| Building The Washington Grassroots Organization |
Recruiting PCOs and Precinct Teams
This section of our organizational ideas is the largest section. This is because developing the organization at the precinct levels is the most fundamental aspect of creating the change that we seek to create. All of the other organizational levels above the PCO position are meant to facilitate the growth of the precinct structures and the communication required to be successful statewide.
Recruiting PCOs and developing precinct teams is a longer–term process. We have a great opportunity with the General Election campaigns to continue building the PCO ranks. This is, however, a task that will continue beyond this election cycle.
Different Ideas About The PCO’s Role
The Democratic Party has long considered the PCO to be the base of the party. We absolutely agree with this perspective. PCOs are essential in ensuring that the people within the precincts have the information to make intelligent decisions at the ballot box. As Benjamin Franklin stated (and I paraphrase) “A functioning democracy requires an informed and educated electorate.”
There are, however, a few differences between the traditional Democratic Party approach to PCOs and our approach. The Democratic Party seems to believe that the PCO should represent the Party to those living within the precincts. Since the PCO is an elected position, we believe that the PCO should represent the people of the precinct to the Democratic Party.
This is a subtle but important difference if we’re to successfully increase the participation in our political processes. In some ways, the difference can be viewed as the contrasts between a top–down model and a bottom–up model.
Using the Washington State Democrat’s PCO Handbook as the model, let’s look at a couple of other differences in approaching the PCO recruiting and participation question. (Right–click here to download a copy of the Washington Democrat’s PCO Handbook.)
Duties And Responsibities vs. Reality
Beginning on page 3 of the PCO Handbook, the duties and responsibilities of the PCO are laid out. All of these are important aspects of being a PCO, but can be overwhelming to someone we’re trying to recruit. This is especially true after reading the final paragraph of the The “Minimum Expectations” section, which states:
“Should you be unable to fulfill the minimum duties of the Precinct Committee Officer, you should do your best to find someone who can, and relinquish your position by submitting a letter of resignation to the county or district chair or by informing them that you will not seek re–election to the position. It is very important that we have PCOs that are willing to perform their duties.”
In our experience, many people want to do the job, but feel that they can’t give enough of their time to do the job properly — a lot of people feel they will only do the job if they can do it properly.
Page 4 of the PCO Handbook states the “Minimum Expectations.” We’ll contrast these minimum expectations with a few talking points that have proven successful in PCO Recruiting.
Minimum Expectations
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Reality
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We’ll discuss other aspects of the duties and responsibilities a bit later, along with coordinating with the campaigns. It should be pointed out, however, that a lot of what is stated in the Handbook is very top–down in terms of the PCO’s relationship to those that live within the precincts, as well as the PCO’s relationship to “campaign strategy.”
It is this top’down way of conducting business that has proven a tremendous obstacle to increasing participation in our political processes. Without increased participation in our political processes, it will be nearly impossible to change the way in which politics are presently conducted.
(It should be noted that one of the reasons Senator Obama has been so successful in developing tremendous grassroots support and participation is because of his statements on this issue. It’s our responsibility to put his words into action from the bottom–up)