YDATL Blog NOTE: The opinions expressed by our individual bloggers are their own, and not necessarily those of Young Democrats of Atlanta.
Monday, April 03, 2006
YDG Convention post-game
I feel somewhat compelled to offer up a YDG Convention post-game analysis, but it's kind of hard to choose between the various paths of optimism, cynicism, hope, apathy, and sarcasm. At the very least, I can say that the Young Dems of UGA put on a pretty well-run show, and Athens, as always, is a great place for young people to have a good time on $20 a day. I hope Tim Cairl and I managed to inspire a handful of chapters to kick their web presence up a notch; YDs were also able to take advantage of grassroots organizing training from Wellstone Action, Political Career Development and a briefing on the local political scene from DPG, among the possible meeting selections.
Young Democrats of Georgia delegates also got to hear from a few state-level candidates: Mark Taylor and Cathy Cox for Governor, and Greg Hecht for Lt. Governor (whose posters had a hard time sticking to the wall during his speech), while a YDG'er and staff member spoke on behalf of Jim Martin. I've got to say, while the role of YDG in state politics and our appropriateness as an audience for the candidates is obvious, the hostage nature of said audience really ought not be abused in future even-year conventions. You understand, though, I'm speaking for Priscilla the dog, not myself.
All in all, it was a pretty productive trip, although a good portion of that has to be attributed, as always, to the extracurricular activities that don't appear on any program. It might be hard to describe on a website and may even appear unprofessional to some stick-in-the-mud types, but I always find some of the best action planning and strategizing taking place after hours at these events. Perhaps it's just that the rapid-fire information overload during the day takes a couple hours to crystallize over dinner and isn't fully unleashed until that second patriotically-colored cocktail kicks in. I for one, though, feel like the stage that was set by a day of political drudgery, hobnobbery, and a dash of conspiracy, really came alive over sushi and burritos (not at the same venue, obviously), and I really think you guys will find a YDAtl Exec even more ready to kick ass and take names in the coming months thanks to our weekend in Athens. Hopefully our YDG officers will be there to back us up.
Yes, you're right, and that's one of a number of mistakes that were made in his campaign -- the biggest mistake, of course, being intimidated into dropping out by smear and believing someone who twisted my own words around after I tried to help create a level playing field. This is where the Old Fart in me says, "It's a good thing we upped the age limit." But as a general point of irritation, I whole-heartedly disagree with the notion expressed by some people that contested elections are bad for the organization. I know YDAtl isn't a shining example of contested elections, either, but we actually try to encourage them as a good thing, rather than saying oligarchy is a fine alternative.
We'll see what the coming year brings us in terms of YDG-YDAtl cooperation. The Young Democrats of Atlanta have an ambitious agenda, innovative ideas, strong leadership, and some good fundraising experience under our belt; I say, let them get behind US! :-)
(Boy, I hope I'm not stepping out of line, I'd hate to get roughed up....)
don't worry, i'm sure your father'd be more than able to help you out, if that occured. ;)
very good wrap up post - and you are absolutely right. the best products of these conventions do not necessarily come from the workshops themselves but rather the after hour's inspired conversations and brainstorming.
way to go YDAtl for having a very good, one of the largest, showings at convention this year...as well as having multiple YDAtl members and leaders help facilitate workshops.
Nice way to prove that Democrats aren't above personal attacks Daniel, good work! And as a PS, I think most "strong leaders" win in elections where they don't bully out the other candidate to ensure they run unopposed. But yeah, here's to forgetting the past. God knows history doesn't matter in the long run anyway.
4 Comments:
Yes, you're right, and that's one of a number of mistakes that were made in his campaign -- the biggest mistake, of course, being intimidated into dropping out by smear and believing someone who twisted my own words around after I tried to help create a level playing field. This is where the Old Fart in me says, "It's a good thing we upped the age limit." But as a general point of irritation, I whole-heartedly disagree with the notion expressed by some people that contested elections are bad for the organization. I know YDAtl isn't a shining example of contested elections, either, but we actually try to encourage them as a good thing, rather than saying oligarchy is a fine alternative.
We'll see what the coming year brings us in terms of YDG-YDAtl cooperation. The Young Democrats of Atlanta have an ambitious agenda, innovative ideas, strong leadership, and some good fundraising experience under our belt; I say, let them get behind US! :-)
(Boy, I hope I'm not stepping out of line, I'd hate to get roughed up....)
don't worry, i'm sure your father'd be more than able to help you out, if that occured. ;)
very good wrap up post - and you are absolutely right. the best products of these conventions do not necessarily come from the workshops themselves but rather the after hour's inspired conversations and brainstorming.
way to go YDAtl for having a very good, one of the largest, showings at convention this year...as well as having multiple YDAtl members and leaders help facilitate workshops.
Nice way to prove that Democrats aren't above personal attacks Daniel, good work! And as a PS, I think most "strong leaders" win in elections where they don't bully out the other candidate to ensure they run unopposed. But yeah, here's to forgetting the past. God knows history doesn't matter in the long run anyway.
Oh, and Congratulations to YDAtl for being named YDG Chapter of the Year!
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