Will Campaign for Food: DNC Staffers Pink-Slipped After Election

Given the amount of money the Harris-Walz campaign raked in, I have to admit that I was surprised it burned through the cash so quickly. I mean, that was fast, even for Democrats. As the last primal screams and green-haired tantrums on social media fade into history, the campaign, as I understand it, is still in arrears. And it's not the only one. 

Now that the 2024 election is in the books, many of the erstwhile folx who staffed the DNC laboring for the Harris and down-ballot campaigns are out of work. They received short notice and no severance when the DNC released them. True to form, instead of hitting the want ads, they started hitting up everyone else for money.

Many of us were laid off on short notice with no severance last week. To help provide some financial relief to those affected, the DNC Staff Union has started a relief fund via GoFundMe.

As we continue to fight for them, please share and donate if you can https://t.co/psyNgpcvnQ

— DNC Staff Union (@dncstaffunion) November 20, 2024

Here are some excerpts from the GoFundMe page:

Last week, 2/3 of DNC staff was laid off with little notice and no severance. We are heartbroken to see our colleagues—who dedicated countless hours to electing Democrats up and down the ballot—depart under these circumstances, and we are furious with DNC leadership for failing to provide severance to those affected.

As such, we are creating a relief fund which will directly aid staff members, including single parents and workers expecting children, impacted by the recent layoffs. The funds raised will be distributed equally to any laid-off member who opts in to receive funds. We hope these funds can soften the economic blow for those impacted.

 We want to be clear: the funds raised from this GoFundMe are not a replacement for the severance we are still fighting for on behalf of our colleagues.

Fox News reported that the DNC union also called the layoffs "callous" and "shortsighted." The DNC, in turn, told the outlet that it is customary to scale up staff numbers during campaign season and part ways with some of those people when said season comes to an end. And in this case, the DNC is right.

On the one hand, what did union members expect? Did they think that they would be working on the 2025 presidential campaign? Even if Harris had emerged victorious, they weren't all going to get posts in the new administration. None of them would gotten a job in the new administration. And even the other campaigns that benefitted from the labor already have staff in place. 

Nothing lasts forever, even the ballot count in Arizona. A lucky handful may have been able to convert their time on the campaigns into a new gig somewhere, perhaps even in the private sector, but it would have been prudent to revamp those resumes in September and put out a few feelers. Only the most naive staff members could not have conceived of the idea that the 2024 campaign would have had to come for a landing sometime. Being a member or staffer of the DNC does not automatically entitle one to a ration of fairy dust that ensures a bright future. 

On the other hand, as a former Democrat who experienced his own disillusion with the party of his birth, I genuinely feel for them. They went into the 2024 campaign with the high hopes and idealism that are only granted to true believers. While I may never get within ten city blocks of agreeing with their politics, they honestly thought they would make the world a better place. 

I reject their arguments, but I understand their passion and dedication. I remember feeling that way once upon a time. Unfortunately, unlike their jobs, the naïveté and ignorance that fueled their fire this time around probably isn't going anywhere.