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Show THE SALT LAKE TIMES FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1957 Page Three Democrats Must Woo Independent Voters To Win Next Utah Election By Joseph II. Weston There are two great groups of voters who, together, can assure us of a Democratic victory in the state. The first of these is made up of the old line party regulars, those who think Democratic, act Democratic, and vote Democratic regardless of what the sentiment of their neighbors might be. Those of the first group are those who hold the party to-gether in the off-year- s. They can provide the nucleus of indoctri-nated Democrats and skilled electioneers to train a big group for victory. But their numbers are so small, compared to the main body of the populace, that they cannot win a victory by themselves. Most of us who read The Salt Lake Times can be classified in this first group. We're Democrats by reason of our basic philoso-phy. It's in our bones, and we! electioneer because we're afire with an overwhelming desire to make ourselves heard in the af-fairs of our city, county, state and nation. Finally, we are hard-core "organization Democrats" because we understand the utter necessity of having a good or-ganization in order to win. The second great group neces-sary to win an election is made up of people who usually always think Democratic, but do not al-ways vote Democratic. If we can woo these people into our ranks, we can win an election. If we well, if he is further elected, during presidential years, the delegate usually has little time for district organizational work. We have outlined his duties in a previous article in The Timesn During the past several off-year- s, party participation has been so small that frequently the voting district chairman also has been elected delegate. Frank-ly, this is an unwise procedure unless absolutely necessary, be-cause it tends to narow the party-organizatio-n down to fewer and fewer people with inter-lockin- g positions. What we need now is more and more people in our or-ganization, how we can call on their families and friends in the elections. In years of the greatest strength of the Democratic party in Utah, the county and state chairmen advised AGAINST electing the same person to both of these positions. If we are to build a winning organization, we must get back to this broader and more progressive policy. The voting district chairman and his an of the oppo-site sex rae the very foundation stones upon which our entire party's success or failure de-Th- ey take part in the raising of party funds through the dis-tribution and sale of tickets and similar activities in their dis-tricts. They (the good ones) canvass their districts and take a census of Democratic voters. Then on election days they and other of-ficers of their district contact cannot win them, we almost in-variably lose at the polls. We cannot wait until election time to do our missionary work on these people. The time to do ' it "is yesterday." Our political year, in effect, begins in our drive to get people out to the mass meetings. The! more people we can get out on that cold night in early Febru- -' ary, the broader foundation we'll have to work from during the remainder of the year. We must invite them out, and I if need be, go haul them out or drag them out, to attend the mass meetings. We who have been loyal Democrats all our lives must make all these newcomers welcome, and if need be, move over and make room for them. If we do not invite the new-comers into our party councils now, we cannot expect them and their families and following to be with us at election time. And remember, we cannot win without them. The reason we've lost our major elections in Utah for the past six years is because this block of semi-independe- nt voters have not been with us in our party organization, and al-though they might not have been active in the Republican organi-zation, either, they VOTED with these known DEMOCRATIC families and encourage them to come out and vote. They distribute the literature of candidates in their district. Human nature being what it is, they sometimes play favorites in this handbill distribution busi-ness. But if a candidate gets small cooperation from one offi-cial, he perhaps can find another in the same district who is more enthusiastic toward his cause. (This also argues the wisdom of having as big a list of committee members as possible in each vot-ing district. A good chairman will know how many Democrats in his dis-trict are likely to be out of the state on election day and will see that they arrange for absentee ballots. An especially good voting dis-trict chairman will arrange a series of cottage meetings where candidates can come face-to-fa- ce witht he voters. These cot-tage meetings of friends and neighbors, usually attended by from 20 to 40 people, are an espe-cially effective method of cam-paigning for the legislature. Another job the voting district chairman frequently undertakes is that of seeing that someone of his organization regularly nro- - vides transportation to the polls for individuals who otherwise could not get there. Even baby sitting while Mama goes to vote has its place in our political organization, and many good Democratic votes are thus won by baby-sitter- s. Above the voting district is the legislative district organization, and above that, the state sena-torial district organization. The official body in charge of the Democratic party on the state level between conventions is the Democratic State Central Committee. The real, ultimate power of the Democratic party in Utah lies with the individual voters, and their ul vehicles for expression of their will are the county and state conventions and the run-of- f primaries. the Republicans, and that's what counts. Our party organization begins with the voting district, a com-paratively small geographic area. In the case of my own, for instance, it is comprised of only six blocks in the heart of Salt Lake City. Some county areas have a corresponding minimum unit called a precinct. Our Democratic party elects a set of officers for each voting district, or precinct. It consists of a chairman, a an of the opposite sex, secretary, treasurer, a varying number of committeemen, and a delegate to the county and state conven-tions Busy as he is with attending four County and state conven-tions during the year, and some-- 1 times a national convention, as ' ' ' ' ' . : - tfeWrfr ' !","""t""""u" iJumimimaiJI umMW-iini- pi' REMOVE CELLOPHANE Hf$A BOTH FIFTHS AND PINTS , r Sm w AVAILABLE IN THIS PRE- - "SS8S11 JT WRAPPED GIFT PACKAGE. They'll think you wrapped it yourself Your bottle of Echo Spring is a colorful foil-wrappe- d gift package-aft- er you tear off the cellophane over-wra- p. w You'll be proud to give this gorgeous gift package to your most particular friends. It's just the kind of expensive-lookin- g gift you might choose for yourself. Whoever receives this gift will be even more delighted on finding the package contains V " Echo Spring. 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