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Next PDC-DFA Meeting Thursday, July 19, 45 Mt. Auburn St.

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 07:39:20 -0700

From PDC-DFA chair Lesley Phillips:

Dear PDCers,

The next meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge-DFA will take place at 7:00 pm this Thursday, July 19, at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn St. (near Harvard Square).

At our June meeting, we committed to conducting three candidates' forums over the next couple of months: our traditional -- and always very successful -- city council forum tentatively shortly after Labor Day, a school committee forum later in September, and a forum for the increasingly heated special state senate election (to replace Jarrett Barrios), for which as many as eight candidates have now announced, in early to mid-August. We will be making final decisions as to the dates and locations of these events at Thursday's meeting, and seeking volunteers for many of the tasks associated with them. PDC's candidate forums have been among our most successful and respected events in the past (as well as tremendous outreach opportunities), and we want to uphold our reputation, so please make every effort to attend and participate! (If you would like to assist with any of these but can not attend on Thusday, please let me know and we will work you in.)

If you have any other suggestions for agenda items or events this summer, please let me know, and I will distribute them prior to the meeting.

We hope to see you on Thursday!

Progressively yours,
Lesley

Reminder: Next meeting this Thursday, June 21

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:53:42 -0700

The next PDC-DFA meeting will be Thursday, June 21, at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge MA.

From an email from our chair, Lesley Phillips:

Dear PDCers,

This is to remind you that the next regular monthly meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge-DFA is this Thursday, June 21, at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn St. (near Harvard Square). The general membership meeting will start at approximately 7:30 pm, preceeded by a meeting of the Steering Committee (open to all PDC-DFA members) at 7:00 pm. This will likely be our last regular (i.e. third Thursday) meeting until September, so please make every effort to attend!

The agenda for our meeting on Thursday will include consideration of a proposed endorsement in the upcoming special election in the 5th Congressional District, a look at what progressives can expect in our upcoming municpal elections, and beginning to plan our now traditional (and expected!) candidates' forums in the city council and school committee races and any other special events over the summer, with a focus toward bringing more members into PDC.

We hope to see you on Thursday!

Progressively yours,
Lesley

Next meeting on meeting on Thursday, May 17

Mon, 14 May 2007 06:35:46 -0700

From PDC-DFA chair Lesley Phillips:

Dear PDCers,

The next meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge - DFA will be on Thursday, May 17at 7:00pm at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn St.

The 2007 Cambridge municipal election season is almost upon us, so we will begin to take a look at both the incumbents running for reelection and the announced/anticipated challengers who will be wanting our support, and start making plans for candidate forums and other events.

We will be also be previewing the upcoming (May 19) Massachusetts Democratic State Convention in Amherst, including some possible last-minute agenda items. If you have not yet registered for the convention, you should know that in an effort to make the convention accessible to as many grassroots Democrats as possible, the non-delegate guest registration has been reduced to a very affordable $25; in addition, every paid delegate is allowed to bring one guest for free. If you are interested in attending and are unable to locate a delegate to "sponsor" you, let me know asap, and we will try to match you up! (If you are a delegate, and have not yet registered a guest, likewise please let me know, if possible even sooner!) Further information about the convention is available at www.massdems.org.

We hope to see you on Thursday!

Progressively yours,
Lesley

Forum for State Senate Special Election

Sat, 05 May 2007 09:44:01 -0700

There's a forum coming up for the Democratic candidates in the special election to replace Sen. Travaligni. The forum's May 8; the primary is May 29. Details below.

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FORUM

Special Election for Robert Travaglini's Senate Seat
The First Suffolk and Middlesex Senate District

Ask Questions of the Democratic Candidates Running
in the May 29, 2007 Primary Election

The Candidates are:

State Representative Anthony Petruccelli (East Boston)
http://www.anthonypetruccelli.com

City Councilor Daniel Rizzo (Revere)
http://www.danrizzo.org

Where: LBJ Apartments, 150 Erie Street, Cambridge

When: Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 7:00 – 8:30 P.M.

Last Day to Register to Vote: Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Sponsored by Cambridge Democratic City Committee

Election Day Registration on the PDC-DFA email list

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 04:25:52 -0700

There's a great discussion going on right now on the PDC-DFA email list on election day registration, and possible pro's and con's. On one side is the argument that election day registration lowers barriers and encourages more people to vote; on the other side is the argument that prior registration (i.e., what we have now) encourages people to think about their choice, and makes manipulation of the electorate by wealthy political machines more difficult.

Drop by and join the discussion! Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProgressiveDemocratsofCambridge/ to sign up for our email list, then share your thoughts with the rest of the group!

Update: PDC-DFA member Jesse K-B has more on election day registration.

By the way, I don't really like the term "election day registration". After all, if all you have to do to vote is show up at the polls and prove you're eligible, then it's not really registration, it's just voting. I think we should call it "voting for everyone".

