Democracy Action is a San Francisco-based Democratic club providing members and volunteers the organization and support necessary to influence state and national politics. This past election we did all we could to support San Francisco for Obama's efforts to win the Presidency. President Obama's plea for bi-partisanship seems to be falling on deaf ears, however, as the Republicans in Congress are refusing to compromise or move forward from failed economic policies of the past. It will be a struggle to achieve quality, affordable health care for all, solve the climate crisis, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and restore the respect for civil liberties embodied in the US Constitution. We are the San Francisco chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, and there's a lot of work ahead.

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On Thursday, April 23, 2009, DemocracyAction held its 5th Annual Membership meeting at the San Francisco Quaker Friends Meeting House in San Francisco.  Born from the frustrations and loss of the John Kerry Presidential campaign in 2004, DemocracyAction was founded with the mission of helping Democrats regain Congress and the Presidency.  After four years of hard work - supporting Congressional candidates, walking precincts, registering voters, visiting red states, raising money, tuning our voters, and more - Democrats now control both houses of Congress and Barack Obama is President.  

The hard work of the last four years has paid off for DemocracyAction and the Democratic party.  The question now is, what comes next?  The theme of this year's annual meeting was intended to answer exactly this question, with a panel discussion of special guests: "Moving from Opposition Activism to Activist Governance."

The transition from Democrats in the minority in Washington, D.C. to holding all the reins of power is matched by an equally important transition in DemocracyAction itself.  After four years as President of DemocracyAction, Alec Bash has stepped down and been replaced by our new President, Catalina Ruiz-Healy.  We showed Alec our thanks for his steady leadership with champagne, movie tickets, restaurant certificates, even a Barack Obama watch.  Alec was a fantastic President, whose unflappable good spirits and hard-working attitude led DA to accomplish a lot: in the 2005 California elections, where we turned back Arnold's conservative statewide initiatives; in the 2006 mid-terms where Democrats regained the majority in the House of Representatives; and in the historic 2008 elections that put Obama in the White House.  We all wish him well and send him off with deeply-felt and well-earned thanks.

As for  our new President, Catalina led a panel of special guests in discussing the transition to activist governance, including Catherine Dodd, Mayor Gavin Newsom's Deputy Chief of Staff; Raven Brooks, Netroot Nation's Excecutive Director; Kenya Wheeler, Organizing for America (formerly Obama for America); and Tara Schubert, also of Organizing for America.  The disucssion was lively and covered the importance of building relationships, the intricacies of tracking bills through the legislative process, 21st Century technology and its usefulness in supporting activist causes, and much more.  DA thanks all of our participants for your energy and your support!

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President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid passed the critical economic stimulus bill with no Republican votes in the House, and only three Republican votes in the Senate. Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Senator Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania, negotiated a $120 billion cut in the stimulus before giving their votes, and projected stimulus-related job growth dropped from 4 to 3.5 million. This is still a signal victory and reflection of last year's great accomplishments - the economic stimulus glass is much more than half full, although the challenges are tremendous.

Looking ahead, does anyone doubt that achieving universal health care and legislation sufficient to start reversing our global climate crisis will be huge struggles? Does anyone doubt that as Obama tries to do the right thing and bring our troops home, the neo-con outcry will spin across a media that's been so compromised by the Republican noise machine?

Helping the cause, last year's brilliant Obama for America (OFA) campaign has been recast as Organizing for America (OFA), and is growing within the structure of the Democratic National Committee. It should be a major force keeping last year's winning national volunteer force going, supporting President Obama's platform and work. Clearly there's a continuing need for local organizing to help carry national issues.

Bottom line, we simply must win more Senate seats in 2010. Currently the odds are with us, FiveThirtyEight - Politics Done Right shows 9 Republican seats in the top 15 Senate seats likely to change parties. It will take major grassroots on both the issues and the Senate races to turn this into reality. We also can't take the House for granted. Expect the Republicans to go after Congressman Jerry Mcnerney (CA-11) again. Playing offense, last year Charlie Brown almost beat Tom McClintock (CA-4), and Bill Durston came within 5.5% of Congressman Dan Lungren (CA-3).

The next big push is building support for Obama's budget, with its vision for change from the campaign. Let's keep it going!

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At Noon on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, on the Capital steps in Washington, D.C. It was a cold day on the streets of Washington (19 degrees) but that didn't stop more than 2 Million Americans from gathering on the National Mall to participate in this very historic day.

In San Francisco, we too had a celebration, at the Veterans Memorial Building Green Room, sponsored by the San Francisco Democratic Party, DemocracyAction, Emerge CA, the Good Ol' Girls, and many other local groups. On hand were State Senator Mark Leno, State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, San Francisco Democratic Party Chair Aaron Peskin, and many more.

Everyone shared in the drinks, the food, and the festivities as we watched Barack Obama take the Oath of Office on the big screen TV. This day marked a new beginning for our nation, and the spirit and energy of it was evident throughout the evening.

DA Communications Chair Erik Wood was at the Green Room festivities and provides this slideshow. DA member Rick Parfitt also contributes his pics here.

Let's all join together in wishing President Obama, and our nation, a successful and prosperous four years to come!

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DemocracyAction and many other San Francisco Obama volunteers gathered Friday, December 5, 2008, to celebrate electing Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Thousands of volunteers contributed hundreds of thousands of hours to register voters, make phone calls, and raise money for Obama. DemocracyAction President Alec Bash and his wife Sharry played hosts to celebrate and thank everyone who pitched in.

