MDP Rule Change – Part 3

I?m sitting in my living room listening to the wind rage outside. I’ve been listening to it all day. The kind of wind that’s in your face even when you can’t feel it. 60 miles per hour. Relentless. Unforgiving. Obnoxious.

This must be the wind that blew the rule through State Central.

When I first heard about this rule change, I wasn’t terribly concerned. It seems reasonable enough to want to open voting to everyone, even if there was some disagreement as to the consequence. I’m the first to admit that my watchdog friends get a little over the top sometimes. (read: ANAL) They’re probably just over-reacting. They get so worked up over the smallest things. Can’t good people who want the best for the party disagree on policies and rules?

And then State Central drew near, and little red flags started popping up in my inbox …

“Responsible leaders in the MDP would delay this vote for full debate at the local level. Voting on this important rule change 3 days before important municipal elections in Detroit, Pontiac, and other cities is inappropriate.” –Christina Montague, First Vice-President of the MDP Black Caucus

“Please vote NO and delay the vote so we can have full debate at the local level.” –Senator Martha Scott

“I have heard no reasonable explanation why this rule change should not be thoroughly discussed before we act on it. This process is both disturbing and a real eye opener for me.” — Jonathan Cleveland Kinloch, Detroit School Board, State Central Delegate

“As Membership Director of the Michigan Young Dems, I urge the MDP to follow the rules and delay this vote. The State Party cannot continue to ignore basic notice and quorum requirements in our Democracy.” — Andrea Love Sumpter, MYD membership director

And that’s just a sliver of what’s out there.

One would think our Party Chair would respond to the calls of our Party officers and elected officials? Surely he’d slow things down a bit?

Isn’t that what good people who want the best for the party would do?

So why did Mark Brewer push forward? Why was it so important to push this rule change through during a time when many people were busy with local elections?

Some might say we shouldn’t put the blame all on Mark Brewer. Like Mark said, the Rules Committee and the Executive Committee both endorsed the rule change. But a 9 person vote via private conference call by the Rules Committee isn’t very convincing, and there isn’t much credibility in an endorsement by an Executive Committee that didn’t even meet until after their endorsement had been announced.

Part of the reason I don’t immerse myself in the details of the Democratic Party is that I don’t want to test my loyalty. I don’t want to waste a fight. I am a Democrat. I want to fight Republicans. But I’ve watched my party turn away from our voters, our candidates, and now from our dues paying, hard working, door knocking, vote getting, election winning members.

Who is our real enemy? Our political opposition has never claimed to be our friend. The Republican Party has betrayed America, but has never betrayed the Democrats. Only Democrats have betrayed the Democrats.

One of the reasons I delayed this entry was to give Mark Brewer a chance to comment. He hasn’t had much time to respond; it’s not as though he’s declined. But I have no reason to think he’ll treat me any different than he treated the many people who asked questions prior to the vote. Why should he bother to speak directly to the concerns about the rule change now that the rule has passed?

Perhaps Mark Brewer just has no use for debate. It makes sense; debate is only useful if he wants what’s best for the party. If his sole purpose is to push through a rule change, debate just gets in the way. It gives his opponents time to organize their thoughts. It gives them time to articulate their concerns. They might organize an opposition. They might uncover hidden agendas.

They might even do some research on Michigan election law.

Next time … how many laws would a rule change break if a rule change did break laws?

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