Washblog

The debate that never was!?!

I attended the Candidates Forum at the Thurston County Dems meeting last night hoping to see the two contenders for Democratic Party Chair, Dwight Pelz and Mark Hintz, square off. But as you now know, Dwight was a "no show" at this first debate. Paul Barendt stood in for him. Though I was at the debate last  night, I didn't see why Paul spoke (somewhat) for Dwight. Paul acknowledged that it was Obama's groundswell movement that gave us such an overwhelming victory in WA State. Paul also allowed that Dwight and the State Party should be credited with "handling" the massive turnout that Obama instigated.

When a question from the audience asked what were the candidates' "vision" for the future of the Party Paul understandably declined to answer for Dwight. So we don't really know what the current Chair sees in the future for maintaining the "Campaign for Change" legacy that Obama has bestowed on us.

It was disappointing that so many Thurston County Dems, Mark Hintz and Paul Barendt weren't able to have a dialogue with Chairman Pelz as he is seeking to lead the Party again. As an Officer of the Party myself, I'm looking for dedicated leadership that will inspire us to move forward together.

We must insist upon the need for more open communication between grass/netroots, Party activists and, of course, Party officials. It is the only way we're going to "democratically" agree on policies and operational procedures to meet the serious economic challenges we face in WA today.

When Democrats come together for discussion, our leaders must be there to listen and then lead.

Luis Moscoso
Secretary, WA State Democrats

< Puyallup Lawmaker Raises Awareness on Medication Disposal | Western WA floods, btw, where is that Doppler Radar to read SW WA weather? >
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Luis, If not now then in two years. As you run to hold your office, take the time to visit every county and prioritize Leg dist's by those that you can see 2-3 in an evening.
You are the one. Become the voice of the party when talking within the organization, inspire the insiders, stand up for the young democrats when they get railroaded, build a majority.....

by Particle Man on Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 04:27:48 PM PST

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  • Hear hear! by Kitsap River, 01/09/2009 02:14:58 PM PST (none / 0)
Thank you, Luis, I understand your disappointment.

I'm chapter leader for the Newport Hills Drinking Liberally Chapter. Several times during the campaign season I ran into Dwight Pelz at some event or another, and asked if he would attend one of my monthly Drinking Liberally events. He said he would. Finally, last October, we settled on a date - January 5th.

Dwight was the event. He gave a 15-20 minute presentation about the workings of the Washington State party apparatus, the value of political parties, and the relationship between the State Democratic party and the Obama organization.

He then answered a whole bunch of questions for a very long period of time.

Who was there? Rank and file Democrats: At least a half dozen PCO's, a DNC committee person, the 41st LD Chair and several board members, a city council member, a former city council member, a state representative, and a bunch of local progressives.

Drinking Liberally in Newport Hills is an organization that exists for the purpose of getting people involved in progressive grass roots politics at the local level.

I applaud Dwight Pelz for being accessible to rank and file Democrats and for honoring a commitment he made months in advance.

I'm sorry our event conflicted with yours, but I think Dwight did the right thing by making his best effort to accommodate both events.

Robert Sargent
Area Coordinator & PCO, 41st District Democrats

by sarge on Tue Jan 06, 2009 at 05:42:31 PM PST

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   It's not just a republican habit, all incumbents know that they risk diluting thier stature or committing some gaffe if they deign to appear on the same platform, stage, forum, or level of a challenger.
   For all I know, Dwight already knows how the Thurston County, 22th and other LDs of the area committeee folks are going to vote.

Dave Gibney Pullman

by gibney on Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 08:40:26 PM PST

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Another party chair race, another opportunity for Luis to engage in more passive aggressive behavior.

Washblog's going to be awesome again!

by sugarfree on Wed Jan 07, 2009 at 11:53:17 PM PST

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Dwight has been snubbing us for some time now - years, in fact. Our county chair has experienced this, as have others in our county. We need a chair who will not slight or snub counties and/or LDs at all, let alone on an ongoing basis. The electeds of our LD believe that Dwight has done a good job in what is the most swing of swing districts, but they all live in Pierce County. The Kitsap County chair reports something rather different and this is corroborated by others.

We just re-elected the same chair in Kitsap County because he is effective and because nobody else wanted the job. Whoever gets elected as chair needs to work with ALL the county and LD chairs, not just the ones he picks and chooses.

by Kitsap River on Fri Jan 09, 2009 at 02:08:21 PM PST

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First, though it may come as a shock to some, this meeting of the Thurston County Democrats was attended by well over 100 people 90 or so of which were PCO's, and we showed up in order to vote upon three candidates to pass on to the Thurston County Commission in order to fill a recent vacancy.
The state chair "debate" was nothing more than a side show used to pass time while the votes were being counted. Mark Hintz said a few words and then former state chair Paul Barent said a few words on Dwight's behalf and then they were asked one or two questions.
As for Dwight, and I should say that I have not talked with him recently, he obviously made a CHOICE, not an error. The Thurston County Dems meet on the same Monday of every month and that date is on the state website and I am sure it is on Dwight's office calendar.
We had between 4 and 8 state committee people at our meeting. Even so, I take issue with those who would argue that failing to showing up at our meeting is some kind of deal breaker. Folks are going to have to decide if this is a good time for change. Whoever is elected state chair will be at the helm for the mid term election and we should not take this for granted. The choice should be about who best can protect our position in two years.
I had a vote and supported Dwight last time, though I would have to say that I am at best undecided this time. I am hearing far too much grumbling from party regulars at a time when we should be unified in calibrating the last election (the race in the 8th being the one exception). Whoever is chair MUST keep those active in the party productive and to a degree, happy. Dwight has some work to do in this area.

by Particle Man on Sun Jan 11, 2009 at 02:10:50 PM PST

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