►The Bimonthly Newsletter of the Dorchester County Democratic Party◄ December 2014/January 2015 Volume 6, Issue 6
Endings and Beginnings
It was a long and hard-fought election season. We are thankful for our wins – from our dedicated, hardworking, unchallenged incumbents Rep. Patsy Knight, Rep. J. Seth Whipper and County Councilman Willie Davis – and from those who had challengers and won – Rep. Joseph Jefferson and Rep. David Mack. We were overjoyed with the turnout in House District 114 which saw newcomer Mary Tinkler win the seat after it had been held by the same person for 22 years. While we did not have wins in other House races, state or federal races, we were nonetheless thrilled with our candidates. They ran good races and we are hopeful they will consider running again. We take this opportunity to announce that this newsletter, The Blue Note, will end as we know it with the publication of this issue. The Blue Note has run for six years and has been very successful. But with better, more efficient ways to communicate, we believe that we can better keep you up to date by including the kinds of information we put in the bimonthly newsletter on our website, as well as our Facebook page, on a weekly basis. If you have visited our newly designed website, you will see that it has a blog page where we can interact with you, as well as a calendar page on which we can list events. Many of us already interact on Facebook, too. We encourage you to send us your ideas and news and we will post them on the website. We will, of course, continue to send out group emails which include upcoming events and other newsworthy information. We may even produce “special editions” of The Blue Note when times call for it, such as right before an election.
Come To Our HOLIDAY PARTY!
Tuesday, December 16 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oscar’s of Summerville 207 W. 5th N. Hors d’ouevres will be served, and drinks can be purchased at a cash bar.
We thank each and every one of you who worked so hard during this campaign season! We ask that you continue to support our Democratic Party as we strive to turn our county Blue!
Please RSVP to Richard Hayes 843.225.1882 rhayes72@aol.com
Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season and looking forward to seeing you at our holiday party on Tuesday, December 16!
Join us that evening!
In This Issue
What the Exit Polls Say—page 2 Doers vs. Joiners—page 3 Special Thanks to Special Candidates—page 3 Will Hillary Run or Won’t She—page 5 Rison’s Recap of 2014, and look at 2015-16– page 6 Who’ll Run for President in 2016—page 6
Happy Hanukah! Merry Kwanzaa! Joyous Christmas! Happy New Year!
What The Exit Polls Say Which South Carolina voters supported Democratic candidates? And how can we get more voters like them to the polls in 2016? A slight majority of South Carolina voters are between the ages of 18 to 44. And voters from that age group are much more likely to support Democratic candidates, too. But not enough of them participate in elections, including this year’s. (And they are also less likely to be registered to vote than older voters.) Check the exit polls, for example, which were compiled by CBS News and CNN. Senate candidate Brad Hutto took 55 percent of the vote from voters of ages 18 to 29, and edged incumbent Lindsey Graham by 6 percent in the 30 to 44 group. Gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen did about the same with the 30-44 group, and even better amongst younger voters (58 percent). These age groups made up only 31 percent of all participating voters in South Carolina this year, however. If more voters of these age groups had shown up on Election Day, at least to the proportion of their size in our population, our candidates would have won! See the exit poll results below:
The CBS exit poll on our governor’s race offers much more details, too: We’re not only winning with youth, but with female voters—non-white voters—middle income and below—and from moderate to liberal. These are our party’s supporters. To win elections in 2016, then, we need to reach out to those Democratic supporting voters, and make sure they get to the polls! Our non-supporters can be identified not just demographically, but by opinions on issues. They’re not correct on these issues, either. For example, under President Obama, our economy has had the most positive growth in over 60 years. He also sets new records for deportation of illegal immigrants every year, and is trying to correct the situation for those who were brought here while they were still children. We can win their votes in 2016, too, if we can get the correct word out on these and other issues. And this brings up the questions of “How?” How can we get these voters out to the polls? We need to get more participation from younger voters—more from middle-income and lower-income groups—better turnout from women and minorities. And we need to start telling the public the truth. So what’s your take? How can we do this? Please offer us your opinions, which we’ll gather and try to implement (and which we’ll write about in an upcoming posting on our website’s blog page, too!).
