The Future of the Democratic Party in San Diego.

The primary challenge facing Democrats in San Diego is to present a credible alternative to conservative leadership.

San Diego is a newly Democratic community. For decades, conservatives have dominated local politics, and Democrats were left to fight over a limited number of districts to play only the loyal opposition. Now Democrats are the plurality of voters in the County, and are increasing their plurality of registered voters in the City. Despite these gains, Democrats have been unable to capture even one seat on the County Board of Supervisors, and it has been over 20 years since voters elected a Democratic mayor.

Numerical superiority alone has not been sufficient to overcome entrenched conservative dominance. Democrats need to present themselves as capable of leading San Diego, in order to leverage our advantages into real electoral wins.

For many years, most elected Democrats in San Diego followed one of two basic models. The first type of Democrat was a feisty contrarian, whose message is primarily a criticism of those in power. The alternative to that contrarian model are Democrats elected as vanilla, uncontroversial compromisers, who pledged to work with the conservative interests that already dominate San Diego.

Neither model presents a uniquely progressive or Democratic vision. The contrarian is a naysayer that critiques the status quo without presenting feasible alternatives. The compromiser more or less accepts the status quo, and pledges to work within its existing framework.

While the contrarian may object to conservative policies, they fail to articulate a persuasive Democratic alternative. The compromiser may support realistic policies, but their views are not meaningfully different from the policies advanced by conservative officeholders.

The future of the Democratic Party in San Diego requires candidates and office-holders to present uniquely Democratic ideas that are credible alternatives to the conservative status quo. We can’t just complain about conservative policies, or promise to compromise with the conservative office-holders. Neither strategy informs voters what a Democratic local government would actually do for them. We have to present a vision of what Democratic local governance would look like. And we have to ask voters to elect Democrats to carry out that vision.

In short, we have to lead.

If Democrats are unhappy about a Mayor’s charter review process, we can’t limit our response to complaining about it. Instead we have to present an alternative review system, and either use the legislative powers of the City Council, or a referendum to enact it. If proposed budgets call for cuts that are antithetical to progressive values, Democrats must show how those cuts can realistically be avoided. If the Democrats only complain about the initiatives of others, then we are not leading, but only reacting.

Democrats in San Diego need not moderate themselves in order to demonstrate a capacity for local leadership. While pragmatism is important, successful Democrats can and should fiercely advocate for the cause of workers, for project labor agreements and environmental concerns. Voters support Democrats on these issues.

In the current City Council, the person who best follows this modern Democratic approach is Todd Gloria. Gloria doesn’t just sit on the sidelines. He puts forward realistic policies that are useful alternatives to the conservative status quo. For example, Gloria has advocated for ending the subsidy renters are forced to pay when the city doesn’t charge homeowners for trash pickup. He placed more Community Relations Officers in his district, to efficiently leverage city resources and stop crimes before they start.

San Diego is fortunate to have someone like Gloria on the Council. But he’s only one person, and we need our other Democrats to follow his example. The Labor Council is taking some important steps by allowing candidates to take a “Labor 101” course on the practical and moral underpinnings policy that supports working people. San Diegans are setting up a local chapter of the New Leaders Council (www.newleaderscouncil.org), to build skills and relationships for young progressive political entrepreneurs.

Democrats need to articulate how their policy preferences will actually operate when applied. If we are going to ask voters to give us the reigns of government, we have to present and fight for a positive view of progressive local government.

Colin Parent is an attorney and the Political Director for the San Diego County Young Democrats.

[Cross-posted on NBC San Diego.]

Young Democrats in San Diego

Locally, a lot of people think of the Young Democrats as the group that put on the largest Obama inauguration night in San Diego (cleverly titled “Farewell to W at the W”).

But the Young Democrats are more than just a social club for young progressives. They’re the youth arm of the Democratic Party. That’s the party line, so to speak.

The short and technical definition of the Young Dems are registered Democrats between the ages of 14 and 36, who work to advance progressive values and elect Democratic candidates. Young Dems also like to have a good time. They mix something of a social scene with their political activism.

In San Diego, there are a number of Young Democrat organizations. The most established is the San Diego County Young Democrats (SDCYD). They’re mostly young professionals, folks out of college, or graduate school. But they have some members who are still in school, or who didn’t choose the college route. All of the local Young Democrat clubs are affiliated with the state-wide California Young Democrats, and the nation-wide Young Democrats of America.

