Progressive Democrats of Cambridge (PDC)
Reorganization meeting March 23, 2005
Meeting Notes
Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Massachusetts Avenue
In attendance: Lesley Phillips, Jesse Gordon, Shai Sachs, Garrett Anderson, Brian Young, Elaine Giddis, Ethan Kiczek, Megan Amundsen, Sam Seidel, Bruce Taub and Ken Thomson
Introductions and What Brought us to Progressive Democrats of Cambridge (PDC)
Everybody was welcomed to the meeting, and then we went around the room to tell why we all came to this meeting.
Lesley: the party was fossilized and needed new energy.
Elaine: Worked with Cambridge activist Lee Mintz on anti-Finneran efforts in the State House. Elaine feels Howard Dean should be used effectively for the Democratic party. An example of the kind of action that could be taken might include an audit of the national Dem. Party to find out where all the money we raised in the last presidential went.
Brian: Worked on the Robert Reich campaign, and is a delegate to the state convention.
Garrett: Just moved to MA, right in the midst of the presidential campaign. Though he contacted the state party months ago, he is still waiting to hear from them. He feels the party needs to be reenergized.
Shai: Came from the Dean campaign, and he is more interested in structural issues, and the power of technology. He also is interested in the transition of going from conservative to progressive.
Jesse: A candidate for Cambridge City Council, Jesse believes that there is a progressive majority out there. The Reich assumption in the 2002 gubernatorial was that the independents are progressives.
Megan: Less interested in Democratic Party reform, and more interested in local issues.
Sam: A candidate for Cambridge City Council, Sam wants to help articulate what a progressive future would look like, and argue why people should support it.
History of Progressive Democrats of Cambridge
History: At the end of the Reich campaign in September 2002, people did not want to go and work for Shannon O’Brien. So they decided to form their own group, and out of this came Progressive Dems of Mass. (PDM) and various chapters including Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) and Progressive Dems of Cambridge (PDC).
PDS formed mostly around the issue of the Scorecard, and has continued to develop from there.
PDC sponsored the 2003 City Council debates as well as a 2004 debate in the Avi Green-Tim Toomey race.
What Do We Think this Group Should Do?
Megan: She is less interested in Democratic Party reform issues and she is more interested in city politics.
Jesse: Interested in changing both the process and in changing specific policies.
Lesley: Cambridge is a progressive city.
Shai: Is concerned about developing a national message, and has participated on the Principles Project online (http://www.principlesproject.com/)
Garrett: The question he is concerned about is how to translate reform goals? He believes the group should hook up with other groups to get coordination.
Brian: Believes this group should focus on concrete goals to help the city. There are lots of things that could happen at the local level. Supports gay marriage.
Elaine: Trying to find a way to be most effective. Very concerned about health care, and Medicare for example. Sense of confusion – we all share the same principles, yet we don’t know how we are going to be effective. There are so many fronts and we need to focus on things of human value and of social value. Just want to find a place where she can be most effective.
Ethan: Frustrated with the right. Frustrated with the left. The left seems to lack focus. The question then is: how do we get the message out, and technology is key here. People don’t connect their sense of frustration with their ability to have an impact at the local level.
Interesting Dichotomies came out of the Meeting
We also came up with some dichotomies:
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Politics v. policy |
There are those who are more focused on the political process, and there are those who are more concentrated on advocating and implementing specific policies. |
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Structural v. substantive |
Here again, there are people who believe that the focus needs to be on structural reform in institution like the city and state Democratic Parties, and those that believe that issues based advocacy is the key component and deserves our focus. |
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Cambridge v. state v. national |
Determining the right level to participate is also a question raised by the group. |
It was also noted that there was a theme from the discussion that people were simply tired of oppression.
Progressive Democrats of America
Bruce Taub from Progressive Democrats of America came to speak about the organization PDA, and said that one of the goals of the national organization it to link up these various local groups that are springing up around the country.
Principles
Action Items:
Plus/Delta