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Dear George et al, I attended the Democrats for Change meeting on Wednesday night, May 31st along w/about 15-20 other folks, including some of our local elected officials (Blake, Mitch, and Kevin). It was a meeting that was very interesting in a number of ways: for the process that took place, the decisions that were reached and the frankness and openness I felt were exhibited by those present. The meeting began with David Repass announcing that, because of a variety of family reasons and that fact that "I really do have a job and need to get back to work" he was going to turn over the ad hoc leadership of the organization to others, as yet to be determined. There were far too few people there and far too little time to express appreciation for the shepherding of this important process and organization that David performed. The entire group expressed its gratitude. The agenda proceeded w/discussion and voting on the purpose of the organization (most specifically to work toward the implementation of the Platform). When discussion turned to membership (it was pretty much unanimous that DFC would be open to anyone who generally supported the Platform, regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof) everything became interesting. What happened, I believe, was a kind of evolution. We disagreed on whether or not we should be a part of the Democratic Party, per se. Whether or not we were a "political organization." Whether we should serve as a leverage group outside the partisan structure or attempt to assume leadership positions in the Democratic Party. There was spirited and impassioned debate and, while David struggled valiantly to keep us on task, it was clear that the group was, en masse, thinking out loud about what had happened since our very first meeting. Back then we were an insurgent group, a kind of very loyal opposition. But, in the wake of the election and the leadership shown by many DFC members in that campaign, the question was being raised "why, in fact, did we do all this work?" Please understand, this is not intended in any way to be an "official report" of the meeting. So let me offer an even more pointed personal set of observations. Many of us who became active in DFC were doing so (and continue to do so) in hopes of instituting a more progressive agenda for Charlottesville and the surrounding area. Many of us, Virginians all, expect only slightly more from Democrats and from Republicans in our Commonwealth. Or nationally. What we sensed here in C'ville was an opportunity. To collectively codify our commonly-held idea(l)s, increase grassroots participation in the democratic process, truly decentralize governance, and help assure a quality of life in our community that is shared equally by all. People came into the process from a variety of experiences and styles. Many were reactive to current governance. Others were proactively looking to establish a new paradigm. Many were a mixture of the two. We did what we did as citizens and w/a belief that this process was possible w/in the local Democratic Party. I found myself, in the course of the meeting, essentially changing my mind about what we should do next. I came in believing that we should be a separate leverage group, serving as a standard bearer for the Platform that we (and not the Democratic Party) created. We could and should serve to help facilitate coalitions of local organizations whose interests intersected with that Platform. But then it occurred to many of us, "What did we do all this for? To merely elect candidates?" No, we created a vision and, if we believe that the Democratic Party is truly democratic then we owe it to our fellow DFC constituents, our successful candidates, our community and our...and this is the first time I've ever said "our"...Party to move this forward. There are many myths about "the Democratic Machine" here in town (remember the quote from the Wizard of Oz? "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain..."). And there remain, as I felt was obvious at the Wednesday meeting, many old ideas of what DFC is. The fact is that we created a platform, turned out bodies, helped change the nominating process, nominated two of our own candidates, worked for the election of a Democratic ticket, and staffed many important positions in that campaign. We continue to bring pressure to bear on important tenets of our Platform (Living Wage, opening up the School Board appointment process). I don't believe we are the renegade band we were last Summer. We have demonstrated that we not only have power, but appeal. If we fail to act on the possibilities for bringing the entire Democratic Party into this process for revitalized progressive change...as many of us believe large parts of the Party would welcome...we are selling our vision short. What came out of the discussion was a move to invite the Democratic Party, officially, to meet w/DFC for the purposes of encouraging the Party to embrace and adopt our Platform. This is an opportunity to find our common ground, our points of departure, the areas of compromise, and chart the future of the Democratic Party here in Charlottesville. Will this be easy? Of course not, we're democrats. But this is the next logical and exciting step. I'm sorry to have carried on for so long but I felt that a re-cap of the discussion was in order. Without the understanding of the lively and generous debate that took up the lion's share of the meeting the conclusion would certainly surprise both DFC folks and Party regulars alike. I can't tell you how surprised I was at the turn of the discussion and how excited I was about the process that took place. I look forward to a spirited meeting when we all get together and am certainly hoping that the process we go through will be as genuinely rewarding and instructive as our meeting this last Wednesday was. John McCutcheon, President (electronic mail, June 2, 2000)
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