An Invitation from Our Chair

An Invitation from Our Chair
Care lots about our community? Deeply concerned about the quality of leadership here, in our Commonwealth, and in our nation? Believe that individual citizens can make a difference? That local, grassroots politics is the most rewarding, most effective...and most fun? If so, we’d love to welcome you to the work — and fellowship — of our Staunton Democratic Committee.

We’re a group of committed volunteers — diverse in backgrounds but united in purpose — with an agenda: to work together to nominate, elect to office, and support representatives and leaders whose visions for our community, state and nation we share.

When folks lament to you, as they surely do, that so few citizens seem to take an active part in our democratic process, they usually mean our sorry record of voter turnout. But that’s not the most important issue: an infinitesimally smaller percentage take part in the week-to-week, month-to-month grassroots work that results, eventually, in the names that appear on those ballots.

Grassroots political activism can be demanding: up at 5 am to be passing out sample ballots when the polls open at 6; making phone calls to rouse out the Democratic vote; driving needy folks to the polls, volunteering at our Headquarters, addressing envelopes, helping with fund raising...and more and more. But we all have special skills and abilities: there is a task, a responsibility and a reward for everyone.

And our work has made a huge difference! We've replaced both former Republican Senators with immensely popular and effective moderates: Jim Webb and Mark Warner. And, with scores and scores of local volunteers, we won Staunton...and Virginia...and the country!...for Barack Obama: a President whom many of us consider the best of our lifetimes.

This year we're working to bring the same much-needed Change to Richmond as well. Creigh Deeds, a Bath County neighbor who long represented part of Augusta County in the House of Delegates, will continue, as Governor, the informed, balanced and responsible policies of Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. We'll be working for him, and for our Democratic candidates for Lt Governor and Attorney General, just as hard as we worked for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
But the centrist policies of Governors Warner and Kaine, and of the current Democratically-led Virginia Senate, have been adamantly opposed by the ultra-conservative, Republican led, House of Delegates. In Staunton, we are working this summer and autumn to bring home one of the most ideologically committed of these self-described “conservatives”: 20th district incumbent Chris Saxman. As Staunton's and Augusta County's moderates evaluate Delegate Saxman's sorry record through four terms in Richmond, they will, with our support, see Erik Curren, our Democratic candidate in this race, as a much truer representative of our Valley values.

Join us in this important work! We Staunton Democrats meet on the second Tuesday of every month, at 7 pm in the City Council chambers of City Hall at 116 W. Beverley street. And our year-round joint Augusta/Staunton Democratic Headquarters at 2507 N. Augusta street is currently open each Saturday morning...but will have almost daily hours as the November election nears.

The headquarters phone # is 213-1999.
Mine is (540) 290-3464.
Get involved! This is the year! Let’s go!
Bob Dickerman
Chair, Staunton Democratic Committee