By Faith Chatham - August 6, 2015
Faith Chatham is founder and CFO/Treasurer of the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC, a Federal Multi-candidate Political Action Committee focusing on equipping progressive Federal candidates competing in Texas for seats occupied by G.O.P./Tea Party Incumbents
Recently, while digging through data for a report this HARD COLD FACT jumped out at me. Being the graphic artist thinker that I am, I expressed it this way:
Then I looked more closely at the data. This jumped out at me!
I started drilling down into the Democratic and Republican delegations to Congress and concluded that there are not enough women in the Republican Delegation for women to have much clout there. On really close votes, or to get legislation out of committees where a woman is highly placed, the "boys" may include women in the back room negotiations. However, when 91% of the Party's delegation is "good ole boy" Republican (largely white) men, they can ignore and discount the women, even after the majority of the constituents in a District have elected her to the U.S House of Representatives.
Even though there are more women in Congress now than ever before, by and large, Federal Legislative Policy is still determined by WHITE REPUBLICAN MEN.
Currently, where women have influence over Federal Policy in Washington is in the U.S. Senate. Specifically, women have the most influence within the Democratic Senatorial delegation. Democrats elect a higher percentage of women and ethnic minorities to Federal Office than Republicans. In the 114th Senate 32% of the Democrats are Women. There are a few Republican Women who are Senators but they are noted for their anti-choice, anti-pay day fairness, anti women's rights positions.
Within the Democratic Senatorial Delegation, women are strategic in setting policy and passing (or blocking0 legislation.
My conclusion is that women have the power to change the status quo "good ole boy" realities in the U.S. Congress. The first step is WAKING UP and realizing that in 2015 we still let "Good 'Ole Boy Politics" determine the legislative priorities and policies which govern women in society, in the workplace, in government, in the military, in research and healthcare, in the judiciary, in education and at the voting booth!
The Second Step is shattering the misconception of many women that American Women are represented already! Just because we know of a few high profile Congresswomen or we see Nancy Peloski rise to power in the House of Representatives does not mean that Women have sufficient representation to determine our own fate legislatively!
The Third Step is to confront the misconception that Women of both party's work equally to further the circumstance of American Women. Following the issues and seeing how Women of both party's vote clearly shows that the voting records of the women Republicans elect to Congress rarely improve the situation of American women and their families.
The Fourth Step is to recruit and equip more progressive Democratic women to successfully compete for seats occupied by Republicans in the U.S. House and U.S Congress.
In Texas, Congresswoman Kay Granger is the only woman in the Republican Federal Delegation. One woman out of a delegation of 27 does not have very much influence. Of the 11 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, there are two women. Three women out of 38 members of Texas' Delegation leaves women sadly under represented in Congress. It is very easy for the Republican controlled delegation to wage a war on women's rights, women's health care, equitable financing for research for women's health care, pay day equity and other key programs that impact the lives of women and girls in this nation.
There is a sufficient population of women and of progressive men in Texas to change this! The Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC is a multi-candidate Federal PAC focusing on changing the composition of Texas' Federal Delegation.
In 2016 neither of the two U.S. Senators from Texas are up for re-election. (One is running for President but he does not have to resign his Senatorial Seat to be on the ballot for President). Sen. Cruz' seat is not up for re-election until 2018.
This is the goal that has been set by the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC for 2016.
Looking beyond 2016, here is what we need to do
We can change the current reality.
It will take work. It will take the investment of a few dollars by MANY Democrats who are struggling to make ends meet. It won't take big investments. If every Texan who voted Democratic in the 2008 Presidential Election were to contribute at least $5 to Democratic non-incumbent Congressional Candidates running against G.O.P. incumbents in Texas during the 2016 Primary and at least $5 again during the 2016 General Election that would infuse 20 times the funding into these races as was raised by non-incumbents in 2014. In 2014 Democratic candidates competing against GOP incumbents for Congressional Seats on the ballot in Texas only raised and spent a combined half a million dollars. That came to an average of about $13K per primary and per general election campaign.
I was Chief of Staff in 2014 for one of those campaigns. I can assure you that $13K is not sufficient to communicate and mobilize voters in a Congressional District. The David Cozad for Congress campaign stretched $14K as far as was humanly possible but we did not have a budget sufficient enough to even run a few print media ads in newspapers in the district. He got the highest percentage of votes of any non-incumbent Democratic Congressional Nominee in Texas in 2014. Even an additional $10K would have made a considerable difference in the number of progressive voters in the district who would have learned enough about him and his positions to realize that there was a progressive candidate competing with the 30 year G.O.P, incumbent. That would have allowed us to hammer home Joe Barton's deplorable attendance record and his failure to pass more than 8 bills during his entire tenure in Washington. It would have allowed more women to understand Cozad's pro-women positions which attracted fed-up, disgusted female activists like me and Linda Brooks and Harriet Irby and Beth Dawson to working long hours and donating to his campaign. Sweat equity and contributions by women supporters in '14 are attributed as enabling him to stretch his small campaign war chest far enough to attract the highest percentage of voters in an election year when there was not a "coat tail" to ride from the top of the ticket.
Voting for someone just because of gender is not a good thing. We must go for people who are pro-women, pro-children, pro-education, pro-workplace fairness. When the Joni Ernst's or Konni Burton's emerge, we need to fight them because their warped ideologies are obstacles to other women!
It will take work but it can be done. It will mean:
We must bridge the communication divide of 20 different media markets in Texas and learn about Progressive Democratic Federal candidates running in districts throughout the state. One vehicle for this will be the Texas Blue Seed E-mail News Letter and blog posts and social media posts.
