The Folsom Democratic Club hosts its first meeting of 2012 on Monday, January 30th, 7 pm, at Round Table Pizza, 1151 Riley Street at Glenn Drive. The full meeting agenda can be viewed here.
Our featured speaker will be Reg Bronner, the Democratic candidate for the newly formed State Assembly District 6. Join us to hear from Mr. Bronner!
Our new State Assembly District is a challenging terrain for a Democratic candidate. It covers parts of three counties, and the GOP has a large registration advantage over us.
You can read more about Reg Bronner at his website. Come prepared with your questions, and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting!
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has announced the candidates who have been selected for its Red to Blue program, which provides additional funding and support to the Democratic Congressional candidates who have the best shot at taking back a seat from the Republicans. And thanks to the support of the many donors who helped him blow through his goals for contributions, Dr. Ami Bera, Democratic Congressional candidate for CA’s new 7th District which includes Folsom, has made the list!
The Folsom Democratic Club would like to share the following message from Dr. Ami Bera and invite you to help his campaign to replace Dan Lungren as Folsom’s representative in the US Congress.
The 2012 primary is less than six months away and there is a lot of work to be done between now and June. Though I am the only Democrat in the race, I still need to take the important step of collecting signatures for me to be on the ballot. These signatures must come from registered voters in the district and I need your help to collect them by February 23rd.
There are three ways you can help. The easiest way is by simply signing up your friends, coworkers, neighbors… anybody you know who is registered to vote in Congressional District 7 (click here to see a map). The second way is going door to door in your neighborhood with a list supporters who we think will sign. The third way is by signing up to participate in and bring friends to our day of action and strategy session that I will kick off on January 28th. Whatever option you choose, getting signatures will give you a stake in the race, and ownership in my candidacy. If you’re interested, please go here to sign up so we can send you all of the necessary information: www.beraforcongress.com/signaturedrive.
As a reward, the volunteer with the most signatures will be invited to have dinner with me! We have until February 23rd so let’s get to work!
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) selects key Congressional races around the country for additional support in its Red to Blue Campaign. Candidates who have the greatest likelihood of removing a Republican candidate are singled out for more contributions and advertising.
A key metric the DCCC evaluates is the strength of a candidate’s support as measured by his/her fundraising ability.
Donating now to Dr. Ami Bera’s campaign helps him earn the support he will need to unseat Dan Lungren and turn the entire Sacramento County Congressional delegation blue.
As 2012 begins, the executive board of the Folsom Democratic Club would like your feedback to help us plan for the coming year.
Your responses to this survey will help us determine how to structure our meetings most effectively, and identify activities that are most likely to engage and attract our members. Please take a few minutes to complete this ten-question survey.
A group of Democratic activists and campaign representatives will meet on January 10th to discuss the need for a satellite Democratic Party office in north-eastern Sacramento County for the 2012 election cycle.
The Democratic Party of Sacramento County has a full-time office in midtown that serves a vital role in connecting area Democrats with their party and its candidates. Their office space is used for meetings, organizing, phone-banking, distribution of campaign materials, and the sale of Democratic merchandise. And the DPSC employs a full-time office manager to coordinate the office activities and the work of volunteers.
However, for those of us in the suburban reaches of the county, the trip to downtown Sacramento and back is a long commute, and Democrats in the redder parts of Sacramento County could really benefit from having an office to help us overcome the feeling of “invisibility” that so many Democrats here in Folsom experience.
Join others on Tuesday, January 10th 6:00pm at the Round Table Pizza at 8822 Madison Ave (Hazel and Madison in the Raley’s Shopping Center). The discussion will focus on how such an office can be funded and staffed, as maintaining the DPSC office in midtown is already a financial challenge for the organization. Potential strategies involve co-locating office space with the campaigns of candidates, and raising funds to open, maintain and staff the office.
The California Clean Money Campaign seeks your support for AB 1148, the California DISCLOSE Act, which would require clearer disclosure of the funding sources behind political advocacy advertisements.
Under this legislation, political ads would be required to display the names and logos of the three largest contributors sponsoring them, and direct viewers to a website with full disclosure of their funding sources. The Act is authored by Assemblymember Julia Brownley, with many co-authors, endorsers and sponsors supporting its passage.
You can learn more about the California DISCLOSE Act, how it would work, and how it helps to mitigate the impact of the Citizens United decision, at the website yesfairelections.org.
The Act will be the subject of a hearing held by the Assembly Elections Committee at 1:30 pm on Monday, January 9th at the State Capitol. If you can attend the hearing, and especially if you can spend time that morning lobbying committee members, get more information and sign up at the California Clean Money Campaign’s website.
2012 is here, and with it, election season officially begins. The first votes were cast on January 3rd in the Iowa Caucuses. Some of the highlights from that event:
The Democrats turned out, some 25,000 strong, even though President Obama is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. People reported overflow crowds at many locations around the state. The President held a video town-hall with Iowans attending the caucus to remind them of his accomplishments and his plans for his second term, as well as to take their questions. And 7,500 caucus-goers committed to volunteer for the campaign. Here’s a video with highlights from the caucuses.
