OCR Text |
Show Rainey Continues Her Report For '58 Campaign Conference third person they could both work for. But it is too easy to jump to conclusions, to accept for true the tales 'and rumors that thoughtless persons spread. If a man has proved unsatisfactory unsatisfac-tory as a candidate he may still make a good worker. Certainly all of us were not made to be leaders. It is unfair to expect any person to perform beyond his capacity. From such circum-stanes circum-stanes comes the misunderstandings, misunderstand-ings, the petty quarrels which hinder our progress. If a man is not a clerical worker, he would not make a very good secretary but he might be the perfect person to assume the job of handling han-dling distribution crews for circulating cir-culating information. If a woman has not the poise to conduct a meeting she might be a gem at organizing the preparation of refreshments re-freshments at a meeting or party. I hope I won't be misunderstood misunder-stood when I say that the folks on the receiving line appeared to be soundly confused. Or perhaps per-haps "stunned" is the word. And it was very gratifying to know that most of the people present had heard of our journey via Greyhound and thought we were a very special group for having come so far and having arrived in such fine fettle. Throughout the evening, the same fact came out again and again. Women's activities were most efficient where the women were organized and federated, where active groups in each small precinct were in close touch with a group of representatives represen-tatives from a larger area, where problems of interest to any particular par-ticular precinct or district could be promptly covered by an active working group in that precinct or district. Which, of course, all boils down to the same thing. Know your people and keep Dear Boss-Man: I hope you have enjoyed a second hand picture of a busload of gals on the loose with no dishes to wash and no noses to wipe. For most of us it was certainly cer-tainly a change and we made the most of every minute. Comes now the time to get down to work and cover the story from Washington, D.C. Following our sight-seeing trip through Washington and the vicinity, we returned to the Sheraton Park for a reception for Congressmen (Democratic, that is.) Has it been called to your attention at-tention that through some outrageous out-rageous oversight Utah has no Democratic Congressmen? Of course, all the statesmen (Democratic) (Demo-cratic) from our neighboring states did jump at the chance to "adopt" us, but it would have been nice to have had folks of our own to meet with and brag about. At any rate, now was the first inkling as to what was going on and what had happened to the plans so carefully laid for this very first Campaign Conference for Democratic Women Leaders. Our good friends in the capitol had planned this event from a modest viewpoint. They had figured fig-ured that perhaps 500 women from all parts of the nation might convene to discuss ways and means of promoting efficient Democratic activity during the coming campaigns. They had ar- would suddenly glance in the direction of a woman from Maine. Their glances would meet and a sort of electrical passage of knowledge occur between them. They would, without hesitation, hesi-tation, approach each other purposefully, pur-posefully, extend hands for a greeting, at the same time reading read-ing each other's names and home states from their badges. And you would have this conversation: conversa-tion: "What means do you find most successful in getting people together for meetings?" or "How do you go about getting voters out?" or raising money? or circulating cir-culating information? One problem we all have, it seems, from coast to coast. The problem of dissemination of Democratic information is rated a big one. Most of the people in attendance felt that their newspapers news-papers were predominantly Republican, Re-publican, that the news was slanted and cut. Money was, of course, another big problem. Apparently Ap-parently we are not the only place where one party campaigns cam-paigns on small advertisements while the other buys full page ads. Two other problems were rated as most important, that of "factions" "fac-tions" within the party, and the reluctance of some of our best and most capable people to enter into political activity. You can pass information until you are blue in the face and no one will read or listen, until you have made friends with your audience and have aroused interest in-terest and enthusiasm in the them active and half the battle is won. And never, never forget that Democrats are fun to meet and work with. Rainey ranged to meet and greet somewhere some-where in the neighborhood of that number of women. At the appointed time, these ladies started to arrive. They arrived and arrived and arrived. They simply poured in. The thrilled look on the faces of the people in charge as they watched mobs of women crowding crowd-ing through the doors was a real revelation. The huge room, large enough to accommodate the anticipated an-ticipated 500 guests easily, was cause of good government. You can spend a fortune publishing material aimed at rousing interest in-terest and enthusiasm but the first step always has to be personal per-sonal contact then group gatherings. gath-erings. Personal contact that means meeting the people in your precinct by setting out to meet them, by walking miles and punching hundreds of doorbells. door-bells. Once a person knows you consider them important enough to meet, they become allied with to meet, they become allied with you. They may not agree with you but from that moment on they recognize you, and they will read items pertaining to you, your party and your purpose. Telephone contact is good too but you can' tshake hands over a telephone. The problem of finances seems best handled from a modest level. True, your big fund-rais- ; ing campaigns do bring in large amounts, but these things are seasonal. All of us felt that a means must be found to raise consistent sums steadily. We have come to accept the old cliches about how "free" our rights are. Actually nothing is I "free." Then thousand letters is not a drop in the bucket when you are trying to reach people . with information which is vital to our government. Yet this represents rep-resents $300 worth of stamps, plus the stationery plus the cost of printing or typing and duplication. I learned that "factions" are due in part to inertia. Too often groups who are working against each other neither know nor understand each other so they defeat each other while the GOP wins. If the promotion of the Democratic Party, and all that it stands for, were to be the prime purpose of Democratic activity, ac-tivity, then two opposed persons could either settle their differences differ-ences between them or select a jammed to the rafters. The hum of polite conversation reached a deafening roar. And still the guests thronged into the hall. The receiving line was simply stunned! Efforts were made to form a line of guests who could file past the official hosts and hostesses. The crowd was so big that no real line could be formed. Senators' wives and Congressmen's Congress-men's wives formed a human rope by joining hands to guide guests to the hosts. They stood for hours, so thrilled and excited their faces shown with it. At some time a tally wasHaken and the official figure ran to more than 3,200 participants in this first national conference and work-shop. Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, scheduled to be present at this first function was unable to attend, but in the enthusiasm generated by so many Democrats even our disappointment at his absence was not too great. He did come and make an unscheduled unsched-uled speech at our Senatorial dinner the following night which was much better. I doubt if we could even have found "Mr. j Sam" in the mob at the reception. recep-tion. All of us wore badges, proclaiming pro-claiming proudly to the world our home states, our names and of course the fact that we were Democrats. It was a thought provoking experience. A woman from Utah |