DNC Spring Meeting in New Orleans Starts Today

Tim is doing some live blogging at the DNC site. I'll try to post updates to this thread :hi:

First AP coverage:

NEW ORLEANS Apr 20, 2006 (AP)— Wielding hammers, crowbars and shovels, Democrats plan to clean out hurricane-ravaged homes in this slowly recovering city, a project designed to highlight the party's criticism of the Bush administration.
...
Dean will help in the cleanup process and give a keynote speech that is expected to criticize the administration's reconstruction efforts while emphasizing the Democratic party's commitment to rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

Post-hurricane New Orleans "is not just a symbol of Bush's incompetence but it's also a reminder that we can't leave our fellow Americans behind," Karen Finney, a party spokeswoman, said.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2237736&mesg_id=2237736

The agenda as it stood last week-

DNC Spring Meeting This Weekend
This Thursday marks the beginning of the DNC Spring Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana -- the event extends through Saturday evening. Josh McConaha and I will be down there, digital and video cameras in tow.....

Community Service Projects: A total of four different opportunities to help people in the hurricane ravaged area.

Thursday
- Hispanic Caucus Session
- Rules & Bylaws Session
- Youth Council
- Resolutions Committee
- Asian Pacific Islander American Caucus
- Black Caucus
- Hispanic Caucus
- Native American Coordinating Council
- Regional Caucuses (East, West, Midwest, Southern)

Friday
- Women's Caucus
- Executive Committee Meeting
- GLBT Caucus
- ASDC Meeting
- Seniors Coordinating Council
- DNC Polling Briefing
- Veterans and Military Families Council

Saturday
- Rural Council
- General Session
- Southern Caucus Session

There are also a number of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners hosted by cities hoping to provide the site for the 2008 Democratic Convention which might be interesting to some out there.

Spring Meeting: Executive Director Session
Posted by Tim Tagaris on April 20, 2006 at 11:51 AM

First stop on today's agenda after a quick staff meeting, was a meeting of Executive Directors from across the country. As I walked in, DNC staffer Paul Hegarty was briefing the EDs on the 50 State Canvass taking place on April 29th. It was a great way to start the morning, the audience was enthused, and questions were flying across the room about best practices from inside individual states. Nebraska Democratic Party Executive Director, Barry Rubin, held court for a few minutes discussing how his state has taken these online tools into the offline world to promote the cavass. But back to Paul's presentation: here's a quick video clip discussing the large-scale success of the canvass in several states:

http://www.democrats.org/blog.html

any info on where the DNC will be in the city tomorrow? The French Quarter Festival will be going providing a very large crowd to mingle about with.

I posted it in GD last night, and I had to kick it myself to get it noticed. It's more fun to say "where are the Democrats" and just ignore what they are doing.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x973750


It's on C-Span Saturday about 10:30.

in Memphis.

Hah ... just answered my own question.

Spring Meeting: Resolutions Committee
Posted by Tim Tagaris on April 20, 2006 at 05:00 PM
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Happening at the same time as the Rules Committee Meeting, the Resolutions Committee took to business in the ballroom right next door. I was kind of confused going into the meeting, and this is how its purpose was explained to me: Consider the Resolutions Committee as kind of like the Senate Judiciary Committee. A resolution goes before the committee, and if passed it goes forward to the General Session for full approval on Saturday morning. I wasn't able to stay for the entire time because of multiple meetings taking place simultaneously, but here are a few of the resolutions that were put forth:

1.) Calls on the Bush Administration to stop undermining the national security, homeland security, economic security, and health security of American families (passed)

2.) Calls on the Republican Party to stop dividing Americans to win elections and calls on the Bush Adminstration to renounce its support for H.R. 4437 and to support comprehensive immigration reform (passed)

3.) Supports creating and keeping good jobs in America (passed)

4.) Supports clean, honest, and transparents elections in the United States (passed)

5.) Supports adoption of the Katrina Bill of Rights and H.R. 4197 (passed)

That's when I left. Among others, there were resolutions that dealt with port security, voting rights, a National Election Integrity clearninghouse, rememberence of Coretta Scott King, Senator Bill Proxmire, and Ron Brown. I'll hopefully have a full reports of the pieces that passed through the committee and their final adoption by the end of the weekend.

http://www.democrats.org/a/2006/04/spring_meeting_4.php

Let's give it a kick. Our Democrats are coming together, meeting, from all over the country. And it is virtually being ignored.

Yes, they are doing things. No, I did not see this event mentioned on the news tonight, did you?

This sure is getting ignored.