Get Local, Get Active, Get Democrats Elected

(Cross-posted at MyDD)

Yesterday, I had a chance to see my friend Ellinorianne at a very special event. You see, her husband is running for State Senate here in Orange County, CA. And since running for office isn't a cheap thing to do, he was asking folks to donate so he can keep fighting the good fight and defeat a wacky extreme-right GOP establishment fixture who could care less about the people who actually live here.

But anyways, I'd like to tell you more about what happened last night, so why don't you follow me downstairs for more...





Everyone had a great time at this lovely house on top of a hill in Anaheim Hills. The candidate himself played some great tunes with the band. People were enjoying the good food & drinks. Oh yes, and everyone was also happy to see the special guests.

There's nothing that cheers me more than seeing Democrats supporting other Democrats, so I was thrilled to see other local candidates attending to help Gary Pritchard. We had our local school board candidate, our candidate for Superior Court judge, one of our water district board candidates, and the Executive Director of the county Democratic Party. All in all, it was amazing to see so many great Democrats together to support one of our own.

There are so many challenges facing us in this nation, but not all of them can be solved by the President. That's one reason why it's important for us not to forget local races like this one. Here in California, we have Republicans in the Governor's office and the State Legislature preventing the Democratic majority from passing a fiscally responsible budget. Closer to (my) home, we have incompetent GOP school board members who put far-right ideology over our kids' education. We have Republican-appointed judges who care more about partisan politcking over applying equal justice under the law. Basically, we're in a mess and we need some good people to clean it all up.

I'm sure my area isn't the only municipality with corrupt GOP politicos running the show (to the ground). There are probably some in your area, too. So come on, you know what we all need to do.

Volunteer with your local party & your local candidates. Donate to good local Democrats. Whatever you do, just don't forget that change begins with us & change beings locally! :-)

LAST CALL for Q2: Help Obama & Democrats Finish Strong!

(Cross-posted at MyDD)

Hey, everyone! We have just over 24 hours left to make a HUGE impact in this election by making sure our Democrats have enough resources to kick some Rethug behind this fall. So what can we all do to help Obama win the White House and Democrats win more seats in Congress?

Follow me down below for more...

OK, so what can we do? How 'bout donating?! After all, Barack Obama still needs some help so that he can shatter some more fundraising records and prove to the corporate media naysayers that he did the right thing by breaking free of the current broken campaign financing system and building a strong campaign in all 50 states. Go ahead and take a listen to what David Plouffe has to say.



So are you feeling excited now? That's good. Just remember that the only way Obama really can compete in all 50 states is by us ensuring that the campaign has the resorces to do so. So please, donate what you can to our Democratic nominee, Barack Obama.

So are you also excited to finally see real bonds of unity being formed among Democrats now? I know I am!



But you know what? Hillary Clinton still has campaign debt to take care of. And the more time she has to spend dealing with her debt, the less time she can spen campaigning for Obama and other Democrats nationwide. That's why it's critical that we help her retire this debt once and for all! If you can spare a little extra for Hillary, please do so.

OK, and let's not forget about our important downticket races! If we want President Obama to really hit the ground running, let's make sure he has a strong Democratic Congress that will help him implement a truly progressive agenda. Donate at MyDD's "Road to 60" ActBlue page so we can have a more Democratic Senate. Donate at BlueAmerica's ActBlue page to support strong progressive Democrats running for the House (and Senate, too). Oh yes, and don't forget to help out the Democratic Party so we can have a strong presence for Democrats in all 50 states!

And finally, will you please help some good friends of ours here in Southern California? My wonderful Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange County, CA) is is working hard for not just herself, but for a fantastic Democrat named Debbie Cook running to replace a complete Rethug nutjob. Debbie Cook is currently the mayor of Huntington Beach, and she's a popular local elected leader who has what it takes to win this race and help President Obama implement a strong progressive agenda in Congress. All we need to do now is make sure she has all the resources to "ride the Obama coattails" to victory this fall.

OK, I know I told you a lot. So would you like a quick refresher on your options?

