November 9th Seven Mira Loma Young Democrats took a car ride up to Lake Tahoe. These young democrats were Alexandra Johnson, Marisa Galvez, Melanie Gill, Niko Perez, Connor O’Farrell, Irina Geletyuk, and Aisha Ali.

We all made it up to our cabin #460 and settled in. it was only friday night and already the fun was beginning. Alexandra Johnson and Marisa Galvez attended a California Young Democrats Executive Board Meeting for a rigorous 2 hours doing everything from officer reports to voting on whether or not to endorse several propositions.

Later that evening severel very helpful fellow CYD members such as Amanda Levy came over and handed MLYD a karaoke machine and some pizzas. We also discovered that we were not the only High School Young Democrats in the resort. We had the pleasure of meeting the riverside county young democrats who were composed of 3 seperate high schools. We all played UNO, ate pizza, sang, and got to know each other until curfew was up.

On Saturday morning we ate breakfast together and soon dispersed to our assigned workshops. Irina, Connor, and Aisha attended track one for those who had never been to CYD events before. Marisa, Melanie and Niko attended Track 2 for those who had been to CYD events before and were already very involved. While Alexandra Johnson attended Track 3 for chapter presidents.

All of these tracks included information on the widespread program Peer-to-Peer as well as information such as fundraising and leadership skills.

Afterwards Mira Loma Young Democrats attended a chapter clinic in their cabin run by Tim Steed the President of CYD in order to improve their club. They tediously worked on pro’s and cons, fundraising ideas, and a calendar for the coming year. Spending the combination of 3 hours on this tired them out, so they took a recreational trip to the souviner shops having a break from the business side of tahoe.

Later that evening they attended a banquet where they enjoyed chicken, eggplant, and dessert while listening to the intense speeches of those such as Tim Steed, Charlie Brown, and Alex Roker.

Sunday morning soon came and so did the last seminar, some went to Working in Politics in the administrators cabin while some attended The National Scene seminar in the main lodge. Afterwards there were many farewells and pictures on the pier, as well as numerous goodbyes and promises to stay in touch with everyone.

Activists participating will be given a crash course in GOTV weekend operations including voter targeting, voter contact, media outreach, GOTV preparation and community issue based politics. An emphasis will be placed on individual leadership development!

During the trip there will also be numerous social activities including a Super Bowl Sunday party.  

The carpools start leaving around 3pm this Thursday, and will return Monday. Parents have to call you in sick for Friday, Feb 2nd, and Monday, Feb. 5th. You will need $60 for the trip: $30 for gas contribution, and $30 for spending cash. Housing and food will be provided, but bring a sleeping bag.

Click Here for More Information

 Also, the weekend of Jan 19th thru 21st, Alumni and Current Members of MLYD will be going down to Orange County to help out in the Special Election for County Supervisor, get field training, and have fun. If you would like to come, or want more information, contact Eddie Kirby (edesw88@aol.com), former MLYD President (2004-2006), who is working on the campaign as an Organizer.

Blogger bloc seeks a shake-up

Liberal writers for political Web sites run for delegate seats in their bid to influence Democratic Party policies.

By Shane Goldmacher – Bee Capitol Bureau

Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, January 13, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3

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Paula Villescaz, 18, writes a blog posting Friday after returning home from Mira Loma High School. She worked last year for Charlie Brown’s unsuccessful challenge to Rep. John Doolittle and is running for a delegate seat in the state Democratic Party. Villescaz characterizes the state party as “old buddies” who get together to socialize. Sacramento Bee/Renée C. Byer

For Brian Leubitz, November’s elections stirred mixed emotions.

A devoted liberal, he was elated as Democrats were swept into power in Washington, D.C. But as a California blogger who spent much of 2006 cheering for Phil Angelides, the Democrat who was thumped by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the day was bittersweet.

So Leubitz, who goes by the name “SFBrianCL” on the Internet, and a growing coalition of bloggers on the left are organizing to try to ensure Democrats don’t lose out on the statehouse again.

This weekend, Leubitz — and some 30 of his online cohorts — are injecting themselves directly into the political process by running for election as Assembly district delegates to the California Democratic Party. They hope to translate the blogosphere into real political clout. Registered Democrats will elect 12 delegates in each of the 80 Assembly districts this weekend, according to the state party’s Web site.