Send your ideas to dordems@gmail.com
Doers vs. Joiners “All in the eye of the beholder” By Marty Turney Have you ever seen it snow? Really snow? In the eyes of a child it is one thing, and yet being an adult it is entirely different. There is fun and excitement-making snowmen, throwing snowballs, building a snow fort, ice skating, hot chocolate and lots of laughter. On the other hand, for an adult it can be incapacitating (to make someone or something unable to live or work normally). If it is deep or not, there is always the ice to deal with. Just ask the people in Toledo or Chicago or Buffalo or Boston. There are problems getting to work, local transportation worries, caring for the elderly and children, food shortage. Lots of difficulties even as simple as where do you put the snow when you are finished shoveling? Then there is pride in knowing you made it through and all of the “war” stories you can share. You know, this is just like being a Democrat; you can be a Joiner (like a kid in the snow) or a Doer (like a responsible adult). If you are a Democratic Joiner, it can be lots of fun. There are conventions, parades, parties, breakfasts, greeting new people and lots of laughter; plus you get to vote Democratic and no one will ever know…
now for building, not right before an election, and the next election is going to be the big one.
If you want to get the attention of the Local or State Parties, volunteer. How can the Democratic County and State Committees know the need unless the Precinct message gets through? On the other hand, the County and the State Committees need On the other hand if you are a Democratic Doer there are meet- to get messages to the Precincts and you can help here, too. This ings, committees, campaigning for our candidates, getting ready action is a two-way street. for the elections, organization of our precincts, having a say in what is happening in our Party, helping to elect strong DemocCoordination between Precincts, County and State Committees rats that will uphold the values of our Party. It can be lots of takes the effort of people with their feet on the ground. Why work but it is rewarding. does the Democratic Party not have candidates for every office? Well, who would make a great candidate in your Precinct? How The Dorchester County Democratic Party needs you to be a about you? Start thinking now so potential candidates can be Doer. If you haven’t been, start now. Every Precinct needs Dogroomed. Do you know anyone that is willing to be a candidate? ers. This means being willing to plan, attend and participate in Do you have any ideas? Do you even care? meetings in your Precincts, going door-to-door, and identifying Democrats, working in headquarters, making phone calls to fel- Finally, want to do something? Then speak up, volunteer, and low Democrats, being willing to serve as a precinct officer, as get involved. You are needed. Make a difference in your PrePresident, Vice President, Secretary, or Executive Committee cinct, your County, your State, and your Party. Be a Doer, not Person. just a Joiner. Let your Two Cents be heard. Be proud you are a Democrat. There are always lots of things to do even if it is not an election year. We need to groom our teams for the elections but we also It Is need to work building our Precincts, getting to know our people, sharing and unifying our Party, and it is Our Party. The time is
All in the Eyes of the Beholder
Each competed very well in very tough State House districts that were recently redrawn to favor Republican incumbents. Each had limited camDorchester Democrats would like to offer special thanks to two candidates paign funding. And each of them— both Rebekah and Damian—were very who appeared on our ballots this year—Damian Daly and Rebekah Pat- valiant in their campaign efforts. rick. They were active. They both knew the
Special Thanks to Two Candidates
odds but never gave up. They both did exceptionally well in debates and forums. And both caught the eye of some Republican voters in their districts, too, pulling them over to vote Democrat. Special thanks to both of you!
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Will She Or Won’t She? An update on Hillary Clinton’s possible presidential campaign By Marty Turney Excerpts from Anne Gearan’s article in The Washington Post report that Hillary Rodham Clinton's strongest supporters held a strategy session on Fri., Nov. 21, to prepare for her 2016 presidential bid, even though she has yet to say whether she will run. “Ready for Hillary, a Democratic super political action committee unaffiliated with the former Secretary of State, convened a meeting of 200 financial backers and Clinton insiders. Ready for Hillary, which was founded in 2013, has identified 3 million supporters and raised more than $10 million. The group expects to fold if Clinton enters the race, transfer its data and list of supporters to her campaign.” “Craig Smith, a senior adviser to Ready for Hillary and former Clinton White House aide, said Hillary Clinton should not run for a ‘third Bill Clinton term’ or as President Barack Obama's third term. ‘She should run for a first Hillary Clinton term.’” “Strategist after strategist insisted to reporters that Clinton will have genuine opposition in the Democratic primary, and that the infrastructure building around Clinton has taken to heart the lessons of her failed 2008 campaign. The first potential Democratic challenger, former U.S. senator James Webb of Virginia 2007-2013, previous Secretary of the Navy ’87-‘88 and Assistant Secretary of Defense, ‘84-’87, who is one and one half years older than Clinton, announced the formation of an exploratory committee (recently).” “In this awkward middle passage between non-candidate and candidate, Clinton is officially pretending not to notice. She cannot formally coordinate with independent political groups and is keeping her exact plans secret among a very small circle of aides. Clinton has said she will probably decide on a presidential run in early December and is expected to launch that campaign by mid-February.” You can talk to your family members, neighbors, and people at church. We need to encourage others to talk to others, encourage them to support Hillary whenever they hear her name mentioned. Stand behind her by being a part of the team. This is everyone’s team. We must be ready with a plan and ready to carry it out. We must know where we are going to set up, organize volunteers for phone banking, be ready with door-to-door volunteers. We need this more than we ever have. We need definite plans to get people to the polls. Again, your team needs you as a team member before we can plan our actions. What a way to start, but it is going to take more than this. You are needed to be willing to volunteer today as never before. That means even before her decision is announced. Are you Ready for Hillary?
