TriValley Democratic Club EVENT BULLETIN + PLUS Sunday, 24 February 2019

[Ellis Goldberg]

TriValley Democratic Club EVENT BULLETIN Sunday, 24 February 2019 www.TriValleyDems.com/Calendar.htm   Empowering Democrats with opportunities to have a positive political impact on people, planet, jobs, justice & peace.

Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland	Thursday February 28 6 PM – 9 PM	Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Meeting This meeting will feature our state reps-Sen Skinner, Asm Bonta and Asm Wicks discussing their upcoming legislative agenda with us.  Potluck at 6PM – meeting at 6:45PM.
Crow Canyon Country Club 711 Silver Lake Drive, Danville	Thursday, February 28 6:00 Networking 6:30 Dinner 7 PM Program	San Ramon Valley Democratic Club presents Christine Pelosi (shown with her mom) “Life as a Democratic Activist”  The San Ramon Valley Democratic Club welcomes Christine Pelosi who has spent her life successfully fighting for the Democratic party. We are eager to hear about and learn from her many experiences: serving as Executive Director of the California Democratic Party (CDP), Chair of CDP’s Platform Committee for 13 years, and Chair of CDP’s Women’s Caucus for 7 years. Christine is counsel and co-founder of WeSaidEnough.com, a foundation which launched the #MeToo political movement in October 2017.   ($28 members; $33 nonmembers)  RSVP Required  pres...@srvdems.org
San Leandro Public Library, San Leandro	1st Wednesdays March 6 7 - 9 PM	Alameda County Democratic Central Committee meeting  See Alameda County Central Committee Calendar  for meeting details also  April 3, May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, September 4
USW Local 5, 1333 Pine Street, Martinez		Democratic Party of Contra Costa County Central Committee EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Peacock Hall Rossmoor, Walnut Creek	Monday March 11 1 and 7 PM	Join the Democrats of Rossmoor  for Films: Putin’s Revenge I and Putin’s Revenge II Putin’s Revenge is a riveting investigation of how the U.S. struggled to confront Vladimir Putin over Russian involvement in the 2016 election, how revenge may have motivated Putin to target American democracy and the U.S. responses under Presidents Obama and Trump. Part One of Putin’s Revenge is a portrait of what makes the Russian leader tick, and the events that shaped his belief that the U.S. has sought to undermine Russia dating back to the fall of the Soviet Union. Part Two delves into the riveting story of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. election, and how and why the Obama administration struggled to confront Putin about both election interference and, before that, Putin’s actions in Ukraine.
Creekside Club Room Rossmoor, Walnut Creek	Thursday March 14 4:30 PM	Join the Democrats of Rossmoor  for  TGWD: strategic planning Please bring snacks to share; wine will be available for a $5 donation. The March 14 meeting will be a strategic planning event held in the Club Room will include a few representatives from other clubs. We will use the Newsom Budget and Flip Charts to provide and visualize aligning the flow of each level being worked on, including a vote on DoR priorities and CA Democratic priorities. INFO
Lafayette Library Community Room	Thursday March 14 7 - 9 PM	LaMorinda Democratic Club Meeting Coming Up for Air – Join us for a panel presentation featuring Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, as we discuss what’s next in the fight for clean air.
IBEW Hall 6250 Village Pkwy Dublin Please help fill the food bank barrel	Friday March 1  6:30PM CANCELED	invite you to Voter Engagement in Tri-Valley. Why? Because we believe current elected officials in state/local levels are not representing us, and we still need to register youth and minority voters in Tri-Valley. You know we are purple in Tri-Valley, don't you?  Please bring a dish to share and your friend/family! Please RSVP on this one. We need a headcount for the information package.
	Monday March 18 6:30 PM Doors Open 7 PM Meeting	The TriValley Democratic Club invites you to a meeting with Tony Green of the Tri-Valley Citizens Climate Lobby discussing the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Members are asked to bring desserts to share.  Public invited.
South Lawn of the California State Capitol 10th & L St Sacramento	Monday March 18 10 AM	California Moms Demand Action Advocacy Day Help to make it a success! Advocacy Day is a critical moment to demonstrate our grassroots power by meeting face-to-face with legislators to talk about our common sense approach to gun violence prevention and to ask for increased funding of the California’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (CalVIP). California has some of the strongest gun laws in the country, but our state needs to invest more in this program in order to meet the need and save the most lives. We are proud to be part of a diverse statewide coalition seeking an increased budget for CalVIP.  RSVP
Ygnacio Valley Library 2661 Oak Grove Rd Walnut Creek	Wednesday March 19 6:30 PM Doors Open 7 PM Meeting	Diablo Valley Democratic Club Meeting: click for website
Event Center	March 28, Thursday 6 p.m. social/town hall; 7 p.m. speaker	Join the Democrats of Rossmoor  for a General Meeting Speaker: Sarah Muller Hesketh, V.P. of External Affairs at the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) Ms. Hesketh’s topic for her March 28 speech will be  “Health Care in Flux.” Her appearance is timely and important.    INFO
Carpenters Hall 1050 Mattox Rd Hayward	Thursday March 21 5:30 to 8:30	Annual St Patrick's Day Dinner Join the Alameda Democrats
IBEW Local 302, 1875 Arnold Drive, Martinez	3rd Thursdays March 21  7pm-9pm	Democratic Party of Contra Costa County Central Committee MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS Opportunities to have an impact
Facebook	NOW	Join TOGETHER WE WILL on Facebook.  Social media for progressive impact. This is the Contra Costa chapter of the national Together We Will organization (http://twwusa.org). Members at every level are invited to participate, and leadership is committed to being inclusive and representative.  Together We Will stand up, refuse to be silenced, and reclaim our democracy as everyday people taking decisive, unified action to defend and advance our rights.  Contact on facebook Julie Petersen Davis
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano 4010 Nelson Avenue, Concord	Various Weekday Mornings	The Food Bank needs your help bagging and distributing groceries at our Antioch, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Rodeo and San Pablo Food Assistance Program sites. Your help is also needed at the  Richmond Food for Children site. Each distribution is held one weekday morning each month.  See the  2019 Distribution Site Schedule for times and places.  Please sign up today by contacting (925) 676-7543 or see the Foodbank Volunteer Calendar for more volunteer opportunities.

