Vol. 31, No. 8 www.arlingtondemocrats.org August 2006 Spurred by rising rent, fund- raising soars to new intensity As the success of the June 9 Jefferson-Jackson lenges include the need to maintain an ACDC head- Dinner indicates, ACDC has begun to move to the quarters at a fully operational level (and rent alone We have a significantly higher level of fundraising needed to has increased substantially); upgrade our technol- insure its financial effectiveness and its leadership ogy capabilities—both in terms of hardware and new Voice! role in turning Virginia Blue. This is not happening software—to bring us into the 21st Century; con- by accident. tinue to elect Democrats in Arlington County; and Earlier this year, Chair Peter Rousselot out- expand voter outreach programs in order to lead the see page one lined the critical challenges facing the party in both way for Democratic victories in state-wide elections. the short- and long-term, and charged a new Finance The Finance Committee, chaired by Marc Committee with meeting those challenges. The chal- Kelly, has the leadership responsibility in these ar- eas. The goal is to ratchet up ACDC’s fundraising by expanding the donor pool (especially to those who are accustomed to supporting Democrats at the national level but have not been involved with lo- Democratic News cal candidates or committees), increasing the return on fundraising events, and thinking up new ways to raise money. mutates into The two major fundraising tools are the JJ Din- ner, chaired by Eric Sildon this year, and The The Voice of ACDC Roosevelt Society— the sustaining donor program We don’t have tractor for ACDC to which annual pledges are made in We’ve got a new name! Instead of Democratic amounts from $120 to $2,000 and are fulfilled pulls or sheep News, we are now The Voice of the Arlington through monthly, quarterly or semi-annual pay- contests, but we have County Democratic Committee. continued on page four The new flag (the design atop page one) of the a County Fair coming newsletter incorporates the new ACDC logo that up August 17-20 was introduced last month. We decided to change the name chiefly because County Fair to kick see page one nobody knew what the name was before! Most folks, including even those who worked on Demo- start Joint Campaign cratic News, tended just to call it “the newsletter.” Once again, the Arlington Young Democrats We hope The Voice will be both more appealing are taking on the volunteer organizing effort at the and more memorable. Arlington County Fair, the year’s first major cam- As a name, The Voice has a long history in paign event for ACDC. journalism, though it wasn’t used much by printed It’s always a great time and a fun way to meet periodicals in the 20th Century, when the term was neighbors in the community and provide them with appropriated by international radio stations. How- information about Arlington Dems. All Democrats ever, there is the very popular Village Voice, a are encouraged to help with set-up, booth duty or weekly from Greenwich Village in Manhattan, not break-down needs. to mention Witches’ Voice, the publication of the The Fair will be held Thursday through Sun- witch, wiccan and pagan community, and the brand day, August 17-20, at the Thomas Jefferson Com- new European Voice, published in Brussels by The munity Center, 3501 2nd Street South. Time slots Economist with news of the European Union. for staffing the booth usually last 2-3 hours between Everybody likes So, we seem to be in good company—Man- 5-10 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.- pizza—at Casa hattan hippies, wiccans and foreigners—in terms 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. of making Republican blood curdle. Contact Jim McBride, the organizer, at O’Leary, Sat., Aug. 5 We hope you enjoy the new name as well as [email protected] or 703-867-5070 for more see page eight the contents. information and to sign up for a time slot. ACDC Voice, August 2006, Page 2 Report from Chairman Peter Rousselot Start the tsunami now—volunteer! Most readers of The Voice know how leadership responsibilities. Rising gasoline Plenty! Don’t just get mad, get even! Volun- they feel about George W. Bush, Dick Cheney prices? Bush spouts platitudes about the dan- teer: for the Joint Campaign, for Jim Webb, and the Republicans who control Congress. gers of being addicted to oil, but his policies for Jim Moran, for Chris Zimmerman, for Words like “disgusted,” “upset,” and just plain make him the Addict-in-Chief. Sally Baird, for the Vote No Virginia effort, “angry” come readily to mind. You all felt that The Republican-controlled Congress? for a neighboring Democratic congressional way 12 months ago—and probably long be- Tom Delay has resigned