Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, in politics and elsewhere. And after two straight cycles of congressional pickups, outgoing DNC chair Howard Dean is no longer a boogeyman for his Republican counterparts -- he's a template for success.

This past weekend, a candidate for RNC Chair, Michigan Republican Party Chair Saul Anuzi, said the Grand Old Party would do well to follow the example set by the former Vermont Governor.

"There is a perception that we are a regional party and that we are a party from the South because that's the region we're consistently winning today," Anuzis told Politico. "I do think we need to have our version of the 50-state program that [Democratic National Committee Chair Howard] Dean had."

Sen. John McCain's once-comfortable lead in Arizona has all but evaporated, according to a new poll that has the underdog Republican presidential candidate struggling in his own backyard.

With less than a week until Election Day, McCain is leading his Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, by 2 points, 46 to 44, down from a 7-point lead a month ago and a double-digit lead this summer, according to a poll from Arizona State University.

Factor in the 3-percentage point margin of error, and a race that was once a nearly sure thing for McCain is now a toss-up, pollsters say.

Memorandum

To: Interested Parties
From: DNC Communications
Date: May 8, 2008

Re: The Democratic Surge

===============================================================

During this election season nearly 35 million people have come out to support our Democratic candidates, and an estimated 3.5 million new voters have been added to the national voter rolls. As the AP reported this week, “these figures are up for blacks, women and young people. Rural and city. South and North.” In 17 of the first 24 primaries, voter turnout was the largest in four decades. [Associated Press, 5/5/08; USA Today, 2/29/08]

This record turnout during the primaries has been transformational for the Democratic Party as record numbers of new voters are being registered and our candidates are campaigning in all fifty states, running a truly national campaign.

“The message this election is clear: voters want change, not the third Bush term they’d get with John McCain,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. “Democrats are energized all across the country and we’re competing in all fifty states, proving that if Democrats show up and talk about our values, we will win. As we head towards November, I’m confident we will unite behind our nominee and harness this unprecedented enthusiasm to beat John McCain.”

Below is a closer look at the numbers:

In states all across the country, Democratic voter registration is at record levels. Many Americans are registering for the first time to participate in the primary, while others are changing their party registration to participate in the Democratic primaries and caucuses.

In the 20 states that had data available, new registrants have increased 65% over the same period in 2004. [Associated Press, 5/5/08]

Not only has Democratic voter registration increased, Democratic voter participation has also increased:

• From 2004 to 2008, for all states for which comparable data was available, Democratic turnout increased by significant margins—no state saw a decrease for Democrats and many states saw turnout increasing by thousands of percentage points.
• Turnout increases ranged from 18 percent in Arkansas to an astronomical 2,549 percent in Kansas.

• In contrast, comparing 2008 Republican turnout to the last contested Republican primary in 2000, Republican turnout either stayed relatively stagnant or decreased. Sinking turnout throughout the country for Republicans shows the contrast between Democrats and Republicans this primary season.

• In fact, for the 30 states for which comparable data is available, 27 of them saw more Democratic than Republican voters this year.

Democrats Are Gaining Among Young People…

o Turnout for voters 18-29 has increased dramatically—tripling or quadrupling in many states—this election season. So far, more than 5 million young voters have participated, with an overwhelming number going for Democrats—building on gains made among this key demographic in 2004 and 2006. [civicyouth.org]

o This trend can be seen in state after state. In Massachusetts, for instance, youth turnout doubled, with young people voting for Democrats over Republicans nearly 3-to-1. 168,863 young people voted for Democrats while only 62,159 voted for Republicans, nearly tripling the numbers from 2004 [55,367] and 2000 [45,722]. [civicyouth.org]

o Recent polls confirm these results. According to a Pew study released last month, 58 percent of voters under 30 now identify as Democrats or lean Democratic, while only 33 percent associate with Republicans. The gap is even greater for young female voters—63 percent to 28 percent. [Pew Study, released 4/28/08]

And Independents…

o In state after state this primary season, Democrats have been attracting many voters who identify as Independents.