Another challenge is mobilizing more volunteers and to funnel early money to challengers so that they can organize.
The Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC is determined to do everything it legally can to support Progressive challengers running for Federal Offices on the ballot in Texas in Districts occupied by Tea Party/G.O.P. incumbents.
Some Blue Seed initiatives include:
Instigating the formation of the Texas Federal Progressive Candidates Council
Forming State and Regional Steering Committees to raise funds for and communicate cross district about Texas' Progressive Federal Candidates
Creating communication tools to help Texans understand and find solutions to the obstacles confronting Democrats challenging G.O.P. incumbents for Congressional seats.
Establishing a volunteer referral service for Progressive Federal Candidates so that people can volunteer virtually from their homes by phoning, entering data, writing, editing, doing research, helping with polls.
Establishing a Federal Candidate's Directory with contact information on the PACs website.
Raising money to distribute to Progressive Federal Candidates on the ballot in Texas and raising money to spend on independent messaging in support or opposition to candidates.
Keeping progress issues and values prominent through use of social media and t-shirt and other campaigns.
We had to start somewhere. The PAC is only a few months old. Everyone who joins now is still considered a "founding member". We have openings, on our regional steering committees and four of our State Steering Committee members will rotate off the board in November. If you, or someone you know, has a solid record promoting progressive candidates and issues in Texas, and are interested in being more than just a "member in name only", we would like to hear from you. Most steering committee meetings are by conference call.
If you are maxed out, but understand the importance of helping Texans build the political infrastructure necessary for Democrats to reclaim seats occupied by GOP/ Tea Party incumbents, please go on line and donate SOMETHING today.
Anyone contributing at least $25 online or by check who is a registered voter (in any state) becomes a Founding Member of the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC and can vote on which candidates the PAC supports monetarily. In 2016 it is anticipated that the PAC will contribute to 9 Congressional Challengers during the primary and will select 9 of the Democratic Congressional Nominees to support during the General Election. Each dues paying member will get one vote. The F.E.C. allows an individual to contribute $5000.00 per year to a Federal Multi-Candidate PAC. We will not reject contributions from deep-pocketed donors. Those who have "maxed out" in donating to Congressional candidates' campaigns for the 2016 primary can give up to $5000 to the PAC in 2015 and another $5000 to the PAC after January 1, 2016.
We welcome large donors to help us distribute money earlier to challengers. Whether a $5000 donor or a $25 dollar donor, each member will have an equal voice in selecting the Congressional Races and the Presidential Candidate who gets financial support by the PAC.
At the last State Steering Committee the Board voted to consider taking advantage of the F.E.C. rule which allows a Federal Multi-candidate PAC to assist other groups which are not Federal PAC in fundraising for Federal Candidates. The board voted to consider on a case-by-case basis requests from groups desiring to host fundraising events for Progressive Federal Candidates in Texas. The event would become a Texas Federal Blue Seed event and would be reported financially through our PAC to the FEC. The groups would have to agree to comply with F.E.C. regulations. All honorees would have to be candidates who were (or are) on the Democratic Primary ballot in Texas. Democratic incumbents could be honorees as long as at least one non-incumbent Democratic Federal Candidate is also an honoree. Candidates who benefit from these fundraisers do not have to wait until the PAC votes on which candidates to support and do not have to be selected by the PAC as candidates to be supported. The host committee (partnering group) gets to determine which candidates get support and the PAC agrees to distribute money to them from the proceeds of the event within a month of the close of the event.
Without a Federal Multi-candidate PAC, it is illegal to raise money for more than one Federal Candidate at an event. In the past 20 years the number of Federal PACs supporting Democratic candidates in Texas has dwindled significantly. Only a few of Texas' County Democratic Party's or Democratic Clubs have Federal PACs. Therefore, most Congressional candidates running on the Democratic ticket have little assistance from groups which support Democratic candidates. When considering a request from a potential fundraising partnering group, the board will consult with the campaigns of the preferred honorees. We will ask: "Are you interested in a fundraiser in your behalf hosted by this group with the Texas Blue Seed PAC honoring you and these other candidates?" "Will any of the proposed dates and venues be acceptable to your and fit into your calendar?" "Do the proposed host committee have any known associations which could create problems for any of the proposed honorees or the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC? (Racists, sexist, criminal, etc.) "Does the Host committee has a capable team to do the work on this event and to work with the PAC in ensuring that there is compliance with F.E.C. rules?" If those conditions are met, then we are willing for the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC to be used to leverage the fundraising capacity of Progressives who do not have Federal PACs. Last year there was a potential host committee in Tarrant County who proposed an event to raise money for all the U.S. House Candidates running in Districts in Tarrant County. It was impossible to stage the event because the group was not a Federal Multi-Candidate PAC and there was no Federal PAC associated with the County Party at the time.
A Federal Multi-Candidate PAC (such as the DCCC) can take small donations from many people and channel them to the districts where there is the greatest chance of winning additional seats or where there is the greatest danger of losing existing seats. Now we have a vehicle to do a similar thing in Texas. Giving any amount to the Texas Federal Blue Seed PAC will enable us to pool our resources and channel them to the districts where we have the strongest challengers. Just because most of Texas' Districts do not rank among the bluest in the nation, does not mean that they are not purple enough to be worth investing in challenger races. There are many districts where the G.O.P. has had a free ride for decades, where no Democratic challenger has had sufficient funding to communicate with the voters sufficiently for progressives to understand that there was a good alternative to the incumbent.
To volunteer visit the Contact Page on the
Blue Seed Website or phone 682 220-9711
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