in disgrace. Duke candidate (Andy Hurst, Judy Feder, Al Weed). fore that. Cunningham is in jail for graft and corrup- The opportunities are many, and you can So, what’s happened in the last 12 tion. Other Republican staffers and lobbyists spend as much time as you can spare. Your months? Well, we’ve had the Federal have pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing. extra efforts in 2005 helped Tim Kaine carry Government’s scandalously incompetent re- So, what is the GOP agenda for this elec- Arlington with 74.2 percent of the vote, sig- sponse to Hurricane Katrina for openers—a tion cycle? Here are some of the cornerstones nificantly contributing to his statewide vic- complete and utter meltdown. What about of their 2006 “American Values Agenda”: tory in the Governor’s race. If each of us again Iraq? Faced with the continued toll of death, Pledge Protection Act, HR 2389; Freedom to makes that little bit of extra effort this year, injuries, and hundreds of billions of dollars Display the American Flag Act, HR 42; The together we can send a tsunami of Democratic spent on this war, a real leader would look Public Expression of Religion Act, HR 2679; votes that will crest at 1600 Pennsylvania the American people in the eye, and say: “I the Marriage Amendment, HJ Res 88; and the Avenue on November 7, 2006, effectively was wrong, and now I am going to get us all Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, HR 356. ending the Bush Presidency. out of this.” But George Bush is someone who Those are their priorities in a country in Start your own ripple now by contact- is so rigid and insecure that he cannot admit a which 36 million Americans still live in pov- ing our Volunteer Coordinator, Marj Signer, mistake, even when others are the ones who erty and 45 million Americans have no health at [email protected] are paying the price for it. insurance. Bush is cutting and running from his What can you personally do about it? Joint Campaign Dalal Musa, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. names names! Arlington’s Joint Campaign Co-Chairs, Ingrid Morroy, Peg Willingham and Jason Falls Church Center for Counseling Faberman, appreciate the ACDC members 207 Park Avenue who have already signed on to take the lead Suite B-3 on important campaign activities and events, including Treasurer Jean Marshall Falls Church, Virginia 22046 Crawford and Assistant Treasurers Madi Green and Karla Hagan; Finance Chair Bree Raum; Materials Designer Mana Zarinejad; 703-532-6220 Volunteer Coordinator Marj Signer; County Fair organizer Jim McBride; Chili Cookoff Helping individuals, couples, and families cope with organizers Jody Olson and Sarah Zevin; and Farmer’s Market organizers Kip Malinosky, anxiety, depression, grief, transitions and interpersonal conflict Charley Conrad, Richard McKee and Flo- rence Upson, and many more. They also Office hours by appointment thank Mary Hynes for once again agreeing to open her home for the Golden Gala Octo- ber 24. The Joint Campaign is still recruiting Published monthly by the volunteers to coordinate overall visibility ef- Arlington County Democratic Committee forts (including farmers’ markets and Metro 4620 Lee Highway, Suite 214, Arlington, VA 22207 flyering) and welcomes your assistance in Tel: (703) 528-8588 Fax: (703) 528-2321 other activities. Look in your mailboxes in http://www.arlingtondemocrats.org early August for your Gold Card letter! Chair: Peter Rousselot —703-276-1584 (o), [email protected] Please contact the team with any ques- Editor-in-Chief: Barbara van Voorst —703-522-6294 (h), [email protected] tions you may have. They look forward to Deputy Editor: Warren L. Nelson —703-243-7867 (h), [email protected] working with you for victory November 7. Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC Ingrid Morroy - [email protected] unless expressly approved by an appropriate Committee Resolution Peg Willingham - [email protected] Copyright ©2006, ACDC, All Rights Reserved Jason Faberman - [email protected] ACDC Voice, August 2006, Page 3 Next Monthly Meeting—All Dems Invited Bumper Sticker Wednesday, August 2, 2006, 7 p.m. of the Month NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd Corner of North Taylor and Wilson, just east of Glebe & Wilson Free parking under building, enter from Taylor Street How did our oil get The program will feature a panel discussion on Virginia political blogs. The under their sand??? panel will be comprised of Lowell Feld (Raising Kaine),James Martin (Virginia Progressive), and Antonia Scatton (ACDC Communications Director). Turpin home is political junkie’s museum For a political junkie, walking into Jim Turpin’s and Susan Prokop’s home is like going to that great voting booth in the sky.