I think Meredith would be the ideal party chair for two reasons.

First, in the time I've been volunteering with the DPO, my focus has been helping the DPO more effectively work with the county and CD parties outside the Portland-Salem axis. Meredith has shared my vision and been very supportive. I believe she truly understands how important it is to do long term party building in rural and small town areas. And she has good ideas about how to accomplish those goals.

She is the only candidate who participated in the Rural Caucus retreat. She is the only candidate who helped organize the Gun Owners Caucus. She walks her talk.

Second, and most importantly, Meredith has years of experience with the DPO. She has cultivated countless relationships with people in the DPO and partner organizations all over the state. And those relationships are important. They will allow the DPO to hit the ground running. We have a lot of work to do and 2008 is closer than we think.

The other candidates are capable, passionate, intelligent people. I like and respect Carol Voisin for her courageous run against Walden, and Dan Carol for his Apollo Project, but I think they need to spend a year or so working within the DPO before they're ready to seize the helm.

This is an important election and Meredith is the right candidate to lead us forward.

This may be a silly question but who gets to vote in this election. I assume either county chairs or PCPs.

who is Jefferson Smith supporting.

I submitted my evaluations of and experiences with the Candidates to Baker County Democrats steering committee. I had nothing negative to say about the qualities of the candidates and in certain respects I am torn. I have friends in this campaign and that makes things difficult. I have the greatest respect for every candidate, but I've tried to make one thing clear and it's a huge deal.

The DPO is not a cohesive organization, there are a lot of different ideas competing within it. There are times that the majority opinion in DPO does not well serve the Party and there are times a vocal minority does not well serve the Party, it takes careful leadership to defuse these situations and it takes knowlege of the participants and the processes. Bluntly put, it takes old fashioned politicing, knowing who to go to, knowing how to fashion the arguments for each individual and area.

I do not believe that DPO Chair is a good place to start out in DPO, there is a learning curve if one wishes to be effective and the only real place to learn is in the SCC. It is of vast importance that the county parties believe they have a friend in DPO's hierarchy, and the smaller the delegation the larger that need is (essentially rural counties).

Meredith has done the foot work inside DPO, she has shown her abilities and commitments. I have watched and listened to the leadership of DPO very carefully and Meredith has always been a stand-out in consensus building, openness to ideas, and willingness to listen and build partnerships. She has visited our county several times. I whole-heartedly support Meredith Wood-Smith for Chair.

I'd also like to encourage the other cadidates to step into the operation of DPO and learn how this thing works. DPO has shown some very real successes over the last couple years and these can be built upon and improved with dedicated members, new blood is of great import. I really wish there was some way to fold all these candidates into leadership. Thanks, Chuck

I've put a bit up on my Blog, my name links to it.

One correction -

Bert leads off this thread stating that Meredith was the only candidate at the Rural Caucus Retreat. Yes she was there, but so was Carol Voisin. I know, I organized that meeting.

OK I am going to try this again--I wrote it- Posted it but it did not show up So here we go: Thanks for all your comments. I just returned from all day meetings, had dinner and am ready to respond.

Bert, Pat, Chuck, Steven,

Thanks for your support and comments (and I might add, points I need to remember). I look forward to working with all of you in the next couple of years

The challenge before us is to bring rural, suburban and urban Oregon to work as one in enacting the Democratic Agenda (health care--including mental health facilities and care--, education from K through post secondary, living wage jobs, viable and sustainable energy policies and economic opportunities, workable and just land use laws, honest and truthful government, and civil rights for all Oregonians) and to elect good Democrats who will restore the social contract that has been broken by a Republican-controlled Legislature and Congress. We have allowed the Republicans to seize the conversation and create a further divide between us, and we need to say "No More". Yes there are different solutions in creating a better life for all of us and our geography presents some very unique challenges, but I believe we can do it if we all work together. We have a great beginning with the leadership already demonstrated by the Governor’s budget and the actions of our Democratic Legislature. I was thrilled by the leadership shown by Senate President Peter Courtney and Speaker Jeff Merkley at today’s City Club luncheon.

Charlie People who vote in the election for State Party officers are delegates elected from the county parties—each county gets two delegates plus one additional delegate for each 15,000 registered Democrat residing in the county… so…. it’s our job to get more Democrats registered and to have all of us on this blog become involved in our county parties!

Andrew, Thanks for your comments and support and remember I am counting on you to help us involve more young people in the Democratic Party and you keeping your promise to return to Oregon so I can someday vote for you for Governor.

