I just wanted to say a special thank-you to all of you who have responded to the challenge Governor Dean has been writing and speaking about over the last two weeks. It was great to see so many of you behind the 50-state strategy, and so many of your comments were inspiring to read on all the various threads about this push.
Please keep reading for more about the program and the names of the four new states you made possible today.
No one was expecting to hit the goals as fast as you did, so it took a little scrambling to make the preparations for the announcement (calling Governor Dean, who is on the road today, to tell him that you hit the goal; calling the four state chairs to let them know that you made it possible to start the program in their states).
Your enthusiasm to build our party in every single state has made this program move fast than anyone imagined. Resources and energy are being put to work in nine states already -- including five that were announced just last week. (Kansas, the state whose program you funded last week in the kick-off of all of this, is already hiring its first organizer -- you will be hearing more about your party's work there soon.)
Now, thanks to the funds you brought in this week, we can kick off in four more states:
- South Dakota
- Maryland
- Arkansas
- Colorado
The state parties in each of these states are in different positions, and the program will emphasize meeting their needs. All four of these states have Governor's races in 2006, so getting started now is important, but as Governor Dean has made clear, this program is as much about 2016. Putting organizers on the ground will help in the short-term by tapping grassroots energy and organizing precincts where Democrats have never been active before. But the real goal here is to reshape the landscape in the long-term.
This makes 13 states total -- nine added to the program in the last two weeks. I want to be straight with you -- this isn't the last time you're going to hear about the need to fund this program. The money raised this week lets us get started in these states. We have a lot of work to do, a lot of planning and talking to do with the state parties, and a lot of money to raise to make this 50-state strategy a reality. But as long as we're in this together we can do it. Thank you so much.
Tom McMahon
Executive Director