Reflections On DemocracyFest

by Darrell Lewis



I packed
up my truck and left early on Wednesday morning, July 21st, on my
adventure to experience…well, I guess I wasn't too sure what I was
going to experience when I left.  I arrived in the early evening
on Thursday at Pittsfield, MA – the site of DemocracyFest.  The
1,250-mile drive went faster and easier than expected.  In the
early evening hours of dusk, I unpacked and began setting up my
campsite, which drew into darkness while attempting to set up my new
tent.  Dang, I should have done a practice set up before leaving
like the directions said…and maybe it really did need two people like
the directions said; but, alas, 10,000 mosquito bites, later it was all
set up.

 

Woke up
early Friday morning and finished setting up camp, drove around
Pittsfield a bit sightseeing and then to the hotel where the festival
was to be held.  I wandered into the planning meeting between
event organizers, the hotel staff and other service providers. 
Mostly I just listened, but also participated when the topic of the
Bloggers’ Breakfast and its needs found its way to the agenda. 
The initially-cool hotel staff turned out to not only be very
cooperative but some of the nicest folks I met my entire trip.  It
rained for much of the day and on several occasions I got soaking wet
running around without a raincoat.

 

Late
Friday afternoon, Alta Price and her son found their way to the
campground.  I had set up tents for them earlier so it was only
their personal gear that remained for them to unpack and, fortunately,
by then the rain showers were mostly intermittent.  Our dinner
that evening consisted of some fruit, crackers and cheeses I had picked
up at a local store earlier that day.  We sat around a small
campfire and had a great time chatting about a little bit of everything.

 

As it
turned out, much of the Festival was work for me rather then being a
participant.  I had brought my t-shirt press and political buttons
stuff and was to sell the official festival shirt and political
buttons.  There was a rather healthy financial gap that needed to
be filled in the festival budget and I offered to help.  Alex
Price helped me the entire weekend and I would have never been able to
get it all done without his help.  

 

Even
while occupied with the tasks at hand, I had opportunities to meet new
people, become re-acquainted with people I previously met during the
Iowa Storm and also to meet online friends I had yet to meet face to
face.  Of course all this good chatting was the highlight of the
weekend.  The only disappointment for me was that I was unable to
participate in any of the training.

 

I
invited a few folks to our campsite that evening to sit around the fire
and talk politics.  Well, my few invites turned into more and more
until the word was being passed around the festival about the
“bloggers’ bonfire”.  While about 20 people ended up at the
bonfire, many others did not because the owner of the campgrounds
proved to be a real *ss and even called the police at one point, as he
stood guard at the entrance and told people, “you types aren't welcome
on my land”.

 

Of
course, Sunday was the “big” day.  I got up at 5:00 am and headed
to the hotel to ready things for the Bloggers’ Breakfast.  The
event went well and was attended by about 125 people.  And
although everyone enjoyed themselves, it lacked the electricity of the
first one in Des Moines.  No surprise guests this time and even
some of those who said they would be there (Zephyr, for one) did not
make it.

 

All in
all, the festival was a great hit.  It was truly grassroots but,
to be honest, I was disappointed that Democracy for America had not
taken a greater interest in helping with it and participating in
it.  But I've had these same experiences with DFA in the past and
it should not have surprised me.

 

I've got
a theory on this, however.  DFA, unlike, say IDP, has an
appreciation of the power of the grassroots and most importantly is
able to empower the grassroots to do “their own thing” and not attempt
to control them.  What they have failed to yet figure out is how
to work with the “grassroots”.  There are still too many staffers
whose experience has come from top down political organizations and
they don't know any other paradigms.  It’s our challenge in
organizations like Democracy for Iowa to keep alive the power of the
grassroots and to work with the traditional top down
organizations.  We too have a learning curve to follow and realize
we are not always going to be welcomed and assisted by those
traditional groups.  But if we remain on a steady course (allowing
for occasional bursts of irreverence) will can prove the power of the
grassroots and change their paradigm.

 

The
grassroots of the future is not the old “fall in line” and dutifully do
what you are told by the party pros; although I must admit I am not
sure exactly where it will end up.  In some states the traditional
party organization is enthusiastically welcoming the new grassroots and
in some states they are outright rejecting them and demanding the “get
over it” and “toe the line”.  I am not yet sure where Iowa falls
in this spectrum. I guess we will have to see how it all plays out.