Rison’s Recap A review of the 2014 elections, and what to look for in 2015–16 By Dr. David Rison
make up what he calls the “Blue Wall.” It only takes 270 electoral votes to win the President Barack Obama has been very presidency. The Blue Wall is made up of successful in getting out the vote in presi- states in New England and the Northeast dential elections, but not very effective in including Washington DC, the upper Midgetting voters to turnout in off year elec- west, and the West Coast. Together, these tions such as 2010 and 2014. Republicans states contain a majority of the American took control of the United States Senate in population. Democrats are also poised to 2014 and strengthened their hold on the retake the United States Senate in 2016. House of Representatives. The only white In that year, 24 Republican-held seats are Democratic Congressman from the South up as compared with only 10 for the Dewas defeated for re-election from his dis- mocrats. A majority of the Republicans up trict in Georgia. Voter turnout in 2014 was in 2016 will be defending competitive historically low. In South Carolina Republi- seats. cans won all the statewide offices Nationwide 36.3 percent of voters bothered to Unfortunately for South Carolina Democvote. Chris Ladd in the Houston Chronicle rats, the Republican Party solidified its writes “Republicans in 2014 were the hold on the South in 2014. For almost a most popular girl at a party no one atcentury after Reconstruction, the Democtended.” ratic Party had a stronghold in the South. Southern states always voted for the DeThings look a lot better for Democrats in mocratic candidate for president until the the 2016 election for president. As Chris 1960s. The national Democratic Party’s Ladd points out in his article for the Hous- support for civil rights led an increasing ton Chronicle, Republicans will have a number of southern whites to support the much harder time in 2016. He argues that Republican Party on the national level. almost any Democratic candidate for White southerners gradually moved topresident should win 257 electoral votes ward the party of Lincoln on the state and without much effort, from the states that local level as well. Today, the only Democ-
rats in the United States House of Representatives from the South are AfricanAmerican. Demographers point out that more minorities are moving into the South, especially African-Americans, and that this change in the population will change the politics eventually, but not for some time. The Democratic Party is poised to make great gains in the long run, but no one expects the South to go back to the Democratic Party anytime soon. Things are not all bad for South Carolina Democrats, though. We can expect potential candidates for the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for president to flood the state in 2015. South Carolina will still hold the first primary in the South in early 2016. Unfortunately, after the primary both political parties will likely ignore South Carolina after the primaries are over. Democrats will not expect to win in South Carolina in 2016, while Republicans will take the state for granted. Democrats can expect to have candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for president at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in the spring of 2015. For a short time, South Carolina will be in the political spotlight.
Who will be our 2016 presidential candidates? A look at the Democrats who might toss their hats into the ring By Gail Ozegovich (info obtained from HubPages.com)
Hillary Clinton
Mark Warner
Strengths: name recognition; fundraising ability; experience; polls show favorability from 66% of all voters Weaknesses: will be 69 in 2016 (will still be younger than Ronald Reagan, though); scandals when Bill was in the White House
Strengths: wildly popular Gov. of Virginia with a 70% approval rating from state residents; won Senate with 65%; private wealth that can be used towards campaign; connections in the tech and business world would be a leg-up for fundraising Weaknesses: few legislative accomplishments in first four years in Senate; limited foreign affairs experience
Joe Biden
Strengths: experienced campaigner ; generally liked by many Americans; advantage of incumbency; experience over most of rivals; formidable fundraiser Weaknesses: was a non factor in 2008; must counter public image as a "lovable guy"; prone to gaffes and mistakes; odds of winning the nomination are 20%(assuming no Hillary)
Andrew Cuomo
Strengths: popular in home state of New York; has ability to reach across aisle and get legislation passed; reduced spending on New York State employees (appealing to budget minded voters); close ties to financial industry could help with fundraising Weaknesses: New York politicians underperform on national stage; helped pass a bill legalizing gay marriage (could hurt in conservative states)