Jefferson-Jackson dinner launches progressive PAC
Goal is to make Democratic Party more accessible
8/21/05
By NORA K. WALLACE
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Santa Barbara County's newest Democratic political action committee wants to "bring the party to the people and the people to the party," and in its debut Friday night trumpeted activism and empowerment.
The new "BE for Change" PAC is the brainchild of two South Coast women in the progressive wing of the party who want to open up partisan politics to "rank and file" Democrats.
More than 300 people — including an array of elected officials and news-making activists — gathered Friday at the Earl Warren Showgrounds for the PAC's first official function, the Jefferson-Jackson dinner.
Organized by Barbie Deutsch and Ellen Nagler, the $50-per-person dinner replicated similar events held across the nation to celebrate Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, known as the fathers of the Democratic Party.
Both the PAC's organizers were out of the party mainstream in last year's presidential campaign — Ms. Deutsch was chairwoman of Santa Barbara for Dean and Ms. Nagler led Santa Barbara for Clark.
From the beginning, Ms. Deutsch said, the new PAC was oriented toward making the state party "more accessible, more transparent, more affordable and ever more inclusive."
Getting the message of the party out to all types of people — not just party faithful — was the emphatic command of the night's keynote speaker, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.
Indeed, the call to action resonated from all speakers, from state Sen. Jackie Speier to actress and progressive activist Mimi Kennedy and to former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, who now heads "Speak Out California."
Instead of watching its own message be diluted or co-opted, the speakers urged Democrats to take command of issues such as alternative energy, health care, the environment and veterans' care.
"We need to start making a message that resonates with the public on many, many issues," said Ms. Speier, who is running for California's lieutenant governor.
As a special statewide election and local races approach in the fall, talk was mostly parochial until Mr. Wyden rose to close the evening. Indeed, there was little overt talk about the war in Iraq or Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts.
"Our challenge is to do more than expose the half-truths we're seeing in the Bush administration," said Mr. Wyden, who attended UCSB on a basketball scholarship before transferring to Stanford University. "What we've got to show is that we can translate the kinds of values Democrats have in this room and have around the country into actual leadership. That's what the country has been looking for."
Calling the recently passed energy bill an "abysmal failure," he said the nation needs a "fresh energy policy" that eliminates dependence on foreign oil and encourages automobile companies to increase efficiency.
"Let's go out there and do what Democrats ought to be doing and that's lead, and the energy failure of last month ought to be business No. 1," said the nine-year veteran of the Senate.
The party, he said, must also ensure that the nation's veterans do not suffer during budget shortfalls.
"I'm going to be walking out of here feeling very good about where the Democratic Party is and what we can do with talent and energy like I've seen in this room," the senator said. "I think we're ready to lead the country. And we're ready to change the country. We have the powerful messages of truth. And I think our job is to get out tomorrow and the next day and the next day and get it out."
Ms. Kennedy, national chairwoman of Progressive Democrats of America, warned the audience to be vigilant for dishonesty in elections and the potential for voting fraud. Americans must know there is integrity in voting, untainted by political wrongdoing, she said.
Adding that she is not afraid to be considered a conspiracy theorist, she asserted, "California is ground zero for the right wing's permanent takeover of American democracy."
"We need to be inspired and follow our leaders, but if we don't have a vote at the ballot box, it's all for naught," said Ms. Kennedy, one of the stars of the television show "Dharma and Greg."
The tone of the night appealed to attendee Mike Warren.
"Frankly, if all of us don't step up and take the opportunity not only to hear the message but to be the message, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves."
