Elected Officials Have Many Different Objectives Than Active Rank & File Democrats

I wrote recently about which Democrats on the 2024 Harris County ballot have contributed so far to the Victory Campaign of the Harris County Democratic Party. This is the coordinated campaign run by the party to help all Democrats on the Harris County ballot. It's not a long list of candidates who have contributed.

The party also keeps a running tally of how many doors Democratic candidates have knocked.  Some candidates have knocked on some doors. A larger number have not knocked on any doors. (This all very much includes unopposed judges, non-incumbent judges with no Republican opponent and state and federal legislators in safe seats. And don't forget the ten Houston City Council Democrats elected last year. They can help as well.)  

There are different ways elected officials and well-financed non-incumbents might  assist the full ticket in ways we don't see. They might be holding fundraisers for other candidates or working hard behind the scenes.    

It's also quite possible they are sitting it out even as we confront an authoritarian threat in Texas and the nation.     

Elected officials often don't have the same aims as active rank & file volunteers, Democratic clubs and organizations, and the official party itself.

The average door knocker or small donor wants as many Democrats as possible to vote and as many Democrats as possible to win. There are also public policy goals, protection of rights and fending off the anti-democratic political right.      

The elected Democrat may well (or not) share some or all of these those goals. They also have objectives that the people who sustain the party with volunteer efforts and small donations do not hold.     

Some objectives Democratic elected officials might pursue not of top concern to you and I are:

1. Avoid a primary challenger. 
2. Raise a lot of money and hoard that money. Often this is about raising enough to scare off a primary challenger.
3. Raise campaign funds to pay for whatever it is permissive campaign finance laws allow.      
4. Cater to donors.
5. Use the office they hold to make money for themselves.     
6. Do as little as possible and still be an elected official.  
7. Use the power they have to satisfy private whims, agendas or vendettas.
8. Tamp down voter turnout and political enthusiasm to to avoid helping create a political climate that  generates primary challenges.
9. Not anger Republicans who in a legislative chamber might control committee assignments or the success of proposed bills. (You might see the value of this. But it's not clear how much longer Democrats will retain a meaningful voice in the organization of the Texas House).  
10. Look for a safe place to land in an each day more possible authoritarian future.      

Rank and file Democrats & Democratic clubs and organizations must hold the people they support and vote for accountable. Elected officials are rarely fully reliable allies. Our futures are at stake. Be enthusiastic when you can. Recognize and appreciate good people when it is right. Call them out when you must. 

Relationships between elected officials and the people who do the work within the same party do not have to be warm. They can be adversarial if need be. There is too much on the line to regard the people we vote for as anything other than elected employees there to do a job.           
    
Here is my fundraising pitch for Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. 
​
Please sign the Houston Democracy Project petition to make the pledge to show up for freedom in 2024 no matter what.

The Houston Democracy Project works daily to inspire, organize and strengthen pro-democracy coalitions in Houston and Harris County.

please CONTRIBUTE