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Inside/Outside Update
PDA Staff Report
October 18th, 2005
As Progressive Democrats of America tries to build an increasingly potent and broad-based grassroots network, one obvious group of progressive activist allies and partners we want to work with are already elected progressive officials and their supporters. After all, while "all politics are local" may be a cliche, it is also absolutely true. That is why PDA has chosen to build a list of progressive local elected officials called the "Elected Progressives Network" (EPN). [read more]
When PDA launched in Roxbury, MA, we pledged to be the counterbalance to the DLC and other monied interests influencing the Democratic Party by representing the voice of the grassroots. Within the party, the grassroots resistance to the Iraq occupation has been strong in seven states, with the official youth arm of the party (Young Democrats of America--YDA) saying, "Bring the troops home!" Despite all this energy, the DNC national web site still lacks an antiwar message, reflecting an obvious disconnect from the leadership to the grassroots. This December, the DNC and the YDA plan on meeting in one of PDA's strongest areas of organization: Phoenix, Arizona. PDA will converge en masse around the activities of the DNC to help organize the massive grassroots movement within the Democratic Party that wants and end to this occupation!
PDA is organizing to accommodate activists who come to Phoenix, and will have trainings on how to take this movement to the next level. We will also be meeting with allies who are in the DNC, who fear that the DLC has too much control but hope that the grassroots movement is the beginning of a true opposition party that is Rainbow in nature and progressive at its core.
Please hold December 1-5, 2005 open for the revolution. As we firm up details, we plan to announce the events. We also plan to move this forward at every DNC meeting from now on, until the corporate interests and centrist wing of the party no longer have a stranglehold.
Last week Ohio PDA organizer Patrick Carano challenged each local PDA Chapter to find five new sustaining members. (By PDA's definition, a "sustaining member" is a member who commits to a specific donation each month or each quarter.) Thanks to all PDA Chapters that have accepted Patrick's Five Sustainer Challenge. Many have taken action and have invested in the future of PDA. As you know, to sustain the work that we're doing, PDA depends on grassroots support from activists like you. Thank you for your continued commitment to progressive values.
On October 1, 2005, the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party elected its first permanent executive board. Among the officers elected was Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles (PDLA) Vice President Brad Parker as well as PDLA members Jo Olson and Joye Swan. The meeting was contentious, as is to be expected in a true democracy, but the heat has produced lot of light as well. Even before this election of officers, the Progressive Caucus was changing the direction of the California Democratic Party. After passage of the "Withdrawal From Iraq" resolution, led by the Caucus at the CDP convention in April 2005, courage to speak out against the disaster in the desert swept the nation. Along with continuing the call for an end to the war, the Progressive Caucus will lead the campaign for "Clean Money Elections," "Election Protection," and "Universal Healthcare" within the CDP. Our PDA strategy of inside/outside mobilization has been greatly enhanced in California by the formation of the Progressive Caucus, and we look forward to the day when every state Democratic Party has one as well. Now is the time for all Liberal and Progressive Democrats across California to join the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party.
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