Acceptance Speech

There have been times in our party’s history where we have a chair who seeks to lead us with bold vision. There are other times that we see leaders who surprise the entire caucus both in their election and in the righteousness of their cause. There are chairs who have stepped in during times of abrupt change. And then there have been chairs who, reluctantly, recognize that the moment is choosing them, rather than them the moment. And I must count myself in the latter.

One year ago, I ran as Vice Chair of our party on a mission, to help a friend who in a time of impossible national and cultural churning, was leading our party through the end of the tyranny of Trumpism, of the casual racism that sprung from it, and an international catastrophe in the global pandemic. I sought only to bring structure to function – solidarity and transparency and reform. And I still see those values as central to how we should grow as a party.

But as 2021 rolled through, we saw the churning we often do in our local party. We congratulate Eric Spoonmore on his moving onward to the Chamber from the County Council. We congratulate Jennifer Crossley making history as the first Black Woman to serve in our County Council in completing Eric’s term. I saw the snowball that started in the fall with Eric’s resignation, rolling down through Jen’s election, become a potential avalanche.

And it was over that December, in deep discussions with many in this caucus, and my family, if I even could step into the breach and for a time, that I should do it. As a career government affairs consultant, with project management experience, I could serve in the only way I know how, through planning, strategy, and goal setting, and good administration. And in my role on the teaching faculty at the O’Neill School at IU, I could work to bring our town and gown Democrats closer together as we move ahead.

In my time as acting chair, I immediately got to work to assure our party got on the footing it must for the 2022 Primary and the year to come. In just these past 20 days, we relaunched our website, rebranded our party, and brought on 9 interns to help lay the foundation for the 2022 campaign. I met with candidates, certified those that required it to be eligible, closed the books on our amazing Fall Taliaferro Dinner with our current team, and started to build a team at HQ that could deliver. We ended our calendar year, despite the COVID challenge, in the fiscal Black. We have reimagined VAN training, began working with the state on new technologies for canvassing, and began subletting our HQ again to aspiring campaigns. And just this week, we extended our first offer of employment in two years.

We are on track to meet the new normal of COVID, compete with a resurgent Republican opponent, keep the seats we hold, and compete to win two open seats – the Indiana 62nd and now, the Congressional 9th.

And so today, I proudly stand up to be your next chair of Your Monroe County Democratic Party. But don’t thank me for this decision. First, you should thank my family – my wife Fiona, and our boys Lachlan, Callum, and Alasdair. Theirs is the final vote and veto. And they are the ones who lose out on my being around as I pick up this mantle.

It is not hyperbole to say that we face a political climate outside of our community that defies all understanding of our civics and social studies classes as kids. And my thoughts turn to my kids, and yours and your grandkids, when I think of the state we now face.

We see the Hoosier spirit of compromise with a governing partner completely severed, with extremism in every corner of public policy. This ain’t Dick Lugar’s Republican Party, outside the county line and near the city walls. It is an opposition that, in the denial of the rights of women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and Labor; the plundering of public education and the planet; and the fantasy of a gun in every hand, raises serious questions about who this opposition is actually for.  And while the opposition may have interesting ideas about county and municipal fiscal policy, it is the same party that still sells MAGA hats at the fair, and stands indifferent about the naked racism and bigotry unleashed by their leadership. In short, we face the ugliest of extremism, that upends the enduring debate in our state and puts our whole community at risk.

We must tell our story then. The story of how Democrats have won the right to govern Bloomington and Monroe County because we stand in defiance of that world view. That we stop being Bloomington and Monroe County if we fail on any day to fight hard for the rights of everyone. That it is through diversity and striving for more inclusion, that the “Bloomington Idea” thrives in a state that insists on reverting to a 1950’s era black and white sitcom of reality. That we are also agreeable. That those independent voters, when given the choice between good government and quality of life, or a needless tyranny of division, will support us too.

