I think Pelz could be quite good at the media stuff. the outstanding question: doe Dwight have a vision for state party infrastructure and management?

That's the stuff that i think we need to invest in and reenergiz over the coming years.

what can i do to help Pelz become the next chair.

please, don't say give money!

Contact your state Committeeman and Committeewoman - every district has one of each, and they're the ones who vote for state party chair. Go to wa-democrats.org, find your LD, and their website should have contact info for the committeepeople (or at least the chair, who will direct you to the right people.

Pelz is an incredible guy--and an incredible politician. I don't pretend to know the real details about the guy, but he's passionate and progressive and *that* is what I think our party needs more than anything.

He really knows how to play the game w/o selling out his values (Dems have values?). Plus, he was on the Dean campaign's WA state steering committee (as was Paul Berendt, mind you) and the man knows how to work with Dean. And like him or not, he is DNC chair and has got to have a good working relationship with the state chairs.

Anyway, somebody get Nigel posting on here. He was Pelz's campaign manager recently and before that he worked closely with Pelz on the Dean campaign, so he would have good answers for us.... Nigel?

Absolutely! Dwight would be the best Democratic party chair. A real principled guy.

On another note Washington Democrats have to end that god forsaken democratic caucus! We need to replace it with a primary if we want to have a fair process in voting in this state again.

I HATE the Caucus system - It's broken, doesn't work just like our party has been recently.

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the Caucus either. That's not entirely true: I really liked the caucus itself--getting together with neighbors and having a genuine, if heated, discussion about OUR country. It felt good. But, the fact is, a very small percentage of people actually participate. Its a foreign situation and it doesn't fit into our normal lives. Therefore, it gives us a completely inaccurate representation of who the state wants to nominate. But then again, if its only the die-hard nut-jobs (myself included) that participate in the caucus, maybe that's a good thing because it weeds out the people that are too lazy to care, but would make a largely uninformed vote if it were easier?

OH MY GOD I HAVE TALKED MYSELF IN CIRCLES. I need to get back to work...

As far as what can we do for Pelz for Party Chair, maybe we could hold a BetterDonkey (and DFW?) happy hour sometime and get some visible support for our man...?

I'm down. Do you want to connect to the DFW people and find out if they are interested?

Sure, I'll talk with the board and let you know...although, I think until all the candidates are officially listed, DFW probably won't take a position.

woot! I'm always down for a happy hour, especially when its in the name of democracy!

Will let you know...

Sounds like he could get appointed to it.

http://www.dwightpelz.com/

Dwight, who we should remember is still spending his full days as a KC Councilor and is gearing up his race for State Chair at night and weekends, just responded to me with clarity that " I am not running for City Council, I am running for State Party Chair."
I would have to say that I figured Grant knew what he was talking about but now am 100% sure of Dwights plans.

I'm skeptical. I mean, Pelz really didn't run a good campaign at all.

Right now we have the Washington State Paul Berendt Central Committee - an organization controlled by an overbearing party chair at the expense of the larger voice of the Democratic party.

I don't want the Washington State Dwight Pelz Central Committee. I want a leader that puts principle over ego. I am not convinced at all Pelz is the right man for the job.

Let's see - Dwight picked up endorsements from the 34th, 36th, 37th, 43rd 46th and King County Democrats. He also secured the only environmental endorsements in the race (Sierra Club and Washington Conservation Voters), and had the most labor support. Oh, and he outraised the incumbant.

Honestly, this just wasn't the year for challengers - but Dwight came the closest of any of the challenges in last year's City Council races (lost by 7%, compared to 21% for Miller or over 27% for Corr). Dwight ran a hell of a grassroots campaign - he had volunteers who called more than 7,000 voters and knocked on over 4,000 doors. Dwight himself personally called over 6,000 voters!

He's a hard worker, and a great organizer. He's exactly what the State Party needs right now - a strong leader with the experience and vision necessary to get the job done. No one else in the running can claim to have the same experience with either politics or political organizing.

I don't have anything against Peltz or Rodriguez at all, but I was just thinking that it might be a good idea to look outside King County and maybe even the Puget Sound for a party chair.

Maybe someone like Tom Keefe, former Spokane County chair, former Bumblebee and spearhead of the recall West campaign, would make a good, outside of Seattle choice. I'm not advocating Keefe specifically, but I think it would be good to have a leader of the state Democrats that could help us build the party statewide, not just between Federal Way and Shoreline.

bad implementation. Keefe would be a poor choice unless we want another chair who has a history of financial mishap. Keefe left (or was run out of, depending who you talk to) as Chair of the Spokane County Party due to a scandal over 10K that was spent without any input from either the County Eboard or PCO's. Keefe came to Spokane as a capet bagger Congressional candidate (recruited by Berendt) from Idaho. Prior to that he was a wetsider, just like all the rest. Apparently, there were some interesting stories about work he did for the Hart campaign, back in the glorious 80's.

To be "fair and balanced", at least he wouldn't bring along the baggage of poor relations with the state's minority communities. The fact that his wife is a well respected tribal member might help the party keep the ground that was gained there during the Gorton/Cantwell race.

Maybe there's one Democrat in the state who doesn't have either closet skeletons a long list of enemies, there's your chair,

Keefe was just an example, but good points regarding his background. Not everyone involved with the county parties outside of the Puget Sound basin though has such a checkered past. What about the Clark County party?