Urgent--Jan. 2 Deadline: support Dean's vision for the Democratic party (by Jim Wade)

Written by: Pam Hoye on Dec 28, 2006 2:13 AM EST

Jim Wade has asked the following  be sent to you.
Friends,
Many of us remember that meetup 2 years ago--December, 2004--when we were angry about the outcome of the November elections, and frustrated by the snivelling weak-mindedness of prominent national Democrats.  
Howard Dean, then the chairman of DFA, spoke to all of our nationwide meetups by conference call, and showed us a better path forward.  He started by denouncing the "culture of losing" among Washington Democrats and the professional consultant class, and he urged every one of us to get involved PERSONALLY in taking back their local Democratic parties.  He also asked us if he should run for DNC chair to promote the DFA vision of grass-roots democracy from within the belly of the beast.  Our answer was a resounding yes, and the rest is history:  Howard Dean was elected, and has been phenomenally successful at re-building the party nation-wide, even in those areas where Democrats had surrendered.   DFA members like ourselves brought an unprecedented level of grass-roots activism back into local parties, and fought hard everywhere to make our party a winner once again--often in the most un-expected places.   Candidates supported solely by grass-roots efforts, and with minimal support by the Democratic establishment or DCCC, put the Democrats in the majority.
Now is the time that we need to re-double our efforts here in California. 
JANUARY 2 is the deadline to file for one of the 12 AD delegate positions that will be selected in AD caucuses on the weekend of January 13-14.  Check the CDP website, or the County Dem party website, for a list of caucus locations.   In order to be on the ballot, YOU MUST FILL IN THE ON-LINE NOMINATION FORM by Jan 2.  It's available at:
www.cadem.org/ADdelegate
If you cannot run yourself, please recruit some one with shared DFA grassroots values who can run for AD delegate and/or E-board representative.
The progressive Caucus of the CDP (largely of DFA members), together with Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) are organizing to come up with formal progressive slates--supportive of the Dean party-building philosophy---to run in each AD.  If you are interested in being part of these efforts, you can contact the following people: 
North County AD's-- Martha Sullivan77th - Leon Thompson78th - Judy Hess79th - Jim Wade
If you were already elected to the County Central Committee in the June 6 primary,  there is a high likelihood that you will be selected as one of the 52 delegates (plus 5 E-board positions) allocated to San Diego county.  Remember that you can only hold one delegate seat.  (From the County or AD)
As successful as Howard Dean has been nationally in rebuilding a serious Democratic party, it is ironic that here in  California, where Dean's  presidential campaign really got its start, there is so much hostility and opposition to his efforts by CDP leaders.  And that is why it's so critical that you get involved and continue the fight to fix this party. 
Despite an unprecedented national wave this year, in which Democrats lost not a single congressional, senate, or gubernatorial seat,  nothing happened here:  California Democrats picked up only one congressional seat, and not a single State Assembly or Senate seat changed hands.  Not one.  We got clobbered in the Gubernatorial race, other state-wide races were much closer than they should have been, and % Democratic registration declined.  The State party had $4 million in UNSPENT money on election day, which they gave to Fabian Nunez' PAC, even though he cannot use it for electoral purposes.  The state party funded only TWO challenges to republican-held AD seats, and gave up on everything else.  They completely stiffed such excellent candidates as Roxana Folescu, Chris Larkin, and Mark Hansen, who each ran strong campaigns that really connected with people. 
I've been on the CDP eboard for the last 2 years, and I can tell you the fight is just beginning, and your help is desperately needed to continue.  We need new CDP leaders who support, rather than try to kill, a 58-county plan for the state party to compete everywhere (the analog to Dean's 50-state strategy).  We need CDP leaders who WANT to win new AD seats, rather than lazy politicos engaged in "non-compete" agreements with incumbent Republicans.  We need CDP leaders who STOP protecting the seats of Brian Bilbray and Duncan Hunter, and WANT to do the hard work of party-building throughout the state.
For these reasons and many more, YOU need to get involved.  The Dean model of politics, which brought us all to DFA in the  first place, means fighting these fights even if the odds are long, and the entrenched interests are powerful.  We have already seen sucess around the country; now is the time to demand that we bring this success to California.
Please run for AD delegate, and file by January 2.                                Many thanks,
                                 Jim Wade

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