I am looking for others interested in building a permanent campaign for a more effective Democratic Party, one that is active year round to educate voters and fight for them. We have barely begun to form a Progressive Democrats of America chapter here in Santa Clara County. We want to create a space where people can come and work, whether they want to work on local campaigns and candidates, or on building a real infrastructure for change and progress, one that does not shrug it's shoulders, kick out the volunteers and close the doors after every election. This will be a long haul, but the reward will be a more connected and active progressive Democratic Party. If you are interested, you can find our chapter listed as South Bay Area of San Francisco on the PDA website. 

 thanks! 

Laura M

 www.pdamerica.org/statecaucus.php?s=CA

A message from Tim Carpenter, National Director of Progressive Democrats of America:

Progressive Democrats of America and The Nation Magazine will be in Denver August 24-28 for the DNC Convention, and to greet progressives from all over the country. Whether you plan to participate as a delegate inside the Convention or outside building the progressive movement, we have a fascinating 5-day event planned for you.

On Saturday July 18th the DuPage Democrats will host the biggest Democratic event in DuPage County.

There will be 4 bands, food and fun for the whole family. We need to get come together and turn DuPage County and the 6th Congressional District blue.

www.dupagedemocrats.com

What: Moving America Forward
When: Tuesday, 02/20 at 05:30 PM
Where:
Te Kei's Chinese/Asian Kitchen
1616 south Utica
Tulsa, OK 74105

Please attend our meeting, "Moving America Forward," on Tuesday,
February 20, 2007 at 5:30 PM. You can RSVP at:

http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=17581

Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of America, Iraq Veterans Against The War demonstrate outside Rep. Adam Schiff's Office (Day 1 Occupation Project)

I was horrified to receive an email from democrats.com that actually advocated that if democrats win the House, they will ignore Nancy Pelosi. John Conyers will call for the investigations that will lead to impeachment.

I believe that the president has committed impeachable offenses, however he only has two years left until his term ends. More importantly, Democrats have the chance to do good for the American people and hopefully set themselves up for a win in 2008.

Impeachment would be a huge distraction from all the important work that needs to be done, especially undoing some of the bad legislation.

Here's an important article from William Greider in the Nation, with the headline "Rebels". Yes, rebels within the Democratic Party are needed if the party is going to do any good for itself or the world. The mention here (too brief) of Progressive Democrats of America is exactly to the point.

An impressive coalition has been assembled during the past week to work, against all odds, for the defeat in the Congress of a bankruptcy bill passed last month in the Senate.  The House is expected to vote on the bill (S. 256) this week.

The groups lobbying against it include: Democrats.com, Progressive Democrats of America,  AFL-CIO, Billionaires for Bush, Black Commentator, Center for American Progress, Democracy Week, The Nation, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Organization for Women, People's Email Network, Politology, Public Citizen, and more.  See list at www.debtslavery.org

Joe Trippi wrote the following column which appears in today's Wall Street Journal.  Please comment and let me know what you think.

The Grassroots Can Save the Democrats

By Joe Trippi

The staggering defeat of the Democratic Party, and its ever-accelerating death spiral weren't obvious from the election results. Two factors masked the extent of the party's trouble. Without the innovation of Internet-driven small-donor fund-raising and a corresponding surge in support from the nation's youngest voters, John Kerry would have suffered a dramatically larger electoral defeat. And the true magnitude of the Democrats abject failure at the polls in 2004 would have been more clearly revealed.