This effort may be far too late in a lot of ways, but at least Dems are finally realizing that winning nationally (for offices other than President) and putting an end to the GOP’s “meth labs of democracy” plan requires actually winning at the state level.
A cadre of wealthy liberal donors aims to pour tens of millions of dollars into rebuilding the left’s political might in the states, racing to catch up with a decades-old conservative effort that has reshaped statehouses across the country.
The plan embraced by the Democracy Alliance, an organization that advises some of the Democrats’ top contributors, puts an urgent new focus on financing groups that can help the party regain influence in time for the next congressional redistricting process, after the 2020 elections. The blueprint approved by the alliance board calls on donors to help expand state-level organizing and lobbying for measures addressing climate change, voting rights and economic inequality.
“People have gotten a wake-up call,” Gara LaMarche, the alliance’s president, said in an interview. “The right is focused on the state level, and even down-ballot, and has made enormous gains. We can’t have the kind of long-term progressive future we want if we don’t take power in the states.”
The five-year initiative, called 2020 Vision, will be discussed this week at a private conference being held at a San Francisco hotel for donors who participate in the Democracy Alliance. Leading California Democrats are scheduled to make appearances, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Kamala Harris. The alliance, which does not disclose its members, plans to make some of the events available to reporters via a webcast.
The gathering coincides with the long-awaited launch of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid, infusing the event with buzz about the 2016 race. Clinton, who was invited to attend, will instead be on her debut campaign swing. But her campaign chairman, John Podesta, who has worked closely with the alliance, is set to participate in events celebrating its decade-long history.
I’m at least pleased that the Dems with the big money have decided that fighting fire with sternly worded vision statements is a good way to get covered in third-degree burns, as 2010 and 2014 showed. States like Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin and Florida that vote for Dems at the presidential level are under total GOP control at the state level , and dozens if not hundreds of state legislature seats across the country are being filled every two years by Republicans running completely unopposed. That’s the kind of stuff we have to fix if we want any chance at staving off the crazy.
What kind of ideas do the assembled have for improving the Dems chances where you live at the state level?