Early State Convention Report from Chad

When I was in the Navy in the early 1990's I used to spend a few weekends during the year at Science Fiction Conventions. They were a lot of fun. The Washington State Democrats Convention in Tacoma this weekend reminded me of that kind of energy. I only attended one of the days (Saturday), so we'll have some additional reports coming from other people when they get back from the elections on Sunday. Please post your comments on this post!

Lawrence, Kelley and I left Seattle around 9am. After an adventure getting Dave Bailey his laptop and a new shirt, we got to Tacoma around 10. The table outside was set up and ready to go. We had a few things to add to the table, but the most important was some of the Howard Dean banners that Kelley had brought from her days at the Washington State Dean for America campaign office. We spread them out on the hill behind the table, and they came in very handy when rain started later in the day.

Here's a picture of the table:

Photo taken by Phil Scroggs

Because this was a state convention, the tables were focused on state level races like Congressional Seats, the Executive Races, a few Supreme Court Justices, Senator Patty Murray and of course, the next president of the US, Senator John Kerry. There were a few other tables there as well.

Right next door to us was Andy Stephenson's campaign table, and then a table for the Backbone Campaign selling T-Shirts. I wasn't there on Friday to watch the parade, but the news reports were all talking about the march of the Backbone Campaign around the convention hall. I'm sorry I missed it. They have a new trick up their sleeve called a Spineless Citation. This is a postcard that you can send to elected officials on any level voicing your opinion of something they did that shows a lack of Spine. Contact them for copies of this postcard so you can voice your opinion to your elected representatives.

We had good discussions about what Democracy for America and Democracy for Washington is working on between now and November, as well as beyond November when the scramble for the White House is over and we can get started on a long term vision. One of the statements that stood out for me was from a Dean delegate from the 7th Congressional District, Joseph Ruth. He turns 18 just before the Election, so he has a pretty good handle on what the youth vote want to see. "I can tell you why Kerry is having trouble getting the youth vote. We can tell the difference between talking loudly and talking with passion."

The Association of Washington's Special Purpose Water & Sewer Districts had a table off in the corner, and the man there had an interesting story to tell. The Association represents 1.1 Million Washington Citizens with 177 local government districts that completely pay for themselves through rates and fees. The existence of these representative districts is what enables the cities to form in the first place. The problem seems to be that not enough people know of their existence, so when the cities form the new government entities can take over the jurisdiction and start charging taxes on these rates and fees which go into the general fund. What he wanted to do was be at the convention to let people know about the existence of the Association and what they do. "Local Government That Works... without taxes."

Mary Stanley was there with the National Women's Political Caucus. She had a wonderful table with jewelry, buttons and bumperstickers, and T-Shirts. Then I heard her say something about campaign training materials on a back table. They had quite a collection of books and pamphlets that are designed to help elect women to public office, but the concepts and techniques can be applied to anyone. DFW picked up two folders from them; the Volunteers Activity Handbook and Campaign Finance Committee Packets. We have permission to make copies of these pamphlets for anyone who wants a copy. Their website has training opportunities around the country, including one in Oregon next January.

The Whatcom County Democrats were there, along with all of the other Counties. What made Whatcom stand out for me was their newspaper. This is a newsletter on real news print called Grassroots, and it is really well done.

The Senate Democratic Campaign Committee was there. They have a special offer from longtime Democratic supporters Jack and Charlotte Spitzer to match contributions to the SDCC dollar for dollar, up to $5,000. Let's help the SDCC turn that offer into reality and get some positive advertising out into our state to help win back the Senate in Olympia!

The League of Education Voters Foundation also had a table with a wonderful report about what is happening to our school systems in this state. You can view the report online. Initiative 871 can do something about the fact that Education Funding has dropped for 13 straight years. We have to do something.

There were a lot of other issues represented, too many to list here. I had a lot of fun, and the overall impression I got was that we are ready for this election in November, and we're ready to Take Back our Party, our State and our Country.