Dear Mr. McAuliffe;
I’ve been a proponent of the Democratic party for most of my
life. I’ve campaigned for candidates, as a broadcaster, I’ve structured news to
bias the Democratic position…
When I lived in DC, I worked for a little organization called
XXXXXXX. Now, maybe you don’t remember them – they’ve been on the decline
since XXXXXXX and I left it in 2001… but, it was my strategy and work that provided
the strategy of applying economics as the justification for Head Start – and the
Police Chiefs of the U.S. – as well as doing an incredible amount of lobbying for the
Welfare Reform Act – and the entire strategy that passed $100 million for TB and
drug-resistant diseases…
Since the election of 2000, I have spent nearly all of my time
promoting Democratic candidates – I’m talking about 16-20 hours a day – and
that includes a great deal of time studying the Bush strategies and such.
Next weekend, I am announcing my candidacy for the Democratic
Nomination for the Presidency. I’ve been attempting to contact the DNC since last
November regarding this – actually, I have been attempting to contact the DNC since
last March (2002) regarding volunteering to
work to defeat George Bush – given the last election cycle, and never once being
given even the courtesy of a callback from the DNC – I decided to run myself.
Now, you may find that to be a naïve or as some would put it
“crazy”… but, somewhere along the line There’s this thing called
Democracy that comes into play. I actually
believe in it. My problem is, I get materials in my email and mail from the DNC all the
time asking for money. But, when I actually
attempt to participate in some way, I get the distinct impression that my efforts, and the
efforts of a great many people go unappreciated.
To make it worse from my point of view, your Democratic candidates
are using themes and phrases that have been published on my web site, under copyright as
part of a book, for more than 6 months. Even more, things I publish to the site are used
by your candidates within days of posting them. 6 months ago, when I was still trying to
volunteer my time, that would have been fine. Given that the DNC doesn’t think
I’m worthy of a phone call, I want you to know that it’s no longer alright for
your candidates to continue to use my material.
To take it one step further, the announcement of the debates –
for the 9 “recognized” candidates – is further indication of the
exclusivity of the DNC’s operations. Again, given that I’ve never even been
given the courtesy of a response to my calls, I have a legitimate question that you may consider sarcastic, but I assure you, it is a
sincere question – a simple one – if you were subjected to this sort of response
by a political party, would you continue to
expend efforts to support their candidates?
I request an answer to the question – Why should I do anything
to support the Democratic Party? If the only answer is to defeat George Bush, then
that’s not good enough. Like most Americans, I do not like choosing between the
lesser of two evils. And, quite frankly, none of the Presidential Candidates would get my
vote based on their proposals and remarks.
Given the arrogance of the DNC in not responding, I’ll conclude
by saying that you may, indeed ignore me. You
may even succeed in suppressing my efforts in the next election. But I assure you, in
subsequent elections, the Democratic Party will lose my support and lobbying efforts as I
move my support to another party that respects its clients.
Now, here’s the fun part: you may, out of pride or arrogance,
determine that is unimportant to you: the loss of 1 person.
But, you may want to keep in mind that there are millions of people out here
working their a****off to assist the Democratic Party who are giving the Democrats one
more chance to prove they are responsive to the citizens of this country. When Al Sharpton says he’s going to slap the
donkey, you may not like it, but it’s not our fault that millions believe something
better happen soon or we’ll need to sponsor a different party.
Like I said, you may say, so what, what’s one more. You all may
wish to remember that politics actually occurs one person, one vote at a time. At this juncture, given the inability of the DNC
to raise cash and the difficulties of stabilizing the constituency, I would think that
would be important to you. But then, I thought a lot of things would be important to the
DNC.
I’m going to continue my efforts. Quite frankly, as far as
I’m concerned, whether I use a strategy of support the DNC or that of criticizing the
DNC to make my points regarding the state of Democracy in this country is entirely up to
the DNC.
And when it comes to locking out other candidates in order to get the
DLC’s favorite son, John Kerry, into the nomination,
it only shows up as fixing the election before the fact. Like it or not,
that’s how it appears.
I’m just one Democrat out of millions. But there are millions
more like me who think the same way. That, of course, is why I’m running.
There’s a new generation of Americans emerging. It’s time
for the Democrats to recognize them, people like me, who will no longer support the path
this country is taking, or the people taking us down this road. Putting a glass ceiling on
the issues and the parties will only cause current structures to be displaced.
Sincerely,
Charles Rehn
PS: This letter is going out to a great number of senior members of
the Democratic Party. I believe they have an
interest in the conduct of their party.
Update 8/13/2008 Since the DNC and Obama campaigns persist in
plagiarising my materials, I assure you, I will hold you accountable. And don't you dare
say noone was told. Then you'll just prove you're a liar, because I can prove otherwise.
