Post by Jennifer Tomkins
On the face of it, support for grassroots groups in the solidly blue state that CA has become may seem to be counterintuitive, even counterproductive. Shouldn’t Airlift be exclusively focused on winning the Senate and defeating the White House incumbent (can’t bring myself to utter his name). The answer is that, for the most part, we are, but we are also deeply aware of the fragility of some of our 2018 victories and the need to defend them.
Yes, we MUST win the Presidency and the Senate and also, if you look a little deeper, there are compelling reasons why we need also to defend Democratic house seats.
The tragic and cautionary tale of a victory squandered:
The key failure of the Obama administration was allowing its unprecedented on-line grass roots organizing tool MyBO that had amassed 13 million email addresses and 2 million supporters, to be co-opted by the Democratic party instead of retaining control of it and using it as a policy tool while in office. The dream of those ho masterminded MyBO was that “Barack Obama could become not only the first black man elected president, but the first president in history to organize an enduring grassroots movement that could last beyond his years in office.”
Tragically, an ineffective and self-interested Democratic party that took over MyBO squandered this invaluable asset that might have led to a successful presidency and retention of power in the abortive 2010 midterms. It led not only to the mid-term defeats and subsequent policy failures but also, ultimately, as the first Black president failed to deliver significant change, to the rise of Trump.
It is worth reading the full story of this fatal organizing failure by a president who had been a community organizer, as told in 2017 in a The News Republic article by Micah L Sifry. Republicans took full advantage of this tragic folly, working their own grass roots like crazy. The Tea Party also took hold, and by 2014 Republicans controlled state government outright in at least 24 states; they controlled at least 66 of 99 state legislative chambers nationwide; and they cut the number of states with total Democratic control from 14 to seven — the lowest number since the Civil War.
What this means for Airlift’s strategy.
That is the background to the lessons learned by funding groups like Airlift and the groups on the ground that they support. Here are some of the lessons learned:
Progressives simply cannot rely on the Democratic party.
It’s not enough to just elect candidates, you have to have their backs and work with them to get policy implemented.
That means both the funding and the work has to continue year round every year.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that Republicans are working just as hard and have been doing so more effectively than Democrats.
Orange County will be a CA battleground in 2020
The fact that Orange County, CA, once a sea of red has become an ocean of blue is truly cause for celebration. It is not, however, an occasion to rest on our laurels for the same reasons that it was a tragic mistake to cede MyBO to an ineffective and self interested Democratic party.
The newly elected representatives in OC have barely had chance to take their seats in congress they have certainly not had a chance to effect policy changes that affect the lives of their constituents and they are highly vulnerable (and one, Katie Hill, has already been brought down by a manufactured scandal). Nor are these national offices the only ones on which progressives need to focus. Of equal importance in terms of affecting the lives of OC’s 300,000 residents and building a progressive base is the country board that decides education, housing and policing policies. Winning a majority on the county board a key goal of progressive organizations in the county.
That’s why Airlift will continue to invest in 2020 in the Orange County Civic Engagement Table (OCCET). Civic engagement tables are coalitions of progressive organizations that work together to promote involvement in the democratic process and promote change. OCCET itself is the body that facilitates the coalition of its seven members and works to strengthen their individual capacities. This includes fundraising, training, and policy-writing. It has been in existence since 2012 and its news executive director, Jonathan Paik, has worked in the table space since 2014. OCCET’s members represent the two key communities that have turned OC blue: the Korean American community and the Latinex community.
Demographics have played a huge role in Orange County turning blue. Today it is not the Orange County of Richard Nixon or the one that supported Reagan by 70%; nor is it still a bastion of the John Birch Society. Its population has also grown enormously in the past 50 years, from 1.4 million to over 3.2 million. In 1970, whites made up 86% of the county’s population; now they make up just 40%, meaning that over 90% of population growth in the last half-century has been nonwhite. Orange County is also younger and more highly educated than it once was. Much of its middle class has been driven away by California’s high cost of living.
Demographics, however, are not altogether destiny. As Paik pointed out, both Latinex and Asian populations tend to be relatively conservative, so the growth of minority populations cannot be taken as leading automatically to progressive power.
Both the county board of supervisors in OC and many city mayors are still Republican — and some of them are from minority communities. Paik notes that the Republicans have done an excellent job of building their base and running Asian American candidates, with two members of the 5-person country board being Asian American rRepublicans. Currently there is only one Democrat, Doug Chaffee in the 4th District on the board. In 2020 it may be that the 1st District will be competitive, according to Paik but, in his opinion, it will be a longterm job to win a Democratic majority, which is why OCCET is beginning now and aiming for 2022. The existing OC board has been focussed on increased deportation of illegal immigrants. Policies that OCCET wants to see implemented would focus on housing and education.
Republicans have also successfully recruited two Korean Americans to run in newly flipped democratic house districts. In District 48, Michell Park Steel is running on the Republican ticket and in District 45, Peggy Wong is running in what was Katie Porter’s district. Republicans, as Paik explained are both seeking to win over Koreans while they sow dissent between the Latinex and Asian communities as part of a national strategy to win immigrant districts.. This poses a challenge for OCCET and its allies as they seek to find messaging and outreach that can unite the communities around issues that resonate — education, law-enforcement and housing. Meanwhile, the tactic of recruiting Koreans to run for office is, according to Paik highly effective with older Korans while some 85% of young Koreans lean Democratic.
In short, there are pressing reasons why Airlift should not abandon those flighting to prevent the blue wave from dissipating. Further, what is true of of Orange County’s vulnerabilities is true of many newly flipped blue seats in other states. That is why we are collaborating with other progressive funders is part of the strategy to cover all the bases and keep them covered. Unlike what happened with MyBO.