Gadflies and Choristers: An Open Letter to Andrew Sullivan

Dear Andrew,

I was thrilled to have the chance to meet you this week, at fundraisers for Immigration Equality (a fantastic organisation, by the way, doing brave and necessary work to overturn cruel and dehumanising immigration restrictions against gay and lesbian families). I was especially looking forward to meeting you because, as I mentioned, I've been a daily reader and fan of your blog for over 10 years now - since before you blogged for the Beast, or the Atlantic, or Time. Since back in the days when you were publishing in white text on a blue background (why did you do that?).

And I return to your blog compulsively each day not because I agree with everything you say but because you are the conservative writer I most respect. I admire the unflinching way in which you present opposing points of view - even those that are sometimes harshly critical of you, and I admire the intellectual honesty with which you acknowledge that you sometimes make mistakes. I also know that you command a huge and diverse audience - which became very clear when you linked to my Sarah Palin post and 20K of your followers clicked over to read it.

So by the time we met, I'd been following the twists and turns of your thought for a very long time, and I know where you're coming from. You're a gadfly. You don't want to be inside anybody's tent, you are not a joiner, you treasure your independence and I suspect (in classic Oxford debating tradition) you relish a good fight.

And when we met, and I introduced myself as representing Democrats Abroad you weren't telling me anything I didn't already know by declaring that you were not a Democrat. I was a little taken aback, though, when you said that you "don't like Democrats much."

Andrew, you endorsed John Kerry in 2004, and Obama in 2008. You've written beautifully about why you continue to support the President, and you've been rightly appalled by the turn towards theocratic extremism and away from reality-based policy making that the Republican party has taken in recent years. Almost every Democrat I know reads you and respects you. And you clearly like and respect a lot of Democrats.

It's not true that you "don't like Democrats." I reject the premise. I think what is true, and what you probably meant, is that you don't like Democratic fellow travellers. I know you have distaste for what you perceive as interest group politics. I know you blame Clinton for caving on many issues that he should have stood up for.

However, I should note that since our meeting I have looked into this issue, and I think you are wrong to say that Bill Clinton imposed the ban on immigration for people who are HIV positive - my research says the ban was imposed in 1987 and that Clinton PROMISED TO REPEAL IT but failed, due to opposition from Conservatives in Congress. Similarly, Clinton promised to overturn the ban on gays serving in the military but again wound up giving in due to pressure from the right and instituted the (in some ways even worse) "compromise" of Don't Ask Don't Tell. So, you're not a Clinton fan. I get that. But to blame "Democrats" for failing to live up to a promise you wanted us to keep without reserving greater loathing for the folks on the other side who are fighting tooth and nail to do the opposite of what you want seems perverse to me.

No, not perverse. It seems gadfly-like. You described yourself to me at dinner as an "ornery journalist". Bless you for it. I'm glad you are! We need folks who are naturally uncomfortable with feeling comfortable. I love people who have an instinct to pick holes in their own side, to challenge even (or especially) their closest friends, and to prefer the good fight to the quiet life. I love them so much I'm married to one.

But I want to make a cautious, limited and tenuous plea on behalf of those of us aren't gadflies by nature. Because, in a world populated by gadflies we'd achieve nothing but the sting. And for me, the kind of intellectual honesty that gadflies enable is useful as a TOOL to help us improve our ability to do something specific. I care about politics because I think we need to change the way things work. I want to defend my country and my world from the prejudice and bigotry, create more opportunities for more people, reduce poverty, improve education and access to education, create a healthier nation at a lower cost... I want to play some small part, however insignificant, in DOING STUFF. And very often the best way of doing that is to find a coaliton of other people who agree with you about the direction you want to move in, put aside your points of difference with those folks, put your shoulder to the wheel and start grafting. For me, that coalition is the Democratic Party.

Sometimes, it's better to sing with the choir than to shout from the back.

