I know not everyone will be able to come down with DFA to the Rally in Springfield, Illinois, next Wednesday (there are details below, including our speakers list, in case you can) ... but there is still a way you can make your voice heard.
I am inviting all IL Dems to write a letter to the DPI.
At the rally DFAers, including me, will be hand-delivering letters from ordinary Democrats (like you!) to Tim Mapes, Chief of Staff to Michael Madigan, Chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois (DPI). This is your chance express your positive vision of what the DPI could and should be, and put it directly into the hands of the people who run one of the largest state Dem organizations in the country.
Are there issues or candidates you'd like to see supported? Ways they could work with your local grassroots group, improve their website, improve their image? Don't even know what a state Democratic Party does? Here's what they are doing in other states:
http://www.democracyforillinois.org/node/1869
Or for a contrast and compare, go here:
http://www.ildems.com
And then go here:
http://www.iowademocrats.org/
Yikes!
So take advantage of this opportunity to make your voice heard -- write a letter. Email it no later than next Tuesday, August 16th to:
dfi.letters at gmail.com
We will be printing out hard copies that night and carrying them down with us to the rally.
Interested in taking a one-day road trip down to Springfield to join in the rally? DFAers and other grassroots groups from around the state will be converging on the Dem Party's Governor's Day Rally at the Illinois State Fair next Wednesday, August 17th. DFAers will meet prior to the rally at the Commodities Pavilion at 11:00 a.m. for our DFA pre-rally meeting, with speakers including:
- Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn
- State Rep. John Fritchey, 11th District
- Joe Moore, DNC Member and 49th Ward Alderman
- Dr. David Gill, candidate for 15th Congressional District
And two of the six candidates DFAers in Illinois elected to local office in 2005:
- Lali Watt, Evanston DFA meetup host and recently elected Wilmette Village Trustee
- Holly Johnson, Rockford DFA meetup ost and recently elected Byron Park District Commisioner
After our meeting we will head to the the rally -- a big event that will include pretty much every important Dem in the state of Illinois. And of course there will be plenty of pre and post rally socializing, plus a chance to enjoy the state fair.
You can get all the travel details here:
http://www.democracyforillinois.org/statefair
Go here for fun pictures of Barack Obama and Dick Durbin at last year's rally:
http://photos.obamaforillinois.com/gallery/196846/1/7509429
See you there! (Or sent your letter to dfi.letters at gmail.com.)