The 2008 election will long be remembered as a tide-changing event, not only for electing the first black President in American history, but for strongly repudiating the GOP and the policies of the Bush administration. The party on Friday was a time for celebration and gratitude for all who took part in this successful effort, as well as an opportunity to regroup for the work ahead. Barack Obama's win was a huge victory for all Democrats - and for the American people - but it is just a beginning, too. Barack will be President for four - and perhaps eight - more years. The work of making our country a stronger and better place still lies ahead.

In appreciation and gratitude for everyone from DemocracyAction and the Obama campaign who helped both locally in San Francisco and across the country, thank you! As we look into the future and toward Barack's inaguration, there's only one thing to say..... fired up, ready to go!

For more pictures of the party, see DA Communications Chair Erik Wood's slideshow here.

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Following Barack Obama's historic victory to become the 44th President of the United States, Democracy Action co-sponsored a victory party at the Mezzanine nightclub in San Francisco's SOMA district. Dance music rocked the house, election news poured from the big screen TVs, and drinks were lifted freely in toasts, as volunteers from the Obama campaign and other well-wishers celebrated into the night.

Erik Wood was there with DA President Alec Bash and others, and put together this slideshow of the evening's happy event.

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After two long years, a hard-fought primary, and a nasty, mean-spirited campaign by his opponent John McCain, on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. Not only will Barack go down in history as America's first black President, but more importantly, his victory carried with it a landslide for the Democratic party and a national repudiation of the GOP. Not only did Barack Obama and Joe Biden take over the White House, Democrats picked up at least seven seats in the Senate and more than 20 seats in the House. With two Senate seats still undecided, and a handfull of House races also awaiting conclusive results, the margin of victory for Democrats could be even higher.

Barack Obama beat John McCain by more almost 200 Electoral College votes - 365 to 173 - and won states traditionally thought too Red to ever go Blue. States like North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada turned in solid majorities for Barack, as well as critical swing states like Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico. Even Iowa and Indiana, solidly Red states in the past, turned up in the Obama victory column. (Electoral College results can be found on this map).

It was a huge night for Barack Obama and for the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who worked tirelessly for this moment of triumph, including Democracy Action, whose members walked precincts, held phonebanks, traveled to swing states, held fundraisers, donated money, and above all, gave from the heart to ensure this win. For the Obama and Biden families, for the Democratic party, for the country, and for the world, this was indeed an historic and special night to remember. Congratulations Barack and Joe!

DA Communications Chair Erik Wood was at Barack Obama's campaign headquarters in San Francisco during the lead up to Obama's victory, and at the moment of Barack's triumph, as shown here and in this slideshow.

For everyone who worked so hard to make this happen, savor your victory and continue working to build a better future for our country.

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San Francisco's new HQ opened with great fanfare and throngs of visitors on Saturday Sept 13, as hundreds poured thru the doors to ratchet up campaign efforts to elect Barack Obama and support or defeat important State and SF Ballot Propositions and Candidates. This unified camapign office supports California Democratic Party, San Francisco Democratic Party, and - last but far from least - SF's volunteers efforts to do all we can to elect Barack Obama! Kamela Harris, Betty Yee, Tom Ammiano, Melanie Nutter and others addressed the crowd, most of whom joined the back-room phonebanking to Nevada as the ceremonies wound down. Jennifer Longley, CA Dem Party Northern California Field Organizer, manages the facility for the Dems, and SF Obama Leader Anhoni Patel manages San Francisco for Obama volunteer activities. DemocracyAction's Erik Wood took lots of great pics, see sampling below. Check out other pics at the SFObama website. The office is open 9am-9pm daily, and the Obama phonebanks 10am-8pm daily.

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About 1,000 people joined together at the Hyatt Regency August 28th to watch Senator Barack Obama accept the Democratic Party's nomination for the Presidency. The convention-style setting and giant flat screen TVs made it feel almost like being there...if being there were in a normal convention hall and not the huge expanse of Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver! Lots of attendees, a great speech, and knowing that Hope is On the Way made for a memorable evening, and some great pics by Democracy Action Communications Chair Erik Wood. Now we just have to deal with McCain McSame & Pain's 'Pit Bull w Lipstick'. See Washington Post Chris Cillizza's Battleground States Ranking.

             

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About 400 people rallied outside San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on Sunday, August 17 to give an enthusiastic welcome to about 1800 donors attending a max-out $7.8 million fundraiser to help Barack Obama counter McCain McSame's recent burst of negative advertising.

SF Board of Supervisors President and Democratic Party Chair Aaron Peskin offered some great comments to help start things off, and Christine Pelosi set a new standard in leading chants along the line of rally'ers. Congressman Mike Honda came out from the hotel to great everybody and underscore the importance of this election. Monique DeBose, Kim Clark, Brent Turner, Steve Noetzel, Alec Bash and the enthusiastic rally'ers kept chants going, in this rally promoted by San Francisco for Obama, the SF Democratic Party and DemocracyAction.

Check out coverage in the SF Chron, a TV clip and the Huffington Post, and some pics by DemocracyAction Communications Chair Erik Wood, Ravi Chandra and Bill Doggett. Some of Erik's pics...

 


Read the rest ...

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...and Choose to Unite, a music video

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