o For instance, according to exit polls, 20% of people participating in the Iowa Democratic caucus identified as Independents and 3% identified as Republicans. In contrast, only 13% of people participating in the Republican caucus considered themselves Independent and 1 percent considered themselves a Democrat. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225980; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21228177]

o In Indiana, 23 percent of voters in the Democratic primary identified as Independents, and in North Carolina, 19 percent of Democratic voters identified as Independents. [cnn.com, accessed 5/7/08]

Key battleground states have seen groundbreaking Democratic activity:

o In Ohio, twice as many people participated in the Democratic primary as in the Republican primary—2.2 million for Democrats to 1 million for Republicans—and thousands of Ohio Republicans switched parties to vote for a Democrat. In fact, in seven counties in Ohio—Putnam, Brown, Shelby, Belmont, Warren, Delaware, and Clermont—the vote totals for our two Democratic candidates in the 2008 primary exceeded the votes for John Kerry in the general election in each of those counties. [Washington Post, 3/26/08; Columbus Dispatch, 4/2/08; Cincinnati Enquirer, 3/2/08]

o For the first time, Pennsylvania now has more than four million registered Democrats and voter registration now nears record levels based on Democratic voter registration. Since the beginning of the year nearly 300,000 Pennsylvanians switched party registration or registered to vote to support Democrats. In contrast, the Republican Party has lost 70,000 voters in the past year. [Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/1/08; AP, 3/7/08; Boston Globe, 4/12/08; Washington Post's The Trail, 4/22/08] And of all the Democratic voters, 14 percent said they were newly registered Democrats. [CBS News, 4/22/08]

o Because of new voters, places like Bucks County and Montgomery County, which had trended Republican in the past, now register more Democratic than Republican registered voters, and places like Dauphin County in central Pennsylvania now register almost an even number of Democrats and Republicans. [Boston Globe, 4/12/08; The Patriot-News, 4/1/08]

o Democrats are poised to build on gains from 2006 in Missouri. During this year’s primary, 825,000 voters came out for Democrats, while only 585,000 came out for Republicans, thus reversing the trend from 2000 when more voters supported Republicans than Democrats. [LA Times, 2/10/08]

o New Hampshire, another battleground state, saw 75,000 people register as Democrats on primary day alone– more than double the number in 2000. [LA Times, 2/10/08]

Democrats are competitive everywhere:

o North Carolina saw record-breaking turnout with nearly 1.6 million voters coming out for Democrats. In over 31 counties, turnout exceeded 40 percent of registered Democrats. Early and absentee votes accounted for 500,000 of those votes, which was more than six times the number of early and absentee voting in 2006 and more than half the total votes in the primary in 2004. [cnn.com, accessed 5/7/08; CQ, 5/7/08; Bloomberg, 5/7/08; Winston-Salem Journal, 5/7/08]

o In Texas this year, more people voted in the Democratic primary than voted for John Kerry in the 2004 general election in the state. [The Oregonian, 3/12/08]

o In Virginia, a state where Democrats are poised to make great gains in November, more than twice as many Democrats voted than Republicans—nearly 1 million for Democrats to half that for Republicans—and Democratic votes were two and a half times the number of votes in the 2004 primary. [Democracy Now!, 2/19/08]

o 58,000 new voters registered to vote in Alabama before Super Tuesday. [CNN, 2/6/08]

o Mississippi voter turnout rippled the predictions of the Secretary of State and the primary drew almost three times as many voters as the Republican primary. Over 430,000 people came out for Democrats while only 135,000 came out for Republicans. [ClarionLedger.com, 3/13/08]

o In Georgia, a state President Bush won with 58 percent of the vote in 2004, record turnout in the primary drew more than 1 million Democratic voters – exceeding the 960,000 Republicans who turned out. [USA Today, 11/1/04; WRDW News 12 Online, 2/6/08]

o In Indiana, more than 1.2 million voters came out to support the Democratic candidates, far surpassing the previous record of 1 million Republican and Democratic voters in the 1992 primary. Absentee ballots accounted for 173,000 of the votes, more than triple the number in the 2004 primary. In some counties, turnout was double that of 1992. Howard, Jackson, and Hancock counties reported ballot shortages and in Marion County, several thousand additional ballots were printed. In fact, turnout was so high Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita said “We’re seeing turnout that mimics a presidential general election.” [Associated Press, 5/6/08; Associated Press 5/7/08; Bloomberg, 5/7/08]