Although some have expressed disappointment with the Obama administration, and some groups attempted to organize Iowans to vote “uncommitted” as a protest vote, Barack Obama received over 98% of the total votes cast. Our party is unified behind our incumbent president and ready to face the GOP this fall.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the “inevitable” Mitt Romney barely managed to squeak out an eight vote win over second-place challenger Rick Santorum. Romney received about 25% of the votes cast, which also means that 75% of Iowa Republican caucus-goers preferred someone else. Romney earned about the same number of votes he earned in the 2oo8 caucus and a lower percentage of total votes cast, suggesting that Iowans have grown no fonder of Romney over time. Overall turnout for the GOP caucus was about 122,000, which was a slight increase over 2008. However, the warning signs for the GOP include:
The Iowa GOP has bragged how many new voters they have registered since 2008, but most of those new voters went to extreme fringe candidate Ron Paul. And in spite of their candidates’ exaggerated rhetoric about how much the country has suffered under the Obama administration, and how sure they are that the American public is unhappy, there was no corresponding surge of excitement and participation among Republican caucus-goers. The Washington Post noted that their dire descriptions of America in crisis rang false to Iowans.
Throughout 2011, the Republican electorate drifted from candidate to candidate, looking for an alternative to Romney, but each time a new front-runner emerged, details about his/her background, record and positions caused their voters to abandon the candidate and move to someone else, without reconciling to Romney.
Santorum was the Romney alternative who surged last, closest to caucus day, and before the national media began to focus much attention on his record. Social conservatives will find much they like in Santorum’s record, but the average moderate American will not like what they are about to learn.
This year, more of the GOP primaries will award delegates proportionately and fewer will be winner-take-all. This change will likely extend the length of time it takes for one candidate to lock in the nomination, and the more the GOP candidates go after each other in ads and speeches, the more ALL voters learn about their least attractive qualities.
In summary, Iowa Democrats are unified behind the re-election of President Obama, while Republicans are split on who should challenge him. The contest moves next to New Hampshire.
The Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO invites us to join them Thursday, December 8th at 3:30 pm for a march on Dan Lungren’s Gold River office, to demand that he vote to continue extended unemployment benefits.
Here’s the plan for the day’s events:
3:30 PM
Meet at the corner of Sunrise and Coloma in Rancho Cordova (2344 Sunrise Blvd, Rancho Cordova) to march on Lungren’s District Office
4:30 PM
Action outside of Lungren’s District Office (2339 Gold Meadow Way, Gold River)
In late December, the federal unemployment insurance extension program will expire. Unless Congress acts, millions of Americans face the prospect of going hungry and getting thrown out of their homes soon after the holidays. Some in Congress will predictably demand cuts to other progressive programs before authorizing more spending for unemployment insurance. The approaching Iowa caucuses will super-heat rhetoric. No doubt someone will again blame the unemployed for their unemployment.
Urge Congressman Lungren to fund the unemployment insurance benefit program without strings and without delay!
Experienced political campaign veterans and eager novices alike found a great deal to like at the California Democratic Party sponsored Campaign Academy, conducted by Democracy for America October 15-16 at Folsom Lake College.
Here’s what some of our members who attended had to say about the two-day event:
I had a really wonderful experience at the Democracy for America Campaign Academy. The trainers were very good, from all over the country, having had experience working on high profile campaigns.
The most valuable information for me was about precinct organizing. Also, how to determine which voters to target and when. You’ve got the hard core Democrats which you already have and the hard core Republicans which you’re never going to get. You should concentrate on the area that have the highest number of persuadable or swing voters. We were given formulas to determine these areas based on past voting habits and high voter turnout.
For a Get Out the Vote drive you only target those whom you have identified as definite supporters.
The best ways to contact voters are canvassing or knocking on doors, lit drops and phoning, in that order. Direct mail is not as effective. No letters. Only oversized postcards with lots of pictures.
We learned the rules for fundraising: know the laws in your area; you have to ask; watch your budget; and say “thank you.”
I especially liked the workshop on “Developing a campaign message.” The ideal message format is 27-9-3. Twenty-seven words, nine seconds with no more than three points.
There was lots more valuable information. I have 24 pages of notes, plus a terrific training manual. It was well worth the $40. – Muriel Brounstein
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The training consisted of multiple sessions with subject matter ranging from fund-raising and event planning to developing GOTV and voter contact skills. I found the staff to be very knowledgeable and helpful. I would recommend that both seasoned and newly involved Democrats take advantage of future presentations by CaDem and the DFA. It was most helpful in getting out a big group of Democratic activists in Northern California and allowing us to network. – Barbara Leary
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It was like a masters degree in political strategy in 1 weekend! Trainers were top notch. I highly recommend this training to anyone interested in running for office, working in politics or volunteering in any way. It was priceless! — Debbie Martinez
And here’s a video the California Democratic Party shot at the Campaign Academy.
The purpose of the Folsom Democratic Club is:
to support Democratic candidates in elections; to support the philosophy and goals of the Democratic Party; to educate Folsom voters on national, state, and local issues; to participate in local issues, when appropriate, on the side of homeowners, children, senior citizens, and the disadvantaged; to protect the environment; and to support and improve public schools.
Our featured speaker will be Reg Bronner, the Democratic candidate for the newly formed State Assembly District 6. Join us to hear from Mr. Bronner!