AND FOR EVERYONE WHO READS AND COMMENTS ON BLUE OREGON—I HOPE I WILL SEE ALL OF YOU AT THE DPO’S NO-SPEECHES DINNER AND AUCTION ON MARCH 17TH (ST.PATRICK’S DAY). GO TO WWW.DPO.ORG -- SEE YOU THERE.

Thanks Mark I appreciate your support and the work you do--I know you make the Multnomah County newsletter happen and we all appreciate the hard work you do--thank you!

Meredith

Steve:

I don't recall Carol Voisin being at the Rural Caucus Retreat, but I think your memory of the retreat is more reliable than mine. I retract the statement that Meredith was the only candidate at the Rural Caucus Retreat.

P.S. Who would have thought that one of the dominating topics in the party chair election would be rural and small town democrats? Yay, our team!

Jensen, I am sorry we never did hook up. I would like to try again so I would appreciate an email from you and phone number so we can find a time to meet.

About young people, as we work on the Outreach Diversity Plan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention Delegate Selection Plan we will have some specific goals and strategies to create more opportunities for youth participation. During the last meeting of the DNC we had active involvement of the Young Democrats and there is specific consideration language in the Delegate Selection Plan. If elected chair I would hope to make this a permanent committee that can work with all the officers and our Constituency Director in meeting these goals. Participation on the DPO's committees and having young people intern in our office are other ways we will be engaging youth. Many of the staff at the DPO are under age 35.

We also need to actively engage with young people in our Community Colleges and Universities and by listening, find the best ways to create the opportunities for their participation.

We currently have an article about the College Democrats up on the DPO front page and I also encourage you to contact Ben Lenet, the chair of the College Democrats to see how you can work with him in involving more young people. His information is available on www.dpo.org communities page.

Please email me so we can talk about some very specific details off line.

Thanks for asking the question about youth involvement. I look forward to working with you during the next two years. My email is [email protected] Meredith

Paulie I think it is important that I give a little background to your question.

In 2003 I was elected to the Executive Committee of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (“ASDC”) to represent the Western States Caucus. The Executive Committee and the whole ASDC met in Orlando in December 2004, and voted to ask any candidate for DNC chair to agree to certain conditions if he or she wanted our support. (The ASDC represents the largest “block” of votes on the DNC. I believe all the candidates for Chair spoke to us in Orlando.) The most relevant parts of that agreement were: 1. That the candidates for DNC Chair would travel to the four DNC regional caucuses and participate in a panel for ASDC and DNC members and the general public. This was the first time, to my knowledge, that such candidate panels had been conducted around the country for DNC Chair. Many of the candidates for the DNC Vice Chair positions attended as well.

The Western Caucus meeting was held in Sacramento—I did not attend as I had a prior family commitment but if I remember correctly, the rest of our DNC Delegation did—I had, however, listened to all the candidates at the Orlando meeting.

1. That they would work with us in developing a 50+ 6 strategy in which there would be an investment in all the states and territories, that none would be left out. As Oregon was considered a "swing" state in 2000 and 2004, we had benefited from both candidate and DNC monies; many states had not. (Montana for example received only $5,000 in national money, yet changed their Governor and Legislature to Democratic while still voting for Bush.) We, all 50 states and 6 territories, knew the only way we could build our Democratic Base was to invest in every state and territory.

2. That the DNC would develop and honor a revenue-sharing agreement with the states. This was particularly relevant in the “Big money states” (CA, MI,NY,FL,MA etc) but many of the smaller states watched the DNC come into their state, raise a lot of money and leave with it all (and we have had that experience as well).

I read a lot of materials, and had phone conversations with the candidates and many of their supporters (many more than once) between the meeting in FL and the ASDC Exec Committee Meeting in NY in late January 05. After careful consideration, I voted (non binding) for Donny Fowler at the ASDC Exec Committee meeting because I thought he would bring new young energy into the DNC and he had excellent skills and knowledge. (Just as an FYI Donnie Fowler and Howard Dean had both agreed to the ASDC “conditions.”) When the final vote came for the full ASDC endorsement for “our ASDC and Oregon” candidate I voted for Howard Dean, and at the vote that counted (the one at the DNC) I voted for Howard. Note that I was the only member of Oregon’s delegation on the ASDC Executive Committee, and on that Committee I represent not only Oregon, but all the Western States, so I was not “breaking with our delegation.” (I was also the only voting member of the ASDC present at the Orlando meeting, where we first met all the candidates.) To my knowledge, I, we (Oregon) have not been “punished” for my vote (at the ASDC Exec Com mtg.) as we continue to have excellent support from the DNC and I enjoy a positive relationship with the Chairman and the staff.

