BE for CHANGE

A Party for the People

Click the images to enlarge them. All photos are courtesy of Debbie Adams Photography. You may see the entire album by going to the site and entering the login name JJ (capitalized; case sensitive) and password 081905.

---

Wow!

To each and every one of you who came to the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner last Friday (and to those of you who could not come but gave us your support) we wish we could embrace you right this minute and say a heartfelt "Bravo!" We can't remember ever feeling more exhilarated by a showing of party spirit and Party participation. It was pretty damned awesome. Indeed, as Nora Wallace said in the News-Press, the evening "trumpeted activism and empowerment," and that joyful noise didn't come only from the speakers. It came from everyone in the room.

It came from the musicians (one of whom, Arnie Moore, is the scion of a famous California Democratic family) and their leader, RJ Eskow, who put his whole Democratic heart into preparation for the event and into his performance.

It came from Carol Ann Manzi, who stirred our patriotic longings with her deeply felt rendition of "America, the Beautiful"...

...and from Marian Shapiro, who raised us to our feet in a hand-clapping, sing-along finale, Woodie Guthrie's great populist anthem, "This Land is Your Land" — for which Marian wrote additional lyrics (below the fold) that brought it all home.

It even came from the caterers, who know what great food can do to make a party memorable, and wanted to — and did — give us their very best.

Senator Wyden (seen here receiving the torch from Frank Kelly, fabled Truman speechwriter and the "institutional memory" of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions) said, "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..."

We should be proud, Santa Barbara County grassroots Democrats. Very very proud — that we're doing whatever we can, every day, to help win back our State House, to help win back our Senate and House of Representatives, to help win back our White House, to help win back our Constitution and our country.

— Barbie & Ellen

Debbie Adams's Photos of the J-J Dinner

I know everyone is eager to see the photos Debbie Adams took on Friday evening. You can access them at her website, Debbie Adams Photography.

You will need to log in. The login name is JJ (case sensitive; capitalized) and the password is 081905.

Enjoy!

News-Press Sunday, Page A-3 above the fold!

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."

Here's what we've got in store for Friday!

Country music for entertainment and dancing by RJ Eskow and his "Red State Wranglers," dinner, and (drumroll please) . . .

We're just a week away

It's hard to believe that the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner is imminent. Time has flown by as our committee has worked tirelessly to put this great evening together. We are deeply gratified by the huge response and the tremendous enthusiasm the community has shown for an event that proudly supports the Democratic grassroots activists who go out and do the hard work of winning elections on the ground.

I you haven't made your reservations yet, please do so. Just click the Reserve Online button on the right-hand side of this page. We look forward to seeing you next Friday at the Earl Warren Showgrounds.

— Barbie and Ellen

Barney's on the qui vive

Barney Brantingham picked up on my e-mail, and offered this squib in yesterday's News-Press:

Wranglers: Well, turns out that the "Red State Wranglers" I wrote about Sunday "are distinctly Democrats," Ellen Dana Nagler informs me. I was waggishly wondering why Demos in a blue state had signed up the Red Staters for the Aug. 19 Jefferson-Jackson dinner at Earl Warren...

Thank you, Barney! Hope you're joining us next Friday!

Gratitude!

A big thank you to the Co-Hosts, Patrons, Sponsors and Friends of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. New underwriters of the event are coming on board every day, and we'll keep adding to this list.

Co-Hosts
Jill and Mark Brouillard
Martin Seligson

Patrons
Sophia Haimovitz
Sara Miller McCune

Sponsors
Friends of Lois Capps
Jill & Ron Dexter
Anna Grotenhuis
Nancy & Larry Koppelman
Nancy Oster
Loretta Redd
Vicki Riskin & David Rintels
Susan Rose & Allan Ghitterman
Randy Rouse
Stacy Shepherd
Betty Stephens
Janet & Harvey Wolf

Friends
Rodney Brown
Marion F. Farley
Ramon Hooper
Eileen & Roger Horton
Cherrie Ignatius
Glenn Jordan
Madeline Moreaux
Janet Pickthorn, M.D. & Darol Joseff, M.D.
Ilene Pritikin
Robert Potter
Nancy & Mike Warren

Listen to us on the Paul Berenson Show

We told you we were going to be on the radio. Well, we were, and it was great fun. Thank you, Paul!

Click here to listen to our segment of the show.

Barney Brantingham talks about us...

...in his column today, but wonders about the Red State Wranglers.

Here's what I e-mailed him this morning:

Dear Barney,

Thanks for your mention of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in today's column.

The "Red State Wranglers" is a group of musicians from Los Angeles who are distinctly Democrats. (In fact, they're donating their talents to the event.) Their name, of course, is a play on words. And if anyone thinks that country music is a preserve of the Right, please check out the "Music Row Democrats" of Nashville. Their web site (www.musicrowdemocrats.com) will set people straight on that score.

I do hope that you will give us one more mention before the event, and remind people that Sen. Ron Wyden, former UCSB basketball player, is our keynote speaker.

With kind regards,

—Ellen

Ron Wyden's Santa Barbara Connection

A biographical tidbit about our keynote speaker, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.

Just in case you were wondering, Sen. Wyden goes way back with Santa Barbara. From his website:

The Senator attended the University of California at Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship before receiving his B.A. with distinction from Stanford University.