OC Young Democrats Leading the Way

by: Andrew Davey (atdleft)

Thu May 03, 2007 at 08:01:51 AM PDT

What else was I about to say regarding the convention last weekend? Oh yes, I remember now!

Have I told you yet that Orange County Young Democrats rocked the hall at the convention last weekend? The new California Young Democrats President happens to be our very own Tim Steed. Other local young activists quickly assumed leadership roles. Basically, our young blue party is looking much more orange these days... And boy am I loving it!

Here's what Martin Wisckol has to say in Total Buzz:

Among the many many things that happened last weekend in San Diego that I haven't yet mentioned here is OC's strong showing at the board elections of the California Young Democrats. Mission Viejo's Tim Steed was elected president of the group, the first time an OC resident has held that post. Two others from Orange County were also elected to the executive board: Lindsay Hopkins was elected vice president of finance and Chris Roa was elected region director.
"The California Young Democrats have been controlled by Los Angeles and the Bay Area forever," said Gila Jones, Total Buzz reader on hand for the convention last weekend. "For us to wrest control is tremendous."

So why is this so tremendous? Let me tell you why after the flip...

Andrew Davey (atdleft) :: OC Young Democrats Leading the Way

So why is this news so tremendous? Perhaps because these young Democrats from OC know how to get the job done. They know how to go out and recruit new Democrats on the college campuses. They know how to get young voters out to the polls. Basically, they know how to deliver Democratic victories in what's supposed to be a "red county". They will do a great job for CYD as they expand CYD into new territories.

And oh yes, here's some more good news:

Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party award Melahat Rafiei, the county party's political director, the 2007 John F. Kennedy Jr. Award -- an honor that goes to young activists.

There are reasons why Democracy for America is so well organized in Orange County. One of them is Melahat. She has been so great in building up DFA-OC into a regional powerhouse, and DFA just wouldn't be DFA without her. She totally deserved that award.

And all these fantastic young Democrats from Orange County totally deserve major kudos for leading the way in progressive activism in this state. : )

Tags: Orange County, California, Orange County Young Democrats, California Young Democrats, Democratic Convention, CDP 2007 Convention, (All Tags)

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OC Young Democrats Leading the Way | 4 comments

Let's not forget that LA & SF rock the house too (8.00 / 1)

This isn't exactly crashing the gates. LA and SF have some great young leaders too. I'm holding it down for SFYD, yo!

While I'm probably not the best person to speak about this, as my involvement in SFYD has been somewhat limited. (Sorry, SFYD!) However, I can attest to the fact that there are some really great people up here. And I imagine that this is true in LA as well. For example, a regular poster at this site, SFJen, helped organize the first ever CYD debates...which were then uploaded to the vast series of tubes. That is super cool.

And we can register voters up here too. I don't have any data, but we don't really need to play numbers games.

It's great that the OC Dem. Party is finally starting to pick itself up off the mat, but that doesn't mean that the traditional progressive strongholds are somehow less important. I mean, heck, Crystal Strait's paying job focused on the Central Valley.

Also, I should point out that the new VP for membership, Edie Irons, is from the East Bay.

I think?

by: Brian Leubitz @ Thu May 03, 2007 at 17:36:49 PM UTC

But diversity's good too... (0.00 / 0)

And all we're saying here is that it's good to see Orange County Democrats taking the lead in revitalizing our party. No, I'd never discredit all the good work of you Bay Area people, and I'd never discredit all the good work of the LA people. I'm just saying that it's refreshing to see more geographic diversity among our leaders.

And yes, it's refreshing to see our OC activists recognized for all the hard work that they do to turn "Red California" blue. : )

Had enough of the "red county" right-wing crazy-talk bulls***? Well, then come and visit us at The Liberal OC! Yes, there ARE liberals in The OC! : )

by: Andrew Davey (atdleft) @ Thu May 03, 2007 at 17:59:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Well, better use of language (0.00 / 0)

Than "wrest control" would be nice. Just doesn't sound too friendly or appreciative of the work that people in LA and SF have done.

I think?

by: Brian Leubitz @ Thu May 03, 2007 at 18:21:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

That wasn't my language... (0.00 / 0)

So perhaps, you should speak to the person who was quoted in The Register about that. But anyways, I don't think Ms. Jones meant to insult anyone in LA or SF. She was probably just happy to see our local OC leaders (FINALLY!) recognized for all their long work and all their commitment to the Democratic Party. Can't we all just celebrate that? : )

Had enough of the "red county" right-wing crazy-talk bulls***? Well, then come and visit us at The Liberal OC! Yes, there ARE liberals in The OC! : )

by: Andrew Davey (atdleft) @ Thu May 03, 2007 at 18:46:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]