VIEW FROM THE CHAIR

by Ron McBride
February 13, 2007

A lot has happened this week. As some of you know, we had to let a few people go. One was using our mail list for his own purposes and another committed other violations. One was a State Coordinator and the other a person with high levels of responsibility in the organization. This hurt me since I gave them my trust. Some of the staff say I am too trusting. Maybe so, but I am learning that if I give my trust to someone they respond in kind, and we have had far more successes than failures. Sometimes there is a freshness to innocence that is preferable to the egomania of the know-it-all.

Membership is up to 2,461 members but those registering for discussions and blogging are a bit disappointing. The two Yahoo sites have 61 and 73 respectively. We have combined them into one so that we are not spreading our message too thin. The Blog is right at 300. We are a progressive grassroots activist group. The operative word here is Active - ist. It implies action. Let's start showing our willingness to be active and involved. Get involved online, Show that you will be willing to get involved, get active on the ground between now and 2008. Register for the blog. (Once you register you can vote in polls.)

Marie and I attended a dinner meeting Saturday, February 10th, in Williamson Co., IL and Tuesday, the 13th, we attended the dinner in Cape Girardeau Co, MO for the Democrats there.

WE! The People, our online magazine, is preparing for its seventh edition. We have some fantastic writers, but we can always use more. Norla, our editor, wants you to contact her at wtpeditor@wedemocrats.org.

View From The Chair will also be included in We! The People for those who missed the email for that week. Another new feature will be Local and Regional Announcements. Please send any local and regional information to your State and County Coordinators who will gather them and submit them every week to Norla for We! That will give members a convenient place to check what is happening every week. Make your submissions to Norla at the above email. (wtpeditor@wedemocrats.org)

In addition, each week The View is published in the blog at www.wedemocrats.org/blogs and at WeDemocrats on Yahoo http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WeDemocrats/ .

We have had no contributions for 2007 yet. All the work we do costs money at some level. If we are going to be effective at the local or federal level in supporting issues and candidates, we will need to have money. Won't you please help us support this work http://wedemocrats.org/wddonate.htm

The WeDemocrats.org group is looking for committed, energetic members who want to serve as coordinators for most States in America!

State Coordinators are engaged in helping hold voter trainings across their states. Training sessions are intended for progressive activists like yourself, as well as others in your community who might be interested in getting involved, either as a Neighborhood Precinct Organizers or as a member of a Neighborhood Volunteer Team.

Training attendees will be provided with the following:

WeDemocrats.org is firmly committed to the Howard Dean vision. We are looking for people who are interested in working within this model. We are also looking for candidates who are:

What is in it for you?

Becoming a State Coordinator will give you a chance to meet and work with people from across the nation. You will be able to develop skills in new areas and contribute to strength of progressive Democrats.

WeDemocrats.org will also give you an orientation to politics, to WeDems, and to what it means to be a member of a netroots/grassroots organization. WeDems will train and support you in not only your organizing endeavors but should you want to run for office, we will train and support you there as well.

Time commitment

For most Staff Positions, the first term is for two years. The position will then be up for election every year. The County Committees meet a minimum of four times per year. We recommend that meetings not run over three hours: and be held on Friday and/or Saturday. State Committee meeting only takes one day twice a year, but usually in conjunction with other meetings, such as standing committee meetings, etc. Precinct Organizing requires a lot of time, but can be adapted to your schedule of available hours.

More Information

If you live West of the Mississippi River and are interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please contact Larry Sakin, WeDemocrats Western Region Coordinator at idontknowdiddley2@yahoo.com. If you live East of the Mississippi River (including ALL of Louisiana), please contact Gary Watson at bgrmedem@yahoo.com.

We need to fill many staff positions including fundraisers, field organizers, volunteer managers, communications directors, voter file managers, researchers, webmasters, asst. editors, data entry, database managers and much more.

Don't forget to sign the petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/WD13007/

Thank you so much for your help and support. I look forward to working with you in the weeks and months ahead to tackle the important issues that face America.

~~~~~~~

Here are the Top 6 states and the bottom 6 as of February 9th, 2007.

Greatest # of Members
CA	364
IL	349
TX	292
MI	175
FL	127
NY	122
PA	108
Dems in Foreign Countries	22

 

Least # of Members
DE	1
SD	3
WY	6
ND	7
AR	7
MS	7

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