All politics are local, as Tip O'Neill observed in his 1993 book of that title and many others have noted before him. While we Dems love to sit around and decry the buffoonery that Washington presents us with each day, the KCDC and local Democratic volunteers are primarily focused upon the local political process, working to identify strong local candidates for all state and county positions, and to provide services that help smooth the path in their local campaigns. Typical services include
Gathering and validating voter registration lists and making them sortable to facilitate campaign needs
Fabricating signs and campaign buttons and making them available to candidates at low cost
Establishing and staffing a county campaign headquarters during the campaign period, through which volunteer efforts and candidate needs can be coordinated
Assembling and mailing multi-candidate campaign mailings and placing newspaper advertisements
Organizing get-out-the-vote activities as the election nears
Notice that campaign funding is not on the list. While we work to find great candidates who can best represent the interests of their constituents, and we do work on tasks that help our slate of candidates, the county committees are constrained to avoid activities that benefit individual candidates unless they are specifically designated as cash or in-kind contributions. Most state senator and state representative races are publicly funded under Maine's Clean Election Act that strictly limits help from outside organizations or individuals. County, Federal and most gubernatorial races are financed conventionally and are dependent upon third party contributions to cover campaign costs. Our biennial campaign budgets exceed $25,000. Many of the county committee's efforts are focused on accumulating these funds. In addition to direct solicitations and donations, we also raise money by operating food booths at local fairs; by making campaign buttons and lawn signs that we sell at a profit; and through local KCDC activities such as our Haskell-Mayo Club, our annual lobster bake, concerts, auctions, etc. All of these activities are made possible through the efforts of many enthusiastic Democrats, volunteering their time and skills to make them happen and having fun doing it. Check out our website for more info: http://www.knoxmainedemocrats.org/.
