The best networking tools around

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Jun 28, 2008 11:02 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DFA-Link Organizers, Democracy for Washington

Back in 2004, when Meetup.com decided that they would start charging for their services, DFA launched DFA Link to help our members connect with each other and organize at the grassroots level.  When Howard Dean moved from DFA to the DNC, he had a new set of these networking tools developed and launched.  Senator Barack Obama grabbed the same set of tools, literally from the same vendor, and built My.BarackObama.com to help his supporters organize in order to win the Primary.  Now we're going to use them to win the General Election, and we're going to keep organizing after November to continue to build our movement.  No more pendulum swings back and forth.  We're headed into the future, damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!

What I had not seen yet is a way to bring these tools together.  There is a wall between DFA and the other two groups because we are a PAC, but there is nothing preventing links to all tools coming from a single page.  Now there is.

Find more Democrats!

The links on this page will take you to all of the websites around the Web that have been designed to help Democrats and Progressives self-organize.

Each of the services give registered users the ability to search for people who live close to them, form groups of people for a specific area or issue, and organize events to bring people together. We encourage everyone to join one or more of these services and start having a conversation with your neighbors on what direction we want the country to go, and more importantly WHY. This is what the grassroots is all about.

 

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Ron Paul's "Honest Look"

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Nov 26, 2007 11:42 PM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

Representative Paul has put out a press release that proclaims him the champion of the working class, with plans to reduce the tax burden that we carry on our shoulders. What he does not describe is the effect that lifting that burden will do to the road at our feet. It's time to take an honest look at where his ideology is coming from and where legislative proposals based on that ideology will lead us. It's not a pretty picture.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan declared that government is the problem. He also talked about tax burdens, and stated his belief that not singling out any particular group to pay a higher price is somehow equitable, regardless of the differences in the ability of various economic classes of people to pay those prices in the first place. Government was set aside as a group outside of the people, and was set up as a straw man to be knocked down in speeches whenever necessary for political gain. This completely eliminated the notion that government is supposed to be of, by and for the people. We are the government, whether we want that responsibility or not, whether we are participating in it or not, and whether it seems to respond to our desires or not.

Paul's statement that "taxation is the most direct way government increases Americans' cost at the pump" is yet another way of separating the people from our government. Remember that our elected representatives in Congress debate and set those tax rates, and that they are approved by an elected President and enforced by locally elected or appointed officials. Fundamentally we the people tax ourselves in order to provide funds for highway maintenance, roads, transit and other costs associated with our transportation system. And this is not a sales tax that you calculate based on the purchase, it's figured into the cost of the gas before purchase.

Paul seems to want to give people the impression that we can just do without taxes once prices get too high. So we have to ask where the money goes that would get cut off if HR 2415 gets passed. The Government Accountability Office has a report that it gave to Congress in April of 2006 that shows this graph:

What you are seeing in this graph is the end of highway projects, the end of bridge maintenance, the end of safety improvements and the end of increased transit options to reduce the pollutants that go into the atmosphere. It means more potholes, more vehicle damage and more cost to consumers. But because that cost is not being paid by the government, it's not considered important.

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The Evolution of Democracy for Washington

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Mar 17, 2007 5:11 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

To: Democracy for Washington (DFW) Members & Supporters  (via BCC:)

From: Chad Lupkes, Executive Director, Democracy for Washington
      Kelley Bevans, Treasurer
      McKenna Hartmann, Secretary
      Dean M. Nielsen, Washington State Director, Progressive Majority (PM)

 
This is a special version of this message for the DFA community.  The upcoming changes to DFW are not going to have any effect on our DFA site or any of the local linkup groups.  I just wanted to be clear about that.

Since DFW began as an outgrowth of Howard Dean's 2004 campaign, DFW has strived to be a resource for you, the grassroots membership. However, we have not been able to have enough money for paid staff or to pay for the programs that we originally dreamed of, and our volunteer efforts have been unable to support our dreams for the organization.  Our board members have been and will continue to be active in the Progressive Movement and the Democratic Party, and that's the primary reason why we have not done as much as we had hoped with the DFW brand. 

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New tool for the Washington State Grassroots

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Feb 11, 2007 10:49 PM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

The Washington State Legislature website has a lot of really good information, and they have all the basic data to enable some wonderful grassroots communication.  But their focus is getting that information out to the public, not necessarily making it actually usable in a way that meets our needs.  Which is why I spent some time over the last few weeks playing with some code that Ray Minchew gave me for use on DFW a while ago.

You know how you can use MoveOn or Working Assets to write letters to congress, and the reply from staff comes back to you?  They've spent a lot of time building tools for us to use at the grassroots level that does most of the work for us.  There are a LOT of people working to build similar tools for Washington State.  I'm just one guy.  Like Goldy says, nobody has a complete picture of what the NetRoots is building.  Nobody.

Have you ever wanted to write a letter to all members of the Government Operations & Elections committee in the Olympia Senate, but all you could find is one email at a time that you had to laboriously add to the To: line in an email?  Annyoing, isn't it.

Try this instead:

http://46dems.com/larc/contact.senate.php?com=go

It gets better.

 

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Next PDCW46 Meeting

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Oct 16, 2006 11:35 PM EDT

Linked to groups: 46th District Progressive Caucus

Hi everyone,

The PDCW46 meetings have been rather haphazard over the last few months. Thanks to Barbara and Jim, we've had the opportunity to watch a few videos and relax, at least as much as we can relax around what is going on in the news.