The choir metaphor is very close to what I mean, actually - a choir or people who all have their own voices can create, together something new and amazing that none of them could have done on their own. I might want to sing "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" as a bluesy number. You might want to reinvent it as a rock ballad. And that guy over there might want to sing it at half speed to bring out the sorrow of the lyrics. But if we all agree we want to sing the song, and we are willing to let a choirmaster direct us in the arrangement, we can sing a song that's different than how any of us would have done it, but satisfying to all of us.

When it comes to politics, people think this means selling out or giving up your principles, but I don't accept that. Every member of the choir does have their own voice, and the variation of those voices does matter. But by harmonising with others you can be heard by more people, and sound better.

I would never support a policy that I didn't believe in just because the Party asks me to. Nor would I keep silent about something I cared about because the Party wanted me to. But if the song we are singing today is "Let's create affordable accessible healthcare", I'm happy to chime in on the beat. I'm not going to stand at the back shouting, "I'd also like to legalise marijuana." Though I do. Nor am I going to arbitrarily shout "prison reform is badly needed" into the chorus. Though it is.

I look around at my fellow Democrats Abroad, and we are working very hard indeed to register overseas US voters and get them to the polls. It's hard work. It's not glamorous. It's often frustrating and rarely wins us fame, or glory. I honestly believe that for every person that we register, for every new voter we reach, we are a tiny little bit closer to building, over the long term, a country that is a little better.

But I also believe our presence in the choir changes the choir. Changes the Party. Hopefully for the better. To give you just one example that should be meaningful to you, Democrats Abroad are a tiny state chapter within the Democratic Party. But we are a tiny state chapter that is nearly universally in support of immigration equality for our many members. Our voices on this subject are loud and clear. And increasingly our fellow Democrats are in harmony with this.

We need both gadflies and choristers. In fact, I think we should all aim to be a little bit of both.

Again, it was great meeting you in London. And thanks again for over a decade of being an essential, infuriating, enlightening, astonishing, inspiring and challenging daily read.

Very best wishes,

Karin

Join Democrats Abroad. Do It Right Now, I Command You!

There's lots happening in the world upon which I will very shortly be commenting (Tunisia! And Egypt! And Sudan! Oh my...) but for today I just want to say this:

If you are a US citizen living in the UK, and if you support the work of President Obama, the Democratic Party, or you just are certain that you are not a Republican - then I urge you to sign up online to Democrats Abroad, the State party organisation for Americans overseas.

https://www.democratsabroad.org/user/register

In March, the UK branch of Democrats Abroad will be having an election to chose its Officers (I am the current Vice Chair). But only voters who are members of Democrats Abroad by midnight tonight are eligible voters. So if you want your say in our local elections, or you want to make sure you get voter alerts and updates about US national elections, join today.

No, seriously. Go do it. Please, and thank you.

Deep Thought: What being a Democrat means to me.

Today at the Democrats Abroad International meeting, one lovely young woman from France said that she was interested him hearing what being a Democrat means to us - why do we do it?

The next speaker after her complimented the presenation that had just been given, saying that having attended the earlier meeting to discuss it, which had apparently been lively, he felt that the final presentation was (probably not an exact quote): "A beautiful synthesis of complaint and argument into something really great."

I responded that that's what being a Democrat means to me.

A beautiful synthesis of complaint and argument.

Discuss.

Off to Florence for a Glamous Weekend of... meetings...

I'm off within the hour for a weekend trip to Florence Italy. The Democratic Party Committee Abroad's (DPCA for the acronymically inclined. Democrats Abroad in plain English) international meeting is there.

So I've got two days closed into conference rooms with no time set aside to explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world. On the one hand, poo. On the other, hurray! Should be great to see folks again. I'm always amazed by the cross section of folks represented at these Meetings; expats from Israel and Italy, Holland and Hong Kong, India and Indonesia, Afghanistan (yes, really!) and Australia.

Now THAT'S a state party with diversity. Hah.

Will report back after the fact.

In the meantime, if you too are a Democrat abroad (whether or not you are a Democrat Abroad) make sure you do request your absentee ballot for the midterms. We always advise everyone to submit a ballot request, even if they expect to get a ballot from their state. Better safe than sorry!

Six Months Ago Today...