From a technologist's point of view, also, I'd be curious to see what kind of technology is used to verify that no one votes twice. Hopefully not some kind of Diebold disaster. I'd prefer purple fingers.

Next Meeting: April 19, 8:00, 45 Mt Auburn St., Cambridge

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 07:40:46 -0700

From an email from PDC-DFA chair Lesley Phillips:

Dear PDCers,

The next meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge-DFA will be at 8:00 pm on Thursday, April 19 at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn St. A principal agenda item will be finalizing plans for a candidates' forum for the upcoming special election to fill the vacancy caused by Sen. Travaligni's recent resignation. Please note the later than usual starting time -- this is because of a special event at The Democracy Center causing heavier that usual bookings.

Special note to steering committee members (and others who might be interested): if enough of you want to do this, we could effectively start the meeting a bit earlier by convening an open steering committee meeting at 7:30 pm on Thursday at one of the eateries adjacent to The Democracy Center (I'd recommend either Daedalus or Unique Pizza), and then move over to "45" at 8:00. Please let me know asap if you would tentatively be interested in this, and I'll post a final announcement on Wednesday evening.

Progressively yours,
Lesley

Spammers

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 19:08:58 -0700

An alert reader pointed out to me some occurrences of spam on this site. I'll admit, I have been neglecting this site for a little while, and I do apologize for that. I had thought I set the spam bar high enough to fool spam-bots, but alas, I was wrong.

Consequently, I've un-published a giant swath of comments and un-approved a giant swath of users, in order to keep things civil around here.

If your comment got axed or your account got deactivated as a result, but it really was legitimate, I apologize. Please email me at info (at) dfacambridge (dot) org, and I'll take care of it.

If you were offended by some of the comments that appear here, then again, I apologize. I should have been on the ball and have noticed the spammers when they first became a problem. Please accept my apologies and rest assured that I've boosted the protections to prevent this kind of malicious attack in the future.

If you are a spammer, please go do something useful for a change.

Next PDC-DFA Meeting Wednesday, March 7

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:57:16 -0800

The next meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge-DFA will be at 7:00 pm this Wednesday, March 7 at The Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn Street.

Planned topics of discussion for the meeting will include established a Progressive Agenda for the City of Cambridge, reviewing the upcoming municipal elections, and previewing the developing candidacies for next year's presidential race.

If you are planning to attend and have anything else specific that you would like to add to the meeting agenda, please email Lesley Phillips at lrphillips (at) rocketmail (dot) com by no later than noon on Wednesday.

Reminder: Progressive Democrats of Cambridge meeting Thursday, January 18

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 06:38:34 -0800

A message from Lesley Phillips, co-chair of PDC-DFA:

Dear PDCers.

The first meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge/DFA for the new year will be tomorrow (Thursday), January 18, at 7:00 at the Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn Street.

The past two months have witnessed incredible gains for progressive politics both locally and nationally. Let's build on those as we assess our goals both legislatively and electorally for 2007 and beyond! Please bring your ideas and concerns.

Also, on a minor but important administrative note, we will be examining our current meeting schedule. If you are one of those who have not been able to attend regular because of ongoing conflicts, but email or phone (617-547-6465) me with your preferences prior to the meeting.

I hope to be seeing you on Thursday!

Progressively yours,
Lesley

P.S. Caucuses to elect delegates to the 2007 Massachusetts Democratic Convention will be held during the week of Feb 3 to 11, with the majority of caucuses on Saturday, February 3. (The convention will be in Amherst on Saturday, May 19.) This can be an excellent opportunity for newcomers to become involved with their local ward or town democratic organizations. We will have information about the caucus procedures and the convention at Thursday's meeting.

Point08 attends CDCC "Where do we go from here" forum

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:11:40 -0800

On Tuesday the Cambridge Democratic City Comittee hosted a forum which asked "Where do we go from here?" in light of the Deval Patrick victory. I couldn't make it, as I was out of town on business. Fortunately, sco from Point 08 Acres was there and has posted his report:

The question and answer session covered a variety of topics. There were a couple of themes that came up. First was that there were a lot of unmet needs after four years of neglect under outgoing Governor Mitt Romney. As such, a lot of people are being set up for disappointment that their particular interest may not be the new governor's highest priority. That said, the consensus was that Deval Patrick really means it when he says he wants input from everyone, and wants to include the citizens of Massachusetts in the decision-making process.

Thanks sco!

How did the MA Republican Party die?

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:43:28 -0800

The Wave Maker has a very interesting post today about how the MA Republican Party can resucitate itself. Embedded within is an eye-opening perspective on the history of the party since Reagan's victory in 1980 or so.

I think it's a fine post, but I think Wave Maker places far too much importance on the personal appeal of a candidate, far too little on the candidate's organization, and less still on the candidate's ideology and platform. To hear him tell it, Deval Patrick won because he has a nice smile and can use words properly, not because he had an incredible grassroots following which was inspired by his experience and his ideas.

