In my more than three decades as a member of the Democratic National Committee, I have had the privilege of serving our party in a number of positions: on the Executive Committee (16 years), cochair of the Resolutions Committee (11 years), cochair of the Ethnic Council (12 years), and a member of the Unity/Reform Commission (2017–18). In each of these capacities I have tried to serve our party, to help it grow, and to win victories.
James Zogby at the Unity March in Washington DC, 2022
Why I’m Running
In the aftermath of this November’s election, many in our Party have been engaged in soul-searching in an effort to understand what went wrong and what we must do differently. Much of this discussion has focused on messaging, issues, and constituencies. Like any good Democrat, I have my own views on all of these matters, but that’s not why I’m running for one of the Vice-Chair positions of our Democratic National Committee.
My intent is to elevate the importance of governance and party building by focusing on: budget transparency and accountability; addressing the financial drain and loss of decision-making control created by our dependence on outside consultants; building our state parties; taking “dark money” out of our primaries; and creating strong networks that bring young people and others who feel rejected and disenfranchised by our party. We must find a place for all to engage and join us in our work.
During my three decades, I’ve had the opportunity to observe repetitive structural and institutional problems we face that I believe must now be addressed. I was able to raise many of these concerns during my time on the Executive Committee and the Unity/Reform Commission. Others were introduced through the Resolutions Committee. Most remain unresolved. I am running for Vice-Chair to fully engage our membership in a discussion of needed governance reforms in order to build a stronger Party with one goal in mind—winning elections.
If you have questions or comments, please send them to me at dr.james.zogby@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you and engaging in this discussion in the weeks ahead. I hope to earn your support.
MY priorities
-
With hundreds of millions of dollars being spent in an election cycle (with much of it going to outside groups), oversight and evaluation of these expenditures, and the groups we hire, is important to ensure transparency and accountability.
In 2017, I proposed to the Unity/Reform Commission that we take steps to implement what existed then as a bylaw requirement that the Executive Committee and the full DNC receive “annual reports…on the goals and purposes of expenditures, and the results of expenditures and staff.” To facilitate this process, I proposed the creation of an elected financial oversight committee of elected DNC members (with the involvement of the Association of State Democratic Committees and the caucuses and councils) that would undertake such a review for submission to the membership for their comments and questions. I will again prioritize this.
-
Many DNC members have complained that they feel more like “props who fill seats at meetings” than members of the Party’s governing body. This needs to change. In addition to voting to approve or question the annual budget review, there are other ways to empower members to strengthen our Party’s work.
-
Too much of our resources are funneled to consulting groups for outreach, messaging, and even canvassing or GOTV programs. At the end of each cycle, despite the massive amounts of money raised and spent, and the success of some of these efforts, we don’t see any appreciable growth in the organizing capacity of our state or local party organizations. This must change.
-
Party building begins from the bottom up. At the beginning of his tenure, Jaime Harrison proposed a task force to explore this question of what it means to be a member of our Party. The idea was a good one, but it wasn’t implemented. It should be now.
-
On two occasions, we submitted proposals to eliminate dark money from Democratic primaries. In the past two cycles, tens of millions of dollars were raised and spent by these outside groups—with money often coming from Republican donors—to sway voters in Democratic primaries. This is something that we and our state parties can regulate or call out. Democratic voters should decide who wins our primaries, not outside groups.
