and directing the efforts of the Party's Candidate Recruitment and Support Committee. I think we have made great strides in candidate identification and training. We provide issues training and campaign training at the beginning of every election cycle, and they have been universally appreciated by the candidates. We also are identifying a whole new generation of Democratic candidates - those efforts may not pay off immediately, but by involving people in the party and in government (through appointed positions), we are bringing up a crop of qualified folks who will be well-set to run for office in the future.

I want to continue those efforts for the next two years.

I also want to beat Elizabeth Dole and elect a Democratic Governor and President. Put simply, we don't win North Carolina unless we win Wake County. I have learned lessons over the last three election cycles, and I am ready to fight the next two.

Am I endorsing a candidate for Chair?

The Wake County party faces an election for Chair for the first time in a long while. This could be a very healthy party building experience, and I am happy to see that we will not be electing a Chair by acclamation. Still, my support will go to Chairman Keith Karlsson.

I know that there are those who back Ms. Weaver because they are dissatisfied with the leadership of Mr. Karlsson. In answer to those people, I say this:

- I have disagreed with Keith Karlsson nearly as much as I have agreed with him.
- I have been upset with Keith Karlsson from time to time.
- I still support him.

I thought long and hard about running for Chairman of the Wake County Democratic Party this year. I mulled it over for weeks, attempted to arrange my schedule, figure out how I could do it. I spoke to my boss about the possibility and began sounding out some of you on the idea. Then I looked at exactly what Keith Karlsson does every day for the Party and came to the conclusion that they haven't made the day long enough yet for me to get all that done and still practice law.

Nobody works as hard as Keith does. I've joked with Keith that he needs a session at charm school, but he has been a successful chair by every concrete measure.

So what have we done?

This current Board has expanded Democratic majorities on the Raleigh City Council and the Wake County School Board. In 2005, we made significant strides into traditionally Republican North Raleigh, nearly electing Rev. Paul Anderson to the City Council, efforts which paid off in 2006, when we elected a new North Carolina State Representative, Ty Harrell, and sent Russell Capps into retirement. We passed the School Bonds against extremely agitated and angry opposition. We elected a new County Commissioner. We helped fight off Vernon Robinson and reelect Brad Miller.

And we raised over $270,000. Like it or not, raising money is a key requirement of any Chairman and any Board, and Keith and this Board got it done.

There are those who base their criticism on our "failure" to take more seats on the County Commission in a "Democratic Year" when other counties made historic gains. To those critics, I say that Wake County was not a typical county in 2006. Unlike other North Carolina counties, we did not face a dispirited Republican base with nothing to vote for. Here, turnout was higher than the rest of the state, and the Republican base was fired up about the School Bonds -- and they voted. Nevertheless, the bonds passed, we took a Commission seat and a State House seat, and not a single Democratic Incumbent lost in Wake County, a significant accomplishment.

Others may criticize our County Commission campaign. That is a criticism of our candidates, and I will not engage in that. We ran four relative newcomers - newcomers who will someday again run for office. They fought hard but they were outgunned by better known opponents with more money and name recognition in the equivalent of a Congressional Race.

With all due respect to Ms. Weaver, who is a dedicated and admirable Democratic activist, there is absolutely no comparison between Wake County and Ashe or Watauga County. Here, 4,000 votes won't win you a Soil and Water Conservation Supervisor position, let alone a County Commission seat, and grassroots campaigning only gets you so far. They ran a former mayor of Raleigh who has run for office in Wake County 6 times. They ran the sitting Chairman of the Commission and the former chairman, a man who pretty much nobody dislikes. Each of these incumbents had, and spent, a fortune. We ran newcomers, who ran hard and distinguished themselves by their effort. They came up just short, and I will not criticize them for that.

We campaigned hard in 2006. In conjunction with the State Party, we selected key precincts that offered us a chance to affect both the County Commission races and the two key State House races we hoped to win from the Republicans. In those races, Ty Harrell won by less than 2%, and Greer Beatty came within a whisker of defeating Nelson Dollar. Our strategy was sound.

I believe we have made great strides. I look forward, regardless of the outcome of the election on April 21, to continuing that progress. I hope you will join me in those efforts, and together we can make a better Wake County.

I leave you with Senator Edwards' challenge, and I ask you to stand up and fight over the next 18 months. I look forward to fighting with you.