Dear Friends,

On November 4, 2008 – six months ago today – you and millions ofpeople just like you, all across America and around the world electeda new President of the USA and a new vision for America. The shockwaves of what you did are still reverberating, as ourPresident starts to deliver on his bold new agenda, and as activistsaround the world are more and more looking to our campaign’sremarkable story for lessons in how they can use the power of the people to change the way politics operates.

TELL US ABOUT IT....

http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/ (Just write your answer in the Comments)

In that spirit, I hope that you will take two minutes of your timetoday to answer some questions about the Obama campaign and what itmeant to you. This request comes to you from a UK organisation called38 Degrees, which has been co-founded by Obama’s North Carolina NewMedia Director Ben Bradzel. Ben and the 38 Degrees team are eager hearfirsthand from Obama’s UK supporters how they were able to organisefor him, and to learn from that experience to start translating it into grassroots efforts here in Britain.

Please click here: http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/ (Just write your answer in the Comments)

Meanwhile, here’s a reminder of that amazing night:



And a taste of just how much we have achieved since then.



Six months on, we’ve come a long way – but we still have so much todo!

Best wishes,

Karin

PS: In honor of all the amazing work Democrats Abroad did to getPresident Obama elected - I hope you'll consider making a $100donation to keep their efforts going. https://www.democratsabroad.org/contribute/And I hope to see many of you this Wednesday night at our monthlySpeakeasy. http://www.democratsabroad.org/node/3643

The Beautiful Mess that is Democracy

Yesterday afternoon Democrats Abroad UK had its biannual meeting and election of officers. I'm honored and delighted to report that I was unanimously elected Vice Chair (this sounds better than it is since I was unopposed! Guess I scared off the competition) and that Bill Barnard was overwhelmingly re-elected Chair. Alicia Skubick is now our Secretary - elected by a massive majority - and Eileen Taylor ran unopposed for Treasurer.

For the most part the meeting went smoothly - the big exception being a heated debate and some confusion about the election of our Executive Committee.

After the event, I spoke to quite a few people about their perceptions of the day. A couple people who are "old timers" - ie, have been around for a few previous election cycles - came up to me and said that was one of the least chaotic of these meetings that we've had. Several others, for whom this was their first meeting, told me that they found it confusing, they couldn't understand why things were being done the way they were.

Here's the situation as I see it - the DAUK bylaws were drafted for a very different organisation than we are today. They are vague in some areas, unwieldy in others, and altogether better suited for a small member organisation than for the large political organisation that we are today. One of the areas where they are vague and unhelpful is in the election process - this was exacerbated by some amendments that were made a few years ago with the laudable intention of opening up the voting process to more people, but which failed to consider the implications of imposing those revisions on top of a structure designed for the more closed voting system. In short, it's a bit of a mess - the Nominating Committee and the Executive Committee each time try to set rules that will clarify some of this confusion, but it's always imperfect. And yes, we are working on getting this stuff sorted out, but the revision process is slow and nobody wanted to focus on it during an election year (we were a little busy!).

Anyway, my larger point is this: this is all very "inside baseball" stuff, the details of DAUK internal election processes and such like. But these types of problems aren't unique to us - more often than not Democracy is pretty messy stuff. The best thing we can do is approach this with some humility and some patience combined with a determination to make it work - and maybe some duct tape to stick the whole thing together.

It's not just us - the US Constitution has some of the same problems. It too, was designed for an organisation very different than the one we live in today. It never envisioned universal education, or direct election of Senators, or international air travel, or the Internet. But we've been patching it together for years, with ad hoc updates via court rulings or clarifying legislation, or just custom and traditio. Somehow, it all works. Because we all want it to. In my view it's that collective wanting that makes up a democracy, as much as the specific rules and laws.

I'm sure that all of us newly elected officers will make mistakes over the next couple of years. But if you'll keep wanting this organisation to work, we'll keep trying to make it work better. Thanks for your patience!

How to Be a Democratic Party Activist

As we move into the exciting new world where the Democratic Party is the party of Government and as we absord the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of new activists and supporters generated during the campaing, I realy hope that all of you will continue to stay involved and to push for the policies and candidates that you care about. But as much as I want us to be strong and principled in how we go about our activism, I also want us to think about the STYLE of our activism.