PLUS

Kittens get your act together “Democrats need to get their act together” is the frequent comment by those unfamiliar with the electoral process.  They mean to say Democrats should unite behind a single candidate early and not be disagreeing with each other over which candidate to support.  They have a picture in their minds of a monolithic Democratic Party that chooses the candidate to run.  “We are not an organized political party, we are Democrats” and “like herding kittens” is closer to the truth about how candidates are nominated and endorsed. Candidates are self-nominating in that after contemplation and discussions with supporters the candidate starts an exploratory committee to start raising money and to test the water.  If the candidates and supporters feel the water is fine, they jump in.  If more than one candidate from the Democratic Party wants the nomination, they compete for the party endorsement.  The endorsement process in California for the legislature includes running in the Pre-Primary Caucus where delegates to the state convention vote by assembly district.  Registered Democrats in their assembly district elect those delegates, their are also delegates elected by county central committees and some appointed by elected officials.  About one third of the delegates are chosen in each of those three categories.  If the candidate receives enough delegate votes in the Pre-Primary Caucus then they will be on the consent calendar for endorsement at the state party convention.  A candidate’s nomination can be pulled from the consent calendar and a vote by the delegates from their district attending the convention is taken to determine the endorsed candidate.  Once the candidate has the party nomination, then the campaign for the primary gets into full swing.  It is possible and in California probable that more than one Democrat will be in the primary.  In California we have top two primary rules, making it possible for two Democrats to be running for the same seat in the General Election in November.    In order to win in November the candidate needs to energize many activist supporters from Democratic Clubs, labor unions and allied organizations.  Activist support and campaign donations are required for a candidate to succeed but are still not a guarantee.  Competing candidates also have supporters so the team a candidate runs with has to beat the other candidate’s team to win.    The run for elected office is very analogous to how professional sports determine the championship.  Teams play all season and the ones with the best win/loss record proceed to the playoffs and then to the championship finals.  Fans may root for one team then change allegiance for the playoffs and finals.  Candidate’s supporters rarely change allegiances, if their candidate does not make it to the General Election they usually reduce campaigning efforts or campaign in another race.  It is unlikely that a supporter will jump to a candidate they initially opposed.  The weeding out of the candidate field is a good thing when the best strongest candidate emerges victorious, however great candidates sometimes lose to those who fight harder and dirtier.  Uniting behind a single presidential candidate after a hard fought primary season will be difficult even if the opposition candidate is dislikeable.  The American people are not just divided on party lines but also inside the Democratic Party we are divided between those who feel we cannot win without large corporate financial support and those who believe that support is the problem.  There are many other divisions based on competing priorities between many social and fiscal issues.  Activists, issues, values, rules, money and the candidate all come into the mix in determining who gets elected.  Each of us has a mind of our own that changes on occasion making it less likely that we can all “get our acts together”.  Individuals who think “getting our act together” can happen are taking a simplistic position that puts the responsibility of electing candidates on “the party” and relieves the individual of responsibility to elect candidates that will be a champion for them.  “The California Democratic Party” is actually a small handful of paid party professionals with a very limited budget and Democrats like YOU!    Republicans are not like Democrats in that their major value is discipline whereas the Democrats primary value is nurturance.  Disciplined Republicans fall in line with their party even if they really disagree with the party leadership, Democrats not so much.  Individual Democrats have values and priorities on which they base their actions and loyalties.  The Democratic Party is named after democracy, a messy system with often-unexpected results, but with respect for diverse opinion. Ellis Goldberg

Ellis Goldberg
Tri Valley Democratic Club
President & Webmaster www.TriValleyDems.com
925 831 8355 LAND / 925 451 4303 CELL Elli...@aol.com
To make America work better Democrats champion
DEMOCRACY, PEOPLE & PLANET
unrigging elections, making government work for everyone,
countering climate change & promoting peace on Earth.