I have been asked by many, what would I, as State Chair of the NDP, do differently than my predecessors, and my opponents vying for the same position, would. While it is difficult to cover every aspect of what would change under my watch, I will try to be as complete and concise as possible and will be updating these comments as time goes by. If you have any questions about anything I didn’t cover here, please contact me and I will try to update this page to reflect my views on the topic.
I believe the position of State Chair should be carried out in accordance with the duties defined in the NDP Constitution and Bylaws. I would not be a dictator that expects people to do as I say, and never to question my decisions. I would always try to be as transparent, honest and accountable as I can, and I would expect everyone that I appoint, or approve of for positions within the party, to do the same.
I believe that we are responsible to those that we serve, they that put us into the positions we hold within the party. Our loyalties must lie with the party Constitution and Bylaws, our Platform, and our Resolutions. We must never serve our own self interests, those of other organizations that we belong to - public or private, nor adhere to secret groups that serve others’ interests.
I propose to make the NDP completely transparent, every decision, every action, every proposal, shall be posted on a public website open to any and all. For I believe that corruption is best dispelled by exposure to the bright light of day. There will be no more sneaking around, holding private meetings where our constituents are kept in the dark. They are not our enemies, and we are not their bosses. The NDP belongs to the people, not to just a few.
I would encourage every Democrat in the state to contribute to the party in whatever manner they can, with every bit of support that they can muster. By that I don’t just mean monetarily, I mean that they should utilize their talents and skills to the best of their abilities to promote our party and its ideals. I would create an organization that serves to assist these people in every way so as to ensure that their efforts are not wasted.
One way that I would hope to involve ever more Democrats in our organization is by establishing a system whereby all of our meetings are live streamed over the internet, so that even a rancher in the sandhills of Sioux County can keep tabs on exactly how he or she is being represented. I would like to establish a network that allows us to hold video conferences so that people don’t have to travel so far to participate in all of our meetings. I would create a blog, a list serve, or some way that every Democrat that had an opinion on some issue would be able to share it with every other Democrat in the state. It would not be censored! Censorship is anathema to the growth of democracy.
Rather than holding expensive fundraisers that the average Democrat cannot afford to attend, I would encourage more activity on the local level, especially at the county level throughout rural Nebraska. There are places in this state where Democrats are few and far between. We must help them to find one another, and give them the assistance they need to get organized, not just to support candidates for offices, but to support one another and to spread the word about our party and our Platform.
People are the most important thing in our party. Yes, money is a necessary evil, but Bernie Sanders has shown us how it is possible to accumulate enough of it to get our job done without selling our souls to those few that have the deepest pockets.
Now let’s get to work!
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