Since Sunday night, June 10, 2012, I have after great consideration decided to leave the Democratic Party. This decision did not come easily to me since I first became a Democrat in my early twenties. That was thirty-some years ago. I have learned since Sunday: 1. It is not easy to leave the Democratic Party. 2. Communicating my displeasure with the party and desire to leave the party is not understood by the Democratic Party. 3. All communications with the Democratic Party are assumed by the party to be requests for greater participation in the party. 4. The Democratic Party does not read, or at least, does not thoroughly read the messages sent to them. Why do I believe the four facts written above to be true? I have emails to prove these four statements. I am going to share these emails with all who choose to read this blog. My email to the Democratic Party on Sunday, June 10, 2012: I have decided to write to you because I want to let you know why I have decided not to be a Democrat. I am in my mid-fifties, and I have spent almost my entire life as a Democrat despite being raised in a Republican family. I was always proud of my political choice, but I no longer am. My husband has spent the last three years unable to get employment. We live in a part of the state which has high unemployment. Every night we continue to hear news of another company closing its doors. Every now and then we hear of someone with job openings, but there are too few openings and too many unemployed people. I wanted to be happy about the passing of the health care plan. Unfortunately, the plan has made it nearly impossible for my husband to obtain healthcare. I am disabled with Multiple Sclerosis and Multiple Auto-immune Syndrome; therefore, I receive social security benefits as my only source of income. Thanks to the ever increasing bailouts, I am in constant fear of my benefits decreasing or disappearing. I hear President Obama taking credit for changes in policies and laws. He and Nancy Pelosi sound like every good thing in the US was created solely by them. The truth is the two of them play a large role in why I am leaving the party which has been the heart and soul of all things politico for me. To be honest, I think the Democrats have totally lost contact with the very real people in this country who are hurting and need help. It seems to me every Democrat leader is so full of themselves there is no room for understanding themselves there is no room for understanding their constituents. I think elected Democrats have totally lost touch with what American life is for the majority of our country's citizens. I am alarmed to know the Triad which is the area of North Carolina in which I live rates number one when it comes to the number of children going hungry. Personally, I believe this is related to the same issue faced by my husband. There are no jobs in our area. In the past I always believed it was the Republicans and the Independents who were out of touch with the average American. I no longer believe that to be true. Today I believe the party I loved has lost touch and has nothing to offer the American people or me. Therefore, I have no choice but to leave the party, and to hope and pray that Americans throughout the country will vote for anyone who is not a Democrat. You have no idea how much it saddens me to write these statements. Unfortunately, I feel the party has left me with no other choice. It is so apparent President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and so many other Democrats have no understanding of the average citizen's life and struggles. How did the Democratic Party respond to my message? Here is the email which I received in response: From: Barack Obama Date: Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 12:59 PM Subject: Meet me for dinner To: Donna Brenaman Donna -- We're organizing another dinner with folks like you, and I hope you'll take me up on the offer. Pitch in $3 or whatever you can today to be automatically entered to join me. These dinners mean something more than just a meal among friends. They represent the kind of politics we believe in. It's a simple but powerful idea: Everyone should have a seat at the table, no matter where you come from or how much you can afford to give. The other side has special-interest allies lining up to tear us down. I've got you. Thanks for all you've done to support the campaign so far. These dinners are a small way for me to show my appreciation, so I'm saving you a seat. Chip in what you can today and you'll be automatically entered to be there: https://my.democrats.org/Meet-Me-for-Dinner Thanks, for everything. Barack I sent the following message from David Axelrod in response to this invitation: Donna -- This is a make-or-break moment for middle-class Americans -- and anyone who cares needs to watch the speech President Obama made in Cleveland today. In this election, we face a choice between two fundamentally different visions of how to grow the economy. The path Mitt Romney and his Republican allies want to take us down is exactly the one that led us to the 2008 crisis. We have to reject those policies and embrace the President's vision of growing the economy, not from the top down, but from the middle class out. Hear from President Obama in his own words, and sign on to the principles he laid out. The choice couldn't be clearer on the issues most important to ordinary Americans: - Better Education: We need to invest in good teachers and help more students go to college and get job training -- not pack kids into classrooms and slash scholarships. - More, Cleaner Energy: We need to invest in promising new sources of energy to create a market for innovation and good jobs of the future -- not go back to relying on foreign oil. - Leading Through Innovation: We need to invest in our best scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs so they innovate here -- not cede new ideas to countries like China and India. - Job-Creating Infrastructure: We need roads, bridges, ports, and broadband technology that attract businesses that will create jobs here -- not more pet projects and bridges to nowhere. - Fair, Simple Tax Reform: We need to reward businesses that create jobs here instead of rewarding outsourcing, and must ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share again -- not sacrifice investments critical to the middle class. This economic crisis didn't start in 2008. For more than a decade before, we knew things weren't working the way they should. We saw costs for everything from health care to education rising faster than