Our Agenda for the Future

      What have we accomplished over the past two years?

• We are a party of volunteers. I am most proud of our efforts to provide a welcoming environment in which as many volunteers as possible can find the job that makes the best use of their talents.

• We provided Jim Webb with a 33,000-vote victory margin in Arlington, enabling him to win Virginia by 9,300 votes

• Democrats now hold all elected offices in Arlington

• We have a new metro-accessible headquarters

• We have a new website and communications strategy

What are our general goals for the next two years?

• Our top priority for the next two years is to continue to encourage as many volunteers as possible to support Arlington Democrats

• Arlington Democrats must continue to be ready to elect all our candidates---from the school house to the white house

• We must continue to win all our local elections decisively

• We will be the pacesetting democratic committee helping to carry Virginia for state-wide Democratic candidates

• We will strive to be the model democratic committee in Virginia and nationally

• We will continue to win elections decisively, while also holding ourselves to high standards of behavior

What are our Specific Priorities for 2008-2009?

      In 2008, we must elect Mark Warner to the U.S. Senate and carry Virginia for our Democratic Presidential candidate. In 2009, we must elect another Democratic Governor. To meet those challenges, we must concentrate on these specific priorities:

• Voter id and voter canvassing: We must continue to update our voter records and raise voter awareness of the stakes in the 2008 and 2009 elections

• Targeted outreach: We must continue to make a special effort to connect with more voters whose participation in our elections should be greater, including:

• African Americans
• Latinos
• Asians, North Africans, other new citizens
• Voters in high rise and other multi-unit buildings

• Technology: We must continue to make smarter use of technology to connect with volunteers and voters, focusing on our:

• website
• e-mail lists
• databases

• Fundraising: We must continue to find innovative new ways to raise money, and make better uses of our traditional sources of financial support

• promote our success to a national donor base
• develop new sustaining donors
• solicit more targeted contributions

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      Speaking out against apartheid in South Africa in 1966, Robert Kennedy reminded us that:

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.”