Our excellent Democratic State Representative, Tom Conroy, has no opposition.
Unfortunately, our newly elected Repubican State Senator, Richard Ross, is also probably going to run unopposed.
Our Congresswoman, Niki Tsongas, has several potential opponents in November. She will need our support.
Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Tim Murray will also need our support. So will the Democratic candidates for other State Wide offices, including Treasurer and Auditor.
Members of the Wayland Democratic Town Committee will have our work cut out for us in the months ahead.
Men and women of good will around the world are mourning the death of our Senator, Edward M. Kennedy.
Born of privilege and first elected in 1962 because of his family name, he became a strong and successful champion of the rights of the poor, the dispossessed, and the discriminated against, a “kind and tender hero” (in the words of President Obama), gentle and compassionate, a voice for the voiceless, and one of the greatest legislators in American history. “John Kennedy inspired us, Robert Kennedy challenged us, and Edward Kennedy changed America. ”
Ted, we will miss you, more than we can say.
Dennis and Joanne Berry, Niki Tsongas, and Jon Saxton
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| Russ Ashton and Matt Shear | Ed O’Reilly and Susan Hager |
Prepared for the next campaign!
Electioneering - This is the actual work of supporting candidates and their campaigns. This includes all the work that town committees typically do, including sign holding, mailings, telephoning, and local networking.
Candidate Qualification - We should be a resource for new potential candidates. Based on our experience with recent elections, and with our unique local perspective, we can provide advice and expertise, as well as person power. We need to maintain a database of voters in our town, and work with committees in surrounding towns to advise and support new candidacies.
Committee Development - In order to do this work, we must strengthen our membership and enhance our visibility to the public.
Fundraising - We must have enough funds to support these activities, and to run ads in the local media. We plan to host major fundraising events for statewide candidates.
Town Committees are the backbone of grass roots politics. With the advent of the Clean Elections system, the grass roots can become more important to candidates than wealthy contributors.
With the Bush administration pretending that they have a mandate to serve the rich and powerful, we must organize locally to represent the rest of us.
We must provide a vehicle for support of Democratic ideals and opposition to unfair Republican policies.