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The site picked a GREAT day to go down. Apparently, some people are up in arms over my previous post on issues going on at DFL HQ on Plato Blvd in St. Paul. Unfortunately, with the site down, I was reduced to livetweeting my next post on the matter. However, in its entirety, here's my efforts to compile those tweets into an actual post -- apologies for the sentence structure being ... modified, shall we say?... by Twitter's 140-character limit.
I am continuing to troubleshoot the site layout issues, and hope to have them resolved soon.
So it's like this.
The DFL has some back payroll tax payment issues -- last year, there was an error that led to quarterly taxes not being paid. This, among several other financial issues, including a budget that just does not make sense given the fundraising environment the party currently faces. The legal issues are issues, but they're minor in the big scheme of things -- and let's all watch out for GOP criticisms of this particular situation. In this one, they're most certainly the pot calling the kettle black when they write any kind of press release or MDE post on the topic.
The bigger issue here is the lack of accountability from the leadership on Plato Blvd -- starting at the top, with E.D. Andy O'Leary. The video snafu was one example -- in which O'Leary passed the buck to a third party research firm. The missing payroll taxes are another example, this time passing responsibility to a former employee. At some point, SOMEone in the leadership has to take current responsibility for the party's failure to perform at nationwide average Democratic levels. And don't be fooled -- operational difficulties do have an effect on the party's ability to put forth a coherent, positive message that wins votes.
And of course, plenty of people are mad at me for putting this out there, giving an opening for others to air this laundry. Somehow, people apparently think the RPM doesn't watch FEC.gov, or know about these things ahead of time. Whatever. I am concerned with making my party as strong as it can be, and as able as it can be to perform well every 2nd November. If the party had handled this six months ago, they could have made it a self-reported error. Maybe pivoted to a critique of the GOP's issues.
Instead, it's more reaction instead of proaction, and more examples of NOT having a plan to deal with issues. I'm glad this discussion is having an effect -- it sounds like the Chair is taking steps to respond to the Exec Committee's concerns. A bit late, I think, but it's action, and action is what's required right now. But for those who are upset with me about this -- perhaps it's time to take a good hard look at why you're involved in politics. Is it to be loyal to a party, or is it to get good Democrats elected to office so we can accomplish all the things we want?
Responding to a question about an earlier tweet: the "budget that doesn't make sense" meant paying some people way too much, projecting way too much fundraising, and several other really bad line items. And that budget got rammed through without really going through channels. This is all esoteric intra-party stuff, but important to discuss because these things affect the party's ability to effectively advocate for its ideals, its platform, and its candidates.
I am a DFLer through and through -- shooting the messenger won't fix this issue. Demanding accountability from the top will. I'm also a team player -- but when your team's leadership keeps failing, when do we ask that leadership to improve or step aside?
Closed circuit to DFL Chair Melendez: You have nothing on me, and you cannot stop me from pushing the party to improve. You also can't push me aside by sending your loyal messengers after me. /end Closed Circuit...
Chair Melendez appears to be handling these issues. Hopefully upcoming meetings go well. We'll be watching and waiting for positive resolutions. I can't emphasize enough how urgent it is to handle these things before this point. I also can't emphasize how bad it is to try to muffle this indefinitely. Better to fix now than wait for it to be an election-season issue.
I have hope, I have confidence that we will fix these things and win again in 2010. The question is "by how much?" "How much" is the diff between Congressman Paulsen and Congressman Madia. It's the difference between a veto-proof house majority and no veto-proof majority. And quite frankly, it's the difference between Tim Pawlenty, Governor, and Tim Pawlenty, private citizen.
Accountability. Continuity. Professionalism. We need these to be watchwords on Plato. And to be clear, this is not a meltdown as @MDETweets wants you to think. This is an opportunity to improve the party that's right on every important issue facing Minnesota and America today. But go ahead and provide us more followers -- we're happy to have you reading!
Do changes need to happen? One way or another, I believe the answer is "yes." So let's get them done now so we can succeed in 2010 and 2012. |
