Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Illinois Democratic Party stuck in the past

Carol Marin:
What's stunning is that there actually have been elections since 2006. Just this month, a whole host of Democrats were running in municipal races. And Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley was fighting hard to win his way into Congress.

But you'd never know it by looking at information provided by the state Democratic Party.

The only contemporary posting is a reminder that Mike Madigan's big spring fund-raiser is May 4 at the Island Bay Yacht Club in Springfield. Oh, and tickets are $150 a pop.

What, if anything, does this Web site tell us about the Democratic Party in Illinois?

For one thing, it tells us that while Barack Obama set a new, stratospheric standard for using the Internet to market campaigns, the state party from which he sprang hasn't copied a single page from his book.

Is there a place on the Web site to easily volunteer to work on Democratic campaigns? No. Are there e-mail addresses? Don't be silly. There isn't even a button to donate to the party. Snail mail and phone numbers are the best the site has to offer.

Then again, maybe Madigan's operation has no need for all that outreach. After all, don't Democrats control every state constitutional office, both houses of the General Assembly, run Chicago and dominate the formerly Republican suburbs?

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

Still, it's curious to see such a Dark Ages setup for the state party. That is, unless you stop looking at it as a state party and see it as, in the words of one party strategist who requested anonymity, "an overgrown caucas run by the speaker of the House, Mike Madigan, to elect people Madigan sent."
My observation of the site is that it's certainly not open to allow supporters to either get involved with the party or even to get information out to their supporters in a timely fashion. By comparison the Republican Party of the state has their eye on the ball for that! Even if they have problems with their percieved infighting.

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