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Remember, Remember, the 4th of November

(Arlington County Democratic Committee)There was an autumn chill in the air on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, yet more than one million people huddled together in Grant Park in Chicago to witness the historic acceptance speech of our new president, Barack Obama.

Six hundred miles east, a crowd of hundreds gathered in front of the White House in Washington, DC – singing, dancing, and heralding the change that we had waited so long to come. Here in Arlington, the Democratic Party gathered at Bailey’s Bar and Grille and toasted the hard work of thousands of volunteers who had turned Virginia blue in a presidential election for the first time in 44 years. It was a night of anticipation; it was a night of hope; it was a night of unabashed joy.

But as we all know, Election Night 2009 did not yield the same successes as Election Night 2008. Twelve short months after Obama’s amazing election, statewide in Virginia, the wheels came off. Anticipation gave way to frustration, frustration gave way to apathy, and that apathy led to the election of Bob McDonnell, Ken Cuccinelli, and a disappointing Republican slate in November of last year.

In Arlington, I am proud to say that we largely weathered this 2009 storm. In this same November that yielded disappointing results across the state, Arlington voters cast 66% of their votes for Democratic gubernatorial
candidate Creigh Deeds. But we would be naďve if we did not recognize that the same potential for disengagement that plagued Democrats statewide in 2009 remains in 2010.

It is in this environment, though, that I believe political parties can make a real difference. When I was elected to as ACDC chair five short months ago, I talked about the importance of personal engagement – that apathy can be overcome by getting out into our neighborhoods and talking to voters about what the Democratic party stands for, and why their votes have made a difference in the last two years.

That’s why this year ACDC is currently organizing our largest summer voter identification drive ever, knocking on people’s doors and seeing what matters to them. That’s why we are investing in new volunteer management tools, to make sure that no volunteer who comes through our doors slips through the cracks. And that’s why we are constantly striving to improve our communications infrastructure, to make sure we have an efficient and effective way to distribute the Democratic message to our Democratic voters.

As we proceed from here into the heat of campaign season 2010, I think each of us needs to think back to what it felt like on November 4, 2008, and to believe that with hard work, we have the ability to feel that same sense of victory and pride again. Remember, remember the 4th of November—a night that that reminds us what Democrats can achieve when they work to their full potential.