The following letter was sent on June 27 by the chairman of the Camden, Maine Democratic Municipal Committee to its membership (the letter has been edited for this forum):

Dear Camden Democrats:

As many of you know, when I volunteered for this position I said I would not be interested in running a rubber-stamp committee that blindly toed the standard party line. My own politics are progressive, to the point of conflict with much of what the state and national organizations practice, especially as embodied in the DLC and in the current makeup of the DNC. I understood this going in, as did the caucus that voted for me, and I was prepared to "work from within" to change what I saw as an ineffective and out-of-touch party. My sincere opinion is that liberals and progressives should own the catbird seat right now, given the state of the world and the spectacular failure of the GOP/corporate spoils system, which is exposing us to unprecedented fraud and propelling us toward global catastrophe. The Democratic party has failed to take all but the slightest advantage of this historic opportunity to change the course of our nation, and all but a very few brave Democrats have been silent as our liberties vanish, our economy descends into chaos and our world teeters on the verge of Armageddon. Even knowing all that up-front, I was totally unprepared for what I have observed "from the inside" these last two months. To say that the wind is out of my sails is too mild a metaphor. "Sunk" is more like it.

As I stated in the town and county meetings in March, I intended to organize a walkout of DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe's speech at the state convention last month. There were several town chairs and other Dems that were interested in such a symbolic statement of displeasure with the DNC poster-boy for big-money-influence. (As I have noted to many of you, his recent reorganization of the Democratic Presidential primary schedule will eliminate all but the most lucrative campaign organizations, for example.) I was assailed from all sides with advice that such a demonstration would do major harm to the party and to Chellie Pingree's campaign for the Senate. I was not persuaded, but certain personal commitments robbed me of the time necessary to stage a significant enough demonstration to warrant the effort. In the end, the other town chairs and myself just hunkered down and listened to the Chairman speak; and he was eloquent enough. Still, I did end up walking out...alone...in the middle of his speech, when he said: "If you (Maine Dems) hold onto these two House seats and send Chellie to the Senate, the money (from the DNC) will never stop rolling in." (If this statement is not repellant to others in the party, my question is: why not? Are we running a nation or a conducting a game show?)

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to all of us at the time and as if to emphasize my point, McAuliffe's DNC lawyers were working feverishly this spring (yes, even as he spoke to the Maine convention), lobbying the FEC to gut the new, hard-won campaign finance law! What's more, they were successful!! If you thought unregulated soft money was finally out of politics, think again. Ironically, the only recourse to save this important law may be a suit supported by, among others, Republican John McCain.

Unfortunately, my disgust doesn't end with McAuliffe and the DNC.

In the last two weeks, both Minority Leader Gephardt and Majority Leader Daschle have given their public support to our war-crazed President in his intentions to "finish the job" in Iraq -- as if the world isn't already a smoldering tinderbox waiting for just such a spark to explode. Do they honestly believe that re-invading Iraq to settle a Bush family score will bring us a safer world? This is on top of the enabling Democratic support for continued Israeli oppression of a truly desperate Palestinian people. What are they trying to do, guarantee that the inevitable conflagration is spectacular enough to compete with reality TV?

These are the putative leaders of our party, sleepwalking over a cliff. When I add all of this to Democratic complicity in the Orwellian USA Patriot Act, and in the uncalled-for, record run-up in the Defense budget (both issues failing to address the root causes of 9/11 while siphoning vast sums from hemorrhaging social programs, affecting us right here in Camden), I am at the point of re-evaluating my association with the party. Obviously, in such a state of profound ambivalence, it is inappropriate for me to be leading a local Democratic committee, and therefore I am hereby resigning as your chairperson.

As I was wrestling with this decision, a good friend asked, "What are the alternatives to the Democrats, if you were to leave the party?" Of course, the answer right now is, "There is none." Despite the general accuracy of Ralph Nader's commentary, I don't see the Greens as either viable or savvy enough to make an impact, especially with an autocrat like him at their head. I'll certainly vote Democratic in November, unless a candidate fails to differentiate him or herself sufficiently from the opposition. But I can hardly look my fellow citizens in the eye and tell them that the Democratic Party has the answers to our many problems. Lately it seems the opposite is just as often the case.

This has all been very disheartening to me. As the June town meeting date approached, I found myself paralyzed by my distaste for the state of our political system and incapable of calling a meeting. I apologize for leaving you folks in the lurch. I know you are all committed to a strong democracy and I admire you for that. I will certainly do my best to help our excellent slate of local progressive candidates get elected this fall.

Sincerely,

Bruce F. Cole

Bruce F. Cole is a carpenter, songwriter and political activist who lives in Camden, Maine. He welcomes email at bccpcole@earthlink.net

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