- Donate to Help Democrats Win in Southern California

- Donate to Help Barack Obama Win

- Donate to Help Democrats Win Nationwide

- Donate to Make Congress Bluer & Better

- Donate to Help Hillary Retire the Debt

Get it? Got it? Great! Now let's go out and make sure Democrats win! :-)

How I Grew Our Democratic Party This Weekend

(For more insight on my Southern California "Inside the Campaigns" series, please visit The Liberal OC for my other stories.)

Every weekend, my wonderful Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Fantastic) comes home to Orange County to listen to we the people (her constituents) and see what we'd like her to do for us in Washington. Oh yes, and she also joins local Democratic activists in precinct walks throughout the 47th Congressional District. Yesterday, I was able to take a peek inside the Loretta Sanchez campaign and join the candidate and a group of dedicated volunteers (and other local elected officials!) on a precinct walk in Anaheim. And oh my, I was pleasantly surprised by what would happen on this walk!



At 11:30 AM on Saturday, I arrived at the Starbucks in Anaheim where we were all supposed to meet. I ordered some sweetened caffeinated beverage and chatted it up with a few friends while we were waiting for Loretta Sanchez and her campaign staff to arrive. And within 30 minutes, all the fun really began.

Loretta Sanchez arrived around 12:00 noon, and she immediately began to talk with the other volunteers. There were volunteers from all over the district, and from all different communities. There were Latinos and Vietnamese and Caucasian and old and young. They were excited about future President Barack Obama, and they were thrilled about Loretta Sanchez, and they were pumped up about all the great local Democratic candidates in Central OC.

So anyways, the volunteer training soon began and we were quickly taught on how to knock doors, how to talk to voters, how to register new voters, and how to convince them to support Loretta Sanchez and other Democrats running down ticket. Oh yes, and we were asked to get more of these voters to sign up to vote by mail so that they will have an easier time remembering to vote... And so we can have a higher Democratic turnout in November. Loretta Sanchez herself reminded us of the importance of registering new vote-by-mail voters by saying, "That's how we win elections. We make sure our votes come in [early]."

Shortly before 12:30, we were all introduced to the other local politicians and Democratic candidates who had come out to help Loretta Sanchez. Santa Ana Council Member Michele Martinez, Santa Ana school board candidate Valerie Amezcua, Anaheim Union High school board candidate Annemarie Randle-Trejo, North Orange County Community College trustee Mike Matsuda, and CA-42 Congressional candidate Ed Chau were among the local Democratic luminaries present at the walk. And about 15 minutes later, I partnered up with Annemarie Randle-Trejo and we marched off to a nearby apartment complex to start talking to voters.

Within our first hour of walking, we encountered several people in the apartment complex interested to talk with us about the election. Annemarie Trejo talked with them all about her candidacy for the Anaheim school board, and we both discussed all of Loretta Sanchez's hard work for us in OC. We answered questions from several undecided voters. We signed up one new Democratic voter. And to top it all off, we signed two Democratic voters up to vote by mail. All in all, our first hour was quite productive.

In the next hour, we talked to several more voters in the Anaheim apartment complex. Annemarie and I met a fellow teacher who was interested to hear about her thoughts on education, as well as Loretta Sanchez's work for our local schools. We met a nice young person who instantly signed up to vote and to be a Democrat. And finally, we met a lovely woman who switched from Republican to Democrat because she was excited about Barack Obama, she no longer trusted the Republicans to help working class people, and she wanted to ensure Loretta Sanchez will be reelected to Congress to help implement future President Obama's policies. And on that note, we soon ended our successful walk.

Shortly after 2:00 PM, we returned to Starbucks to turn in our materials to the local precinct leader. She thanked us for our help, and we all soon parted on our own respective ways. I soon left to return home and recover from my busy day.

All in all, I received some very positive vibes from the Loretta Sanchez campaign that Saturday. The Congresswoman always impresses me with her strong ties to the community and her thorough knowledge of the issues local voters care about. Oh yes, and she proves her commitment to the community by coming back to the district every weekend to do activities like this neighborhood walk.

Loretta Sanchez is a true OC Democratic success story that should make all of us proud. From what I can tell, she will continue to enjoy success as our Democratic member of Congress. And hopefully with a strong Obama victory in November, long "Obama coattails" coming down ticket, and hard work by other local Democrats running, we can see even more Democratic success stories just like Loretta Sanchez this year. :-)