Here are groups partnering with DFA....courtesy of K. Spidel.

[madfloridian]

I am reposting instead of kicking the thread. I don't think he will mind. I also will add another group or so later.
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From the 5th to the 7th of November, PDA's (Progressive Democrats of America, www.pdamerica.org ) field and political staff, led by Tim Carpenter, Sherry Bohlen, Pam Paul, Kevin Spidel, and 4 PDA regional field coordinators held a series of seven regional Democracy for America (DFA)/Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) conference calls. Before each call regional PDA coordinators, former Kucinich state coordinators, and Dean Campaign coordinators alerted many of their regional contacts to the calls inviting them to participate. The explicit purpose of each call was to revisit the question of how to build a progressive democratic coalition capable of shifting power away from the reactionary Republican clique currently in control of our nation's government.

Each regional conference call had 12-24 participants, calling in from 8 or more states. The callers included Dean, Kucinich, and Sharpton supporters. We considered both what we've accomplished as progressive democrats in the past few months and where we plan to go from here. Participants discussed ways to organize their own states, including creating state web pages, sharing databases, building congressional district progressive alliances, and working with a rapidly expanding grassroots base. Each call included a discussion of specific steps toward building PDA/DFA alliances in each state and congressional district.

The seven calls culminated in an historic national call on November 11th. The national call involved over 90 progressive activists from 38 states discussing and strategizing "where we go from here." The strategies and action plans emerging from those meetings are now being taken by PDA regional coordinators, former Kucinich state coordinators, and Dean campaign coordinators to their local groups. The short term goal is to reach each PDA state caucus or chapter, and as much of the Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton, and PDA/DFA base as possible, to gain their input and commentary.

Here are some of the specific action plans and considerations emerging from these meetings:

- PDA plans are underway for a Progressive Democratic Summit Gathering scheduled for January 22 and 23, 2005 in Washington, D.C. The Summit will follow a series of political actions on Inauguration Day on January 20th and a meeting with Progressive Democratic Congressional leaders, including representative John Conyers, on Friday, January 21, 2005. Spread the word about the orgazizing summit taking place in DC. William Pitt talks about it in this post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

- PDA has planned another conference call on Wednesday, November 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time to focus on plans for the week of the inauguration, including the Progressive Democratic Summit, and to build committees to work on those actions. The call-in number for that call is: 712 824 4000. The access code is: 626860. For more information on inauguration week and the Progressive Democratic Summit, contact Melissa Adams at [e-mail] .

- On December 1, 2004 (and possibly other dates) there will be DFA MeetUps taking place across the country. MeetUp is a national online tool which is used to help organize local interest groups. Through the efforts of Tom Hughes of DFA, the PDA Progressive Caucus Packets will become available to organizers of the MeetUp meetings. Everyone is encouraged to attend. For more information about DFA MeetUps, visit http://dfa.meetup.com/, where you will be able to enter your zip code and find the MeetUp closest to you.

- PDA is also participating in a collective action to draft Howard Dean for Democratic Party chair. There are several petitions circulating already, press is covering the story, and there is going to be a big push for Dean's nomination. While not everyone necessarily supports this effort, for those who do want more information, contact Pam at [e-mail] . For detailed information regarding the selection of the next DNC Chair go to http://platform.smartcampaigns.com . Each progressive activist or organization participating in this draft effort should also send comments to their state's DNC committee members. For anyone needing connection with local DFA groups, email DFA Political Director, Tom Hughes at [e-mail] . The link for the Draft Howard site is: http://www.drafthoward.com /

- PDA also has plans underway for a Southwest Regional Progressive Forum in Phoenix, AZ on February 11-12, 2005. To join the planning group for this forum or for more information, contact Sherry Bohlen at [e-mail] .

- For those interested in following up on voter fraud, go to: www.blackboxvoting.org (or if it is down) www.helpamericacount.org .

Another group DFA and PDA are partnered with is
www.progressivemajority.org

[madfloridian]

1. More on the Progressive Majority.

Advisory committee
http://www.progressivemajority.org/leadership/index.asp

Senator Jon Corzine
Senator Patty Murray
Representative Tammy Baldwin
Representative Sherrod Brown
Representative John Conyers, Jr.
Representative Peter DeFazio
Representative Rosa DeLauro
Representative Lane Evans
Representative Bob Filner
Representative Barney Frank
Representative Raúl Grijalva
Representative Luis Gutierrez
Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
Representative Barbara Lee
Representative Betty McCollum
Representative George Miller
Representative Jerrold Nadler
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative John Olver
Representative Nancy Pelosi
Representative Martin Sabo
Representative Jan Schakowsky
Representative Hilda Solis
Representative Pete Stark
Representative Chris Van Hollen
Representative Maxine Waters
Representative Diane Watson
Representative Henry Waxman
Representative Lynne Woolsey

Profiles of 3 of the advisory committee:
http://www.progressivemajority.org/leadership/profile.asp

[madfloridian]

2. More about Democracy for America.

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/about.php
"What is Democracy for America?
Inspired by the presidential campaign of Howard Dean, Democracy for America (DFA) is a political action committee dedicated to supporting fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates at all levels of government—from school board to the presidency. DFA fights against the influence of the far right-wing and their radical, divisive policies and the selfish special interests that for too long have dominated our politics.

