DFA NEEDS TO ENDORSE OBAMA NOW!

Written by: James Ginsburg on Feb 9, 2008 2:39 AM EST

I am on the Steering Committee for Chicago's Northside DFA. This week at our monthly meeting, our group voted 15-0 to endorse Obama. (The vote will be held open for a week so voting members of our group who weren't there can vote on line, but I don't expect the result to change.)

I believe DFA members need to find a way to convince national DFA to hold a membership vote ASAP so DFA can endorse Obama while it still matters. This race is for the soul of the Democratic Party: will we be a party of the people or of corporate lobbyists, grassroots or big money? DFA was founded on the idea of making the Party truly democratic (small d). Endorsing Obama and working toward his election is the way to achieve this.

In Iowa DFA had a campaign to elect a progressive: either Edwards, Kucinich, or Obama. Now that Obama is the only one left of those 3, I think we need to give the DFA membership a chance to endorse him.

When I spoke to Jim Dean 2 weeks ago, he said he did not plan to hold another vote. I think this would be a huge mistake. DFA has a role to play in this fight. We should not sit on the sidelines. I hope people reading this can find a way to persuade the folks in Vermont that the time for a new vote is NOW.

UPDATE: Just want to make it clear, what I am asking for is a VOTE (something we haven't had this year). I am assuming that progressives here have settled on Obama just as they have everywhere else (e.g., MoveOn, Daily Kos, etc.). Once the DFA membership votes overwhelmingly for Obama (preferably via a quick, members-only poll), DFA should make that endorsement official. 

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