NCDP Chair

Eric Mansfield released the first version of his plan to rebuild our Democratic Party, but it really is a plan that belongs to all of us. After hundreds of conversations the plan represents a vision for the Party that many of us share. I trust that by the time he speaks with all of us even more ideas will emerge!

Friends,

I have spoken to many of you in recent weeks and I have been encouraged by your optimism, your hope and your faith in our state and our Democratic Party. Based on hundreds of conversations with SEC members and party supporters I believe that the simple, powerful idea that we're all in this together has to be basis of our work – not just a slogan.

Please check out the latest version of our plan to move the Democratic Party forward: http://www.ericmansfieldforchair.com/plan. It is our plan because I believe many of its best parts come from your suggestions. It is a plan inspired and informed by your call for action on how to build our party.

Attn SEC Members and Others: The Meet and Greet for Randy Voller originally scheduled for the Capital City Club has been moved to the Flying Saucer 328 W Morgan Street Raleigh NC 27601. Event will begin at 6:30pm. Food and Beverages will be available.

Raleigh is one of the few U.S. cities that was actually planned and built specifically to be a state capital. It was founded by legislators who met in Issac Hunter's Tavern back in 1788. They decreed our new capital must be within 10 miles of Isaac Hunter’s tavern, a popular drinking spot of that time.

It also may be the only capital that was chosen because of its proximity to accessible alcohol ;-)

Therefore, it is fitting that we meet in a tavern to meet and greet with Randy Voller, who is running for the Chair of the NC Democratic Party.

Heard the news on Facebook. Looks like he's off to a good start with a solid web presence. Here's hoping this doesn't degenerate into a mud fight, because it is truly a wide open race. Heard any rumors of potential women candidates?

As many of you know, my wife Jane has been hosting a monthly political salon for almost 20 years now. Last night we had our annual potluck, and I led a discussion of North Carolina politics ... which was undeniably depressing.

The only bright spot in the discussion was an absolute consensus that the North Carolina Democratic Party has a unique opportunity to rebuild itself from the ground up. That consensus shined a white-hot spotlight on the importance of the next Chair. There was also a general agreement that the party leadership is and has been severely out of touch with grass-roots Democrats (all of us), and missing-in-action when it comes to social media engagement.

With that last point in mind, I am extending a personal invitation to any candidate for NCDP Chair to join us at BlueNC for a public discussion about your vision for the Party. In the event that you are not already actively engaged in the socialsphere, this is your opportunity to demonstrate a willingness to dive in and develop new skills. All you need to do is register and post a comment on this thread telling us that you're interested. I will then contact you to schedule something at your convenience.

Well it's official - David Parker is not going to run for re-election as NCDP Chair. I sincerely had hoped he'd run for re-election because, without a DNC Convention to make folks lose their minds (and perspective) he might have actually had a chance to do some serious party-building from the grassroots up.

So now the next question is - who will run for the office of NCDP Chair? Folks have floated several names around for the last few weeks since the November general election:

Eric Mansfield
Linda Coleman
Sarah Anderson
Don Vaughn
Cal Cunningham
Randy Voller
Frank Eaton

The Observer's editorial board which is pretty good on our issues, blisters Parker and the events of this past Saturday

Parker’s self-centered decision to stay on as party chairman despite his role in it (sexual harassement scandal), are embarrassing the Democrats and threaten to hurt the very candidates Parker is supposed to help elect.

read more at: Charlotte Observer

They also ran a pretty good editorial cartoon:

Ok folks, fun's over.

The Gov, COS, and the consultants ran a power play, and lost, flat lost. The right person won. Now, get behind him, there are a number of elections to win this year.

I watch a lot of people carp and dither about this and that. Go down to your local Democratic Party HQ and do the phone work, the canvassing, the voter registration, the data entry, and all the other scut work to get Obama elected, and oh by the way, all of the local and state candidates. Dont like that, then get off your butts and go raise funds, we really need them. If you do not understand that this is a fight to the death, and that it will only end in our death as a political entity, you are not helping, you are likely the opposition.

I have heard that NCDP 1st Vice Chair Gwen Wilkens is going to throw her hat in the ring for NCDP Chair. Bring a bag lunch - we are gonna be there all day long at this rate!