I received the following list of gripes about the Democratic Party from a friend. I am posting it here, as is, without attribution, until I can get feedback on what sort of attribution is appropriate.

My current gripe list (still working on solutions):

1. Ambition. What is the big definition of success? What would have us dancing in the streets? What is the plan to get us there? The Party has not demonstrated direction, conviction, or planning in service of a strategic objective.

2. Membership. The Democratic Party isn’t something to which I can belong. I may register as a Democrat, but at least my public library gives me a card. My PTA sends out a newsletter. I get a team shirt for bowling. And those are just the tangible tokens of membership. The Democratic Party doesn’t foster loyalty. And it should. It’s a measure of organizational health.

3. Professionalism. At the local level, the Democratic Party is not a professional political organization. I can’t speak for the regional, state, or national parts of the Party. There is little know-how about basic grassroots organizing, GOTV operations, media strategies, or political technology.

4. Action. Locally, the elected members of central committees don’t have full time staff to manage operations. The Party has no channel for action, acts simply as a deliberative body most of the time.

5. Listening. The Party doesn’t listen to me, or to most of its “members.”

6. Participation. The Party does not use citizens well. Thousands of volunteers were ignored or turned away in the 2004 general election. There is no path for citizens to gradually find their way to greater participation within the party.

7. Campaigning. The Party is subordinate to candidates. It should be a campaigning engine ready for candidates to drive. Instead, it is an empty shell, hobbling candidates before they start.

8. Communication. The Party is poorly understood. It communicates pathologically, when it wants something from you. Where is the communications strategy?

9. Growth. The Party doesn’t evangelize. Where are the new Democrats coming from? The Party is going with the flow instead of aggressively recruiting and retaining Democrats.

10. Alliance. The Party doesn’t work create or nurture working relationships with other groups except for last minute GOTV. The Party should have ongoing programs with union locals, issue and interest organizations, student groups,

11. Candidate Development. The Party doesn’t cultivate and support political talent. We should have twenty Democrats running for dog catcher, let alone for every school board, utility, and city council seat. We don’t.