Democracy for Virginia

Please pardon the construction debris...

We're in the middle of some changes with the Democracy for Virginia Web site right now.  For regular blog readers, the main change (which will occur later today) is that the http://democracyforvirginia.com URL will no longer point directly here to the front page of the blog, but will point to a standard Democracy for Virginia Web site first.  You'll still be able to reach the blog directly through http://democracyforvirginia.typepad.com, through a link at http://www.democracyforvirginia.com, or, later today, through http://www.democracyforvirignia.com/blog. 

Thanks for your patience!  We've got a number of exciting announcements soon!

Building Democracy for Virginia's Membership

Dear People-Powered Friends,

When Democracy for Virginia met last month at the DFA regional caucus in Washington DC, I acted as the moderator for a discussion group on Membership Development.  We didn't have a lot of time to work out specifics on this topic, but we were able to formulate some general goals and we agreed to form a task force focused on building up DFV's membership.  We were fortunate to have 24 people sign up to be a part of this team and willing to devote time and energy to getting the good word out about Democracy for Virginia.

If you were unable to attend the 2/26 meeting but would like to be a part of the Membership Development team, please email me at julie@democracyforvirginia.com and tell me a little bit about yourself and why you are interested.

I hope to hear from you!

Julie Ide

Welcome New Contributors

One result of the very successful Democracy for Virginia breakout sessions at last week's DC/MD/VA Regional Caucus for DFA is that more people have volunteered to become regular contributors here on the Democracy for Virginia Web site.  Many changes are planned for our Web presence in the coming months as we further develop our organizational structure.

This week, I'd like to welcome three new regular contributors: Kathy Welch of Blacksburg, Rich Kolker from Loudoun, and Lester Feder from Alexandria.  Kathy has written for DFV about the 9th Congressional District race in the past; she will now contribute regularly.  Read all about our three new writers below the jump, and please welcome them!

Democracy for America DC/MD/VA Regional Caucus - This Saturday!

2005 will be a pivotal year for Democrats in Virginia.  Not only must we make sure Virginia has a Democratic governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, but all 100 seats in the Virginia House are up for grabs.  Democracy for Virginia believes that grassroots activists can make a significant positive impact in these races.

In order to organize Democracy for Virginia so we will be most effective this year and beyond, DFV leaders have worked with leaders from DC for Democracy and Democracy for Maryland at the behest of Democracy for America to organize a Regional Caucus this Saturday.  Please come!

Democracy for America DC/MD/VA Regional Caucus
Saturday, February 26
George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs
1957E Street, NW, Suite 611 (Near Foggy Bottom Metro)
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM

RSVP today:  http://www.democracyforamerica.com/dccaucus

Interested Virginians should attend this caucus to:

• Participate in planning and structuring of Democracy for Virginia
• Learn hands-on details of what works and doesn’t work in building membership in grassroots organizations, funding them, field operations and what legal structures are possible;
• Create a loose caucus of Virginia, Maryland, and Distinct grassroots organizations that will coordinate their efforts and help channel additional resources into local races.

More information including working agenda and directions available below the jump.  We hope you will attend!

New Progressive Groups in Fauquier County and Hampton Roads

For those of you who are eager for more opportunities to network with progressive Virginians, two new progressive groups in Virginia have become active lately.

The Progressive Women of Hampton Roads is an exciting new group meeting regularly in the Tidewater area.  Dedicated Dean supporter and DFA activist Linda Brooks of Hampton Roads writes:

This is our second meeting and I hope any women who are out there that want to attend and are progressive and want to put an end to the onslaught of the erosion of women's rights will attend.  If you need more info, please email me at lgb293 (at) aol (dot) com.

Details on next meeting of Progressive Women of Hampton Roads:

Thursday, January 20th
5:30 PM
Steve's Steak House (map)
11847 Jefferson Ave (in the Oyster Point section of Newport News)

And in Fauquier County, a group of progressives have founded the Sunday Supper Club.  The club founders worked together in summer of 2004 to register voters and pass out Kerry/Edwards campaign literature.  They began meeting for pot-luck dinners on Sunday nights in November and December to continue working together to bring about progressive change.  They now meet the second Sunday of every month for pot-luck dinners, conversation, and action.  For more information, visit the Sunday Supper Club Web site.

 

Democracy for Virginia Meeting at VA Democrats Convention

Dave in Franklin County is organizing our first statewide in-person meeting of people interested in Democracy for Virginia! The meeting will take place on Friday night at the Virginia Democratic Convention in Roanoke. Remember, you do not have to be a convention delegate to attend the convention!

Below is the information from Dave's post...

