This is What Democracy Looks Like

Chapel Hill Mayoral Candidate Matt Czajkowski criticized the OCDP in the October 31, 2009 News & Observer:

Czajkowski lamented ... an Orange County Democratic Party voter drive when Kleinschmidt is the only Democrat in the nonpartisan mayor's race. "How do you put a value on the resources of the Orange County Democratic Party?" said Czajkowski, an unaffiliated voter. "This is all supposed to be how Chapel Hill leads when it comes to democracy?"

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/counties/orange_county/story/167126.html

In response, I sent the following letter to the editor:

In today’s News & Observer, Chapel Hill Mayoral Candidate Matt Czajkowski “lamented” what he calls an Orange County Democratic Party voter drive asking “This is supposed to be how Chapel Hill leads when it comes to democracy?”  The answer to his question is yes – this is precisely how Chapel Hill leads in getting people engaged.  I am disappointed that Mr. Czajkowski criticizes the county party for encouraging people to come to the polls in Orange County.  Apparently, Mr. Czajkowski, who is unaffiliated, fears that he will not be able to appeal to Democratic voters.  Because Mark Kleinschmidt is the only registered Democrat in the Chapel Hill mayor’s race, Mr. Czajkowski apparently believes that the Democratic Party should not have held candidate forums, should stop providing information about early voting, links to voter guides and information about candidate endorsements on our website, and that the party should refrain from encouraging county Democrats to come to the polls in this election.   

Turnout in the last Chapel Hill municipal election was 15.6%.  That is unacceptable.  The last national election showed that an engaged electorate will vote.  Our party is a grassroots party, and our precincts have been charged with encouraging people to get engaged in their community.  One way that we have done this is through service projects.  Our Patterson and Hogan Farms precincts organized a book drive through the President’s United We Serve project that gathered more than 3000 books for county school children.   Another important way to get people engaged in their community is by encouraging them to vote in municipal elections.   Some precincts have done this by talking with neighbors, some by making some phone calls, and some by knocking on doors.  Our website, orangedems.com, is a resource for municipal elections that offers links to third-party voter guides that give all Orange County voters the chance to assess all candidates in all Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough races, including Mr. Czajkowski.

When turnout is in the low double-digits, encouraging people to vote is the responsible thing to do.  The county party has not recruited or endorsed any candidates.  We are not distributing literature for any candidates or coordinating with any campaigns.  Our precincts and the Orange County Democratic Women held municipal candidate forums, and Mr. Czajkowski was invited to and attended all of them.  He did not assert then that there was something improper about the party holding forums to educate the community and encourage people to vote.  Every political leader in Chapel Hill should work to increase turnout.

It is up to Mr. Czajkowski and Mr. Kleinschmidt to get their message to voters, including Chapel Hill Democrats.  By stating that there something improper about encouraging Democrats to vote, Mr. Czajkowski has made that job harder for himself.

Jim White
Chair, Orange County Democratic Party