First, Wi-Fi on a plane is the best thing since the flash drive. I am currently cruising at about 20,000 feet over Salt Lake on my way to Orlando, Florida for the 2009 Young Democrats of America Fall conference (apparently Chicago seemed like a logical connection point for the airplane to go first...this is the type of logic that is probably at the root of the airline industry's financial problems, but I digress).
For those who missed it, earlier this year Crystal Strait, the past California Young Democrats President and former Political Director for the California Democratic Party, was elected as the first Californian to become President of the Young Democrats of America (amusingly at the YDA convention in Chicago). Taking the reins of YDA is at best going to be a challenge for Crystal and this conference will be the first public view of her leadership.
She is going to need to balance the needs of a country trying to defend the blue wave of 2008 as well as the needs of her home state which has historically received significant financial support from YDA and will be looking for help in the upcoming election. It is yet to be seen how a Californian at the helm of YDA will impact the California Young Democrats fundraising.
There is already a YDA fundraiser planned in the heart of the CA political piggy bank, LA. You have to suspect that most of the Sacramento crowd will be hit up soon if their checks are not already in the mail. This increased YDA fundraising comes at a time when most CA political donors are hurting from the economic recession. Is the money going to be diverted from CYD's work to elect Democrats in California? Will a potential drain of CA money to YDA impact at-risk members like Assemblywomen Alyson Huber (D-AD10 http://democrats.assembly.ca.g... who in the recount narrowly beat her Republican opponent with a CYD organizing push to help over the top?
What about the local elections like Supervisor Doreen Farr in Santa Barbara who would not have won without the UCSB Campus Dems and the CYD invasion to register voters in Isla Vista? (An invasion that was so successful it prompted the conservative candidate to try and squash the voting rights of California voters at UCSB http://www.santaynezvalleyjour...
What about a Democratic Governor for CA?
From the YDA website, the conference is going to focus on planning for the next election year:
The clock is ticking on the 2010 Election season and this is our opportunity to plan our strategy for the next 11 months to continue engaging young voters and exercise our generation's power by sending Democrats back to Congress and our state, commonwealth, and territorial capitals. http://www.yda.org/events/407/...
Of the people to balance the divergent fiscal needs of YDA's member states, Crystal has the capacity and political whit to do it, but will other states frown on a YDA supported California campaign? The thing to look for this weekend at YDA is if California will be more than an ATM.
(Disclosure: I am the Environmental Caucus Chair for CYD and the AD-7 Executive Board Member of the CDP)