I can understand WM's point of view: his most relevant experience is running for state representative in the mid-80's. Indeed, at the local level, personality and charm can carry you a very, very long way. However, a lot has changed in 20 years. More and more legislative districts are filling up with transient 20-somethings who are motivated to vote, and have a keen sense of their ideology, certainly as it pertains to social issues, and their stand on a few key national issues that have local echoes, like health care and education. Their transience makes a personal connection with the candidate himself very unlikely, and their ideology and knowledge of social and national issues makes them more likely to vote based on a candidate's ideology and platform. Those twin factors are, I think, drastically changing the way state legislative races are run.

Moreover, gubernatorial politics and state rep politics are two totally different ballgames. State rep races are fought with less money, less media attention, and less volunteer time than gubernatorial races. No doubt Wave Maker knows that, but the effects are impossible to ignore. However little personality matters in state rep races, I would wager that it matters much less in the gubernatorial.

At any rate, I guess we'll get a chance to test out his hypothesis in the 2010 Patrick-Baker race.

Vote for Deval Patrick and Tim Murray Today

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:46:31 -0800

Go vote today!

Polls are open from 7 am - 8 pm. To find out where to vote, go to http://www.wheredoivotema.com and type in your address.

Progressive Democrats of Cambridge - DFA has endorse DEVAL PATRICK for Governor! Please support the Patrick/Murray ticket at the polls.

PDC-DFA Meeting tomorrow, 7 pm, 45 Mt. Auburn St.

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 07:04:21 -0700

The next meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge - DFA meeting will be:

Thursday, October 19
7:00 pm
The Democracy Center
45 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge MA

This will be an important meeting, so please make every effort to attend: this will be our last opportunity both to plan any collective activity that PDC wants to undertake on behalf of the Deval Patrick campaign, and to prepare for the anticipated discussion of PDC at the upcoming Cambridge Democratic City Committee meeting. We will also be considering support of the ballot referendum on fusion voting ("Question 2") that is already being supported by a number of progressive democratic groups around the state.

If you have anything to add to the agenda, please email Lesley Phillips, lrphillips (at) rocketmail (dot) com.

Join Deval Patrick for a Rally for Change - Sunday, 2:30, Boston Common

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:18:26 -0700

Please join Deval Patrick and Tim Murray at a Rally for Change on Sunday, October 15 at 2:30 p.m. on the Boston Common (at the bandstand near Tremont St.).

This is a free event, so please bring your friends and family -- and forward this email to others. We want a huge crowd to show Kerry Healey that her attacks, distortions, anger and campaign based on fear isn't for Massachusetts.

If you are tired of the cynicism, join Deval and Tim at their Rally for Change. I hope to see you Sunday afternoon.

Next PDC-DFA Meeting is Oct. 19; also, volunteer for Patrick/Murray '06

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 11:32:34 -0700

The October meeting of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge - DFA will be on Thursday, October 19 at 7:00 pm. (The location will be announced shortly.) The primary focus of the meeting will be on PDC-DFA efforts on behalf of the Democratic Party coordinated campaign for Deval Patrick for Governor. While it goes without saying that Deval has had the widespread support of progressives around the state since the beginnning of his campaign, this is an important opportunity for us to show our support for the party's candidates!

Please make every effort to attend -- in addition to election-related issues, we have other important agenda items coming up. If you have anything that you wish to put on the agenda, please contact Lesley Phillips at lrphillips (at) rocketmail (dot) com, by Oct. 18.

Also, don't forget to help out with the Patrick/Murray campaign! Call the Cambridge campaign office at 617-864-9653 to sign up or if you have any questions. A schedule of activities is below.

DEVAL PATRICK COORDINATED CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE

Thursday, 10/12: Phone bank at HQ, 1798A Mass Ave from 6-9 pm
Thursday, 10/12: Phone bank at HMFH Architects, 130 Bishop Allen Dr. 6:30-9 pm
Thursday, 10/12: Voter registration at Area 4 meeting (243 Harvard St) & Whole Foods (Prospect St) 6-8 pm

Friday, 10/13: Phone bank to seniors at 1798A Mass Ave 11 am -1 pm
Friday, 10/13: Visibility at Inman Square 4-6 pm

Saturday, 10/15: Voter registration, Whole Foods at Putnam Avenue, 10-12:30
Saturday, 10/15: Voter registration, Harvest Festival at Morse School, 1-4 pm

Sunday, 10/15: Community Meeting at Rindge Towers with Rep. Gloria Fox (approx. 3-5 pm - details tba)

Monday, 10/15: Phone bank at HQ, 1798A Mass Ave from 6-9 pm

Tuesday, 10/17: Phone bank at HQ, 1798A Mass Ave from 6-9 pm

Wednesday 10/18: "Last Chance" voter registration at Porter & Central Sqs, 7:30-9 am & 4-7 pm