Novemeber 5, 2008
Friends,
Thank you very, very much. I owe you a great deal of gratitude. Without your 257 Voluntary Clean Elections Contributions I would not have received Clean Elections Funding. Without you, thousands upon thousands of pieces of literature would not have been dropped. Without you, hundreds of DVDs would not have been passed out. Without you, thousands of GOTV calls would not have been made. Without you I would not have received so many kind thoughts and so much encouragement. Without you I would not have received over 34,000 votes.
Across America and here in Arizona we have much to be thankful for today. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are our next President and Vice President!! Ann Kirkpatrick is our new Congressperson in Legislative District 1 and Democrats hold a 5 to 3 MAJORITY in the Arizona Congressional Delegation in Washington. 2 out of 3 new Corporation Commissioners are Democrats.
Looking closer at the Arizona Election results, we find that Barack Obama won in Coconino County but lost badly in Yavapai County. Pat Chancerelle and I both lost in our Legislative District 1 races – again, badly in Yavapai County. Unfortunately, the Arizona Democratic party lost ground in both the Arizona House and the Arizona Senate, a sad result indeed. There were no Democratic candidates for Yavapai County Offices.
What can we do? What is the answer? I believe strongly that we need to learn from Barack Obama's campaign (too bad he had such a small presence in Arizona). Barack used several things that we can also use here in Legislative District 1 and elsewhere across Arizona. First, he used Technology to great advantage. His presence on the internet will long be remembered. His well thought out and executed websites were a source of great advantage. Here in LD 1, a person would be hard-pressed to discover who our candidates were no matter which Democratic site you visited. We made minimal use of e-mail and Barack used it extensively reaching out to millions almost daily. Barack used the internet to raise money and we did not. Barack also used Community Organizer techniques.
We need to reorganize our Democratic Party from it's 20th century roots to be competitive in the 21st century. In Yavapai County we suffer because we do not field candidates. Thus, our 'Democratic Brand' is damaged in the eyes of voters.
We need to assure possible candidates adequate resources. State Law allows the establishment of a Legislative District 1 Party organization. I propose we hold the founding meeting on December 6th, 2008, the last legal day we can do it for several years. If we established this and focused it's attention on the Legislative District 1 races we can be far more effective. This would also free the Yavapai and Coconino County Organizations to field more and better candidates for County Offices.
While we are at it let's not forget City Councils and Mayors as well as School Board members. In order to win in LD 1, we need to change hearts and minds. What we must do over the coming months is get people registered as Democrats by changing from 'other' and Republican to Democrat. Community Organizing just like Barack! This will take great effort and long-term persistence on our part, but I am confident we can do it. Voters will support us if we do not appear to be so badly outnumbered.
Friends,
Thank you very, very much. I owe you a great deal of gratitude. Without your 257 Voluntary Clean Elections Contributions I would not have received Clean Elections Funding. Without you, thousands upon thousands of pieces of literature would not have been dropped. Without you, hundreds of DVDs would not have been passed out. Without you, thousands of GOTV calls would not have been made. Without you I would not have received so many kind thoughts and so much encouragement. Without you I would not have received over 34,000 votes.
Across America and here in Arizona we have much to be thankful for today. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are our next President and Vice President!! Ann Kirkpatrick is our new Congressperson in Legislative District 1 and Democrats hold a 5 to 3 MAJORITY in the Arizona Congressional Delegation in Washington. 2 out of 3 new Corporation Commissioners are Democrats.
Looking closer at the Arizona Election results, we find that Barack Obama won in Coconino County but lost badly in Yavapai County. Pat Chancerelle and I both lost in our Legislative District 1 races – again, badly in Yavapai County. Unfortunately, the Arizona Democratic party lost ground in both the Arizona House and the Arizona Senate, a sad result indeed. There were no Democratic candidates for Yavapai County Offices.
What can we do? What is the answer? I believe strongly that we need to learn from Barack Obama's campaign (too bad he had such a small presence in Arizona). Barack used several things that we can also use here in Legislative District 1 and elsewhere across Arizona. First, he used Technology to great advantage. His presence on the internet will long be remembered. His well thought out and executed websites were a source of great advantage. Here in LD 1, a person would be hard-pressed to discover who our candidates were no matter which Democratic site you visited. We made minimal use of e-mail and Barack used it extensively reaching out to millions almost daily. Barack used the internet to raise money and we did not. Barack also used Community Organizer techniques.
We need to reorganize our Democratic Party from it's 20th century roots to be competitive in the 21st century. In Yavapai County we suffer because we do not field candidates. Thus, our 'Democratic Brand' is damaged in the eyes of voters.
We need to assure possible candidates adequate resources. State Law allows the establishment of a Legislative District 1 Party organization. I propose we hold the founding meeting on December 6th, 2008, the last legal day we can do it for several years. If we established this and focused it's attention on the Legislative District 1 races we can be far more effective. This would also free the Yavapai and Coconino County Organizations to field more and better candidates for County Offices.
While we are at it let's not forget City Councils and Mayors as well as School Board members. In order to win in LD 1, we need to change hearts and minds. What we must do over the coming months is get people registered as Democrats by changing from 'other' and Republican to Democrat. Community Organizing just like Barack! This will take great effort and long-term persistence on our part, but I am confident we can do it. Voters will support us if we do not appear to be so badly outnumbered.
Thanks!
Video Online We have videos online at YouTube. You can play our videos by following this link. Playing these videos requires what we commonly call a Broadband internet connection. Don't try this video web page if you use a dial-up internet connecti