DFA December Meetup

[janx]

December Meetup Agenda
The next two months represent an exciting opportunity to grow our Meetup groups and influence the future of the Democratic Party. Nationally, Democracy for America is experiencing rapid growth and many Meetup groups are reporting a record number of new signups. In the coming weeks, we need to make these newcomers feel welcome and help the entire DFA community get involved locally to make a difference in the months ahead.

December Meetup Goals:

1) Discuss election results and DFA's success stories, such as the ten DFA-endorsed candidates who defeated incumbent Republicans, as well as the other notable Dean Dozen successes. Dean Dozen candidates won elections at all levels of government, in both red and blue states. No other comparable organization experienced this kind of success and demonstrates the power of the grassroots. For more information, see http://democracyforamerica.com/dd_returns.php.

2) Start planning and recruiting candidates to run for office in 2005. Brainstorm what offices are up for election in the spring and assign one member of the group to research filing deadlines and requirements. Many offices have filing deadlines in late December and early January!

3) Build participation in your local Democratic Party. Over the next two months, many local party committees will be undergoing a process of reorganization, where they elect new officers and executive committees. The only way for us to have a role in this process is to get involved and attend our local meetings at the town, county and state levels. Before the Meetup, please check both DFA's website and your local Democratic organization's website to find the schedule of meetings in your area. At the Meetup, you should work with your group to lay out specific plans for how your Meetup attendees can get
involved in their local Democratic organization and influence the future direction of our Party.

4) Grow your Meetup group. Set the goal of doubling your November Meetup attendance over the next two months. Ask everyone in your group to bring one new person with them to each Meetup.

You can download the full agenda at:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/meetuphosts

The December Meetups are an important opportunity to harness the renewed enthusiasm and support of DFA members and newly-activated voters into a proactive force that can make a difference in 2005 and beyond.

Tom Hughes
Political Director
Democracy for America

PS: Governor Dean will be taping a Meetup message this week and we will post it online later in the week. We will send an email when the video is ready for download.

Posted by Staff Writer at 04:22 PM

[janx]

1. Who is going?

?

[Fleurs du Mal]

2. I'll be going to two in Colorado

[janx]

3. TWO?

I'll be going to one in Colorado. I used to go to the Boulder Meetups, but then I taught at night last semester and had to sit out for awhile.

I'll have to check around to see where in the world I'm supposed to be; we used to meet at the Dem headquarters in Boulder, but I think things have changed.

Where are you going?

[Fleurs du Mal]

4. Boulder and Denver

I'll be at the Boulder meetup too. Since the Denver meetup was postponed a week to change the venue I'm planning on going with my mother. It will be her first time there.

[janx]

5. Does the Boulder one still meet at Dem headquarters on

Walnut Street? It has been awhile since I was there.

[Fleurs du Mal]

7. No

This month it's at:
Buena Vista Common House
18th St. and Yaupon Ave.
Boulder, CO 80304
303 111-1111

[janx]

10. Thank you! That's probably what I saw when I went surfing

on the DFC (via the DFA) site.

[sonias]

6. The Austin TX DFT meetup is a fundraiser on 12/1

We'll be meeting at a local coffee shop for some much needed fundraising activities since Austin, TX won the bid for Democracy Fest '05. Any central TX DUers within driving distance are more than welcome.
------------------
Democracy for Texas Meetup/Grassroots Fundraiser at Ruta Maya Wednesday

Please join your fellow DFTers this Wednesday night at Ruta Maya for our first-ever grassroots fundraiser! A suggested contribution of $10 (yes, we will take more) gets you in the door, where you’ll enjoy music by very special local guests, and a silent and not-so-silent auction. We’ve got a lot of great items donated by local business owners and individuals, autographed books from Texas politicians, even dinner for two with State Representative-elect Mark Strama! And to end the evening, we’ll be auctioning off something very special from Governor Howard Dean.

Come and do your holiday shopping with us. Better yet—buy something for yourself! If you make your contribution now, you’re sure to have a place and you won’t have to wait in line at the front door.

WHEN: Wednesday, December 1, 7:00 p.m. Silent auction preview at 6:30.
WHERE: Ruta Maya, 3601 Congress Avenue (in the Penn Field complex)
WHY: It’s the thing to do for democracy this week.

See you there!

Your DFT Steering Committee—
Marla Camp, Glen Maxey, Teri Sperry, and Fran Vincent.

www.democracyfortexas.org
------------------
Sonia

[NYCGirl]

8. I'm going to attend in NYC!

Here's the news from dfnyc:

Heather Woodfield here, standing in for Tracey Denton. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have returned rested, reinvigorated, and ready to continue fighting for our democracy.
  
