Win Back Your State - Game Time

Martin O'Malley is serious - dead serious - about helping the Democrats win back power in the midterm elections six months from today, even though the Democratic Party establishment considers him politically dead.  At this point, the national party doesn't have a message, doesn't have a strategy, and doesn't have a clue.  But state and local parties and candidates have all of that, and Martin O'Malley is hell-bent on toughening up for the November elections to come. This is how he explains it in his fundraising e-mail for his political action committee, or PAC:

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Something really new is happening for the Democratic Party.

From Ohio, to Florida, from New Hampshire to Iowa  -  and beyond -  State Democratic Party Chairs all tell me the same thing. "This year, we have more qualified candidates, Martin, than we have qualified campaign staff."

Say what you will about Donald Trump, he has been the greatest recruitment tool our Party has had in a long time. (Yes, I called him a “tool.”) He has also been a huge help — “HUGE HELP” — when it comes to building crowds for marches and protests. But, good candidates and big demonstrations aren’t enough to win back our states. We need to run campaigns that win elections. So, let’s fill the space between this new grassroots energy and the ability to run winning elections all across our country.

Last weekend in College Park, Maryland, our new Leadership PAC  -  Win Back Your State  - held our first "training camp" for new campaign staff. Many of those who signed up for a full day of training were totally new to electoral politics. Some were recently retired and wanted to make a difference this year when our country needs us most. Kathleen, new to campaigns at the age of fifty, had driven down from Philadelphia. Ian, a college student at George Washington, already had some prior campaign experience in South Africa of all places. We even had a father-daughter team  -  Wesley and Karen from Howard County, Maryland  -  who joined in a full day of lectures, trainings, and simulations on everything from running an effective door-to-door operation to designing effective messages for social media.

This was our first Win Back Your State Training Camp, but with your help, it won’t be our last. Every state matters and every state needs good people who can actually run campaigns. So, please join me in bringing forward a new generation of campaign leadership from the grassroots up.

There is goodness within our country. It’s just waiting to be called forward.

Great nations sometimes make bad mistakes; good nations correct them quickly.

- Martin O'Malley 

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It's great to see someone take charge like this.  Maybe it will inspire Tom Perez to do something constructive.  If he needs the training, I'm sure I can find a bicycle with two extra wheels to help him get started. :-p

O'Malley knows what the stakes are.  If the Democrats don't win back power at the state or federal level, they'll be crippled even more going into 2019 as Republicans seek to consolidate their power to suppress the vote and prepare to take control of redistricting in advance of the 2020 census.  And it's a pretty safe bet that if the Democrats go down in 2018, they will most likely not only lose the congressional elections in 2020 but the Presidency as well.  And if they lose in 2020, the party is doomed.  That will really be it.

Click here to donate to Win Back Your State.