North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman wins praise by helping reshape party for new challenges
The ever vigilant Mel at the Blog for Democracy has done a post featuring an article from The Charlotte Observer on the Democratic Party Chair in North Carolina. The DPG candidates in Georgia need to read this article and take notes. The full article follows:
None of the Democratic Party big boys wanted Jerry Meek to be party chief.
Not Gov. Mike Easley. Not former Gov. Jim Hunt. Not then-Sen. John Edwards or members of the congressional delegation.
So it was a surprise two years ago when Meek upset the establishment candidate to become party chairman. As the outsiders' candidate, Meek was given a mandate to shake up the state Democratic Party.
Meek is no longer regarded as the rebel-in-chief. Meek is given high marks by some Democrats for leading the party through its best election in years, for bridging differences between traditional power brokers and the more liberal Howard Dean wing of the party, and for proving to be a competent fundraiser.
As a result, Meek is expected to be re-elected to a second term as chairman when the state Democratic Executive Committee meets today at Elon University.
"I think Jerry Meek has done a superb job," said Hunt.
Meek's first term was aided by a national Democratic tide spurred by opposition to the war in Iraq. His second act may be more difficult, as he tries to find a candidate to unseat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole and keep the governor's mansion in Democratic hands in 2008.
Meek is a 36-year-old Raleigh attorney, who at 6 feet 8 looks down on nearly everyone he encounters. He has thrown himself into the unpaid position, putting in 60-hour weeks -- thanks in part to the generosity of his employer, lawyer Wade Byrd of Fayetteville, a major Democratic donor.
Meek has sought to re-energize and reshape the party -- a task made easier because North Carolina had what is widely regarded as one of the strongest Democratic parties in the South before he took office.
"The state party had been run as though we were still a one-party state -- a one-party state where Democrats rule," Meek said in an interview in the Goodwin House, the 1903 house a block from the Capitol that serves as party headquarters.
"The idea was that the party should disappear into the background. We now have a two-party state. The party has to be more savvy about how it uses its resources. It needs to be more aggressive. The party, as an institution, has to have its own voice, because there might be times down the road when we don't have a Democrat in the governor's mansion or we don't have control of the General Assembly."
Meek said he sought to change the party in several respects:
• From a top-down party run by governors to one that is more responsive to local Democratic Party activists. The party has hired three field coordinators, helped counties set up Web pages, stepped up local training on organizing and other skills and instituted monthly conference calls with county chairs.
• From a patronage-based system to an ideological-based system of organization. "People nowadays don't get involved in the party because they have any expectation of getting an appointment to a position," Meek said. Meek said he will push the party to take positions on five or six issues that will likely be considered by the legislature.
• From a party that relied on older, big donors and traditional business interests to one more attuned to young activists, many of whom engage in politics through the Internet.
• From targeting party money primarily in swing districts to spreading some of it into traditionally Republican counties that the party has tended to ignore.
One such county was Watauga, home to the college town of Boone. Even though registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, the county elected a completely Democratic county board of commissioners, a Democratic sheriff and helped elect two new Democrats to the legislature.
Diane Tilson, the Watauga County Democratic chairwoman, said a strong local party effort was aided by the state party, which provided regular consultation as well as other help such as voter information and helping plan a roadside advertising campaign.
"I do know that Jerry has been very hands on," Tilson said.
Meek's election in 2005 reflected, in part, national discontent among Democrats following President Bush's re-election. That mood also helped elect former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the national Democratic Party.
Meek defeated Ed Turlington, a politically connected Raleigh attorney, by putting together a coalition of liberals, anti-war activists and local activists who felt ignored by the state party.
There was some concern that Meek would try to move the party away from its centrist, pro-business moorings.
"The thing I didn't know about two years ago" said Hunt, "was whether or not he would lead the party in a moderate, mainstream way, which I think is typical of North Carolina Democrats and necessary to win elections. The fact is, I think Jerry has been very supportive and has led the party in representing the mainstream positions."
