Three weeks ago, DKos heard the exciting news that Chris Reeves, a regular poster here and dedicated party activist, had been elected as the new Democratic National Committeeman from Kansas.
Chris described his election and his goals for the position wonderfully is this post:
I’m happy to report that Chris will be joined by one more DKos member on the DNC. On Sunday (May 22nd) , at the Vermont Democratic State Convention, I was elected to a four year term as our new Democratic National Committeeman.
My name is Terje Anderson (that’s pronounced like “Terry” for those who are befuddled or curious).
And while I’m no where near as prolific or comprehensive in my posting habits here as Chris is, I’ve been part of DKos since 2005, at times commenting regularly, at other times more sporadically. I have never attended Netroots Nation, and while I’ve made the rec list and even the front page a few times, I’m not one of those posters who has a huge following and who everyone here recognizes. But I have always felt myself very much a part of this community, contributing and participating when I can. (You can, obviously, check out my story and comment history if you want to get a sense of who I am...)
This ain’t my first DNC rodeo — instead it will represent return to the DNC after a very long (19 year) hiatus.
I was first elected to represent Vermont on the DNC in 1988 when, as part of the Jesse Jackson campaign in the state, we turned out thousands of grassroots activists and won the state’s Presidential caucuses. At the age of 29, I ran for National Committeeman and ousted the incumbent member. I was re-elected in 1992 and 1996 (but had to resign from the post in 1997 when I moved out of state for professional reasons). During those 9 years, I experienced the frustration of being on the DNC — a fairly unresponsive body — but also learned that by networking, building coalitions, and just showing up and being persistent, you can sometimes get things done. While I can’t take sole credit for any of the outcomes, I’m proud to say that during those terms I had a hand in things like improving non-discrimination/affirmative action rules, strengthening proportional representation requirements, getting additional resources steered to voter registration/GOTV efforts, and allowing states (like Vermont) with no party registration to have our primaries recognized.
Back in 2008, at the height of the Obama/Clinton contest and the heated discussions about super-delegates, I posted a diary here about my super-delegate experience (as well as a lot of history of how I became a DNC member in the first place).
I wasn’t planning to run for DNC again. I’d moved back to Vermont several years ago after a decade working on HIV/AIDS policy issues in DC. I had been laying low for the last few years, only very peripherally involved in politics and more focused on resting and taking care of myself.
But I got pulled back in this year — the Sanders campaign got my political juices flowing again, and I soon found myself working in a few primary states and on the national level on LGBT outreach and HIV/AIDS policy. After sitting on my butt for too long, I decided that I couldn’t be on the sidelines any longer.
A week and a half ago, right before the filing deadline for the state convention, I was approached with the news that the incumbent national committeeman wasn’t running for re-election by two people who found the candidates running to replace him lacking, and asking me to consider jumping into the race. I submitted my name just about an hour before the deadline, just to keep the option open, and waited a few days to make a decision. I spent a weekend navel-gazing — evaluating the race and the other candidates, weighing my chances, thinking about what I really wanted to do if I made it back to the DNC, and whether I was willing to make the commitment (financial, energy, time, emotional) to a four year term in a relatively thankless job.
In a textbook case of what not to do when running for any office, I didn’t start actively campaigning until the Wednesday before the Sunday convention, beginning to make phone calls to old friends and colleagues (some of whom had already committed to other candidates who announced earlier). I composed and sent out an email/newsletter to the 550 delegates (thanks Mailchimp!) with an 7 point platform for what I wanted to do on the DNC. I printed a a small postcard to hand out to folks at the convention, and I prepared notes for my speech.
That was, in sum, my entire campaign.
The convention itself was an amazing hub of energy and high spirits. Because Vermont gave 86% of our primary votes to Bernie Sanders (denying Clinton the 15% threshold), it was an all-Bernie celebration. Almost 120 candidates were running for only 11 national convention delegate slots, with the poor candidates walking up onto the stage in an almost pageant style, having only 30 seconds to introduce themselves. That took the entire morning and, coupled with speeches from office holders and statewide candidates, pushed the DNC voting back even later into the afternoon. We were all afraid that large numbers of delegates would drift away but, amazingly, the vast majority stayed for the afternoon votes.
(Front of my convention handout)The DNC candidates were luckier than the delegate candidates — we not only got 5 minutes each to give a speech, but also were allowed a 3 minute speech from a nominator.
