28 Comments
User's avatar
Karen's avatar

I’m the new Dem precinct chair in my corner of Travis County. I have two volunteers.

Two.

I’m trying to raise our profile and get some service projects on line to raise the Dem profile and improve our reputation, but where do I even start?

Michelle H. Davis's avatar

The county party has precinct training, if that’s what you mean.

Lucy Frost's avatar

It's tough, Karen. I'm precinct chair in Manchaca and also on the board of Hands Off Central TX. And I have a PT job. I'm so busy I'm catching myself coming & going!

And I also struggle to scare up volunteers.

Something that inspired me recently: was talking w Stacy Suits, long time constable & politically active guy -- he told me about flipping a district some years ago "When we walk, we Win." Meaning, when you go out & knock doors - ask if they're registered to vote at that address (we can give you addresses for likley unregistere), or if they Vote by Mail, have they applied for this year (many don't know they have to re-apply each yeart) Ask what issues concern them most. Give them your contact info & tell them to get in touch w questions anytime. You're their closest connection to the Dem party.

Blue Action has resources for all the above -- shared w the Party I believe.

And ... know that it's ok to do what you can do. Every vote matters. Last round I didn't get to a whole section of my precinct. But I got to 3 of the 4 zones.

Look me up - give me a call!

Karen's avatar

Stacy is a friend of mine! I’ll give him a call! I’m a member of SW Blue Action and they’re really useful. And yes, I WILL give you a call!

Eva Camacho Guzman's avatar

🙏🏼 for Bexar County to get more precinct chairs. ☺️

Dr. Fake Smile's avatar

You got the best lines…”take your anger, bring your fear…turn it into action”.

Thanks. We needed that 💪👊🏼

Karen's avatar

Thanks for the inspiration!

Heidi Bray's avatar

Again,

Thank you Michelle--I'mlooking at my vacant precinct 263 Chair !!!!

tim koss's avatar

In Tarrant County the only political activity that i am aware of is some people who protest tryanny and hour of 2 a week at Hulen and Bellaire,,,,,,they don't mention the Dem Party

the Tarrant Dems have awarded themselves a vacation as near as i can tell

they didn't participate in No Kings or Beto...and by participate, I mean they didn't even inform Tarrant Dems of these events

so either we have given up, or ur formulation needs revising

Lucy Frost's avatar

There hasn't been the comms coordination that we need. Remember virtually all this stuff is 100% volunteer powered.

The 501 C3 orgs -- like Indivisible, league of women voters, third act, etc -- can't legally put party info out there. But the the party can inform their folks about the 501 c3 events.

Biggest issue is most often being able to reach ppl -- on socials, email, text. Info available often not accurate. Big reason that knocking on doors matters. it's slow going.

tim koss's avatar

my question: in the age of SM how can we not have a comms dir...should be priority 1.....

me , i would be canvassing every college and HS for unpaid interns..........or linkedin for a retired mkting person...

i can't find word anywhere that that is the prob ..there is 26 members of the EC that can help get the word out.......or even do all or part of that job

its why i wanted the chair to be from hispanic connected individual with a network and hopefully some skills

they weren't volunteer last year when they paid 100,000 grand in salaires

an updated list of orgs isn't a crime..........

a pct chair has 3000 to 4000 consitutents...they can't knock on every door in a year much less talk to people

ask them to buy a commercial email list at 30$/1000 ..........they don't have to be vetted emails, they just have to reach enough constituents to cause a chain reaction

you have said more than Allison & Co has in 1-1/2 terms so thanks for that

tim koss's avatar

FYI i did just get an email from TCDP offering me a discount on the Opal Lee Luncheon........so they know how to do that, they simply don't for things that matter

blueksy has 600 members.....MD says she gets info from Allsion's personal FB......how the hell would an Hispanic voter in Diamond Hill know to look for Allsions's FB

this is ridiculous for a county party MD and Allison claim to be indispensible

Karen's avatar

That’s a shame, because Tarrant Together was making some real progress a few years ago.

Michelle H. Davis's avatar

Tarrant Together is still making progress. There are multiple groups working in Tarrant County busting their humps.

tim koss's avatar

u make my point....never heard of Tarrant Together..............we need someone who simply communicates,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,to me, as a way minority party we have to innovate......same for Tarrant as for other parties.......make their website an info hub where anyone can go looking for groups, org ,news about Dem activity and politics in their county

that way anyone with HC questions or abortion questions or SS questions or wanting candidate lists can easily go.......we are coming up on the HI window, most people have not the slightest idea what is in store for them....you cannot google health care without getting 10,000 links to companies selling insurance and no actual news or guidance

TDP can provide a template for give counties and fwd veted info.....

hell a simple list of office holders would be a step fwd

build it, MD understands this concept , and they will come

Michelle H. Davis's avatar

Tarrant Together is a group separate from the TCDP; multiple groups in Tarrant County are unaffiliated with the Party.

Eva Camacho Guzman's avatar

😭

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 26Edited
Comment deleted
Michelle H. Davis's avatar

I feel you. It’s frustrating. I had a sort of break down today, too. My kids would call it a “crash out.” I wound up on about a dozen or so Texas Republican’s Facebook pages, cussing them out. I used very bad language. I’m probably blocked in most by now. 😭

Karen's avatar

I do that! Not on Facebook but I actually pay for Matt Taibbi’s Substack so that I can go call him and his idiot fans ugly names. I think I hate Taibbi more than open Republicans because he pretends to be above all this while enabling fascism more than anyone at the American Enterprise Institute ever dreamed of. I pay $8/ month to call him an asshole a few times each week.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 26
Comment deleted
Michelle H. Davis's avatar

What are you going to run for?

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 26
Comment deleted
Michelle H. Davis's avatar

That’s awesome! You’ll do amazing.

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 26
Comment deleted
Karen's avatar

Best of luck and keep us all posted!

User's avatar
Comment deleted
Aug 26
Comment deleted
Michelle H. Davis's avatar

People are so done with establishment Dems.