We must accept this reality: that faced with this extremism, we Democrats, as the Party of the People and our Whole Community, are the only governing partners we have. Therefore, to build on our endeavor for solidarity, and transparency, and reform, here is where we will go together in the next term:

Ask of me, then I will ask of you. Now more than ever, we need your talent. If you see a challenge or an issue, I simply ask you to bring an idea to solve the problem. Let’s put your good talent to work on short projects that leave us all feeling the impact of your effort and the rewards that come with it.

Keep focused. Yes, we have boisterous and serious discourse about the future of our community. That comes with the victory of winning the ballot. We govern out loud, sometimes quite loudly. Our caucuses are in the right to push hard for change in our time. But let’s remember that even the worst disagreements in our caucuses are nothing compared to the alternative reality the opposition wishes upon us. In election season, keep focused on those that wish to upend all we have done for the Whole Community.

Let our Candidates Shine Democrats show, not tell. We lead daily. Look around us, this is the Bloomington and Monroe County we have built. Failing to convince our community to return them to county and city offices, our opposition only has their chair to rally behind. And their chair shows desperation to paint over the Republican Party’s dark turn to extremism with mere social media clicks and banal platitudes.

In contrast, I choose to be a low-key party chair.  Monroe County Democrats hold nearly all county offices, all city offices, and have won seats in our townships time again. They show our community every day how Democrats work hard on the enduring challenges in our community. But where some media see controversy, we see leadership. Therefore, I will work to assure everyone knows our candidates, and that they make the headlines. In doing so, they will win the right to govern again.

But we cannot rest on laurels, either those won 50 years ago or in the last term. We must grow to survive. And so, we must have goals to guide us through the next decade:

• Raise The Bar. We will professionalize our operations to assure that we transition our party well between leadership. We will improve our communications in traditional and social media to show the Democratic Story to our community. And we will listen a lot more to those who haven’t had a seat at the table, and those who haven’t seen themselves in our local party in some time.

• Organize. MCDP is the resource for candidates, campaigns and causes. We can be a clearinghouse and direct traffic to the great experts and caucuses and advocacy groups in our community, through our website and strong partnerships. We will work to assure our candidates have access to technologies that make canvassing easier. We will document how we run the party—from recent victories to our heritage. Our Central Committee will be reengaged to create for the first time enduring local Bylaws that improve upon those from the State, and make local custom a written cornerstone. We will also aim to create a local party platform, a North Star for all candidates to point to as who we are, and where we stand in our city, county, and state.

• Evolve. To be a Party PCP has to be more than being a caucus goer. Not only do PCPs require the latest training in VAN and canvassing, but more importantly we must internalize and center Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in our work. We will continue toward Anti-Bias training with an eye toward assuring all of us see the intersectionality of Climate, Racial, and Economic Justice, the Dignity of Labor, and Gender Equality as a cornerstone of our local Quality of Life.

• Grow. If Indianapolis insists on packing and cracking Monroe County’s representation in the General Assembly through Gerrymandering, then it is time to grow outward to win all the seats that we can. We will grow to be the regional voice we say we are. We know the road to the Governor’s Mansion, to statewide offices, and to the US Senate comes through our county for any aspiring Hoosier. So it is time to remind our state, with our sibling Blue counties in solidarity, that we have a proportional voice in the decision making of our party. And when we have great local office holders, let’s encourage them to get to the state convention and run for state offices.

• Sustain. Let’s think through party succession, where each caucus steps up to their founding mandate to mentor people into party and political leadership. I will work to see that each caucus helps to fill deputy roles within our party, to help mentor and promote the next leadership in our community. We will set aggressive fundraising goals not only for our own programs but to assist caucuses and to support our general election slate. Bring us your talents, and we will sustain our party for the long haul.

Change is always hard, even for those who yearn for it. Short term choices may cause discomfort, but we must plan for the future we face. We define ourselves not by who our adversaries may be, but by what we hope our community will become. As the ancients taught us, our lives are short, and the craft is so long to master. We know the work is never done. This has never left a Hoosier daunted. Let us get back to it.