My name was put in nomination by Maida Townsend — a well-regarded state legislator, a former Democratic National Committeewoman and state party chair, and former state NEA President. She laid out my long history of working in the party, my extensive involvement in social movements, and said far far more effusive and nicer things about me than I would ever ask anyone to say on my behalf. My own speech went well — energetic, touches of humor, and in tune with the spirit of the convention (a Sanders crowd anxious to see serious reforms at the DNC).
I’ll spare you the complex dynamics of the four-way election against 3 well-qualified candidates who all brought significant strengths to the contest — suffice it to say that factors of geography, perceptions of insider/outsider status, endorsers, and ideas about what the job entails all contributed to the results.
Convention handout backI benefited from a number of factors — many of the most dedicated Sanders supporters, especially those from Burlington, knew me well from the old days when I took considerable risks as a Democratic Party official by backing Bernie for Mayor and Congress. Others around the state remembered me from my work on the Jesse Jackson campaign, from my previous term on the DNC, from my decades of LGBT and HIV/AIDS activism. And many people I didn’t know told me they were supporting me because my email had laid out the clearest vision of what a DNC member could do, or what I had said in my speech.
After the first ballot, I led with approximately 32% of the votes, with the second place candidate close behind with about 28%. To say that folks were shocked was a mild understatement — the other candidates had all lined up endorsements, sent out mailings, taken out ads in the program, and otherwise run much more comprehensive (and expensive) campaigns than I had. I hadn’t been in party office in Vermont in 19 years, and when I entered the race the party leadership didn’t expect me to be much of a factor, let alone have any chance of winning.
Party rules required a run-off if no candidate won at least 40%, so we were off to a second ballot (which I expected with 4 candidates, but wasn’t sure I’d be one of the top two).
Unfortunately by that point large numbers of delegates had started to go home, and there was no way of judging whose supporters were still around, and whose had left. Both I and the other run-off candidate clearly came from the more strongly activist/Sanders wing of the party — which probably led to my gaining more votes from some of the more establishment types, who knew and trusted me from my long (if ancient) history in the party. With only slightly more than half of the delegates remaining, I won approximately 57% of the run-off vote, and became the new Democratic National Committeeman from Vermont — back after a 19 year hiatus.
So here I come — a rural, gay, disabled, low income, ex-junkie, ex-sex worker, HIV activist — into the heart of the party establishment, hopefully representing voices that are often underrepresented at this level.
I’m older, maybe wiser, perhaps a little more jaded than I was during my first go round on the DNC. But I’m still looking forward to trudging off to meetings and trying to make change happen, working to make sure the incredible energy and spirit of the Sanders campaign is sustained well beyond this election.
I ran on a platform of working for reform at the DNC — making it more democratic, open, accountable, independent, and effective.
I’ll be working for changes to the nomination and delegate selection process — going well beyond just the hot button issue of super-delegates to address a more comprehensive range of issues. I’m hoping to build support for a new “Hunt Commission” type process to consider the entirety of the process, and will soon be posting a diary here on that subject.
I’ll be calling for other changes — restoring the ban on lobbyist money, insisting that the DNC Chair be the full-time leader the by-laws require instead of another DWS elected official, working for a 50 state/435 district strategy, maximizing party investment in grassroots organizing, voter registration, activist/candidate recruitment and training, and an increased effort to protect voting rights. I don’t expect instant results, but am prepared for a long haul effort to build coalitions on and off the DNC to make these things happen.
I pledged during my (brief) campaign that communication would be at the heart of my 4 year term on the DNC — not only will I report back to Vermont party activists what is going on at the DNC, I’ll also engage in a constant feedback loop to listen to what our grassroots wants and try to bring those concerns to the DNC. I’ve pledged to regularly visit county committee meetings and other party gatherings around the state, and I’ll be launching a variety of social media for meaningful 2-way communications. (And while those social media efforts will be targeted at Vermont and Vermonters, I’ll certainly welcome Kossacks and other activists from across the country to join in if you’re interested. Stay tuned.) I’ll try to post here a little more often, and to use this community as another sounding board and ideas source.
I’m looking forward to working with Chris, and hoping that soon we’ll have enough DKos denizens on the DNC to form our own little caucus.
So now you can all say you know another person on the DNC… And, hopefully, it will help convince others here that the gates can be crashed, that it is worth showing up and getting elected as a precinct committee member, a town or county committee member, a state committee member, a delegate, or a DNC member. If enough of us do it, there’s not much limit to what we might be able to accomplish.