Paula Villescaz, an 18-year-old student at Mira Loma High School, is one of the many posters to announce her candidacy on Leubitz’s Calitics Web page.

“The state party is largely composed of old buddies who get together to socialize every once in a while, with most meetings being poorly attended and little business getting done in them,” wrote Villescaz, who spent much of the last year working on Charlie Brown’s unsuccessful bid to unseat Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville. “This is why I hope to get a seat.”

At most, bloggers could fill 3 percent of the 960 state Democratic Party Assembly delegate seats. But win or lose, the cyber voices of liberals like Leubitz and Villescaz are starting to be heard.

The clearest measure of their success is their steadily increasing Web traffic.

“I started the site in August 2005, and back then I would get 90 hits a day,” recalls Leubitz. “In November, it peaked at 3,000.”

But there have been other, perhaps more tangible, signs of the rising influence of liberal blogs — or “netroots,” as they call themselves.

Frank Russo, who operates the California Progress Report, another liberal Web site, says he is now being booked as a pundit on traditional media outlets. He is a weekly guest on Bay Area talk radio and was an on-air analyst for KPIX, the Bay Area’s CBS affiliate, on election night.

“That wouldn’t have happened before I started my site,” says Russo, whose Web page has logged more than 200,000 visitors since its launch last March.

This week, the Assembly Democratic caucus is inviting a host of bloggers, including Leubitz and Russo, to talk to Democratic aides in the Capitol about how to get their bosses’ messages out in the blogosphere.

“Democrats have been behind the curve in utilizing new technology time and time again,” said Steve Maviglio, deputy chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, who set up the meeting. “It’s clear more people are getting their information off the Internet. I just want to bring everyone up to speed.”

Maviglio and a team of Democratic insiders launched a Web site of their own, the California Majority Report, last year.

Some on the left have even turned blogging into a paying job.

Julia Rosen, who posts on several sites, including Calitics, under the name “juls,” was recently hired to blog part-time for Working Californians, a union group, after more than a year of serving as blogger-in-chief for the Alliance for a Better California, the coalition that spearheaded the defeat of Schwarzenegger’s 2005 special-election agenda.

“It’s a dream position,” Rosen says “There are very, very few people nationally who are paid to blog.”

Inspired by the defeat of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut in a Democratic primary last year, liberal Democratic bloggers in California are taking aim at a top target in the 2008 elections: Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, a Lieberman ally and chairwoman of the moderate New Democrat Coalition.

In criticizing Tauscher for voting to support the war in Iraq, they’ve found a powerful ally: Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, who runs the Berkeley-founded DailyKos, the most popular liberal blog on the Internet.

Last month, Zúniga wrote, “We will have a candidate, and there will be a primary,” in Tauscher’s district.

Though they hope to “take back” the California Democratic Party as delegates this weekend, the blogger candidates are only a fraction of those organized by more traditional, grass-roots activists.

Darry Sragow, a Democratic political strategist, says California political blogs are still “in an incredibly early stage of development.”

“Whatever blogs were a year ago is not what they are now and is not what they will be a year from now,” Sragow said. “It is part of an evolutionary process that is beginning to mine the potential of this new medium.”

On the conservative end of the political spectrum, the FlashReport, published by former California Republican Party Executive Director Jon Fleischman, is well established in the blogosphere.

But Fleischman, a self-described ideologue, welcomes the success of liberal sites, even including them in his list of blogs.

“There is a battle over ideas and a battle over technology,” says Fleischman. “I welcome these people to the marketplace because they can help wake up politicians to the fact that the new media is significant and has an impact.”

About the writer:

• The Bee’s Shane Goldmacher can be reached at (916) 326-5544 or sgoldmacher@sacbee.com.

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Thanks so much for being involved and interested in the Mira Loma Young Democrats. In the past two weeks the new Executive Board and I have developed some plans for the rest of this year.

Eddie Kirby finally passed us back our website, and we are now back up and running, and we will be updating weekly. Also, we now have a myspace page, and also there is a MLYD facebook group too!