wages. Good-paying, middle-class jobs were becoming harder to find, as more and more companies moved production overseas. The other side's solution was the same then as it is now -- massive tax cuts benefiting mainly the wealthy, rolling back regulations on risky behavior for Wall Street and banks, and slashes to services that the middle class depends on, like Medicare, education, and job training. A decade ago, Bill Clinton left a record surplus. But the last administration put two wars, two huge tax cuts, and the Medicare prescription program on a credit card, and handed President Obama a trillion dollar deficit and a raging economic crisis. Incredibly, Romney and his allies want to go back to those same, disastrous policies: budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy and free rein for Wall Street to write its own rules. We tried Mitt Romney's failed formula for most of the last decade. It benefitted a few, but exploded the deficit, crashed our economy, and devastated the middle class. It didn't grow our economy, create good jobs, or pay down our debt -- it did the opposite. And it won't work this time around either: Independent economists confirm that Romney's plan wouldn't cut the deficit, or even create a single job now -- in fact, it could slow growth and push us back into recession. Today the President laid out a very different vision, one where everyone -- no matter who you are, where you're from, or how big your bank account is -- pitches in together to rebuild the foundations of our country and economy. Instead of another $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, Obama believes we should pay down our debt and invest in the things we know we need to grow the economy and strengthen the middle class. That means restoring and upgrading our crumbling infrastructure, investing in education, paying down our debt responsibly, and yes, asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more. This approach requires tough choices and shared sacrifice -- exactly how we built the American economy in the first place. As supporters, it's on us to get this message out there. Watch the President's speech, and share it with your friends, family -- heck, share it with everyone you know. There's even a helpful printout you can download and pass around: http://my.democrats.org/The-Presidents-Vision Thanks, David Today I sent the Democratic Party the following message: PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL CAREFULLY! On Sunday I sent you an email explaining the reasons why I was leaving the Democratic Party after being a member for more than thirty years. Since then I have received multiple emails asking me for money, to fill out surveys and other requests. Apparently, my email address was added to the DNC's email list without any consideration for what my message stated. Therefore, I am writing to you again, and I sincerely hope you will pay attention to the words of this email. I reached the point of total disgust with the political party I had always loved. What I have seen and heard President Obama and Nancy Pelosi do and say since 2008 election has frequently offended and constantly disappointed me. Because I am so unhappy with the party, I have no choice but TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE ANY FUTURE CONTACT FROM ANYONE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! I AM ASHAMED OF THE ACTIONS AND WORDS OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERS. I BELIEVE THE PARTY HAS FORGOTTEN THE REAL NEEDS AND CONCERNS OF THOSE WHO ELECTED THEIR MEMBERS TO THE PARTY. EVERY TIME I HEAR NANCY PELOSI SPEAK I AM HORRIFIED BY HER WORDS. THE PRESIDENT HAS GREATLY DISAPPOINTED ME DURING HIS FOUR YEARS IN OFFICE. I CAN NO LONGER ABIDE BY THE POLICIES, ACTIONS AND CURRENT PLANS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY; THEREFORE, I AM ALIGNING MYSELF WITH THE REPUBLICANS. I DO NOT WANT TO RECEIVE ANY MORE EMAILS ASKING FOR MONEY, REQUESTING MY PARTICIPATION IN SURVEYS, DINNERS OR ANYTHING ELSE INVOLVING THE DEMOCRATS. I AM NO LONGER A DEMOCRAT, AND I WROTE YOU ON SUNDAY TO LET YOU KNOW WHY I WAS LEAVING THE PARTY. I DID NOT WRITE THE DNC TO BECOME INVOLVED IN A MORE ACTIVE ROLE. I WROTE FOR THE OPPOSITE REASONS -- TO EXPLAIN WHY I WAS LEAVING THE PARTY. THE DNC, ITS ELECTED POLITICIANS ON LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL LEVELS HAS GONE SO THOROUGHLY OFF COURSE FROM THE PRIORITIES WHICH FIRST BROUGHT ME TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY WHEN I WAS IN MY EARLY TWENTIES. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO CONSIDER MYSELF A DEMOCRAT OR TO VOTE FOR ANY DEMOCRAT. I should also point out I was also sent an email asking me to complete a survey about what concerns Democrats today. I am of the opinion emails sent to the Democratic Party's national website are assumed to be requests for opportunities to help the party's nominees get elected. It appears the idea anyone would write to explain distaste of party views and/or a desire to leave the party is so alien to the Democratic Party's national website no one even reads emails to see what is actually being said. I wonder what my next email message from the Democratic Party will say? Will it be another invitation to have dinner with the President? Will they ask me to take another survey? Will there be another request for donations? Speaking of donations, it seems at least part of my original message was read because the invitation from the President to join him for dinner only requested a $3.00 donation. I am assuming the small amount meant there was acknowledgement of our family's tight finances. Thus, while they did not understand I am leaving the party, they realized my social security disability benefits and my husband's three year layoff and now inability to obtain employment due to seizures meant we might not be able to donate any thing more than a few dollars. Does anyone other than me find it odd the national offices of the Democratic Party understood our budget was too small to allow us to make more than a $3.00 donation, but they do not recognize my emails were to inform the party why I was leaving? I wonder who has the task of reading incoming messages and responding to them? I doubt it is President Obama or David Axelrod. Whoever is reading the messages truly picks and chooses what information contained in message will receive a response. Also, I am convinced the Democratic Party does not believe any member would actually leave the party; therefore, they ignored my messages clearly stating I was leaving and why I was doing so.