What to do in Republican Counties

Yes and no (4.00 / 1)

I agree building municipal committees is a good first step. But the motivations of committeepersons will vary from town to town. In some towns, you can actually look to electing municipal officials in the short term. Then you'll get the usual mix, of which progressives may be only a small part.

But in some towns, the thought of electing anybody good soon is far-fetched. Those town's should not be ignored. There will still be progressives who can be recruited into a local organization, but the local organization must have the goal of supporting state and federal candidates and building the local progressive network for the future.

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by: Dvd Avins @ Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 05:10:33 AM UTC

What target in local win far-fetched (0.00 / 0)

What % gap do you consider far-fetched?  Data currently being presented on fiverthirtyeight.com supports the idea that a solid ground game can be worth 2-3%, so seems like any local race historically within 5% is worth trying for.  What's not worth trying?  And when we don't want to go for a local win - is it better to support county/state/fed candidates, or lend support to neighboring munis?  I think the later, to help build the movement within the county.

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by: Rszuch @ Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 23:42:59 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If muni helped muni (0.00 / 0)

Lets  36 people from 3 towns.......
Lets say Montclair, Maplewood, South Orange...

..... cara-vanned it to West Caldwell to canvass for the WC Council Ward candidates. Thats a powerful tool.

Some folks might really enjoy something like a Camp Wellstone.

Check out my 3 paragraph primer on Polywell Fusion.

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by: FogerRox @ Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 02:46:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

It depends on demographics and other things. (4.00 / 1)

If there's no organization at all and you're still getting 40% of the vote in up-ticket races, it's a competitive town just waiting for competitors.

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by: Dvd Avins @ Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 15:20:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Run for County Committee (4.00 / 1)

There might be an open seat. Its fun and easy.

Check out my 3 paragraph primer on Polywell Fusion.

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by: FogerRox @ Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 02:32:32 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Demographics can't be beat (4.00 / 2)

Cumberland, Salem, and for the most part Gloucester County were Republican for years. Only after more Democrats or should I say " non-Republicans " moved into the area was there change. That was when a strong organization moving down from Camden County helped promote moderate candidates and elections began to be won.

Unfortunately there will be some areas that will never change as long as the population remains the same.

Numbers 14 to 21 on your list are what they are for the forseeable future.

The only way to begin some change is to fight on the border areas if they exist. Go after a municipality before going after the whole county. Then allow at least 4-8 years. Moderate Democrats should only run. This is what is occuring right now in Cape May County. However even there it is tough without a population shift.  

 

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by: firstamend07 @ Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 18:43:03 PM UTC

Swing County (0.00 / 0)

Based on your cuttoff at #14 of the table above, I'm in a swing county.  So the consensus so far seems to be that we chip away at the achievable munis.  What kind of candidates do you get to run in the meantime in the County, NJ and Congressional races?  They are sacrificial lambs.  Is being a losing lamb a good thing for certain sorts of people - say young people just starting a "career" in politics, or old-timers that have already seen their share of wins and losses?

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by: Rszuch @ Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 23:51:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Run Young (4.00 / 1)

Never try to " change" things with retreads. Young candidates should be taught that the cycle demands at least three shots. Long haul young candidates are best.    

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by: firstamend07 @ Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 14:52:13 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I also wonder about red towns in Somerset County (4.00 / 1)

I'm in a red town in a hopefully swing county.
We ran a candidate this year, after years of not having a candidate.
I wonder if putting all of our efforts into the county election might have made more of a difference this year. I guess there isn't any way to know for sure, but I'll always wonder if we couldn't have made more of a difference if we hadn't focused the little money and energy we had on our local candidate, and put all of that focus into the freeholders.

I think I'll bring it up for discussion at our DFA meeting tomorrow night. (Panera at the Somerville Circle at 7, for anyone that wants to come!)

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by: agr @ Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 22:30:06 PM UTC

asking people to vote for a ticket is a good first step (0.00 / 0)

You are going to get some people who don't want to and that is fine.  But, talking up the freeholders is helpful while you are building a local group.

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by: Creed Pogue @ Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 22:37:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Having someone on the ballot is good (0.00 / 0)

Sometimes running a real campaign is worth it, sometimes it's not. But if you got someone willing to use a candidacy as a party-building tool, with no real hope of winning and no claim to contentious resources, then you give the whole ticket including the Freeholders more credibility. Having nobody even on the ballot makes people feel their voter isn't even wanted.

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by: Dvd Avins @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 22:24:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

building is the answer (4.00 / 1)

Not that long ago, Passaic and Bergen were 7-0 Republican.  Mercer had a Republican county executive.  The breakthroughs in Burlington show that it can be done.  Warren was actually one of the more Democratic counties in the state fifty years ago (Governor Meyner).

I have suggested in the past that an effort be made to give each legislative campaign at least $100,000 which would allow them to have a headquarters and a real voter contact effort.  If we are worried about a "change backlash," then that may be a better investment for $1.4 million than sinking it all into one race.

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by: Creed Pogue @ Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 22:33:31 PM UTC

I've made a similar suggestion (0.00 / 0)

re: Congressional campaigns.

There will only be 5 remaining republican-held seats heading into 2010. It wouldn't be hard for the party/incumbents to pledge a nice chunk of money that could make a big difference kickstarting campaigns in NJ-2, NJ-4 and NJ-11, in particular.

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by: Jeff Gardner @ Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 13:29:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ok. I'll play. (0.00 / 0)

My experience, such as it is, out here in the broccoli, is that the NJDSC has got to start putting substantive resources into the area. They have them, it won't take a fortune. Some strategic staffing help out here would go a long, long way, as opposed to their usual pat on the ass, chuck under the chin and imminent disapperarence from the campaign mix.

The nom de plume has a long and distinguished history.

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by: Tandalayo Scheisskopf @ Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 15:42:31 PM UTC