None of the Democratic Party big boys wanted Jerry Meek to be party chief.
Not Gov. Mike Easley. Not former Gov. Jim Hunt. Not then-Sen. John Edwards or members of the congressional delegation.
So it was a surprise two years ago when Meek upset the establishment candidate to become party chairman. As the outsiders' candidate, Meek was given a mandate to shake up the state Democratic Party.
Meek is no longer regarded as the rebel-in-chief. Meek is given high marks by some Democrats for leading the party through its best election in years, for bridging differences between traditional power brokers and the more liberal Howard Dean wing of the party, and for proving to be a competent fundraiser.
As a result, Meek is expected to be re-elected to a second term as chairman when the state Democratic Executive Committee meets today at Elon University.
"I think Jerry Meek has done a superb job," said Hunt.
Meek's first term was aided by a national Democratic tide spurred by opposition to the war in Iraq. His second act may be more difficult, as he tries to find a candidate to unseat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole and keep the governor's mansion in Democratic hands in 2008.
Meek is a 36-year-old Raleigh attorney, who at 6 feet 8 looks down on nearly everyone he encounters. He has thrown himself into the unpaid position, putting in 60-hour weeks -- thanks in part to the generosity of his employer, lawyer Wade Byrd of Fayetteville, a major Democratic donor.
Meek has sought to re-energize and reshape the party -- a task made easier because North Carolina had what is widely regarded as one of the strongest Democratic parties in the South before he took office.
"The state party had been run as though we were still a one-party state -- a one-party state where Democrats rule," Meek said in an interview in the Goodwin House, the 1903 house a block from the Capitol that serves as party headquarters.
"The idea was that the party should disappear into the background. We now have a two-party state. The party has to be more savvy about how it uses its resources. It needs to be more aggressive. The party, as an institution, has to have its own voice, because there might be times down the road when we don't have a Democrat in the governor's mansion or we don't have control of the General Assembly."
Meek said he sought to change the party in several respects:
• From a top-down party run by governors to one that is more responsive to local Democratic Party activists. The party has hired three field coordinators, helped counties set up Web pages, stepped up local training on organizing and other skills and instituted monthly conference calls with county chairs.
• From a patronage-based system to an ideological-based system of organization. "People nowadays don't get involved in the party because they have any expectation of getting an appointment to a position," Meek said. Meek said he will push the party to take positions on five or six issues that will likely be considered by the legislature.
• From a party that relied on older, big donors and traditional business interests to one more attuned to young activists, many of whom engage in politics through the Internet.
• From targeting party money primarily in swing districts to spreading some of it into traditionally Republican counties that the party has tended to ignore.
One such county was Watauga, home to the college town of Boone. Even though registered Republicans outnumber Democrats, the county elected a completely Democratic county board of commissioners, a Democratic sheriff and helped elect two new Democrats to the legislature.
Diane Tilson, the Watauga County Democratic chairwoman, said a strong local party effort was aided by the state party, which provided regular consultation as well as other help such as voter information and helping plan a roadside advertising campaign.
"I do know that Jerry has been very hands on," Tilson said.
Meek's election in 2005 reflected, in part, national discontent among Democrats following President Bush's re-election. That mood also helped elect former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as chairman of the national Democratic Party.
Meek defeated Ed Turlington, a politically connected Raleigh attorney, by putting together a coalition of liberals, anti-war activists and local activists who felt ignored by the state party.
There was some concern that Meek would try to move the party away from its centrist, pro-business moorings.
"The thing I didn't know about two years ago" said Hunt, "was whether or not he would lead the party in a moderate, mainstream way, which I think is typical of North Carolina Democrats and necessary to win elections. The fact is, I think Jerry has been very supportive and has led the party in representing the mainstream positions."
posted by Sid Cottingham | 12:05 PM
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