Head Tale

(The original FB thread has been deleted but
I’m posting this with the author’s permission.) 

This post is ridiculously long so here’s the TL;DR version:

• Although there is a wide spectrum of engagement by all Sask NDP members, it generally divides between those who are very engaged and those who are less engaged.
• The people who are more engaged tend to be the ones who, unsurprisingly, have the biggest say in party matters because of their involvement. But there are way more less engaged supporters across the province who the party needs to engage to be successful by encouraging them to take those next steps to donate/volunteer/join constituency associations/etc.
• It doesn’t divide perfectly along these lines but many of the most active/long-term/well-known NDP members are supporting Trent Wotherspoon while many of the newest/youngest/more peripheral members are supporting Ryan Meili.
• This is evidenced by things like who has the most endorsements by current caucus members and even a former leader (Wotherspoon) versus who has the most endorsements by candidates who ran in non-safe NDP seats or who has had the most fundraising success from the widest base of people (Meili).
• So, in the interests of renewing the party, better engaging the membership and building something that can *finally* beat the Sask Party in 2020, those more committed NDP members who are supporting Wotherspoon or currently undecided should make part of their consideration of who to vote for, not for who *they* think is better for the party but who they think is *better for renewing the party* and vote for Meili to reach out a hand of welcome to keep those less committed (but no less vital) newer members involved.

 A month ago, I posted my endorsement of Ryan Meili. 

Now I’d like to do a more direct appeal to the members of the NDP who might be planning to vote for his opponent or who are undecided about who to support.

And since I’m a librarian, I’m going to tell you a story (sorry, it’s so long – please don’t bring your kids to my storytimes!) 😉

The story begins when I bought my first NDP membership in 2001 to vote in the the Sask NDP leadership race.  Although I generally supported the party and its goals, other than filling out my ballot during the election every four years, I had no further involvement in the race or with the party.  Buying a membership was my first (tiny) step to greater involvement.

But then, my candidate didn’t win and we ended up moving to Alberta.  So greater involvement would have to wait as I didn’t buy another membership until 2009 when I was inspired to get involved by Ryan Meili’s upstart campaign for leader where he came out of nowhere to beat two better known candidates – a former party president and a sitting MLA – to finish with 45% of the final vote against longtime NDP stalwart, Dwain Lingenfelter who came out of retirement to win the leadership with 55% of the vote.

As I found myself drawn more and more into Ryan’s 2009 campaign as a newly-engaged NDP member, I started to realise that, while all members fall somewhere on a continuum from “ND-Who Is Calling?” to “NDP4Life”, essentially the party has two kinds of members – there are a core group of people who are die-hard, loyal members who can be counted on to prepare food for a fundraising supper, to canvass on a cold winter’s day, to give up evenings and weekends for endless meetings. They are the people who are loyal to whichever Leader is chosen because their ultimate commitment is to the party.  In sports, you’d say they cheer for the logo on the front of the jersey instead of the number on the back which is another way to say they cheer for the team no matter who’s playing for them or how the team’s fortunes are going.

I say with all sincerity that these members are truly the lifeblood of the party.

Then there are those members who aren’t as involved – they vote NDP in (most) elections but might not take the next step to donating or volunteering for the party. They’ll buy a membership during a leadership race but might not renew the following year.  Or they’ll get involved because they like a certain candidate but may pull back if that candidate doesn’t win.  (In sports, these are often people who are fans of a player more than a team. For example, many Edmonton Oiler fans became LA King fans overnight when Wayne Gretzky got traded.  Some might call them “fair weather” fans or “bandwagon” fans and that’s usually said with a negative connotation but I can guarantee that any team is happier when their bandwagon is full of fair weather fans spending money and supporting the team in various other ways than when it isn’t!)

During that 2009 race, I also discovered something else – that each type of member might be just a wee bit…suspicious…of the other.

Those who are most loyal may not understand why others aren’t as committed to the team as they are.  Others who aren’t as committed to the team may feel judged for joining only because they like a particular candidate or feel strongly about a single issue.  To go back to my sports analogy, the hardcore fans might not think others are “true” fans because they only buy tickets to the occasional game but aren’t season ticket holders.

The final thing I came to understand is that both views are legitimate, both types of members are critical to the party’s success, and yet, ultimately, there will always be a lot more silent NDP supporters in this province than those who stay actively involved. And those silent supporters are the ones the party needs to encourage to take the next step to being more engaged if the NDP is going to win elections.

In 2001, I was the first kind of member – I bought my membership and voted for a leader.  Then I disappeared for eight years.

In 2009, Ryan’s campaign helped move me towards being the second kind of member – I volunteered, I donated and helped with his campaign however I could (and still probably have the slivers from making picket signs to prove it!)  When Ryan didn’t win and though I wasn’t a huge fan of Lingenfelter, I didn’t pull back but instead got involved with my local constituency association and with a candidate who reminded me a lot of Ryan with his youth, intelligence and unique personal story.

But then the 2013 leadership race happened.

After leading on the first ballot, Ryan lost a heartbreakingly close leadership race to Cam Broten by less than a city bus of voters out of a small city’s worth of votes cast.

I felt strongly that the party had made the same mistake in 2013 as they’d made in 2009 by choosing the “safer” candidate.  In sports lingo, they picked the wrong Captain for the team.  

“Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.” they say.

So instead of knocking on doors in -20 weather and helping to plan fundraising events and serving on the executive of my local constituency association as I had for the past few years, I decided to sit on my hands during the next provincial election.  The hardcore fans would accuse me of abandoning the team and they’re right.  In my sports analogy, I’d stepped off the bandwagon.

Unfortunately, another highly qualified NDP candidate, running in my home riding which is traditionally a safe NDP seat, lost one of the closest races in the 2013 provincial election.  I don’t know how much impact one volunteer can have but I do wonder if there were enough potential volunteers – perhaps newer or more peripheral – who also chose not to get as involved because they were unhappy with the leader who was chosen or the direction of the party that could’ve led to a different result.

(Side note: that losing candidate has endorsed Ryan and, although Trent has the bulk of the endorsements from current MLAs, I think it’s very telling that Ryan has the bulk of endorsements from former candidates – from all across the province – who *lost* the last election because who do you think is better positioned to identify some of the problems with the status quo of the party?)

Anyhow, Ryan takes a lot of heat for not somehow *making* his supporters stay involved when he lost in 2009 and 2013.  

And I know from personal experience that’s *absolute bullshit* because I tried it both ways – being heavily involved and the NDP suffered losses and not being involved and the party suffered losses.

So maybe it’s not just about how involved Meili supporters are or aren’t but the direction of the party for the past ten years and whether that makes some of the less committed supporters *want* to be involved?

A Trent Wotherspoon supporter recently posted a Facebook thread that ended with her commenting that, even as a Wotherspoon supporter, she was almost more afraid about what happen if Ryan lost than if he won with the implication that all of Ryan’s supporters would leave the party.

Wanna know a secret? 

I have the same worry.

Because I like the team (Sask NDP) but I love the skills of one of their players (Ryan Meili).  And this isn’t meant to be a threat or emotional blackmail. But I’ve seen it happen in the last three leadership races and whether you agree with it or not, yes, it is a reality that Ryan has had much more success at bringing in new, less committed or otherwise engaged members than his opponents.  And those people are less likely to buy a ticket to the game if Ryan’s on the bench but not picked as Captain.

So, like I said, I’ve done my endorsement.

Now, here’s something that’s much more important – my appeal…

Not all diehard NDP members are supporting Trent Wotherspoon.  Ryan was endorsed by Eric Cline, QC who is one of the most accomplished and successful MLAs in Sask NDP history (and if you read any linked article in this post, go read Mr. Cline’s endorsement – it’s really good!)

And Trent isn’t exclusively supported by only the most diehard, long term NDP members. He’s also been endorsed by some pretty radical young grassroots activists.

But that’s the impression I have of how support in the race is generally divided.

So I’m writing this to specifically ask anyone who fits the description of the first type of member to think about doing something to reach out a hand to the second type of member to help bring them into the party?  

As I said, in three straight leadership races, I have seen Ryan Meili bring in so many new, eager voices to the party – people who want to be excited about politics, people who want to be engaged with politics, people who hunger for something bold and different. Rightly or wrongly, many of them get involved as much for what Ryan brings as for the party he wants to lead.  

But these are the people who the party needs if they’re going to *finally* beat the Sask Party after what has been, frankly, ten years in the wilderness where we’ve not only lost badly but even had two Leaders that couldn’t even hold their seats in supposedly “safe” NDP seats.  

So beyond all the other positive qualities that Ryan offers to help defeat the Sask Party in 2020 – his rural roots, his high trust level as a family doctor, his willingness to fight for what he believes – I’m asking you to consider doing something to show that you want those new people to start becoming a more dedicated, loyal member and to help the Sask NDP once again form government.

Don’t vote for the leader *you* think is best for the party; vote for the leader you think is best for *renewing* the party.

(Don’t believe Ryan is better positioned to do this?  The latest financial results for the Sask NDP leadership race were released today and Ryan had nearly twice as many donors as Trent – 896 to 538 – and also had outraised him by $30,000, actually *increasing* his margin over the past month which also shows strong momentum!)

So once again, please consider voting Ryan Meili for Leader to help keep the many new people he’s bringing into the party engaged and involved as we head towards a critical election in 2020!

(If you’re still reading, I’ve got an appeal to Meili supporters too – which I’ll repeat more prominently if Ryan wins next Saturday.  If Ryan wins and you’re a Meili supporter, *please* find a way to reach out to Trent supporters, graciously and without gloating.  Don’t judge Trent’s supporters because you only agree on 80% of NDP orthodoxy instead of 100%.  Don’t submit them to Purity Tests.  Don’t block them on Facebook if they don’t agree with something you say or you dislike something they post.  Because ultimately, we’re all on the same team and we’ve got a couple star players.  For those keeping track, after comparing Ryan to Tommy Douglas, Barack Obama and Gandhi, I think I’ve now compared him to Wayne Gretzky. 😉  But if Ryan is Wayne Gretzky, Trent is Mark Messier and those are two players that make the foundation for a pretty damn good team!) 

[Edit: I can’t believe I didn’t think of another Oilers analogy when I first wrote this but the Oilers, like the Sask NDP, are, in many ways, coasting off their glory years from long ago rather than focussing on building a team for today.  This has left them, even with one of the best players of all-time now on their roster, still a team that’s in complete disarray.  And yes, I’ve now managed to compare Ryan to both Wayne Gretzky *and* Connor McDavid in a single post!] 🙂