Since I first arrived on this body in 2018, I have yet to see anyone suggest we should cater to someone based on the amount they donate. I have, however, seen many who have shared your concern…even those who have opposed requiring members of this body to chip in $25 per year (or raise that much in donations) and calling that “pay to play” while wanting control over how the membership’s money is spent. To me, that mentality is more “duopoly” than being willing to listen to our larger donors and harness their talents for the benefit of the party. But that is a slightly different discussion and one I very much intend to have once we establish a rules committee.
The reality is that it takes money to accomplish almost everything we want to accomplish. If we ignore that fact, we are doomed to failure. If we aren’t doing what the membership wants, they stop sending money. It should go without saying that, if our membership wanted us to start advocating for something horrible like slavery, we should refuse. That is what adds nuance to the situation.
We are LEADERS of this party. It is our job as leaders to determine what is top priority for our membership as a whole and pursue that so long as it complies with our principles. To that end, I’d very much like to see us survey our members as soon as we are capable with civi.
There are over 1,800 people who live in Texas and give $0 to LPTexas while giving money to national. There are also plenty who give significant money to candidates they like while not supporting LPTexas. It is my intent to convert ALL of the above into donors to LPTexas. If there is something they’d like to see us doing that we are not (and it both falls within our principles and won’t disappoint other members), I’m going to try to get it done. That isn’t “catering”. It is responsible leadership with an eye towards growing the party. And it’s what I bring to the table, both as a contracted fundraiser, and as a SLEC Rep.
Circling back to the idea of catering to large donors. I’ll say the uncomfortable truth that many in this party need to hear. Not all donors are equal. Not all members are equal. Not all SLEC reps are equal. When you need your car worked on, do you consult a beautician? No, that would be ridiculous. Because you understand that a beautician is not equal to a mechanic as one has a distinct advantage in this situation. There is nothing wrong with that. In this case, I’ll use two versions of myself to illustrate the point. Should LPTexas give equal weight to the opinions and desires of Joe X and Joe Y where Joe X is a 20 year old broke college student who’s seen little of the world and whose top priority is sobering up enough to pass a test…and Joe Y is the 50 year old version who has lived through 30 years of govt BS while starting multiple successful businesses and is offering large chunks of his money and time to the party. Do you REALLY want to give equal weight to the opinions of those 2 individuals? I do not. I will do everything I can to mentor the first and harness the talents, knowledge, and expertise of the second.
Further, with the exception of trust fund babies, donors who have large sums of money to donate tend to have acquired it as a direct result of being successful. We’d be derelict in our duty to our membership if we didn’t attempt to harness the very things that brought them success.
.