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There will be a statewide Meetup for DFV on Friday evening, June 4th in Roanoke, VA at the Hotel Roanoke. This will be followed by a "unity" Meetup of all Meetup participants (Dem party, Clark, Kerry, etc)and will be followed on June 5th by the state party convention. We are targeting 7:30pm as the start time (the "unity" Meetup is at 8:30). I'm coordinating the first (DFA/DFV) Meetup and have compiled a tentative agenda. I've had 20 positive responses so far, so I'm estimating 40-50 of us by the convention.

I had considered feeding people and wanted to keep it frugal (in tribute to Gov.Dean's JCPenney suit) but buffets at the hotel would have run from about $35@ and up (+drinks) and downtown Roanoke restaurants were looking for about the same to reserve a private room. Then, talking to party officials, I was enlightened on convention proceedings... Friday night there will be dozens of hospitality suites with food & drink all courtesy of our great Party!...So, we don't have to worry about food- just run around the hotel and freeload until 7:30. Then come to the meeting (Room will be posted).

This will definitely be a working (not social) meeting, but all DFA/DFV folks are welcome and the bigger the numbers, the better. I hope that there will be representatives from every Dean Meetup in the state. (If my guess of 40-50 turns into 100-200 think of the impact it will have on the party leadership; some of them will be addressing us at our Meetup).

If you are coming please email me (remove the obvious - drackmales (at) earthlink (dot) net) with your name, city, contact info, as well as the name and contact info for your Meetup host/coordinator. Thanks, and keep working...

David Rackmales
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Though there are a number of Dean suppoters in Virginia who will be attending the 21st Century Democrats training in Washington, DC that weekend, we hope anyone else who is free and able to travel to Roanoke will attend! Please email Dave and comment below if you plan to attend!

Welcome to Democracy for Virginia: A Work in Progress

Welcome to our collaborative work in progress, Democracy for Virginia. As passionate and committed supporters of Howard Dean's campaign in Virginia, we fervently hope that the activism and commitment of our network of Dean volunteers and activists in Virginia can be a catalyst for long term long-term positive change in our local communities, in the Virginia Democratic Party, and in our country.

Our remarkable network of Dean activists in Virginia can serve as a foundation for long-term progress if we stick together and continue to build on our strengths as a group. Many new groups, such as the Virginia Grassroots Coalition, have grown out of the Dean campaign in Virginia. Groups throughout the state have continued to work together on local and regional races. We hope that this Web site (and, eventually, an associated organization) can help us to stay connected and work more effectively.

As former supporters of Governor Howard Dean's presidential campaign, we recognize the need to continue the fight to put "people-power" back into the political process.

We feel that to maintain the energy and enthusiasm that was critical to the Dean movement, this must be achieved in way that is as "bottom up" as possible.  We must collect ideas and efforts from everyone.  Communication needs then become vital among such a large group of people as ourselves.  To begin this statewide effort, we have established a web-site and web-log (or "blog") as a communication clearinghouse for our efforts.  By developing a plan, clear and measurable goals, and organized and well-known working events, we can work toward the realization of successful Democratic campaigns in the state of Virginia.

Draft Mission Statement of DFV

We will be using the DFV blog to assist our organization with defining and refining goals and objectives. Using the mission statement of Democracy for America, a draft mission statement for Democracy for Virginia has been created.

Please use the comments section to provide your feedback on this mission statement working draft. We hope to have a new draft available for discussion by April 15, 2003.

We are former supporters of Governor Howard Dean's "People-Powered" presidential campaign in Virginia. Our immediate goal is to elect Democrats to office in the 2004 General election at the local, state and national levels, focusing especially on the removal of George W. Bush. Our long term goals include:

Candidate Support

• Recruitment and training of progressive candidates in local elections
  
• Volunteer support for selected candidates (fundraising, GOTV, etc.)

Issue Advocacy
Coordinated support for issues that include the following:

• Reproductive freedom
  
• Voting Integrity Issues (access to voting, vote verification, etc.)
  
• Health care access for all

Grassroots Activism

• Letter writing
  
• Voter registration
  
• Identification and persuasion
  
• Encouragement of small-dollar donations to support local candidates
  
• Constituency outreach
  
• Visibility

NoVA People-Powered Dems Party

On Friday, April 2, Jennifer Boysko hosted a house party social and planning meeting for members of NoVA People-Powered Democrats, a group of former Dean volunteers in Northern Virginia.

Guests at the party discussed the delegate selection process, local Democratic Committee participation, the Web presence for Democracy for Virginia, and participation in the Democracy for America Delegation to the March for Women's Lives on Sunday, April 25.

We are seeking DC-area volunteers to house Dean supporters who will be attending the March for Women's Lives in the Dean for America delegation. If you have room and would be willing to host Dean supporters that weekend, please email Gina at angirapp (at) aol (dot) com.

We also were able to meet Joel Mills, who is running for Herndon City Council and is hoping for the support of community members. Joel is pictured second from the left above.