Since becoming Chair of the DNC, Howard Dean has followed through with every Commitment and more with the state parties and I am thankful that he is our Chairman.

The following Feb 1, 2005 post on Blue Oregon and DPO Press release may be instructive: As the DNC chair race reportedly boils down to Gov. Howard Dean, Rep. Martin Frost and Donnie Fowler, the Oregon delegation has cast its lot with Dean. Here's the announcement... “...The delegation had been holding off on a public announcement while waiting for the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) to make a recommendation. The ASDC voted this morning to endorse Dean. Portland resident Meredith Wood Smith, vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon and ASDC executive committee member said, “The ASDC is enthusiastic about Dean’s candidacy. He’ll be a strong advocate for state parties and grassroots activism. “State party organizations had expressed concerns that the DNC was too focused on the presidential campaign and targeted states, leaving state and local parties struggling to provide much of their own resources. The ASDC based its recommendation on how the candidates promised to better support state and local parties.”

I will not “hold it against:” any delegate who votes for my opponents in this DPO Chair race and if I am not elected, I will ask my supporters, along with the other DPO Chair candidates and their supporters, to continue to support and work with the Democratic Party of Oregon and to continue to build on our recent successes. What more can I say? Meredith AND I HOPE I WILL SEE ALL OF YOU AT THE MARCH 17TH (ST. PATRICK’S DAY) DINNER AND NO SPEECHES AUCTION—GO TO WWW.DPO.ORG FOR YOUR TICKETS

I'm for Meredith.

Regarding the Young Dems, I and others have been involved in past attempts to start a statewide YD's, and it has never really happened in the decade + or so that I have been active in the party. One of the problems from the get go is that some people seem to have their own agendas, and petty personality conflicts sometimes prevent people from unting and moving ahead. That is what happened at the Captiol in '01 when some of us tried to get the YD's going. I also think that a lot of young activists don't want to deal with the parlimentary requirements of a tradition political organizations. That is, they want to do more than just meet.

Fortunately, a meeting at a PDX pub in late '01 resulted in an organization that has worked hard and effectively at the recruitment of young Democratic voters (or progressive voters, as they would say)- The Oregon Bus Project.

"Regarding the Young Dems, I and others have been involved in past attempts to start a statewide YD's, and it has never really happened in the decade + or so that I have been active in the party. " Talk to Jim Robison about what th e group did in the 1980s.

Before Meredith, I don't know if anyone from the DPO had ever set foot in our rural, "non-targeted" county. Meredith has spent several full days leading trainings and strategic planning workshops for the Polk County Democrats since I began volunteering in 2004. When our organization was in a leadership crisis and we asked for assistance, Meredith was there for us and helped us work out a solution that minimized damage and allowed us to move forward and grow into a larger, more productive party organization.

As an officer of our county party, I knew I could always count on Meredith for her wisdom and assistance. At the same time, she respects and encourages the autonomy of each county organization, pushing us to do more on our own than we had imagined possible. Now that I am no longer an officer, I STILL know that Meredith is only a phone call or an email away. The communication lines are always open. It's a good feeling.

Meredith understands how important every voter, every volunteer, and every county organization is to our Party. And she has the experience and the time to be our new Chair. As others have said, we have an impressive field of candidates. But the person we need at the top now is Meredith.

Ms. Wood Smith:

With all due respect, what does the "agreement" about when DNC members would endorse (vis-a-vis a recommendation by the ASDC) have to do with how you voted?

When you answer the actual question from paulie, you seem to be saying you thought really long and hard about your vote, suggesting you read lots of materials and were lobbied by the candidates and their supporters (many more than once.) But then you made the judgment that Donnie Fowler would be the best chair of the DNC, not Howard Dean. (Please, correct me if I'm wrong Ms. Wood Smith.)

It seems like you're making excuses when you say things like: your vote was non-binding, and you supported Howard Dean in later rounds of the vote (once it was clear he was going to win.)

Regarding your support for Donnie Fowler: Are you saying, by implication, that you didn't think Howard Dean would bring new "energy" into the DNC and that Dean didn't, in your judgment, seem to have "excellent skills and knowledge"?

You close by asking: What more can I say?

I'd just like an honest, succinct explanation of why you didn't think Howard Dean was our best choice for DNC chair when you represented us at the ASDC. (No essay on the bylaws or discussion of the period when you finally threw your support to him, like everyone in the DNC ultimately did once it became clear his election was inevitable.)

<h2>Why didn't you initially support Howard Dean and in retrospect was your judgment wrong?</h2>