My Statement On The Mi-04 Committee Election

As you know, I was a candidate for Chair of the 4th District Congressional Committee.  That election was decided yesterday at the convention.

I would like to thank my supporters and once again congratulate Bob Donoghue on his victory.  Bob conducted himself with true class during this election, and I hope that all of our counties will now unite behind him and the rest of our committee.

I would also like to recognize the conduct of the participants in the caucus election.  People treated each other with respect, and the nomination and election processes were open and fair.  Our county chairs were allowed to openly discuss their concerns about how the Unity Slate was created.  I am proud of this process and would like to now share three ideas on how to further add to the integrity of our district elections.

The process of nominating candidates for a slate should be standardized.  There was some confusion as to whether our county chairs would be contacted by the district chair, or whether they were supposed to call the district chair or the representative of UAW Region 1D.   Perhaps a nominating committee would be in order.  This committee would take on the responsibility for contacting the counties and recruiting candidates.  If done properly, this process would bring the development of our slates out into the open and remove barriers to participation.  

During the voting process, the representative of UAW Region 1D was moving from caucus to caucus to oversee the voting.  This is terribly inappropriate.  At best, it introduces the possibility of intimidation of the voters who are union members.  At worst, it is an attempt to coerce votes and tamper with the election.  I recommend the 4th District Committee prohibit this type of activity during elections.  Voters should stay with their own caucus and not be allowed to wander and possibly influence votes in other counties.  

Finally, I call for an end to the mean spirited politics that took place during the weeks leading up to the election.  I am so proud of the UAW and the Democratic Party, and it was disappointing to see representatives of these organizations conduct themselves in such a manner.  My opponent was well known throughout the district and very well qualified to be Chair; he had a huge advantage in this election without the tactics of desperation going on behind his back.  The people who embraced these tactics have embarrassed themselves, the UAW, and the Democratic Party.

In the future, I encourage the architects of any slate to embrace their opponents in friendship, out of respect for our shared values.  Rather than divide our district and alienate potential assets, they should simply use the 30 day rule to stack the caucus with their supporters.

I cannot emphasize enough that tactics used in this campaign should not reflect poorly on the character of Bob Donoghue, or on his legitimacy as Chair of the committee.  Bob does not deserve to be tainted by the bad behavior of a few of those around him.  

This election presented the members of the 4th district with a clear choice.  One philosophy is to take the fight to Dave Camp ... to campaign non-stop against him even before we have a candidate.  The other is to fight on the state level; to win the legislature so that we can redraw the congressional districts.  This is what we have been doing, and this is what our district elected to continue to do.  I respect this choice, but I am going to point out that the 4th district did not pick up any house or senate seats during the ‘blue wave’ of 2006.   At a time when Democrats were winning districts that were only 42% Democratic, the 4th district won nothing.  I say this only to point out that although we may be keeping the old philosophy, we still need a new strategy if we’re going to win elections.

In closing I would like to say how proud I am to have participated in an honest and substantive discussion on the future of our district.  Those of you who supported me – I cannot thank you enough.  Do not lose hope, do not disengage, and never give up the fight for our Democratic values.

Thank you,
Christine Barry

Note:  this is cross-posted at christinebarry.com and michiganliberal.com, and has been distributed through a mailing list.

•  Sorry to hear

      Keep trying! Glad you had the courage to run!

  by David Boyle on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 12:56:28 PM PDT

•  Crashing the gates in Michigan is a challenge

  My district convention (11th) was pre-decided. We were handed a Unity Slate with all the offices, down to alternate member of the State Central Committee, already filled. If you didn't have ties to organized labor, your chances of getting on the slate were about the same as Britney Spears's chances of winning a Rhodes scholarship.

  by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 12:57:59 PM PDT

  •  Comrade Dump!

        The other comrades wish to have a private conference with you out behind the warehouse, comrade!

    by David Boyle on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 01:12:02 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, is that normal?

    This was my first time at a party convention. I didn't have any reason to mistrust the choices made by the 15th CD, and the ones I knew about I definitely approved. But it did seem a little strange to just be handed a fait accompli.

    by AceDeuceLady on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 01:55:08 PM PDT

    •  Sadly, it is

      And it happens in both parties. But wouldn't you prefer some more small-d democracy in the way the Democratic Party is governed?

      by Dump Terry McAuliffe on Sun Feb 25, 2007 at 01:58:55 PM PDT

      •  We made progress

        We made some progress in the 4th.  One thing we did was motivate the architects of the Unity Slate to tell the members of the 4th district who was on the slate prior to the caucus.  It was distributed in an email either Wed or Thurs before convention.  This has never been done before ... usually people find out who is on the slate when they get to the caucus.  We also had a good discussion during caucus on the way that the slate is created.  Some people called this discussion "sour grapes", which I thought was the low point of the entire caucus ... certainly our county chairs should be able to discuss their concerns about the slate without having to deal with negative comments.

        The nominations and voting during the caucus weren't in any way (to my knowledge) obstructed.  That was progress too, considering what happened a few years ago when there was a last minute change to the Unity Slate.

        If the committee would standardize the nominating / slate building process, then they wouldn't have so much frustration with the slate.  It was truly enlightening to see the UAW guy say that "no one called me, so I built a slate of like-minded people" ... it's not clear to me why our county chairs have to call the UAW in order to get representation in the MDP.  I feel we can honor the alliance between the UAW and the MDP without ceding control of our party to a separate organization.  The results of this election (as well as the number of non-voting supporters I had) are an indication that many of our counties don't want to build slates this way.

        It's also pretty clear that a lot of people in the 4th are tired of losing elections at the state and federal level.

        Overall it was a good and positive caucus.  Despite a few minor negatives, I feel this was a great step forward for the 4th district.  And I encourage everyone in the district to stay involved in 4th district politics, and unite behind our Chair, Bob Donoghue.

        by christinebarry on Mon Feb 26, 2007 at 06:08:12 AM PDT