o In Utah nearly 125,000 people participated in the Democratic primary, four times the number who participated in 2004. [Salt Lake Tribune, 2/7/08]

o In Hawaii, Democratic Party membership stood at 20,000 until this year when membership exploded. More than 5,000 people joined the Democratic Party of Hawaii in a single week this February. [Slate, 2/20/08]

o In Nebraska, the 2008 caucuses brought back thousands of voters from the Republican Party— 4,000 voters in Omaha alone registered as Democrats on caucus night. [Wall Street Journal, 4/5/08]

o The Kansas caucuses saw an overwhelming level of turnout, and caucuses overflowed throughout the state. Turnout increased by 2549 percent from 2004, from 1,400 to over 37,000 this year. [Kansas City Star, 2/13/08, Wichita Eagle, 2/6/08]

In the Midwest…

o In Iowa, both parties campaigned fiercely in the run-up to the caucuses. Democratic registration went up 14% in 2004, while the number of Republicans fell by 1%. Caucus attendance for the Democrats went up 93%, while Republican turnout only went up 38% [LA Times, 2/10/08].

o In Wisconsin’s historically Republican 8th District, Democratic primary turnout dwarfed Republican turnout. [Washington Post, 3/26/08]

In the West…

o Nevada is becoming a Democratic state. Since 2006, Democratic voter registration has overtaken Republican registration, and Democrats now have a 35,000 vote edge over the Republicans. [Washington Post, 3/6/08]

o During the Colorado caucuses, 112,000 people came out for Democrats, while only 70,000 people came out for Republicans. This is significant considering that Colorado has gone for every Republican candidate since Dwight Eisenhower except Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Bill Clinton in 1992. [Democracy Now!, 2/19/08]

o In Oregon, between March 3 and 18, 4,249 Oregon voters switched to the Democratic Party, 2,506 having switched from nonaffiliated and 1,743 switching from Republican. [The Oregonian, 3/2/08]

Throughout this election season, Democrats have also made a number of important victories in special elections that show that up and down ticket, the political climate for Democrats is a positive one.

• Democrat Bill Foster defeated Republican Jim Oberweis to fill former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s seat in Illinois. Though Oberweis was highly favored to win this solidly Republican district and John McCain campaigned for him before the election, Foster dealt Oberweis a resounding blow, winning 53 to 47. [Chicago Tribune, 3/9/08]

• In Louisiana, Democrat Don Cazayoux defeated Republican Woody Jenkins by a large margin to take a conservative district that was held by Republicans since 1974. [AP, 5/4/08]

• This win shows no Republican seat is safe. Of the 50 Republican House seats Democrats are targeting in November, 80 percent have higher Democratic performance than Hastert’s old district in Illinois. [DCCC Interested Parties Memo, 3/8/08]

As Democrats continue to see unprecedented enthusiasm for our candidates, the news continues to be worrisome for John McCain. Even after locking up the Republican nomination, 27 percent of Republican voters voted for another Republican candidate in North Carolina, and 23 percent of Republican voters voted for another Republican candidate in Indiana. [abcnews.com, accessed 5/7/08]

At the same time, Democrats are campaigning in all fifty states this primary season and bringing new voters into the process. As the numbers show, Democrats are poised for victory in ’08.

Neighborhood Volunteers are already making voter contact in the states and will be registering people to vote as a critical part of the DNC's 50-state strategy. These volunteers are talking to their neighbors about why John McCain is the wrong choice for America's future, as well as engaging voters about local issues and down-ballot races in states around the country. There are more than 49,000 volunteers in the program, and more than 160 state partnership staff members in regular contact with them.

"The DNC's Neighborhood Volunteer Program and organizing tool are critical parts of our strategy to beat John McCain," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean. "By encouraging local volunteers to make direct contact with their neighbors, we're activating Democrats at the grassroots level as they take the Democratic message directly to neighborhoods across the country. The tool is innovative, effective, and enormously valuable as we move our field operation and 50-state strategy into the next phase. Make no mistake: the DNC is already actively working to elect a Democratic president come November."

The organizing tool was developed around years of research that shows that door-to-door contact is by far the most effective form of voter contact. The tool was tested successfully in Virginia and Ohio in 2007 and begins phased rollout this week.

The DNC's field effort coincides with the release of the DNC's new ad this week against John McCain called "Better Off," which gives voters the chance to hear John McCain in his own words as he explains that despite the sliding economy, he thinks Americans are better off than they were eight years ago. Democratic state parties and elected officials across the country are following McCain as he travels around the country in his latest campaign tour, holding him accountable for his doubletalk on the campaign trail and lack of solutions for America's working families.

Colón stopped in Roswell on Saturday, traditionally a Republican district. He spoke with about 50 people, telling them that he is the product of Democratic values.

"I remember standing with my parents in line for a block of cheese and a loaf of bread," Colón said. "But I was able to go to college and then law school."

Colón said Democrats believe in the importance of funding the care of soldiers returning home from war and that the only way to make improvements in health-care, education and government ethics is to elect Democrats. Colón said that people are fed up with the war and continuous ethics questions about elected representatives.

"The other party is not the party of patriots," he said. "They only wrap themselves in the flag."

By contrast, Colón called Army Sgt. James Akin "the true test of patriotism." Akin hoped someday to be the nation's president, and he managed Democrat Victor Raigoza’s failed bid for a state Senate seat. Akin was killed in Baghdad earlier this month.

The tour of every New Mexico county is part of the 50 State Strategy devised by Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean.

The Democratic Party used to focus on about 18 counties in each state when working to elect Democrats. Now, under the leadership of Governor Dean, Democratic Party chairs are building grassroots support in every county in their respective states.

The Democratic Party of New Mexico is no longer focused only on cities and towns that run along the I-25 corridor, said Colón.

"The enemy is in The White House, and we're going to get him out."

He credited two DNC 50-state program staffers, Nate Jenkins and Julie Petrick, for the significant role they played in the win. "Thanks to the hard work of Nate and Julie, the Democrats not only turned out more votes on Election Day, but also defeated the Republicans among absentee voters, a feat rarely accomplished in Florida," he said.

But that's not all:

Darren’s win is significant for a couple of reasons. In addition to adding another Democrat to the ranks of the Florida House, this was the first time Florida Democrats have won a competitive special election in nearly a decade. Darren’s win also gives Puerto Rican Democrats a voice in the Florida Legislature.

Overall, the Soto victory marked the eighth Republican seat the Florida Democratic Party has taken back this election cycle, placing it among the most successful Democratic legislative caucuses in the country.

Congratulations to Florida Democrats who, under the leadership of Karen Thurman, continue to make gains.

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:

• Oregon
• North Carolina
• Utah
• Ohio
• Nebraska
• Mississippi
• Montana
• Florida

Share you stories in the comments!

Submitted by:
Mark Brewer, President, Association of State Democratic Chairs
On Behalf of the Members of the ASDC
Lottie Shackelford, DNC Vice Chair/Arkansas
Mike Honda, DNC Vice Chair/California
Susan Turnbull, DNC Vice Chair/Maryland
Steven Achelpohl, Chair, Nebraska
Steven K. Alari, California
Kayln Free, At-Large/Oklahoma
Ben Jeffers, At-Large/Louisiana
Terry Lierman, Chair, Maryland
Betty McElderry, Oklahoma
James Metcalfe, Chair, Alaska
John Perez, California

Resolution Commending Governor Howard Dean for Instituting the “50 State Strategy” at the DNC

WHEREAS, Governor Howard Dean is Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), duly elected by members of the Democratic National Committee; and

WHEREAS, Governor Dean has implemented a “50 State Strategy” that has been instrumental in helping to ensure State Democratic Parties have the tools, training, and resources needed to win elections up and down the ticket, in all parts of the country; and

WHEREAS, previously too many of our state parties had been neglected by the national party even as Republicans did a far better job of effectively organizing their State parties, and the “50 State Strategy” reversed that trend and provided State Democratic Parties the tools, resources, and infrastructure needed to compete and win races in all parts of the country; and

WHEREAS, the 2006 elections demonstrated that if Democrats show up, stand up for what we believe in and work hard and ask every American for their vote, we can win in any part of the country at every level; and

WHEREAS, the “50 State Strategy” ensured that State Democratic Parties were able to lay the groundwork that enabled Democratic candidates to take advantage of a favorable political climate; and

WHEREAS, thanks in great part to the “50 State Strategy,” Democratic candidates won races up and down the ticket, all across the country that they would not have been able to win, helping take back the U.S. House and Senate, elect a majority of Democratic governors – who now govern states that control 295 electoral votes – and win ten new Democratic majorities in state legislatures;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) and the DNC honor and thank Governor Dean for his tireless commitment to State Democratic Parties and the “50 State Strategy,” and for holding himself to the highest ethical standards, and for never retreating from what was right for every Democrat in every state; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the “50 State Strategy” is a long term investment paying immediate dividends and that, as we look toward the future, State Democratic Parties will evaluate and enhance these efforts, to grow our majority and sustain Americans' trust in and support for us; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that DNC and our State Parties will continue working hard to show up and ask for people's votes in every corner of America to ensure Democratic victories next November, to take back the White House in 2008, and to continue to rebuild the Democratic Party for the future.

By the end of Dean's first year in office, the fifty state strategy was in full swing. The DNC was paying for 183 people working for state parties as part of their coordinated campaigns. Most of this work went on below the radar screen.

She then goes on to compare districts, money spent by other campaign committees and comes up with what we already know: that when you show up, work hard and ask people for their votes, you do better! Except she's got some numbers to help prove it.

It's worth a read - you might learn something new. For instance, Chris Bowers, my favorite netroots numbers guy, takes a look and says:

I admit I was unaware of the wide scope of the fifty-state strategy--183 paid organizers is quite a large amount. It is certainly a very expensive electoral and party-building strategy that shifts a huge amount of funds away from television advertising during the final few weeks of the campaign in selected, narrowly targeted districts. Assessing the effectiveness of this strategy with an objective eye thus becomes increasingly important, since tens of millions of campaign dollars are at stake, and both those within the Democratic party infrastructure who favor the fifty-state strategy, such as state party chairs, as well as those who oppose it, such as consultants for Democratic campaign committees, stand to either gain or lose a huge amount of money depending on the scale to which the strategy is implemented.

You can check out Chris' analysis, here and read the full paper, here.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) will become chairwoman of the Democratic Governors Association next year, officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Associated Press.

The Democrats are coming off a successful campaign season, picking up six statehouses in last month's elections.

Sebelius and the DGA declined to comment ahead of a meeting tomorrow of the governors association, when the announcement of Sebelius's appointment is expected. She would replace New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is considering a run for president in 2008.

Next year, the Democrats will hold a majority of the country's governorships for the first time in 12 years. This year's victories came in several states that had Republican governors despite strongly Democratic leanings, such as Massachusetts and New York.

But the elections also underscored the importance of the party reaching out to more conservative states. Sebelius, who defeated her opponent with 58 percent of the vote Nov. 7, is considered a leading model for how Democrats can win in traditionally Republican territory.

The Democrats also picked up governor's seats in Ohio, Arkansas, Colorado and Maryland, and they will control 28 states in January. The Democrats' success in governor's races was mirrored in state legislatures, where they picked up nine chambers.

Sebelius's vice chairman at the DGA will be West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III, according to the AP.

Governor Sebelius has done an amazing job leading the state of Kansas and bringing the Democratic message to the heart of a "red" state. Not only is this a fabulous development for women leaders, but it's going to be a fantastic fit for the Democratic Governor's Association as we seek to build a truly national party as part of the 50-State Strategy. Governor Sebelius already knows the importance of fighting for every vote and has shown that not only is she willing to do it, but that she can do it and win:

One of the key reasons Kansas Democrats are in fighting mood is their governor, Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius's vote represents an island of Democratic blue in a sea of Republican red on the political map, and she has impressed by reaching the middle-ground voters in a startlingly successful first term. Shunning the hot-button social issues, she has focused on education, jobs and health. This has earned her approval ratings touching 68 per cent in a state that was overwhelmingly pro-Bush in 2004.

Sebelius has cracked the political holy grail: persuading heartland Republicans to vote Democrat. 'Her style works here, and then bringing over Parkinson to the Democrats has been the coup of all coups,' said Professor Bob Beatty, a political scientist at Washburn University near Topeka.

More on how Governor Sebelius has re-energized the state of Kansas with her common sense approach, here and here.

An Excerpt...

...The Democratic Party had a great day a few weeks ago. But it was the start of our rebuilding, not the end.

Still, I believe there are two main lessons from our success. Lessons for progressive parties everywhere.

Simply put, they have to do with the place of power and how it's practiced.

By the place of power, I mean where it resides.

And that is with the people.

It does not work its way from the top down.

It grows from the grassroots up.

It grows not just in the areas that have traditionally supported you. Whether it is the Liberal Party or the Democratic Party, we should never cede a single region or province, never cede a single state or city. Nor should we ever cede a single voter. Not a single one. It is a mark of respect for the voters that we ask each one for their vote regardless of the likelihood of getting it. This is what we call the 50-state strategy.

We shouldn't just court big donors; we must include small contributors.

We have had to transform ourselves into a Party that could communicate with its supporters and with all of our citizens... in the traditional ways... but also in new ways. By using the power and potential of technology as part of an aggressive outreach to meet and include voters and to get our message out.

But at the end of the day -- whether we're talking 50-states or a 13 provinces and territories -- it's pretty simple.

It's just this: Show up everywhere. And work hard everywhere.

Knock on doors everywhere. Make the calls everywhere. Shake hands everywhere. Do the hard work everywhere.

And keep doing it... because that's what running a permanent campaign takes.

So for us, that work won't stop. But I think on November 7th, the American voters demonstrated that if Democrats do these things...

If we show up, work hard and ask people for their votes...we can win in any part of our country.

My party took a major step in this election towards our goal of being a national party again. We won in places that some thought we couldn't. And we earned the votes of people who not have voted for a Democrat in a very long time.

We even earned some votes from people who hadn't even seen a Democrat in quite some time.

We did it by investing early. We did it by investing at the state level, laying the foundation that our outstanding candidates needed to be successful.

But most of all, we did it by showing up in every state in the country and reaching out to all of our citizens, regardless of party or religious affiliation. We did it by talking about our values, and the beliefs we share.

We went to where power resides. And we proved... if we competed in the most conservative parts of the country, we could win ... at any level, anywhere.

Believe it or not, I'm not much of a zen person.

But I've found that the path to power, oddly enough, is to trust others with it. That means remembering the power is where the voters are.

That's the first step to rebuilding a party.

The second step has to do with how we put the power into practice. First, remember it's on loan. Next, fight for what you believe in.

When my party was wandering in the wilderness, there were those who said we should change direction... that we should become more like the Republican Party whose policies and priorities we disagreed with.

When you say that, in essence you are arguing that our basic and guiding principles can be altered or modified.

More than that, you're conceding that those principles may be wrong.

They are not. Our basic principles remain as true as ever...

And, on the Democratic approach to politics and the strategy of hope and promise:

We trust people and we bring them together. We appreciate our differences and we focus on our similarities...we say our diversity does not divide us, it defines us. We propose we meet our shared challenges with shared solutions.

The Democratic Party and the Liberal Party are the 'we' parties, our opponents too often are the 'me' parties.

This year we trusted people and brought them together. We are at our best when we create and inspire a sense of community.

That is true of our politics.

Full speech below the jump, but the video is so much better!

(h/t to Kossack Swampfoot, who YouTubed the speech!)

Shuler's win aside, Democrats surge in western N.C.
Associated Press
By Gary Robertson
November 26, 2006

"For Democrats in western North Carolina, there was more to celebrate on election night than Health Shuler's victory against eight-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor in the state's marquee race. In county commission votes and races for sheriff, Democrats did well across the ballot in a part of the state where Republicans have historical links dating to the Civil War and an advantage in voter registration. In Ashe County, for example, Democrats now have a majority on the county commission and the sheriff's post for the first time in about 15 years...

"Party activists say there was more to how the west was won than a national wave of anti-Republican sentiment spilling out of Washington. The party started work last year, spending time and money to hire staff and organize volunteer efforts to persuade unaffiliated and Republican voters in the region that Democrats better reflected their values...

"Republicans have had a strong voter base in much of the North Carolina mountains since the Civil War, when farmers tended to support Abraham Lincoln and preserving the union over the cause of Confederate plantation owners. Democratic state party chairman Jerry Meek made the region a priority after his election in early 2005. 'I never thought western North Carolina was out of reach,' Meek said. Meek hired a western regional staff director before the Democratic National Committee agreed to pay for three regional leaders as part of national chairman Howard Dean's '50-state strategy.' He also assigned a task force to look at ways to improve the party's fortunes in the area. But the key was reaching out to voters. Party volunteer working on a "marginal voter project" made contact with people in five state House districts most in western North Carolina who had previously voted only in presidential years."

To read the entire article, click here.

Behind Democrats' climb in Mountain West

Martin Kasindorf and Tom Kenworthy
USA TODAY
November 21, 2006

"A wave of Democratic blue is splashing the fast-growing Rocky Mountain West, which until recently was so Republican that all eight states in the region went red for President Bush in 2004.

"Democrats are celebrating their Election Day seizure of a U.S. Senate seat, a governorship, three U.S. House seats and other major offices in Rocky Mountain states. That extends a trend started in 2002 with winning three governor seats. Now, Democrats are hoping to break the Republican lock on the inland West in the 2008 presidential race.

"DNC Chairman Howard Dean's '50-state strategy' put field operatives on the payroll and dispatched them a year ago for groundwork in Mountain West states that Democrats used to write off...'"

To read the entire article, please click here.

State party officials say Dean understands Democrats in the West

MATT GOURAS
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
November 19, 2006

"Democratic Party luminaries back East who think it was a waste of money to beef up local organizations in places like Montana and Wyoming don't understand the gains the party can make in the West, state party directors said.

"The state party chairmen are firm believers in the 50-state strategy employed by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who took his victory tour to a weekend meeting in this Wyoming resort town of the state chairmen who elected him.

"'We have been able to build our party around the state by creating Democratic organizations in every county in the state, for the first time in anyone's living memory,' said Jim Farrell, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party...'"

To read the entire article, please click here.

Kansas Democrats' victory seen as 'bellwether' for party

Scott Rothschild
Journal-World
November 19, 2006

"Sebelius won an easy re-election, Democrat Paul Morrison ousted Atty. Gen. Phill Kline, Nancy Boyda upset five-term conservative Republican icon Jim Ryun in the 2nd Congressional District, and the Democrats picked up a handful of seats in the state House.

"'People could look at what has happened here and find some new ideas based on what we've done,' said Kansas Democratic Party executive director Mike Gaughan.

"Gaughan and other Democrats said the party benefited from national chairman Howard Dean's '50-state strategy' and the cross-party appeal of Sebelius.

"When Dean became chairman of the Democratic National Committee, his main goal was to try to organize and grow the party in all states instead of ceding states, such as Kansas, to the Republicans..."

To read the entire article, please click here.

Spending turns red areas blue

News & Observer
Rob Christensen, Staff Writer
November 19, 2006

"Democrats captured two seats on the county board of commissioners, helped elect Heath Shuler to Congress, re-elected the clerk of court and elected a sheriff...

"Because of the Dean effort, the national party hired three regional field coordinators who spent 20 months in North Carolina helping counties get organized for the elections.

"One of the Dean-financed pros worked Western North Carolina, where Democrats picked up a congressional seat, won two sheriff's offices and 16 county commissioners' seats.

"'It indicates to me that there is hope for even the reddest of counties," Meek said. "With thorough organization and thorough grass-roots activity, we can turn the tide. That is what I think our mission needs to continue to be...'"

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GOP might be losing once-staunch regions

Chuck Raasch
Argus Leader (Sioux Falls, SD)
November 13, 2006

"Regionalism might not be what it once was in American politics. But the Republican Party should be concerned about the bloodbath it suffered in the Northeast and losses in the Plains and Mountain West on Tuesday.

"They were significant ingredients of the worst day for the GOP at the ballot box since 1992. With Democrats now on a Howard Dean-led mission to compete in all 50 states, this could mean an expansion of the electoral battlefield in 2008.

"On their way to losing the House, Senate and a majority of governorships, Republicans lost a U.S. Senate seat in Rhode Island, governorships in Massachusetts and New York and moderate GOP House members from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire..."

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