Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

25 March 2014

A Democratic dog and pony show with the sound turned off

Yesterday, a handful of Democratic legislators and candidates gathered at Flathead Valley Community College to “hear from industry leaders in the medical, education, business and information technology fields address the Montana State Democratic Party Legislative Leadership on Legislative policy and priorities.” As a dues paying member of the Democratic Party I was invited (I resigned my membership this morning).

It was part dog and pony show, part genuine listening tour, and part program to help local legislative candidates. Both political parties conduct these kind of events. They probably do no harm, and may improve the self-confidence of first-time candidates.

I arrived late. I left after a few moments. Why? Because I couldn’t hear. I’m hard of hearing, but with my hearing aid I can usually understand what’s being said if there’s a good sound system and sufficient amplification. There was a sound system — a microphone was on a stand at the front of the room — but it wasn’t being used. A woman in the front row was speaking softly to the listeners, but I couldn’t hear her. Was this conscious discrimination against the hard of hearing. Probably not. Most likely it was just not giving a damn.

I have some other observations:

  1. In violation of the first thing one should learn in Setting Up A Meeting Room 101, the doors to the front of the room were open, the doors to the back were closed, and if there was a sign indicating this was where the politicians were listening, it had been removed long before I arrived.

  2. No one who seemed to be in charge acknowledged my presence. No one brought me an agenda. If there was an agenda, it was located in a spot I missed. My punishment, I suppose, for arriving late.

  3. The listeners were seated behind a long table on a low stage against the room’s north wall. No lights, direct or indirect, were trained on them, so they sat in shadow despite trying to appear as though they were enlightened people.

If Democrats run campaigns like this, they’ll lose. And, deserve to lose.