Monday, February 9, 2015

What's troubling about Democracy For America's (DFA) endorsement of Ryan Maier and Commissioner McVoy

Besides the fact that a diehard Tea Party Republican like Lynn Anderson is supporting two Progressive candidates, the bigger question is this: What exactly is a DFA endorsement? 

When you go to the DFA website this is what you see: they have four pages of endorsements and neither Ryan Maier or Commissioner McVoy are among them.

DFA states as part of their endorsement process that:
DFA does not have a litmus test of specific progressive positions for which a candidate must stand.
The DFA endorsement, it seems, casts a very wide net. However, now things get interesting. Here is how the DFA Palm Beach County was formed:
We [Democracy For America] don’t start affiliate groups or chapters, but instead give activists and volunteers tools and support to empower them to organize from the community up. While there are many groups that associate with the national DFA brand, they are all unique entities who are free to endorse candidates, take issue positions, and design their own campaigns.
For example, tomorrow morning I could start my own DFA. Maybe I'll call it the DFA Lake Worth or the Everglades DFA Chapter. Then I'll endorse whatever candidates I feel like endorsing, just because I feel like it. Or I could throw out my endorsement to whoever brings me a bouquet of flowers.

The fact is this: The Democracy for America Palm Beach County endorsement isn't worth anything besides window dressing on a flyer or web site.

And note this: I know for a fact that Lake Worth Commissioner John Szerdi was never contacted to interview for the DFA endorsement. Why? I guess Ryan Maier's bouquet was too big to compete with.