John Edwards House Party - Jan 29th

John Edwards House Party
DATE: Tuesday, 1/29
TIME: 7 - 9:30 pm
PLACE: Newton, MA
Potluck dinner (please bring a salad, entree, vegetable side or yummy
dessert)
Share and learn why folks in MA support Edwards!
RSVP: Linda at lsmheart@aol.com or (617)965-7846

Ride to NH to help Edwards campaign

DFA is throwing its support behind Edwards, Obama and Kucinich. My pick is Edwards. He has a better chance to win in all 50 states and against every Republican candidate. I totally agree with his message that corporations are not going to give up their profits and power without a HUGE fight. I just finished reading his book "Four Trials" about a few of his legal battles representing individuals and families against large companies and corporations and I truly believe Edwards may be tough and smart enough to get our country back. Somebody has to.

I like Obama and Kucinich but I don't think either one of them can win the general election. Furthermore, I think that singing Kum-bi-yah is nice for church school, but fighting corporate power is not something that can be done with out wielding more than hope. It's going to take some real leadership and tough action. Edwards gets it and will fight for it.

I will be going to Derry NH with at least one other person this Saturday morning (Jan. 5th) to help out at the Edwards' campaign headquarters there. Leave a comment if you would like to join us and I will send you my contact info.

Mass. DFA to Iowa DFA - win for all of us

Today's the day. Reach out and touch an Iowa DFA member. Tell him or her that we need them to ensure that we get to vote for a progressive Democrat next November. We selected our 3 top progressive candidates in the DFA straw poll. Now we have to be tough and smart enough to get one of them elected.

Follow this link to get the addresses and instructions on writing
letters to fellow DFA members in Iowa.

ADDRESSES FOR IOWA DFA MEMBERS

For those of you who have not been following the DFA presidential
straw poll (see previous posts), the winners were respectively Kucinich, Edwards and Obama.
The purpose of the letters to Iowan DFA members is to ask them to
make sure at least one of those three candidates comes out of their
caucus with some votes. This could involve changing candidates after
their first choice does not meet the minimal criteria.

For instance, I support John Edwards. If I were to attend a caucus
site where Edwards, Kucinich or Obama did not receive enough votes to
qualify on the first ballot, I would switch to the progressive
candidate who had the most votes on that ballot. Using this strategy,
DFA hopes to unite progressive voters and to ensure that our votes
will not be divided, letting another, less progressive, candidate
sweep the caucuses.

Again, follow this link and urge our brothers and sisters in Iowa to
help us get a candidate we can support whole heartedly.

ADDRESSES FOR IOWA DFA MEMBERS

South of Boston DFA coordinator
Janet Alfieri

Taking our country back - 2008

The results of the DFA 2008 presidential poll are in. The top three candidates (excluding Al Gore who is not running) are Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Barack Obama.

So what is the next step?

In a November 28th conference call, DFA Political Director Charles Chamberlain and Community Organizer Ilya Sheyman met with DFA coordinators across the country to outline plans to ensure that a progressive candidate wins the Iowa caucus. While none of the three top vote getters in the DFA poll received enough votes to become the endorsed candidate, all three are progressive. This is the top priority for DFA - to have a Democratic nominee who is someone we can support whole heartedly. No more barf bags in the voting booths.

So how do they intend to accomplish this? For those who remember the Dean campaign the action plan will sound a bit familiar. DFA members will write personal letters to Iowa DFA members urging them to stand with whichever one of the three progressive candidates needs their support in the caucuses. Because of the convoluted caucus system in Iowa, caucus goers often begin supporting one candidate who does not meet the minimum percentage requirement and then switch to another. This dynamic is the one that DFA hopes will ensure that when those allegiences switch, they go to another progressive candidate.

On December 5th, at DFA meetings throughout the country, members will receive information on how to get mailing information for DFA members in Iowa. There are over 9000 DFA members in Iowa and, no matter whom they support, it is important for them to know that we DFA-ers in the rest of the country are counting on them to get us a progressive candidate to vote for in the general election.

This is what we have been working for for so long. We have seen what we were up against and we did not give up. We paid our dues. We are still standing and fighting. Now, let's work together to finally take our country back.

DFA Presidential Primary

I just voted for Edwards (my choice) on the poll. Below is a letter I copied from the DFA site. The link puts Edwards in top slot but you can vote for any candidate by dragging photo to correct slot. I've heard Edwards is ahead so far but it's early yet. It is notable that Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden, and Christoper Dodd (old Senators club) did not send in videos detailing their positions on climate change and Iraq to DFA for inclusion in the poll. All the other candidates did.

Hey Friends,

I wanted to drop you a short note to ask for your help. DFA is holding a Presidential Primary Pulse Poll to decide which candidate deserves their support. I voted for Former Senator John Edwards and I want to keep them in first place.

Could you take just a minute to vote for John Edwards right now? Here's the link:
DFA Primary

Thanks for your help.

Here's Edwards speaking about what actions he would take to reduce the environmental factors that affect climate change.

Stewart, Harrington are Brockton mayor candidates

In a preliminary run-off, Jass Stewart and James Harrington topped Gayle Kelley to earn a place on the ballot. There was only one percentage point difference between the vote totals of the two winning candidates promising a close race in November. Kelley has not decided whom she will support yet. She had respectable showing but was well behind the other two. Complete story in the Enterprise.

Here are some photos of Stewart's volunteers on election day.



Lara Thomas, Stewart's campaign manager checks her computer to see where sign holders are needed.



Volunteers gather at campaign office to make calls to get out the vote.



Sign holders at the corner of Warren Ave and Legion Parkway in Brockton on Election morning.

Volunteer for Jass Stewart on Tuesday, Sept. 18

Jass Stewart is one of three candidates for mayor of Brockton in the run off set for Tuesday, September 18th. The two top vote getters will be on the ballot for the November election. Jass is the candidate who best reflects the progressive and creative values of DFA. This is a tough race with an incumbent and another strong candidate running against Jass. People are needed to make calls, hold signs, hand out flyers and drive voters to polls on primary day. To volunteer for the Get Out the Vote activities, please contact Campaign Manager Lara Thomas by calling her at 508-272-6958 or emailing her at Lara@JassStewart.com.

For more information about Jass go to his website.