We will be using the myspace page to host a club calendar, so if you want to find out what events the club is doing, just go to the myspace. Jenna Lipson will also be updating the website before and after every meeting to update the meeting agenda, and meeting minutes to keep people upto date.

This Saturday, December 16th, we are having a club potluck at James Niebauer’s house. The exact time will be posted soon. Also, we are doing a toydrive for deployed National Guard troops. Talk to Nguyen or come to the meeting for more information on that. Nguyen will also be setting up a movie night once a month, so if you have any ideas for a good movie, make it known! Lastly for this month, we are also going to organize some sort of volunteer day, whether it be political or charitable, so if you have any ideas contact me: jeacjohnson@yahoo.com or talk to Mason!

I am so excited to be getting things in the club rolling again. We have a lot to catch up on.

The next meeting is this Wednesday, the 13th, at lunch in room F-3. Please come to it, as we will be having signups for our potluck, movie night, toy drive, and much more, and as always we will have snacks and drinks. Also, former President Eddie Kirby, and President of the CA Young Democrats Crystal Strait are supposed to be attending.

Thanks a lot and feel free to contact me if you have any ideas, questions, or whatever!

~Alex Johnson

President

(916) 502-0821

jeacjohnson@yahoo.com

Tomorrow is Spring Carnival at Mira Loma. At lunch the Young Democrats will have a booth where anyone who is going to be 18 by June 6th can register to vote. Also, we will be selling astro-pops for $1 each, and otterpops for .50 cents each. Come by and beat the heat with a Democratic treat. We will also have information on getting involved over summer, such as taking an internship on one of the campaigns, and working on various campaigns. Next week we are having our elections for next year's leadership. Everyone who isn't a current senior should rejoin now so you can either run for position or vote for next year's leadership. So, we will have membership forms and you can rejoin at the table, just bring your $5 membership dues for next year. The elections are next Wed. at lunch in room F-3. The positions being elected are President, Senator, Secretary, Treasurer, and Political Director. You can read more about each position in the constitution, which is under the "About Us" section to the right.

After school, from 3 to 5 is the Carnival, and you can come and play our "Peg President Bush and Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld" water balloon throw. Eddie Kirby will be Donald Rumsfeld, and Marty Valentine will be appearing as President Bush. It's $1 for 3 water balloons, or .50 cents for a single water balloon. Also we will have the "Circle of Lies" cake walk, where you can win various baked sweets. This costs $1 per round. It's going to be a lot of fun.

We will also have various campaign T-shirts, and CYD t-shirts available for very little. So come out and have some fun.

Lastly, check out the pictures in the "Picture Gallery" from the California Democratic Party and California Young Democrats convention that was a few weeks ago. There are some cool pics and you can see what fun you missed out on.

I will be updating this site again this weekend, so check back, and have a great Spring Carnival.

Peace,

~Eddie Kirby

President

If you are interested in attending San Diego, please email me or call me ASAP! edesw88@aol.com or (916) 489-2811.

You can get the permission slip here: www.mlyd.org/downloads/invasionpermissionslip.doc

or the information flyer: www.mlyd.org/downloads/invasioninfo.doc

If you want to go to the California Democratic Convention here in Sacramento (April 27 – 30th), get the permission slip here (also has more information on the trip itself): www.mlyd.org/downloads/conventionpermissionslip.doc

Lastly, if you check out the picture gallery, I added pictures of Pam Bachilla coming to speak at out meeting.  

Feel Free to Call or Email if you have any questions,

Thanks,

~Eddie Kirby

But, add Eric!

Non-Partisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill Shuns Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Proposed 2006 Budget for Overspending and Lack of Planning for the Future 

~Eddie Kirby

President

Also, we took our yearbook picture today, and many people couldn’t make it, but here is the photo. Everyone else who couldn’t make it should still be listed as not pictured in the yearbook.

This Friday at lunch in Mrs. Lord’s room (C-4) come learn more about the Iranian Nuclear standoff. It is going to be an interesting debate, and there will be food and drinks courteous of the Mira Loma Young Democrats. This is a very important debate for all people to learn about, so come to the meeting!

See you there,

~Eddie Kirby