Politics is local..organizing and training by DFA in VA. Good write-up.

[madfloridian]

http://www.fcnp.com/520/dem.htm

Local Democrats Take Weekend to Train Future Campaigners

"There aren’t many things that could convince somebody to give up a sunny summer day to spend hours in a high school classroom. Just the idea of leaving the beach blanket to sit in an uncomfortable desk under fluorescent lighting is tantamount to punishment.

Yet earlier this month, as the hours ticked away on a glorious July weekend, over 100 people, from teenagers fresh out of high school to senior citizens now earning Social Security checks, showed up at George C. Marshall High School at 8 a.m. and staying all day for two days, sacrificing their free time in exchange for an education in grass roots politics.

The weekend training session is one of seven this year organized across the U.S. by Democracy for America, a Vermont-based Democratic organization founded former presidential candidate Howard Dean last year during the fervor of the presidential election. Now in its second year, after the confetti from Bush’s inauguration and John Kerry’s presidential campaign, have been swept away, the group has continued to coordinate training sessions in order to cultivate a new generation of Democratic activists, attempting to add structure to an increasingly energetic movement."END SNIP

The VA Democracy for America chapters appear to be very active. Here is the Democracy for Virginia. Webmaster and blogger Maura Keaney appeared on Nightline in March on a segment on bloggers.
http://www.democracyforvirginia.com/

Tidewater for Virginia also looks very activist.
http://www.tidewaterfordemocracy.com/