Young Democrat Takes On Party Politics

The New Issue: David Hardt

youngdems-2.jpg
David Hardt made history earlier this summer when he became the first openly gay activist to be elected president of the Young Democrats of America. Pretty amazing, huh?

That said, there’s no way we couldn’t feature Hardt in The New Issue. So, how does Hardt feel about his monumental election? This:

I am very proud that I campaigned as and was elected with a fairly high margin as an openly gay man. It shows that there really is a shift in the mind set of people my age, especially in the Democratic party. It really isn’t much of an issue to be openly gay anymore.

See what else he had to say to our editor, Andrew Belonsky, including some critiques of the national party, after the jump…

AB: When you joined your branch of YDA, there were only five members in 2004. By 2007, there were about 1000. How did you go about doing that – and how are you going to expand it? I understand that voter mobilization was part of your platform.

DH: The first thing I did was assemble a team of people I could work with. Most of these political organizations, you have to look at it as a corporation. They run the same way. I went out and found four other people I trusted to do a good job. We went out to places where young people are – bars, restuarants, nightclubs and social events – we were just everywhere we could be every waking moment, doing the same thing over and over. Eventually it took off and people started showing up to our meetings. Once you get a few people to show up, the rest start to come and once you have active, dedicated people showing up, they’ll go out and be active members of the democratic party to persuade other youth to vote democrat.

AB: I imagine it’s harder for the democrats because they don’t have built in mechanisms that the Republicans had for so long. For example, when the Evangelicals were stumping for the Republican party, they used churches. The Democrats don’t really have those built in organizations. Are there organizations that you target specificially?

DH: That’s a big myth. I think it’s just about – and I hate to knock our party – but I think our party has kind of been lazy and apathetic about going out and getting in touch with people that would be sympathetic to our causes, partnering up with groups like animal rights activists. My local chapter went and volunteered at our local SPCA and we picked up tons of new members because of it. There were a few of them who were on the fence, were independent voters, but because they saw us there, being active and interested in that one issue that they really are pasionate about, they came and joined us. I think that’s what we have to do: go to organizations – animal rights activists, LGBT organizations, environmental organizations – and get out there and find those independent voters who are passionate on one or two specific issues and persuade them that they need to be part of the Democratic party. In fact, one of those people we found as a volunteer at the SPCA, is the current president – she’s a former Green – of my local chapter.

AB: Do you find that the national party – how do they relate to you? Are they generally open to your ideas?

DH: It’s no secret that we’ve had a lot of struggles with the larger Democratic party. I think a lot of it has to with that they don’t understand the right model it takes to reach youth. I am excited and encouraged – I just got back from the DNC meeting in Burlington and I heard Chairman Dean speaking about how important it is to reach out to youth. The models they want to start using are parallel to what YDA is doing now. That’s encouraging. That means they’re listening to what we’ve been saying for years: you can’t reach youth by traditional methods. You have to be able to reach them by peer-to-peer networking and text messaging and going to places where youth are. I think it’s finally paid off – all the struggles and begging for attention from the larger party. I think it’s finally paid off.

AB: Do you think that the national party relies on you guys too much to enlist America’s youth or not enough?

DH: I don’t think they rely on us enough. A lot of it has to do with – six years ago we didn’t really have the infrastructure to reach out to youth. Our previous administrations are the ones that built up the organizations to what it is – we actually have money, 100,000+ members to get the work done. Six years ago and the decades before that, the organization was really just kids in suits trying to add another line to their resume. I think the organization is just now changing that image. For several years we’ve been operating as a true youth outreach organization, but it takes time to realize we’ve changed in how we operate and who we are. Yeah, I think the greater democratic party is starting to see that and starting to use us as a resource. Previously, we weren’t being used as much as we should be.

AB: Back to what you were saying earlier about how political organizations need to be approached as if they’re corporations. I recently wrote a series called America’s Queer Liberty. One of the chapters focused on how our voting system, first past the post, forces voters to make a decision. Basically, you have two parties: Republicans and Democrats. And this, I think, hinders America’s liberal ideals. It doesn’t leave enough options open for voters and I think politics does take on that corporate mentality.

DH: I absolutely agree with you. I really do think that we should have more options. It’s unfortunate that liberals or people in the progressive movement don’t have those [options], because we really should. In Europe and most of the rest of the world where they have Parliamentarian systems, they have multiple parties on the left that people can be a part of and when they need to coalesce, it’s around certain issues. I think it would certainly help us, because there are those moderate Libertarian types out there. If they had that choice to side with us when it comes to LGBT issues… However, as anyone who’s deep into politics knows, it’s because we’re not a Parliament style system – we’re a republic – it would be almost impossible to keep more than two parties active.

AB: So, if there’s no way to change that, what can American voters do to ensure their voices are heard? I mean, do we restructure the government or do we chug along?

DH: I think we really need to have amendments to our constitution. I’m a firm supporter of changing to a system that allows for the popular vote to elect the president and not the individual states. I think those types of things – we know how to fix the system, but there are those ultra-conservative people and even ultra-left wing people who don’t want to see that happen for the sake of their own political power. They are stopping us from making those changes.

AB: Do you think the national party is doing that?

