Charlie Crystle Blog: Participatory Democracy

September 16, 2003

Participatory Democracy

On Saturday the PA State Democratic Party held a convention near Harrisburg, where my primary opponent (and hand-picked Party candidate, endorsed by the Gov) was given the opportunity to speak to state committee members. I was not extended the same opportunity. The following is from an AP story about the convention:

Hoeffel's expected opponent in the Democratic primary, Charlie Crystle, a political newcomer and software developer from Lancaster, did not address the state committee. State Democratic Chairman T.J. Rooney said he did not extend Crystle an invitation.

"To my knowledge, Mr. Crystle doesn't have any experience in electoral politics," Rooney said.

Now, I don't know Mr. Rooney very well. But I do know about democracy and I do know what the Democratic Party is supposed to stand for--justice, fairness, democracy, equality, etc--core American principles and values. I would hope--as a voter and citizen--that our Party actually practices what it preaches. In Harrisburg, this wasn't the case. The things Mr. Rooney has said so far have a chilling effect on the democratic process, discourage good people from running, and ultimately seems more Republican than Democratic in nature.

When I declared my candidacy in August, I had already expressed to the Party my interest in running and nobody expressed that I should not run. Then, when I declared, Mr Rooney had this to say to the Associated Press:

Crystle's "entry into the race certainly doesn't help the Democrats' ability to prevail in the fall," said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney. "We do not need a divisive primary, and quite frankly, I think the support is solidifying for Congressman Hoeffel. ... And I can guarantee it would take Mr. Crystle a lot more than a million dollars to prevail in this race."

The presumption here is that my opponent will be the ultimate nominee, and that a contested primary is a divisive one. I disagree on both points. When you're playing for a wildcard spot, you don't give up just because everything's pointing to the Braves taking the pennant. You fight, you strive, you win--you never give up, because your cause is a righteous cause. And this does not need to be a divisive election; the public will see 2 candidates who present their cases and choose one. It's up to my opponent to keep the race clean; I'm running on ideas and faith in people and he can choose to do the same. My campaign will make comparisons but we will not tear a man down just for some perceived advantage. We'll just beat him on the facts and the hard work of campaigning.

In another paper Mr. Rooney said that I'm doing a "disservice" to the Party by running against the handpicked candidate. Again, I disagree. I am in fact doing a great service to the Party by making the Primary more interesting, giving voters a choice between two distinctly different candidates, providing a platform and a voice to those who have no voice, and most importantly, beating the pants off Arlen Specter, my primary opponent notwithstanding.

I can't conclude much of anything from this sort of behavior, which has been baffling, frankly. I am running. I don't walk away from my commitments, which in this case I made after dozens of meetings of people who deserve better of their leaders than they are getting, who deserve a real voice in Washington and a seat at the table, unencumbered by Corporate interests. I also made my commitment after consulting leaders in the Party, none of whom told me not to run before I declared, and one very near the top who actually encouraged me to run. I thank him for his sense of fairness and willingness to demonstrate it.

I believe the only valid democracy is participatory democracy, that campaigns should be about ideas, solutions, and leadership, not about personal attacks and power struggles. I challenge the Party to embrace the democratic spirit by equally promoting all Party candidates. I also challenge my opponent to commit to a Clean Campaign pledge, where we engage each other about our differences, our ideas, and our experience but we do not engage in personal attacks, character assassination, or dirty politics. I am committed to this and will be happy to sit down with my opponent at any time to hammer out details.

The America I want to live in encourages debate, embraces a diversity and wealth of ideas, and promotes democracy through its own actions. That is also the Democratic Party I hope I belong to, and would like to be proud of. Please join me in encouraging the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania to embrace and follow democratic principles.

Posted by Charlie Crystle at September 16, 2003 03:51 PM | TrackBack

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