Thursday, February 02, 2012

How to occupy the DNC and the NC Democratic Party


First off, I am not really advocating that you follow this line of action.  After all, I have long heard that the Democratic Party is where “social movements go to die” and it seems to be true.  Besides, you will have to sit though meetings and conventions where they sing the praises of our President.  I would find that really hard to take.

But, I would love to see Occupiers INSIDE the DNC Convention in Charlotte in September.  And this short post will tell you the steps to take to (hopefully) make it possible to become a delegate to the DNC.  It is the last step – getting elected as a delegate at the NC Democratic Party State Convention.  No one in NC can be a delegate without taking these steps.

First step:  register to vote as a Democrat at the Board of Elections.  Find out your precinct number and polling location and Democratic precinct chair (you will need that for the precinct meeting).  Do this ASAP.  Shortly after this, it is likely the national and local Democratic Party will call you for donations.  Please tell them that your money is going to OCCUPY.

Next step:  Attend your precinct meeting.  It is generally held at your polling place, and the date of the precinct meeting is 3-6-12 at 6 PM, with a back up date of 3-10-12 at 10 AM.  Call the precinct chair and confirm the time, date and place.  At the precinct meeting, sign up to be a delegate at the Buncombe County Democratic Party annual meeting.  If you really want to get involved, run for office in your precinct.  If you can find some neighbors in your precinct who are Democrats and who will vote for you, you will likely win.  (Yes, we could take over the party if we had the numbers.)

Next step:  Attend the Buncombe Country Democratic Party meeting on 4-14-12 at 10 AM at the Buncombe County Courthouse.  At this meeting, sign up to be a delegate for the Democratic Party District Convention and the NC Democratic Party State Convention.  And if you want to get more involved in running the Democratic Party on the state level, run for a position on the State Executive Committee.  That requires that you attend quarterly meetings, usually held in the middle part of the state. 

Next step:  Attend the Democratic Party District Convention.  That is held in May and is held inside your congressional district.   Right now, Buncombe County is split between District 10 and District 11, so make sure you go to the right one!

Final step:  Attend the NC Democratic Party State Convention, which will likely be in June and will likely be held in Raleigh or Greensboro or other city in the middle of the state.  This is where you have to be elected to become a delegate to the DNC in Charlotte, and the competition is pretty keen.  They do balance the genders among the delegates and they also make an effort to send delegates who are racially diverse.

Then, if you are a delegate, you can go to the DNC and hold up OCCUPY EVERYTHING signs.  I will be cheering you when I get back home and see it on you tube.  While the DNC is running, I will be outside protesting.

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