Progressive Democrat Issue 89: VIRGINIA FOCUS

This comes from Documenting Democracy giving you another view of how we can win this year:

We know that 2006 could be a historic year - Democrats could take back either or both chambers of the U.S. Congress - and wouldn't that be a blessing! Across the state, Democrats are working hard to push the party's candidates. Here's what you can do to help....(By Rick Howell)

....call your local Democratic committee or the campaign representative in your area to get involved. Don't know those numbers? Get on Yahoo or Google and use the search engine to find what you need. If you're on this site, then you most likely accessed it from the Virginia Democratic Party Web site.

The party has a listing of all city and county chairs. Call those numbers and you can find out where your talents are needed.

I'm now a member of the Lynchburg Democratic Committee; I'd previously served as Amherst County chair. In Lynchburg, Democrats have made remarkable strides in recent years, carrying the city both for Mark Warner in 2001, Tim Kaine in 2005, and then electing Shannon Valentine as a new breath of Democratic fresh air to replace Preston Bryant in the legislature.

Most of us are focused on Jim Webb's Senate campaign; and some of us are helping Al Weed's congressional bid in the neighboring Fifth District. Wherever you are, whatever district you're in, you can help us for Jim Webb or perhaps for a local House candidate.

Every day we see the reminders of why this should be a big Democratic year: the Bush presidency is effectively dead; the war has now been judged by most Americans as a mistake; the rising price of gas; an increasingly uncertain economy; new concerns (thanks to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth") about global warming - these reasons and more give our party a chance to restore common sense, decency, and yes, peace, to our country.

Help us today. Help Jim Webb. Help local Congressional candidates. It's our country, too, and we need to take it back from those who have managed it so irresponsibly.

(Rick Howell is a teacher, writer, and long-time Democratic Party activist who currently belongs to the Lynchburg Democratic Committee. He can be reached at NewCenHowell@aol.com)

And I also want to remind you that my Virginia Act Blue Page so far only has $100 in donations...that's less than on may Iowa page even though I have fewer readers from Iowa.