DH: I think that the national party doesn’t really have the ability to make that change. It’s going to have to be elected leaders. To be honest, we can persuade people to elect certain people in different districts. Once they’re in, as we all know, they’re in for a long time and there’s no real way for true competition. Actually, I think that’s another problem that we could fix. Gerrymandering [means] there’s no such thing as fair play. The districts are either Democrat or Republican. There’s no chance for either party to come in and have a fair election.

AB: Thinking about the Young Democrats of America and its relationship to the national party – there are parallels, I think, between that relationship and the relationship between the national party and gay communities in general. Certainly they’re not equal. You guys are not equal to the national party. It seems to me that in a lot of ways – we just had the gay forum – the candidates approach gay people, not that they’re not equal, but there’s something patronizing about the relationship. Do you agree?

DH: Absolutely – 110%. The national party, the candidates, they give [gays] lip service. I hear it and see it all the time. They talk down and they patronize. They need us when it comes to election time, but other than that, it’s kind of non-existent. It’s pulling teeth trying to get leadership spots in the DNC. If you go to any state in so-called Red America and find out how many delegates are offered to both youth and LGBT people, you’d be shocked. I just found out today that Oklahoma just now got a spot for an LGBT person for this election – just one. I believe it’s the same for youth, as well. It’s kind of depressing. They’re always saying how much we’re needed and they want our support and they want our activism, but when it comes time to giving back to our communities, they’re not willing to do it.

AB: One thing I’ve noticed about your organization is that you’re 100% for marriage equality. You don’t want civil unions. You want marriage.

DH: Absolutely. And it passed unanimously and I’m very, very proud of that.

AB: And so you should be, but it’s crazy to me that the national party is not, but they have an arm of the organization that is. What’s this contradiction in politics we’re seeing? Why is it alright for the youth to support marriage and the elders, if you will, to not?

DH: I actually look at it as a good thing. It shows that our party is changing. If you look back at what the young democrats have stood for and their platform and then followed the national party a few years after that – it’s always been a parallel. I think a few years from now, we’ll see full marriage equality on the Democratic platform. A lot of that has to do with the leaders in the young democrats and other organizations naturally move up to the larger party and push those same ideals. I wish that the DNC and the Democratic party would change their stance, but I also see it as a good future because of how easy it passed in our organization.

AB: It seems to me that while most Democrats would like to see the campaign be between the Democrats and the Republicans, many of the battles I’ve seen are between the Democrats. How can people have faith in a party that apparently does not have faith in itself?

DH: Believe it or not, I actually support arguing within the Democratic Party. It means we’re actually sharing ideas and that we have disagreements. If you look at the flip side, the Republicans don’t accept arguments. They don’t accept disagreements. You have to follow the party line and nothing else. I’m very proud that we can argue over issues. That’s what makes our party so great.

AB: If I were a voter in Kansas and I were disheartened by President Bush’s administration and Larry Craig’s hypocrisy and I was starting to waver in my lifelong Republican support, but I looked at the Democrats – that doesn’t make me feel confident in their ability to lead this country, to be honest. I mean the exchange of ideas, but imagine a swing voter’s perspective.

DH: In that respect, I think it’s up to the state party infrastructure and the local party infrastructure to reach out to those swing voters and bring them in and make them part of the party. When voters do have those types of questions, [the party] needs to be ready and prepared to answer whatever questions they have so they understand that’s just part of party structure, infighting has to happen to make policy, to make change.

AB: What do you think of Larry Craig?

DH: I think it’s very unfortunate that the Senator lives in a state where it’s unacceptable to be openly gay. I would imagine he is probably internally conflicted. If he chose his life, his path and he chose to be a Senator… It’s unfortunate that he didn’t have an open, accepting environment for gay and lesbian people. I feel sorry for the guy. I don’t mind a conservative Senator go, but it’s really a sad statement on society that a gentleman that’s obviously conflicted has to live with that internal conflict.

AB: I recently wrote an article about how Craig’s fall is going to end the culture wars. A lot of that argument rested on the fact that these men aren’t necessarily gay. We have men who have sex with men who are not willing to buy into the sexual binarisms. Larry Craig is really elevating this social group. I think that if more Americans and, more importantly, politicians, understand that men can have sex with men, but aren’t necessarily gay, it will tear down the sexual segregation the Republicans have worked so hard to keep. It’s going to totally revolutionize the way Americans think of sexuality.

DH: Right. Absolutely. I’ve always been a fan of Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s work and I think sexuality in Western society – because of religion – has put this limitation on how we live our lives, specifically our sexual lives. I think sexuality before the Dark Ages was much more open and much more free. People accepted that sexuality is not limited to one sex or the other. Prime example: of course, ancient Greece. I think that it’s just now starting to come back into the thought process that we don’t have to be limited to one sex or the other. Dr. Kinsey wrote so eloquently about the type of things that naturally occur within us. I think we’re just starting to wake up and realizing that is the case.

AB: The political implications of his foot tap and hand swipe are really going to be incredible for this country.

DH: I think, politically, it’s a losing issue for the Republicans. The only thing they can do is try to hold on to that group of social conservatives they have left, but that’s a dying breed. More of the moderates who see that it’s very hypocritical and they’ll start to believe what you wrote, the more they’ll understand this isn’t an issue that they need to specifically vote on.

AB: Do you plan on going into the national party?

DH: I actually plan on running for office here in Texas.I’ve had my eye on a couple of House seats. We’ll see how the 2010 districting goes, so you might see me in Congress one day!

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated