Today is Governor Dean's Two Year Anniversary as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee! And thanks to Democrats all across the country who have done the hard work to make it a success, Governor Dean's vision, the 50-State Strategy, has become an integral part of helping Democrats win campaigns all across the country.
In the past two years we've seen Democrats:
- Take control of the House of Representatives
- Take control of the United States Senate
- Elect the first female Speaker of the House
- Win a majority of the nation's governorships
- Increase our majority in state legislatures by winning 10 new chambers
- Revitalize Democratic State Party organizations in "red" states
- Increase participation in Democratic politics through grassroots organizing
But that's not all. We've also trained hundreds of organizers and political professionals and thousands of activists. We held a series of three national organizing events - The Neighbor-to-Neighbor National Organizing Day in April, The Democratic Reunion in July and The 50-State Turnout, which we kicked-off in October and went straight through to Election Day 2006.
We invested in strengthening the Democratic Party infrastructure with of state of the art voterfile that was used all across the country. Not only did we improve the quality of the data, but we held an extensive 3-day training session in Chicago to teach state party voterfile managers how to maximize the data.
In addition to all this, there are the personal stories - and that is where I always find the best examples of the success of the Governor's plan. Here are a few of my favorite stories from the past year:
So how about it Kossacks? You and I both know that this community has some of the best tales to tell. Share your stories or add your favorite diaries to the comments!
FULL DISCLOSURE: Tracy Joan is the Online Outreach Coordinator for the Democratic Party, and a proud supporter of the 50-State Strategy