Recently I responded to a complaint on one of the Obama Groups about a local Democrats Abroad chapter's apparent failure to engage fully with their members. Now, I have no way of knowing whether this individual's concerns were valid or not, but I did think it was useful to remind all of us Obamaites that if we are going to live up to Barack's example we need to follow his example by applying the GOlden RUle. Below is my advice written specifically for that group, but applicable to all those who seek to make Change in politics.

1) Empathy. No matter what your disagreements or concerns may be with the leadership - remember that they have their own problems. Democrats Abroad is a 100% volunteer organisation - there is only one paid staffer, and she is based in Washington. As a result, DA officers are often trying to do a full time job in their free time, often for little or no thanks. Yes, there are always ways that they could be working harder, especially to engage and involve their members but sometimes they are simply overwhelmed trying to get through the day. As a result...
2) Present Yourself as the Solution, Not the Problem. Remember, if you walk up to them and say, "you do a terrible job of engaging with your members you should be ashamed of yourself. Why aren't you...." there is no incentive for that person to listen to you - they see you as a problem and instantly their motivation is to get rid of you. But if, instead, you say, "I know that it can be a real struggle to manage our interactions with members so that there is a real consultation process in place. I had some thoughts about how I might be able to help with that..." suddenly you are taking a burden off their shoulders. But make sure you really do follow through on the suggestions you propose. Have practical steps in mind that will help you get there, and be prepared to work with them to be flexible about how that might happen (E.G., "OK, you say we don't have the money to build a website... could we do an e-mail dialog?").
3) Listen as Much as You Talk. Sometimes I've seen 3 or 4 people stand up in a meeting to make the same point or I've seen people totally ignore explanations and clarifications that are offered. This quickly becomes annoying and makes it seem like you are not respecting the other people in the room. If you have a strong view, sometimes it's a good idea not to jump into the discussion right away but rather to hold back until most people have had their say and then demonstrate in your statement that you've heard and understood the others' point of view. (Frankly, this is how I think the leadership ought to be treating their members, so it is only fair that we offer them the same courtesy.)
4) Be Concise. Your point is all the more likely to be heard if it is well thought out, clearly stated, and brief. A 20 minute diatribe will cause people to tune you out (possibly forever) but a 30 second statement of the problem followed by a 1 minute proposal and recommendation will be listened to with attention.
5) Don't Get Personal. Even if you violently disagree with someone's views on an issue, work hard to make sure your comments are directed at the area of disagreement, not the person. Attributing someone's views to their personal circumstances ("That's so typical of a rich lawyer") or to their innate bad qualities ("You don't care about grassroots movements at all") suggests that you oppose them personally, not their position. And strangely enough, no one is going to go out of their way to work with someone they see as fundamentally hostile to them. But if your objection is issue-focussed there is room for them to change their mind or, if you lose the argument anyway, to become your ally on a future issue where you might agree.

I hope that you will continue to try and play a constructive role in Democrats Abroad, or in your local party wherever it may be, because we really do need to continue growing a strong, member-led, ground-up organisation.

Howard Dean Event in London - June 22nd

While I am posting about upcoming events, I should also mention a couple of other really wonderful events that are coming up, hosted by Democrats Abroad here in the UK.

1. Governor Howard Dean - DNC Chair and 50 state strategy genius - will be in London and speaking at Imperial College for Democrats Abroad on Sunday 22nd of June. Don't miss this rare opportunity to see the head of our party and find out first hand what's in across the land.
2. July 4th Picnic - Democrats Abroad's annual picnic in Regents Park will be held (slightly inaccurately) on Saturday July 5th. Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to celebrate Independence with your fellow Democrats.

And by the way, if you haven't already joined Democrats Abroad, I highly recommend that you do so - not only is it a phenomenal organisation full of wonderful people, but it also does amazing voter registration work, hosts exciting events, and will keep you informed during this crucial election cycle.

And I'm not just saying that because I'm on the Executive Committee.