I was at a meeting of the Washington Co. Dems last night. We had MILLENIALS there! We had NEW PEOPLE there! We had CONCRETE THINGS TO DISCUSS! The VA gubernatorial race is fast coming to a close; we are working phone-banks to update our data-base AND to get out voters for the Dems; we have candidates runnings in local races for supervisors; and Mike FREAKING Pence is coming to town to stump for the Republican candidate for governor. I mean…WE HAVE THINGS TO DO!!!
So, after a fairly routine hour, we then spend almost THIRTY minutes discussing a Roberts Rule Of Order question concerning a quorum. I kid you not. This was debated with great seriousness and intensity and tedious detail. The millennials departed. And let me add that while the question of the quorum was being pondered, several lists were being circulated. Because that’s how the Dems here roll-we want everyone to sign pen and paper lists. Hello, digital world? We have computers and cell phones now! (Sorry, Michael. I know you are doing your best to drag the WaCoDems into the 21st century. ) After a few minutes I wanted to stick a sharp pen in my ear.
But THIS sort of meeting is EXACTLY why millennials (and maybe me after the election, I’m not sure yet) aviod the local Dems like the plague. When you have obvious important events going both locally, on a state level, and nationally, and you come to a meeting of the party that is supposed to be the party of choice (else the Republicans), and you get more nattering about rules than about what people can be DOING to affect change, then you are not going to attract people, esp. young people. I see SUCH a divide in this area among the young progressives I know and the older people in the Dems. The younger progressives are much more action-oriented and, more importantly, BELIEVE CHANGE IS POSSIBLE; the older folks I know, rightly or wrongly, are much more cautious, less confrontative (for the most part), and talk more about working within the system .
I had thought that we needed to bring the millennials to the Dems. Pfft! I no longer think that’s a viable idea. Maybe they can stage a progressive takeover in other places. But the Dems here? Unless something happens to wake them up, I think they are not going to get any millennials, for though there IS a strong progressive millennial presence in SWVA, as evidenced by organizations like Bristol Indivisible, VA Organizing, the younger members of APEC, YAP, and others, the Washington County Dems are doing a VERY effective job of alienating them, hearts and minds. Keep up the good work! (I say that sardonically, of course.)