DFA has a long-term goal that looks past November 2004. This organization will rebuild the Democratic Party from the bottom up—it will take time, but we must start building a base now for the future. "
Governor Dean achieved national prominence during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. He began his campaign on a platform of balanced federal budgets and universal health care and was later thrust into the national spotlight because of his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq. The Dean for America presidential campaign was distinctive for its use of the Internet to organize supporters and raise an unprecedented $30 million from average contributions of under $100.

Dean began his political career in 1983 as a member of the Vermont House of Representatives. He was elected lieutenant governor of Vermont in 1986, and was reelected in 1988 and 1990. He became governor upon the death of Governor Richard A. Snelling on August 14, 1991. Elected to a full term in November 1992, he was reelected four times. Dean is a past chairman of the National Governors' Association, the Democratic Governors' Association, and the New England Governors' Conference.

Before entering politics, Dean received a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. Upon completing his residency at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, he went on to practice internal medicine in Shelburne, Vt.

Born in New York City, he currently lives in Burlington, Vt. He and his wife Judy have two children, Anne and Paul.
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Tom McMahon, Executive Director
Tom McMahon is responsible for overall management and execution of all operations at Democracy for America. He facilitates and develops strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations and promotes Democracy for America across the country. His vision for Democracy for America is to build a viable Democratic Party for the long term that actively promotes, recruits and elects like minded democrats to offices up and down the ticket—from city council to U.S. Senate

McMahon has worked in democratic politics and government for the past 12 years. Prior to joining Democracy for America, he served as a deputy campaign manager for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign. President Bill Clinton appointed McMahon as the White House liaison at the United States Information Agency and as a public affairs officer at the Department of Defense. As associate deputy director in Vice President Gore's scheduling and advance office at the White House, he was responsible for directing teams to coordinate Gore's domestic and international trips. During the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign, he was a regional field director in Missouri.

McMahon received a law degree from the University of Iowa and a bachelor's degree in political science with an emphasis in international relations from The University of Nebraska - Lincoln
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Laura Gross, DFA Communications Director
"After spending the past four years in the public relations department at NPR, I am excited to be returning to politics. While working at NPR, I had the advantage of being inside a newsroom - working closely with reporters, editors and producers - and now I am glad to bring my insider's knowledge to DFA. Before NPR, I worked for the Clinton administration in the press office at the U.S. Agency for International Development. I was an advance person for the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign and The White House. "
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Tom Hughes, field political director
"Was Tom was executive director of the Vermont Democratic Party in 1998. He went on to work for Al Gore. Was previously field director for Dean in NH."

[madfloridian]

3. I worked hard putting this together....help kick until morning.

It should at least give some encouragement to moderates like me who feel the party does not hear us anymore.

[hedda_foil]

4. This is a GREAT thread!!!

I LOVE Progressive Majority. I'm glad they have the great good taste to support our Howard!!!

[NoPasaran]

5. Dean for DNC morning kick

:kick:

[Larkspur]

6. KIck

:kick:

[NoPasaran]

7. MF, could you cross post this to the DFA group?

:kick:

[madfloridian]

8. Someone else is going to do it, maybe the forum not blog.

I am keeping an eye to be sure it gets posted.

[Capn Sunshine]

9. we're actually about half the way there

This confluence was created in order to counter the obvious shift to the right in the other half of the party.

We still haven't settled on just how "connected" to the democratic party we will be, although our vehicle of choice for this ride is the Democratic party structure.

No one has settled on the issue of assuring the fraidy cats on the right that the party would collapse if we returned to core democratic values, or even what those are defined as in the 21st century. The issue of being perceived as a threat within the party is also up in the air.

So far, we've agreed to agree but the rest is kind of amorphous as each state has its own brand of DFA and various shades of progressiveness depending on the region.

IOW don't expect anything concrete any time soon,except announcements of agreement.

[madfloridian]

10. Cap'n, they don't consider us a threat because they think us irrelevant.

They really think we are totally unimportant. What "they", (and I use this word carefully out of respect to you and others like you who care).....don't realize is that there are so very many who are disheartened. All that is lacking is the ground up change.

It will happen.

[AgadorSparticus]

11. thanks for the dean daily dose. it makes my morning!

[BuelahWitch]

12. Kick for MF and the Progressive Wing of the Dems

[mandyky]

13. Great info!

There is a user blog entry over at changeforamerica.com - Reforming the Democratic party that is interesting.