What Victorious Mitch Ceasar Needs To Do. . .Now
Hey, Mitch.
You’ve beat back the attempt to topple you. You won another four years as chairman of the Broward Democratic Party.
Now what do you do?
Here are some ideas:
1. Make it clear: The Broward Democratic Party is not a social club.
Every committee member should have only one goal in mind getting more Democrats elected. Those committee members who don’t or won’t work for the Democratic ticket must be weeded out.
2. Require every committee member to attend a training session which will teach them how to campaign for Democrats.
Get some of the strategists who put together the pitch-perfect Obama campaign to teach committee members how it is done.
3. Require every committee member to sign a pledge to work the polls, phones or the streets on the day of the General Election.
Committee members’ should give up one day to get Democrats elected. Or they shouldn’t be Democratic committee members.
4. Make a major effort to raise more money for a well-paid professional staff during the campaign season.
5. Run contests for committee members to create enthusiasm and pump up turnout.
Give a prize to the committee member who has the most improved Democratic turnout in their precinct. Give another to the committee member who has the most improved Democratic registration in their precinct.
6. Try to end the divisive primaries, which needlessly waste Democratic money and manpower.
To accomplish this, Mitch, you’ll need to grow a bigger set of balls. Learn to use your power as chairman to control the ballot. Tell candidates to stay out of races or else.
7. Make the party more visible. Take positions on various local issues and issue news releases on them.
For instance, what is the Broward party’s position on building a new courthouse? Too controversial?
A party unwilling to take positions on major issues becomes irrelevant.
Believe me, Mitch, the local media will use almost every news release you issue. If you haven’t noticed, the media’s Internet operations have a bottomless appetite for copy which is heavily filled with news releases.
These ideas are off the top of my head. I’m sure others can come up with more. The party can not rely on what has been done before.
The country voted for a needed change. The local Democratic party needs a change, too. . .despite your overwhelming victory, Mitch.
December 7th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Get rid of Fleischer and the other mal-contents who ruin the unity of the party.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Mitch Ceasar earned another four years. I was one of the ones who voted for him. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for a washed up congressman who lives half way around the world. Deutsch had nothing in the way of new ideas. You have more ideas here than he ever presented. All he did was attack Mitch. This is a man who destroyed Ms. Castor telling us that he can save the prty. Ha
December 8th, 2008 at 5:57 am
The problem is that almost all of the partisan, and most of the non-partisan, elected officials in Broward are already Democrats.
Where do you go from here in Broward? Unless you are working to get these Broward Democrats more readily acceptable for State-wide office, then there is a clear lack of purpose. Right now they seem to just need to maintain what they have, which is hard to motivate.
I don’t see any movement to organize Democrats on a State-wide basis from Broward. In fact, it appears we are very isolated from the rest of the state (i.e., no one from the most Democratic County in Florida is even considering running for an open Senate seat).
December 8th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Make the loyalty oath mean something. People like Scott Brook and Ann Castro who endorsed and supported Lamberti should be gone and lose all future support from the party.
Also, do more to creat a bullpen and support younger people who run for municipal elections. Most of the electeds at the city level have little use for the DEC because they did nothing to help them get elected. They know all they have to do is show up at a few meeting if running to higher office to get the votes. No loyalty on either side.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:06 am
the democrats who supported lamberti had no real choice but to set aside the importance of party loyalty or affiliation because scott israel had been a republican just a few months earlier… oh, and nice of israel to show up yesterday at the DEC election!!
December 8th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Dear DEC Member
It’s because of people like yourself that Republicans are slowly gaining gorund in Broward.
Are you above the Democratic voters of Broward to say that their choice of Israel was wrong? This is exactly why Obama had nothing to do with the Broward “machine” and were successful withouth it.
Where is the rule that says that a person is not permitted to change parties and have to wait XYZ months or years to run? There is none. You are either adhere to the oath or you do not, its not a document of convenience. Say what you want time and time again R’s are more successful at getting people elected because they support their own.
FROM BUDDY: Obviously the Democrats who voted in the primary were wrong. They didn’t pick a candidate who could win, which is the only goal of a primary.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Actually, the majority of the Democrats who voted in the primary were right because 70% of them didn’t vote for Scott Israel. but as you said, they still did not pick a candidate who could win.
Of course a person is permitted to change parties….right Buddy? 🙂
But then to run as the “standardbearer” of your new party just a short time later doesn’t cut it. Israel even tried to copy the Obama “change” theme, clinging to every black elected official and event, talking about the Bush brothers and the evil of Republicans in Tallahassee and what they had done to the BSO budget…and then showing up at the DEC election yesterday as if he’ll possibly stand a chance as our candidate in 4 years!
I agree, the loyalty oath is not a fluid document, but in this case I’m just saying that it came down to a choice between 2 Republicans and the only thing separating the 2 men in terms of party ID was a mere technicality.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Mitch Ceasar Supported Scott from the very beginning. Even when he was still a REC member.
December 9th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Be sure to tell all those things to the blacks and other union members who will lose their job when Lamberti prvitizes the jail and other areas of BSO. Typical democratic short sightedness, if Israel had won at a minimum he would have owed the party, what does lamberti owe you? nothing.
Last I checked Scott lost by 1-2 percent 15k votes. Why would he not consider running again. In four years the “recently changed party” crap is out the window.
December 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
WOW! You should get PAID for your suggestions…people should be begging for your services!