This
Analysis of the 2004 Election was
prepared by County Chair Cliff Wilson and formed the basis of his presentation
at the Democratic Meetup on Nov. 8th.
What Happened in Delaware County - and What You Were Part Of:
-
Kerry/Edwards carried the county with 57.4% of the vote: 157,500 to
116,700
-
Compare with other counties in PA: Philadelphia Co. 80.6%; Allegheny
57.4%; Montco 55.5%; Bucks 51.4% and Chester Co. 47.7 %
-
Kerry/Edwards carried 37 of 49 municipalities picking up Radnor and
Upper Providence and losing only Aston (from 2000)
- Eisenhower (Atty Gen.), Wagner (Aud. Gen.) and Casey (Treas.) won our county
-
Hoeffel won 46.4%; Scoles 41.4%;
Josh Richard (164th district) 44.6% and Tom Bosak (9th Sen.) 42.5%
All Record Votes for those races.
- Cong. Bob Brady, St. Rep Greg Vitali, St. Rep Thaddeus Kirkland, St. Rep Bob Donatucci, St. Rep Ron Waters and St.Sen. Connie Williams were all re-elected and carried Delaware County
-
Mike McGann (160th); Cathy Celley (162nd); Rose Izzo (163rd)
and Dustin Gettel (165th) received increased percentages of the
vote over four years ago in their state rep districts.
-
We had ballot distribution at over 400 of the 411 precincts; over 100
Delaware County lawyers participated in three coordinated voter protection
efforts.
-
There were over 1500 poll workers greeting voters and pushing our
ticket at the polls while some 1500+ Kerry/Edwards volunteers manned phone
banks and knocked on doors
Where Do We Go From Here?
First,
we must recognize that the Democratic Party and its candidates are a serious
force in Delaware County politics; that our candidates can and do carry this
county and that we are second to none in Pennsylvania in our Democratic
performance. We no longer need to
prove anything to ourselves or to others by simply putting names on the ballot
– we must run serious candidates determined to win and we must help
them do just that.
Second,
we must continue to put major emphasis on voter registration (having had this
year the most successful drive ever) and getting out our Democratic vote in
EVERY ELECTION. With 120,000
registered Democrats, a 2/3 turnout would exceed the normal Republican vote in
next years county election.
Third,
we must continue to build up county-wide grass roots Democratic organizations
that unite people along common interests and provide an ongoing means for the
thousands of 2004 volunteers to stay involved. We
must offer these activist Democrats more than meetings to discuss minutes and
fund-raisers and we must craft ways for them to remain involved in
political activity at every level that interests them.
How About The National Democratic Party
The national Democratic Party should ignore the biased, conservative Fox-type media who want us to wring our hands and make some imaginary choice between going to the left or the center. As a party we know where we stand: we are pro-choice; we are for affordable health care for all citizens; we are for equal educational opportunity and affordable higher education for all; we are for a livable minimum wage; we are against preventive wars and support the international institutions that this country helped create; we are against the government interfering in the private lives of its citizens, that is, in their choice of lifestyle, the books they read, the religion they practice; we support the right of working men and women to organize and bargain collectively and strike when necessary; we demand fair trade agreements with equal standards for workers in return for free trade; we are for restricting assault weapons and guns that people don't hunt with or collect; we oppose excessive spending on unneeded defense boon-doggle type programs and believe in a better payscale for our volunteer army.
The
national Democratic Party need not apologize for its positions now nor in the
recent past. But, it must more
aggressively proclaim those positions. We
must stop letting political big business run campaigns and get back to
encouraging the grass roots Democrats to take the lead in campaign
organization and delivery. Let the Democrats of each state and county do what
they do best and give them the resources and help to do what they can't do for
themselves. Stop allowing the
media and the profit driven consultants to divide America into RED and BLUE
states and go back to when Democrats campaigned aggressively in all states.
And learn a lesson from the conservative Republicans of 1964 who were beaten
so badly that they were written off the political map - go out and get your
supporters to come to the polls and convert others, particularly those not
previously involved, into supporters. Stand
by your principles and positions; Don't temporize or equivocate.
Three
times William Jennings Bryan was defeated and less then ten years after his
death almost his entire platform of progressive ideas had been enacted into
national law. In 1964 we Democrats
demolished the Republicans in their worst defeat ever and four years later the
nation elected a Republican President. In
1972 Republicans decimated Democrats in our worst defeat ever and four years
later a Democrat was elected President.
Woodrow
Wilson once opined that the American people were only ready for
real reform once every twenty years. I
guess some would say that means we are in the political wilderness until 2012.
I don't know about that but our national political history tells us that
we must take back the House and Senate and the Governorships before we can take
the White House and truly change the course this nation is now on.
For
my generation it all began on a snow-swept day in January of 1960 when John F.
Kennedy proclaimed the passing of the torch. His
brother Senator Edward Kennedy, in his greatest speech, delivered some twenty
years later, to a convention that wanted in its heart to nominate him but in its
mind and rules had to renominate a decent but wounded sitting President,
reinspired my generation with these words that are as fitting today:
"And
someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down, and the
crowds stop cheering, and the bands stop playing, may it be said of our campaign
that we kept the faith. May it be said of our Party in 1980 that we found our
faith again. And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in bright
days, in the words of Tennyson that my brothers quoted and loved, and that have
special meaning for me now:
"I
am a part of all that I have met
Tho
much is taken, much abides
That
which we are, we are--
One
equal temper of heroic hearts
strong
in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield
For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."