(1)  Democracy for NYC Meeting was a Success!
(2)  Meetup is Wednesday, Dec. 1, 7pm
(3)  Billy Cobin, DFNYC Special Projects Director, quoted in Daily Kos
(4)  Voting Issues Update:  Kerry Campaign, Email the Media & Avis
(5)  Dr. W. David Hager is a Done Deal - No Need to Forward Emails 
 
(1)  Democracy for NYC Meeting was a Success!
We are happy to report that over 100 people attended the post-election DFNYC meeting on November 16th.  The commitment to taking back our country has not been silenced. Thank you for attending and for your continued commitment.

Harold Raven wrote up an excellent synopsis of the meeting for our website:  http://www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/view/1106

(2)  Meetup is next Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7pm
We have several venues in New York City for DFA Meetups next Wednesday, December 1.  Please go to the Democracy for NYC website, www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/view/1090, for the latest information about Meetups in NYC.  (There are some technical difficulties and confusing problems with Meetup.com.)  The DFA agenda for the Meetup includes getting involved in your local Democratic Committees and Clubs. 
 
(3)  Billy Cobin, DFNYC Special Projects Director, in Daily Kos
Billy brought up some great ideas at a seminar at the Tank last weekend, and he was quoted in Daily Kos! "Most people have not heart of Billy James Cobin of Democracy for New York City. And yet, if the party were smart, they would have him give a one day session on how to build winning message." 

For the full post visit: http://stirling_newberry.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/21/9252/9848
  
(4)   Voting Issues Update:  Kerry Campaign, Email the Media & Avis
Keith Olbermann of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on MSNBC has regular updates on the voting irregularities on both his blog, www.Bloggermann.com, and his TV show.  "Countdown" is on weeknights from 8-9pm, and MSNBC repeats the 8pm show at midnight.  MSNBC is channel 43 on Time Warner Cable. 
 
 - Kerry Campaign:  Keith Olbermann's updates include the recent vague statements and actions that suggest the Kerry campaign may be involved in the recount efforts.  So far, Keith Olbermann is the only one in the mainstream media that is consistently covering this story, (thank him - [e-mail]), but several blogs are discussing it.  Go to www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/view/1082 for more information.
 
John Kerry has video of a speech on his website in which he (a) says that the votes will be counted, and (b) tells us that he is going to introduce a bill to give healthcare coverage to the 8 million uninsured children in America, and he would like us to join this initiative.  Go to this link for the speech and to sign on to his healthcare bill:
 
www.johnkerry.com/petition/everychild.php
 
 - Email the media & Email Avis
As New Yorkers, the action that we can take on the issue of the voting irregularities is to contact the media and politely request that they cover this story.  Here are a few email contacts for the media.  (PLEASE do not email them all at once - it is best to write individual emails to them, even if you can only write one or two.)
 
20/20: [e-mail]
George Stephanopoulis: [e-mail]
Dan Rather: [e-mail]
Face the Nation: [e-mail]
Crossfire: [e-mail]   
 
For more media email contacts and important tips about this project, please go to this page at the Democracy for NYC website, where we have posted the action item by Rapid Response Network:
 
www.dfnyc.org/cms/node/view/1087
 
Contact Avis:  Another thing you can do to help make sure the voting story stays out there is to contact Avis and tell them you will be more likely to choose them when you need to rent a car because they advertise on Keith Olbermann's show on MSNBC.   Avis also extends equal treatment to domestic partners - they are automatically added as additional drivers, similar to heterosexual married couples.  So you can thank Avis for that too.  (Many anti-gay groups tell their members to boycott companies that do this, so it is important that we tell Avis that we stand by this policy.)
 
Here is the link to the webform for comments at Avis' website:
 
https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/customerservice/InvokeFeedback
 
(5)  Dr. W. David Hager is a Done Deal - No Need to Forward Emails
You may be receiving and forwarding an email stating that President Bush has appointed W. David Hager, a physician and anti-abortion activist, to an FDA committee on reproductive drugs.  This is true.  But it is also outdated, since the issue it sought to influence has long since been decided.  There is no need to take the action suggested in these emails or to forward them to anyone.  This item began circulating in early 2003.  However, the 2004 presidential election seems to have prompted a new cycle of forwarding among people who mistakenly believe this to be a pending issue.  For more details, please see this post at an urban legends website: http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/hager.asp . 
 
We will keep you posted on Dr. W. David Hager's career and how we can stop him from being promoted if and when that becomes a timely issue.  In the meantime, emergency contraception is a pending issue in the New York State legislature.  Visit this link at Democracy for New York, our state-wide coalition of DFA groups:
 
www.DemocracyforNewYork.org/cms/node/view/109

[janx]

9. Billy Cobin's "ethos, pathos, and logos" are the three

Aristotelian rhetorical appeals.

Ethics, emotion, and logic. Classic!

What's Stirling Newberry up to these days, anyway? He sure seems to be impressed by DFNYC.