New state organizers at DNC today....NC, SC, and MS. More to come.

[madfloridian]

25 states have their paid organizers now, or are in the process of hiring.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/08/a_50-state_stra_1.php

"The group, consisting of new organizers hired in North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi, were here all day yesterday and today -- meeting staff from the various departments, getting information about what their jobs will be, and interacting with each other about the huge and exciting task in front of them.

Jesse Berney, Josh McConaha and I (the Internet team) spent a little time with them today talking about how important it is to use the Internet to communicate with everyone and engage in conversation about what they're doing, and to reach out to communities of folks online in the regions of their states.

Several of them decided to get started right away -- they came over and borrowed our computers to write up some blog posts introducing themselves, talking about their sessions here, and about the program that you created."
Read their blogs and make comments.

North Carolina
http://democrats.org/a/2005/08/north_carolina_2.php

South Carolina
http://democrats.org/a/2005/08/south_carolina_2.php

Mississippi
http://democrats.org/a/2005/08/mississippi_org.php

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. thank you for the introductions....i will go read blogs now....

they look like a swell bunch

[madfloridian]

2. I like reading the personal stuff about them.

I think this is a great idea.

[marions ghost]

3. thanks for posting

:toast: to all these new folks

This is the direct result of Howard Dean's leadership.

[MaineDem]

4. This is a good start but

The dollar amounts haven't been what was originally promised during the campaign for DNC Chair. States are still waiting for promised money.

I appreciate what Hwoard Dean is doing but he and the DNC need to ramp up the distribution to all the states and territories.

Thanks for posting this.

[madfloridian]

5. Ok, give details. Names, promises reneged upon.

They are already in 25 states. They sent this statement out. Please give details of when they have promised and not been there.

He recently stated they expected to be in all 50 by the end of the year.

If you can point to a state they have not told the truth about, please post it.

Also could you give number amounts you say they have not come through on.. I had heard something about Terry promising VA 5 million, and that maybe that had not all been paid. That is only thing I heard, and 5 million is a heck of a lot.

I think you need to be more specific, not to say that they were not coming through. 25 states since Feb. is not bad while rebuilding on smaller donors. Are you saying these states have not gotten money?

[MaineDem]

6. States were expecting $200,000.

I don't have specifics, I'm sorry. This is what I've heard from some state chairs.

[madfloridian]

7. I think you should be specific on this. It is an accusation.

It is saying the DNC is not carrying through on their promises. Not all states were promised 200,000. Some like Nebraska, got 100,000.

Please don't do this. It is not fair to accuse so vaguely just when the party is trying to grow.

You know which state chairs you heard this from. You should say.

[MaineDem]

11. I agree it's a good start

I'm not going to be more specific, I'm afraid. There's probably no proof of conversations so I couldn't back anything up.

The organization of state chairs had a proposal that each state would receive $200K. All the candidates agreed to it.

I think what the DNC is doing is fantastic. I'm not trying to find fault or pick apart what you've posted.

[madfloridian]

13. May have been a proposal, but that amount was not promised.

Not in any specific way. I am assuming it is your party as well, so it bothers me you would imply such.

I followed the campaign for chair extremely closely, and the figure of 200,000 was never a specific at all.

Look what Terry did, gave 5 million to VA, a million to NY before exiting.

There were no promises made by all the candidates of that figure, in fact most did not even want to give each state money. Many felt that the old way was the best one, and they disapproved of this way.

[MaineDem]

15. I'm not trying to be contrary

I understand you followed the race closely. I suggest you speak with a State Chair regarding the $200,000 amount.

All the candidates agreed to the amount. They all responded to the state chairs' proposal. Dean didn't want to give each state the money outright and it was his idea to fund staffers in each state. He said that some states may need help with voter files, others may need campaign staff, for example.

That being said...I'm not trying to argue with you. I agree any amount is a good start. Pam Womack's group at the DNC is doing a fantastic job of getting these staffers in the states trained and back on the job to train locally.

[madfloridian]

16. Your comments were enough to leave doubt...

that Dean was following through on promised money. That was not the case...but the deed is done.

[madfloridian]

8. I will contact DNC about this post to be fair.

I do not like vague accusations of he said she said when it comes to party money.

It will give them a chance to respond to vague accusations.

[madfloridian]

9. I hate seeing this at a Democratic board. Makes me sick.

I was hoping for a response. I will send the thread on then. If true, they should answer the accusations. If not true,then they get a chance to defend. You would be surprised how people pick stuff up here like this. You know which state chairs are saying they were promised money and did not get it.

If they are part of the group that was promised money already, and they have not gotten it...you need to be specific about this.

Here is part of the DNC letter last week, and what you said is going against this.


From Tom McMahon of the DNC
I am happy to report to you that, as of this morning, we are halfway through rolling out the 50-state strategy that you mandated. We've hired organizers and moved resources into 25 states. And thanks to your commitment -- including record fundraising from ordinary Americans -- the plan is ahead of schedule.

I can't overstate how revolutionary this change is for our party. We've put people and resources on the ground in half the states -- and before the end of the year we will have moved into every single one.

Regional organizers are the core of this program. Nearly ninety have been recruited so far, and more come on every day. These are local people being hired to work in their own states -- they know the terrain, and they are committed to our party's success.

That commitment is what I want to talk to you about. This is a huge new financial commitment for our party. You kick-started it by raising the money to get the first few states off the ground, but we're not going to be able to meet our commitments in one-off fundraising drives. We're only going to be able to do this by finding people who will make a commitment and stick to it.

The beauty is, it only takes a small commitment from any one of us. Republicans raise $10 million every month in huge checks from corporate interests. But if a million working people give just $20 a month, we can out-raise them and reshape the political landscape. The Democracy Bonds program is about building a community of people who have made that commitment -- make yours now:

http://www.democrats.org/democracybonds

[madfloridian]

10. To help you out, I posted the letter. Here you go.

Maybe it will help you remember who said the DNC was not following through with money owed.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2006723

[MaineDem]

12. Thanks, I also got that email (nt)

[madfloridian]

14. That means it is your party as well.

Bothers me a lot.

[snowbear]

17. Thanks for keeping us posted MadFloridian!

You do such an awesome job of keeping us up-to-date with the DNC's 50-state strategy!!

:hug: ~~ They're making a difference ~~ and so are YOU! ~~ :hug: