NC Democratic Party State Executive Meeting

January 20, 2007

There were a reported 700 people who came to this meeting at Elon University in Elon, NC. All 100 counties in North Carolina were represented. The meeting started with an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. Treasurer’s report was presented and accepted, and there were announcements of upcoming events and other news.

Jerry Meek, the chair of the Democratic Party in NC, spoke about how the Democrats are good for working families and that we need to focus on the future. Jerry Meek talked about party plans for voter registration dive and county officers training, GOTV training, and candidate training. Representative Brad Miller said thanks for the Democratic majority in Congress, and how this is his first time being in a Democratic majority. He showed appreciation for all our efforts.

The next order of business was the election of party officers. Jim Long, Commissioner, nominated Jerry Meek for the position of hair of the NC Democratic Party. He was re-elected by acclamation. Dannie Montgomery was nominated by Larry Kissell for First Vice Chair. (Kissell ran for the US House of Representatives in Congressional District 8, and lost by fewer than 400 votes.) Dannie Montgomery had served as the chair of Kissell’s campaign. She won that position in a close vote. Delmas Parker (who is also on the board of the NC Progressive Democrats) was re-elected to Second Vice Chair. Courtney Crowder was re-elected to Third Vice Chair. Roy Lucas was elected Secretary. Jerry Meek then recognized counties that have fulfilled their responsibilities to the NC Democratic Party in the sustaining fund goals. An introduction to the Devout Democrats was presented. This group was formed to counter right wing religion’s support for some national candidates. All religions were represented in this new group.

Resolutions were presented at this point. The first resolution was “Responding to the Report of the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission”. In this resolution, the NC Democratic Party acknowledged and renounces the actions of past Party leaders involved in the Wilmington race riots and the subsequent suppression of African Americans and encouragement of racial violence. This passed overwhelmingly. The NC Democratic Party formally apologized for those actions.

The second resolution was “In Support of Orderly Redeployment and Withdrawal From Iraq” which I had written, heavily based on a resolution passed by the Arizona Democratic Party. This resolution called for an end to the occupation of Iraq, for the US not to maintain any permanent bases in Iraq, and for a withdrawal of troops by the summer of 2007. The resolution committee added that this resolution would be posted on the NC Democratic Party’s website and that it would be sent to the press and to our elected officials. I was the first to speak to this resolution, and I started by saying “All wars start with lies, and we know who the liars are for this war.” That got immediate applause. I spoke about how our troops are not providing stability in Iraq, they are instead pawns in the hands of the Bush administration. I spoke about how so much of our media does not know what is happening there in Iraq, and they make ridiculous claims about the natives of Iraq and who is fighting whom.

Some people, mostly ex-military, did speak against this resolution. They felt that this type of resolution would lead to disrespect for the military, and mention was made of how Vietnam War veterans were treated when they came home from war. It was mentioned that former Vietnam War veterans were spit on, which has never been substantiated. After some discussion, this resolution did pass. And the following week, it was posted on the NC Democratic Party website. (Representative Price and Representative Miller introduced a similar resolution in the US House the following week. More information on that is available on the NC Democratic Party website.)

From the website: "The American people, our troops, the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi people all need to know clearly that this war is not open-ended. When North Carolina Democrats considered this resolution on Saturday, some worried about the message it sends to our troops. Make no mistake, the resolution passed because we care so much about the thousands of brave men and women from North Carolina who continue to serve in this war. And that is precisely why Congress must act to bring about an orderly redeployment and ultimate withdrawal from Iraq," said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek. "Thousands of lives have been lost, over 3,000 American troops have been killed, and hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent. This must end."

Their website is www.ncdp.org

The third group of resolutions presented had to do with proposed amendments to the Plan of Organization. The first one was to prohibit the holding of simultaneous offices in certain circumstances, and this passed easily. The second one dealt with state auxiliaries and how representatives are elected to the congressional district executive committee. This passed. The final one was to say that the duties of the state Chair of the Democratic Party will formulate and promote a legislative party, based on the Platform and resolutions passed by the membership. This generated a lot of discussion. A motion to table failed, and a substitute amendment by the Progressive Democrats also failed. It was decided to allow the lawyers for the Party to discuss implications for lobbyists if this was passed. A motion to table was finally passed. At this time, a quorum call showed that there was not a majority present to consider further resolutions. The resolutions developed by the Progressive Democrats were not considered. The meeting was adjourned.