When young people ask me how to get involved in politics, or how to start working for campaigns, I tell them to join the Young Dems. It’s an open organization, and anyone with a commitment to progressive Democratic ideals can join.

Membership in the Young Democrats has value. Campaigns routinely come to Young Dem meetings courting endorsements to put on their websites and mail pieces. Elected officials come looking for appointees to local boards and commissions. When Vice President Joe Biden was visiting San Diego last month, a group of Young Democrats were invited to meet him at the Coronado Navy Base. Joining the Young Democrats is the easiest way for young folks to inject themselves into the political scene in San Diego.

Young Dem clubs are up and running at the local colleges, and at some of the law schools. Recently, they’ve been popping up at the community colleges and even at a few high schools.

There’s also the Stonewall Young Democrats, a spin-off from the LGBT-oriented San Diego Democratic Club.

The SDCYD is the largest club in San Diego. They have monthly business meetings, currently held on the fourth Monday of each month at the Gordon Biersch in Mission Valley. Sure there’s beer served, but the business meetings are for business. They’re to plan out community service events and political actions, to endorse candidates, and to collect dues.

Over the last few years, the SDCYD has branched out, adding a monthly rotating social meeting on the second Thursday of each month. Month to month, they move from one swank bar to another. The crowds get bigger every time, and on occasion, someone even sends a professional photographer. Besides the politics, people join the Young Dems to meet people, and to have a little fun.

The real work for the Young Democrats, however, happens on the weekends, between the meetings and the socials. Young Dems plan community service projects, walk precincts, and organize fundraisers all to advance progressive values in the San Diego community.

In 2008, Young Dems organized two fundraisers for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, including one featuring his sister Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng. The SDCYD hosted two fundraisers for Todd Gloria's successful San Diego City Council campaign. We walked to the homes of thousands of San Diegans to turn out votes for candidates we endorsed. Recently, members of Young Dems organizations hosted a fundraiser for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and we took lots of pictures.

This week, the San Diego County Young Democrats are co-hosting their monthly social with the Stonewall Young Democrats. It’s on Thursday, June 11th at 8 p.m. at The Office Bar in North Park. Happy hour prices from 8 to 10. According to the event’s Facebook page, it should be packed.

Facebook and Local Politics

A lot’s been written about national politics and the Facebook generation. President Obama used the internet to organize his supporters in ways never before practiced in a national campaign.

Presidential campaigns are often the proving ground for new political techniques and technologies. But Facebook and other internet tools are also changing politics at a more local level.

San Diego City Councilmember Carl DeMaio recently invited me to be his “friend” on Facebook. I’ve never met Councilmember DeMaio, so we’re not friends in real life. And we’re relatively apart on the political spectrum. (Note that I’m friends with people I disagree with, both in real life and on Facebook. Maybe DeMaio is lots of fun to hang out with and someday we’ll be fast friends, but at the moment, we’re not).

I denied his invitation.

But maybe I should have accepted it. Another progressive Democrat I know accepted DeMaio’s invitation and discovered that the councilmember posted some of his policy ideas through his Facebook profile. The Democrat used Facebook to comment on the policy and thereby directly communicated with an elected representative in City government.

I’ve had a similar experience. In September of 2007, I received a Facebook friend request from California Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Before accepting the request, I sent a message in response, asking who I knew on the other end of that Facebook account. Previously, the Facebook requests I had received from political figures were all made by friends of mine from the California Young Democrats, who were managing some elected official’s Facebook account.

The response from Secretary Bowen’s account was in the first person, and it said something like “We haven’t met personally yet, but we have a lot of mutual friends in the California Young Democrats, and your friend [so and so] used to work for my Senate office.”

I very nearly responded with a snarky reply about not breaking character. I was in Sacramento at the time, taking a post-bar exam trip up and down California, reacquainting myself with old friends that I hadn’t seen much during my 3 years in law school at NYU. Coincidentally, I had lunch plans the next day with the very same mutual friend who was once worked for Bowen’s Senate office. At lunch it was explained to me that Bowen actually managed her own Facebook account. I was relieved that I had kept my snark under control.

Not only did I accept Bowen’s friend request, but I responded with an invitation for her to speak to the members of the San Diego lawyers chapter of the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal group I helped found after returning to San Diego. Through Facebook, Bowen connected me to her staff scheduler, and in March, she visited our chapter and gave a terrific presentation about protecting voting rights. During her presentation, Bowen mentioned that a few days earlier, someone had used Facebook to report a violation of California’s elections regulations, and that she had directed her staff to investigate the matter.