Our next meeting will be on November 6th, at Jim Mullins' home. We're going to get down to business, and draw up some plans for the reorganization meetings that are coming up. The 46th, King County, State Party and State Progressive Caucus will all be having reorganization meetings by the end of January. I'm focused on the Progressive Caucus more than the others, because I'm running for Chair. We've been in neutral for the past 2 years, and it's time to change things. I'll be happy to answer any questions about what my plans are and what help I'm going to need.

Justin and I are also planning to have a larger progressive meeting on November 18th, and we're trying to find a location that can handle a semi-large group of people. Send us suggestions, please.

'06 is almost done. 22 days left. Then we begin to build for '07 and '08. No rest until we have our country back.

Chad Lupkes
PDCW46

New event

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Sep 13, 2006 6:37 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Oregon Leaders

I just moved the Campaigns Wikia Meetup event from Democracy for Vancouver to Democracy for Oregon. I need help getting it organized, as I live in Seattle and don't know the area that well. Any help is appreciated!

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=127...

Chad Lupkes
chadlupkes@gmail.com
206-440-1592

Calling for 2006 Endorsements

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Sep 1, 2006 7:15 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

Dear Democracy for Washington Members and friends:

It's time again for DFW to endorse quality candidates in our state that reflect our progressive ideals. We want your input. Please post YOUR choice for endorsements (no more than 3 suggestions per person, please!) on the DFW website, or e-mail to McKenna at: McKennaHartman@yahoo.com. DFW's executive board will then meet and narrow down our endorsements to a handful of candidates.

So please post or send us YOUR recommendations with a BRIEF description (100 words or less, please) of why DFW should give this individual or initiative our endorsement.

Thanks!

DFW E-board

----
This email was sent to the Democracy for Washington DFA-Link mailing list. I apologize if you received this message twice (or more). We're trying to reach everyone. If you are a DFA-Linkup Host, please discuss this at your upcoming meeting in September and let us know what names your groups come up with.

Wake up Walmart tour!

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Aug 17, 2006 12:34 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

The Wake up Walmart tour is coming to Seattle! Actually, we're the end of the line, and they're planning a big event at Seattle's Town Hall. Interested in attending? Well, you're in luck. I was just contacted by Steve Lancing from UFCW Local 21, and he would like DFW's help promoting the end point of the Wake up Walmart Bus Tour. He has 50 tickets for DFA supporters in Washington. First come first serve!

The event will be at Seattle's Town Hall on September 4th, Labor Day, from 6pm to 7:15pm. Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, other members of Congress and elected officials are supposed to attend. There is no donation requested from people! This is a free event!

Other groups involved include:

*National Organization for Women
*Sierra Club
*MoveOn.org
*King County Labor Council
*Washington State Labor Council
*various other Unions in Washington
*Church Council of Greater Seattle
*Washington Association of Churches
*Citizens Action
*Children's Alliance
*NW Immigration Project
*Urban League
*Jobs with Justice

and many others.

Let's use the communications infrastructure provided to us by DFA. I'm going to post this on the DFA-Link blog for Democracy for Washington, and throw it out to the mailing list. Anyone interested in a ticket needs to post a comment to this blog post, first come first serve. Please, no emails requesting tickets. I wouldn't be able to keep up. No more than 3 tickets per request, please.

Chad Lupkes
Democracy for Washington

PS, when posting a comment, please let me know how to contact you! phone, email, etc. I'll be in touch.

2006 Endorsements

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Jul 30, 2006 3:06 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

I've been asked by two campaigns for a DFW endorsement. I'll wait for feedback for a week, then post the results.

Dick Kelley is running in the 43rd district in Seattle.

dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1186...

Lillian Kaufer is running in the 44th district in Snohomish County.

dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1103...

Please read over their bios and plans, and let me know what you think of an endorsement from DFW going to these candidates. I support them both, and I'm glad they asked. But let's make an endorsement mean something.

Chad

Building for 2008

Written by: Chad Lupkes on Jul 19, 2006 9:15 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for Washington

Dear Member,

Why on earth, during such an important election like 2006, would I want to talk about 2008? I've said numerous times that we need to keep our focus on this year's election cycle, and that we need to get involved in the local, state and federal campaigns that you support, to take back the US House & Senate, to maintain or grow our majority in Olympia, to make a good decision on state or local initiatives, etc. So why would I start an email with "Building for 2008"?

PCO's.

The Democratic (& Republican) PCO elections are held during each even year primary. The Precinct Committee Officer is the person who represents the interests of his/her precinct to the Party. The PCO's elect the officers of our local parties, and that leads to the election of the state party officers.

The Democratic Party is a democratic institution, and those who show up are the ones who have a voice.

The deadline for getting PCO candidate forms and $1 to your county auditor is July 28th. This is part of the regular candidate filing during the week of July 24th to July 28th. Right now, your local County (or LD in King County) party is collecting the forms, and will be handing them in for you during that week. The Auditor's office or Election Department office won't accept them before that week anyway.

Last cycle, during 2004, Democracy for Washington posted a page where people could post their intention to run for PCO. We're going to do that again. If you are running in this election, please comment under this post on the DFW website.

The past is written. The future is not. It's up to us.