Montgomery County Progressive Alliance/DFA May Meetup

Montgomery County Progressive Alliance Meeting
7 PM WEDNESDAY MAY 6

MCPA, DFMC, PDA, PWG, MoveOn, Meetup Meeting
The time is now to get organized and make a difference.
Please RSVP to [masked] so we know you'll be there.
Who are all these organizations and what do they do? See below.

Saigonese Restaurant 11232 Grandview Ave Silver Spring (Wheaton)
http://maps.google.co...

Short walk from the Wheaton Metro / Red Line. Parking in the public lot across the street.

Building on recent successful meetings, we'll continue work with our standing committees:
1. outreach and recruitment (to help us increase membership),
2. media (letters to the editor, call-in to radio shows, etc.),
3. issue advocacy (meet with elected officials and promote our agenda)
4. event planning/hosting.

We'll discuss sponsoring a legislative update to with State Senators and Delegates, and work with other organizations to cosponsor healthcare reform events locally and in the Baltimore Area. In June, we hope to hold our 6th annual Progressive Picnic to meet with elected officials and organize ongoing efforts.

Please join the Montgomery County Progressive Alliance google group:
http://groups.google....

If you're on Facebook, please join the MCPA group:
http://www.facebook.c...

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Who are all these organizations and what do they do?

1. MCPA: The Montgomery County Progressive Alliance is a flexible, result-oriented coalition. MCPA includes more than 1,000 local activists, mainly in and around Montgomery County Maryland. The organization began in 2003 when Democracy for America Meetup members reached out to other Meetup groups and other groups. In 2004, 100s of Montgomery County for Kerry members and local Progressive Democrats of America members joined the MCPA. MCPA adopted a mission statement, organized special events, and has held meetings nearly each month since 2003. MCPA members worked to elect progressive leaders, led issue advocacy efforts in Rockville, Annapolis, and on Capitol Hill, and cooperated with other organizations and coalitions to make progress in our communities, state, and nationally. Moving into the rest of 2009 and building toward 2010, MCPA plans to solidify our organization, raise funds, and continue our public education and outreach efforts. MCPA is currently seeking new steering committee members and coalition partners.

2. DFA/DFMC: Democracy for America emerged from Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004, and has organized grass-roots activists to support socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates. DFMC is Democracy for Montgomery County, a local DFA-inspired organization which is not directly or legally affiliated with DFA. DFMC has organized events and meetings; and endorsed and organized volunteers for several candidates. DFMC is currently seeking additional steering committee members. Please contact me, [masked] if you're interested. You can sign up for DFA here: http://democracyforam...

3. PDA: Progressive Democrats of America began just after the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Bringing together people from the 2004 Kucinich and Dean Campaigns with other progressives, PDA adopted an "inside/outside strategy" uniting activists working inside the Democratic Party with those working in peace and justice movements. PDA's core issues include clean, accurate and transparent elections; environmental protection; single-payer healthcare; economic and social justice; and peace. You can sign up for PDA here:
https://www.thedataba...

4. PWG: The Progressive Working Group is a coalition promoting progress and reform, economic fairness and equality, protecting the environment, and more. PWG endorsed 14 issues for the 2009 General Assembly session. PWG currently includes: Audubon Naturalist Society, CASA of Maryland, Democracy for Montgomery County, Equality Maryland, Health Care Now, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance, Montgomery Health Care Action, PeaceAction Montgomery, Peace and Justice of Prince George's County, Progressive Cheverly, Progressive Democrats of America (Maryland), Progressive Neighbors, Save Our Votes, and Upcounty Action. Other progressive organizations are welcome to join PWG. Please contact Wally Malakoff [masked] for more information.

Note: While MoveOn has determined not to join with other organizations in any official capacity, many local MoveOn members are participating in actions organized and cosponsored by MCPA.

Thanks for reading down this far, and hope to see you at the meeting and future events,

Mike Hersh
Chairperson, MCPA
Steering Committee, PWG & DFMC
Maryland State Coordinator, PDA
Montgomery County Council, MoveOn