Both the DeMaio and Bowen examples show how Facebook, and similar tools, can help connect policymakers to the people they serve. Not every elected official can manage their own Facebook profile, but this sort of technology allows alternatives to the staff-insulated communications bubble in which so many politicians live. Even Barack Obama fought to keep his Blackberry, so that he could have connections to the world by means other than his White House staff.

Savvy candidates are following the Obama model and preparing vast, internet-based campaigns. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is currently on a campaign to raise 30,000 online Facebook supporters in 30 days for his gubernatorial bid. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, about 400 people are joining each day. Newsom’s nearest rival for the governorship, at least in the Facebook Primary, is Attorney General Jerry Brown, with a mere 700 Facebook supporters. Newsom supporters can sign up by visiting the Mayor’s Facebook page. (Full disclosure: I am an avowed Newsom fan).

Programs like Facebook allow campaigns to show off their supporters in a very public fashion. Facebook users see news feed stories when their friends become supporters of candidates. When the Newsom campaign announced a planned visit to San Diego next month, they posted an “event” listing on Facebook. Not only does this provide logistical information about when and where the event will take place, but Facebook users can see that over 100 people are planning to attend, and which of their friends will be there. (Again, full disclosure: I invited over half of the 600 people currently listed in the event, but I only invited about 30 of the 100 or so people who’ve RSVP’d as planning to attend.)

Some local political organizations are seeing Facebook as a preferred method of organizing, supplanting more traditional options like email listservs and standalone web pages. The UCSD student group supporting Barack Obama’s presidential bid was organized entirely through a Facebook page. Emails announcing meetings and political actions were sent via Facebook message.

Facebook has an advantage for political organizers because people can see when their friends join a group, which can encourage them to join it too. There’s a potential for a snowball effect. No one knows when you add your email address to a non-Facebook listserv, like by providing an email address on the web page of a political campaign or organization.

The San Diego County Young Democrats have recognized the advantage of maintaining communications with members of their Facebook group, who might not have provided the organization with an email address to receive their weekly email newsletter. Now, the general email newsletter is routinely copied into a separate message to all the members of the local Young Democrats Facebook group. While a lot of people receive the messages twice, young people are increasingly tolerant of superfluous electronic communications.

There’s no doubt that the internet is changing politics and organizing. Not only did the internet bolster Obama’s presidential campaign, but it’s changing how things are done right here in San Diego. I’ve identified some of the recent local trends, but I’m sure there are others. If you have other examples of how the internet has changed the poltical scene in San Diego, please share them in the comments.

UPDATE (3/19/2009): I got a new Facebook request from Carl DeMaio. This time I accepted. We'll see how it goes!

San Diego Young Dems say Farewell to W at the W!

The San Diego County Young Democrats hosted a huge party to celebrate the inauguration of President Barack Obama last night.

The event was titled “Farewell to W at the W,” and it was held at the W Hotel, in Downtown San Diego. Over 1500 people attended, making it easily the largest inauguration celebration in San Diego.

Photos of the event are posted on the Young Democrats Flickr group page. There are hundreds of photos from the night uploaded, and more are on their way. DiscoverSD.com also has some photos up at their gallery.

By any measure, the event was a home run success. Local television aired promotions for the event, both on the ABC and CBS affiliates, as well as a live promotion the morning of the event on Fox.

By having attendees RSVP online, and by heavily promoting the event, the Young Democrats were able to capture contact information of more than 2500 new people for their general distribution list. These new names will be invited to participate in Democratic social events, political actions, and public service opportunities.

Numerous television stations covered the event. Not only were the cameras covering the excitement and celebrations, but numerous Young Democrats were on camera, explaining that Obama’s message of hope had real significance to them. Event organizers kept on message, and explained that change can happen right here in San Diego through participation with the Young Democrats and other progressive political organizations.

The crowed swelled throughout the night, and gathered at 9 p.m. for a replay of President Obama’s inauguration address. Before the video played, organizers introduced the Young Democrats. The young, fashionable crowd shouted and cheered when organizers announced that in November, local Democrats captured six of eight City Council seats.

UPDATE: Shindy.tv produced a 10 minute clip showcasing the event. It's shared here as well. A number of the board members from the Young Democrats are featured, as well as many happy party-goers.