Involvement in Jefferson County PA: Summary of Democratic Committee Meeting

If you are interested in being more involved with democratic action in Jefferson County, PA, then please consider attending a meeting of the Jefferson County Democrats!

At these meetings, you will get to meet candidates and elected officials, hear from representatives of the state democratic committee, participate in voter outreach, and hear about the policies that are shaping your lives! You will also have time to socialize with people who share your values.

At their most recent meeting on May 28, the Jefferson County Democrats finalized their decision to have booths for outreach and voter registration, discussed the importance of unifying behind the democratic Presidential nominee, and heard updates from regional candidates such as Mark McCracken (5th Congressional) and Don Hilliard (66th PA state legislative). The campaigns are reaching out to voters in all parties. This is a republican dominant county. We will need cross party votes to get our candidates into office!

They also received an update on the Obama campaign from me: the campaign is back in town and gearing up for the next phase! Please let me know if you are interested in helping with the campaign. We will be working with the Jefferson Democrats to get more people registered to vote!

Finally, the Jefferson Democrats were visited by Brigid Sullivan from the DNC who came to discuss the Neighborhood Leader program. The Neighborhood Leader program asks that you speak with at least 25 voters about our democratic candidates three times from now until November. No problem!

The outreach and voter registration booths will be held at the Jefferson County Fair and the Sykesville Ag & Youth Fair. They will also look into having booths at the Laurel Festival, the Brockway Festival, and the Reynoldsville Homecoming. They will not have a booth at the Punxsy Festival due to the numerous rules.

Chairman Lu Inzana asked that everyone attend each festival and fair wearing buttons, etc. to show support for the party and for democratic candidates.

He also asked that all democrats come together to support our likely presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama

Lu Inzana said that we in NW Pennsylvania have a chance to make a real showing in this race.

PA is quite often a swing state in elections. By coming out in record numbers, we have a chance to impact this election.

All democrats must support the democratic candidate if we are to get a democrat back into the oval office!

I hope you will consider getting involved by helping at at voter registration booth, showing your support for all of the democratic candidates, and by participating in the Neighborhood Leader program.

Involvement through County Committes and Campaigns (a summary of the Clearfiled County Meeting)

You can get more involved in democracy by joining your local democratic committee! There was a meeting of the Clearfield County Democrats on Tuesday, May 13th. If you live in Clearfield, PA, please consider joining them at their next meeting on June 10th.

At their latest meeting, the Clearfield County Democrats discussed several outlets for involvement including joining sub-committees to plan fund raising and voter registration events, attending the Pennsylvania Democrats Committee Meeting, taking the DNC Neighborhood Leader pledge, and hosting a house party for 5th Congressional District Democratic Candidate Mark McCracken.

The committee is currently forming a sub-committee to plan a voter registration both at the Clearfield County Fair the last week of July in partnership with the City of DuBois Democratic Committee.

A sub-committee will also be formed to plan a fund raiser later this summer. They are also in the process of developing a web page to help reach out to interested democratic voters.

Various other means of involvement and strategies were discussed that evening.
They were joined by Missy Stehr-Wood, the DNC Regional Field Organizer for Central PA as well as Clearfield County's Commissioner and 5th Congressional District Democratic Candidate Mark McCracken.

Missy Stehr-Wood invited everyone to observe the Pennsylvania Democratic Committee Meeting on June 6th and 7th. On Friday June 6th, there will be a fund raising diner at the Radisson Penn Harrisburg. On Saturday, June 7th, there will be VAN (aka vote builder) training as well as election protection training. Saturday is also when the state committee and caucus meetings are held, general members are welcome to observe. After the committee meeting, she meets with democrats from Central PA for a informal session of idea exchange. You can contact Missy at stehrwood(at)dnc.org.

Visit the PA Democratic Committee Site for more information about the State Committee Meeting on June 6 & 7.

Missy also joined the meeting to promote the DNC Neighborhood Leader Program. They ask that we each pledge to talk to at least 25 people about candidates at least three times before November! I know you can do it! If you are interested in taking the pledge and learning more about the program, then go to their site.


Clearfield County Commissioner and 5th Congressional District Democratic Candidate Mark McCracken shared stories of his success on April 22. He received 80% of the democratic votes from Clearfield County. If you are interested in helping to make sure Mark gets to represent us in Congress, then consider hosting a house party!

House parties are en excellent way for people to get to know Mark McCracken and to judge for themselves that he is the best person to represent the 5th Congressional District. Invite your Democratic friends as well as Independents and Republicans. To help Mark win, we need bi-partisan support!

I have been talking to Mark about his positions on climate change, touch screen voting machines, nuclear power, and other issues touched on by the WPSU 5th District Candidate Quiz. I know that some people find him to be less than progressive. However, Mark McCracken is someone who listens. I believe he is more concerned with promoting the interests of his constituents than he is with following his own policy agendas, and that is what makes him the best candidate for the 5th Congressional District.

If you are interested in helping Mark McCraken, visit his website for more information.

The Clearfield County Democrats are trying to make a comeback, and you can help. The committee's bi-laws were written in 1957, but the committee became inactive after the 1960s. We can help change the conservative, republican trend in rural PA by communicating with our friends, co-workers, and neighbors; hosting house parties and fund raisers for the democratic candidates in our region; and coordinating events to elevate the public profile of democrats in the area.


Please come to the meeting on June 10th at the Steelworkers Union Hall and get involved!

Summary: New Priorities Vigil in Dubois, PA

Last Wednesday a group of six dedicated individuals stood in the rain beside Liberty Blvd. in Dubois, Pennsylvania, to acknowledge that it has been FIVE LONG YEARS since the United States entered Iraq.

We were met with honks of support!

A photographer from the local paper, the Courier Express said that we were newsworthy because we were standing in the rain. The photo from the paper is to the right ->


What a shame, to only be newsworthy because we stood in the rain.

Is it not newsworthy that people in this rural, republican area are coming out into the open to make their voices heard, to say that war is not something we should stay in just to save face? That there are lives at stake, the dear lives of our loved ones?

At the Vigil, we talked about the need to find people in our sparse area who think the way that we do. We know YOU are out there...we know that you might feel silenced by the voices around you who speak in a manner so differently from how you think and what you value. There are ways we can come together through MoveON.org and Democracy for America's PA for Democracy. Check them out. Please also respond to this blog!

In the days that followed, I was surprised how many co-workers and neighbors told me they shared my view. We are tired of this war.

We want to support our troops by bringing them home!
We want a candidate who will not rush us into war!

We will meet again, myself and the dedicated five who stood in the rain, on April 18th at the Penn State Dubois campus where the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit will be displayed from 10am-6pm.
The evening will close with a candlelight vigil from 6pm-8pm.
I hope you can join us.

The exhibit was created by the American Friends Service Committee. It visually portrays the human cost of war.


Will you join us?