this is a damn shame

so i’m browsing the star-t’s page and i see that finally they’ve decided to give some local democrats some coverage. is it favorable? hell to the no, but it does contain a few gems. this is one reason why i have a love/hate relationship with the star-t.

they’ve posted an article about the race in tx-26, which pits incumbent republican bush rubber stamp michael burgess against democratic challenger tim barnwell and libertarian rich haas.

the article starts with the premise that the war is the issue nationally (i’d agree with this), then goes on to explain that tx-26 is “solidly” republican and not susceptible to the national agenda. again, probably true *at this point*. overall, i think it’s a pretty neutral article, but slanted slightly towards star-t-endorsee burgess.

what truly irritated me was this:

As of Sept. 30, Burgess had raised $714,378 and spent $734,824, according to reports filed by his campaign with the Federal Election Commission. Burgess gave $64,000 to fellow Republican candidates and GOP organizations.

His largest contribution was $15,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He also gave $4,000 to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who dropped his bid for re-election.

based on this passage, i’m going to jump on on my platform for a moment.

what we have here is evidence of atrophy and apathy. in this part of the country, our political institutions are in dire straits. from the party leadership down to the lowliest precinct chair (of which i am, so don’t get your panties in a wad ok?), the entire structure has been allowed to rot and decay.

when this happens, a party loses it’s ability to raise funds. they lose their ability to mobilise and GOTV. they lose their ability to recruit candidates and build the farm team. they just lose.

it’s gotten so bad that it’s difficult to care. or perhaps for a while, they actually stopped caring.

but tim barnwell cared enough to step up and challenge the status quo. unfortunately, he ran right into the biggest barrier to entry into government: money. without it, it’s hard to play the game. and many wonderful, capable candidates are finding this out the hard way this year.

so we have two problems here, both structural in nature. and they’re so bad that rubber stamp do-nothings like michael burgess are not only gauranteed re-election, they also have enough resources to throw at races around the country.

how do you fix it?

the obvious answer to the money problem is public funding of campaigns – NO EXCEPTIONS. NO OPTING OUT. everyone has to play fair and square. re-establish the fairness doctrine and give candidates equal time on the airwaves. level the playing field with real electoral reform.

yea, it’s obvious but it’s huge. i know.

in the immediate, we have to try and fund our people. that’s the whole point of the “use it or lose it” meme.

beyond that, you have to fix the structural issues with the party itself. by “the party”, i mean the national, state, and county parties.

the reason i supported howard dean for dnc chairman is because he gets that. the 50-state strategy is nothing if not a plan on rebuilding and reinforcing our party structure. it’s about turning it into a well oil machine. as you probably have read by now, this 50-state strategy is poised to pay dividends in 15 days.

and naturally, there’s work to be done at the county and state level. that’s the hard part, really. and that’s a nuts and bolts conversation i don’t feel like getting into right now. when i consider the work to be done, i refer to Fudd’s First Law of Opposition: Push something hard enough and it will fall over.

these underlying structural issues aren’t going to be fixed overnight, and it’s why i remain skeptical of the polls saying we’re ahead by this or that amount nationally. i know how hard it still is right here in my own backyard, and i won’t be satisfied till the party’s rebuilt in every state. until then, more candidates will find themselves in tim barnwell’s shoes: underfunded, undersupported, and rarely taken seriously by the corporate media.