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blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Tue May 6, 02:42 PM
Gary Moody, our Executive Director for the Young Democrats of Arkansas, just sent me some photos from a campaign caravan young dems took to Baton Rouge, LA to help Don Cazayoux win his special election to Congress.
Our newest member of Congress poses with YDs -
he seems to really like our sign!
Group photo!
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Mon May 5, 12:56 PM
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Wed Apr 30, 04:30 PM
ABC 15 in Phoenix has a story on the 21st Century GI Bill sponsored by Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) and its effect on Arizona State University students.
Young Democrats of Arizona President and YDA Veteran’s & Military Affairs Caucus Chair Sgt. Cole Hickman is featured in both the print and video coverage.
Click here to read/watch the coverage on ABC 15.
Show your support for the 21st Century GI Bill by signing YDA's online petition.
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Tue Apr 29, 04:44 PM
We are starting to get some photos and video from today's press conference supporting a 21st Century GI Bill. A bill YDA is currently collecting petition signatures in support of.
Here is a tidbit from Speaker Pelosi's statement today.
“What a great day this is. Here we are, in a bipartisan way, demonstrating the unity that we all have to support our veterans. We’re here with the clearest demonstration of the responsibility of one generation to the next. When Matthew [Boulay] was talking about the original GI Bill of Rights signed in 1944 by President Roosevelt, I learned from our veteran service organizations that that bill was the product of the thinking of the veterans of World War I. And they saw what they missed and they knew what they wanted to have for that next generation.
“And this GI Bill is the product of many veteran service organizations, veterans across our country knowing what we need to have for this generation, over a million and a half of whom have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I want to acknowledge the fact that the student veterans that are here are benefiting from the activism of our VSOs who have served in former conflicts."
To read the full statement click here.
Also Brave New Films just sent us an email with a link to a short film they made on the topic of veteran educational benefits today. Watch and enjoy!
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Tue Apr 29, 04:35 PM
Thank you for supporting our lobbying efforts to modernize the GI Bill! Already hundreds on people have signed the petition and made calls to their reps in Washington.
Click"read more" below to read some things petition signers are saying about the importance of this legislation!
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Tue Apr 29, 11:44 AM
Cole Hickman, the Chair of YDA's newly created Veterans & Military Affairs Caucus, sent an action alert to YDA members this morning asking for our help getting a GI Bill for the 21st Century passed to ensure educational benefits delivered to our veterans are sufficient.
To read his action alert and learn more about the bill, click "read more" below.
news
by Alexandra Acker, Executive Director
on Mon Apr 28, 03:05 PM
WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling upholding Indiana’s law requiring voter to present photo identification before casting a ballot has huge implications for millions of new voters, including young voters. Disenfranchising voter ID laws will severely limit the ability of young people to vote. Many young people do not have a driver’s license, only have a student ID, or do not possess identification with a current address.
“Young voters will feel the effects of these disenfranchising laws just at the time when turnout among turnout among young people is on the rise,” said David Hardt, President of the Young Democrats of America. “Make no mistake. These laws are a voter suppression tool, with young voters – who have been voting overwhelmingly for Democrats in recent elections – in the crosshairs.”
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The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the nation's largest youth-led partisan political organization dedicated to building a solid youth voting bloc of Democrats nationwide.
Contact:
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Mon Apr 28, 12:06 PM
blog
by Alexandra Acker, Executive Director
on Thu Apr 24, 01:47 PM
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Wed Apr 23, 05:29 PM
The University of Omaha College Democrats just posted a slide show video they put together showing their annual Tribute to the Fallen display.
blog
by Alexandra Acker, Executive Director
on Tue Apr 22, 05:27 PM
I'm a few days late getting this up here, but the most recent MTV/CBS poll is really interesting.
Not surprisingly, the economy tops young people's concerns.
In a bit of good news, both Democratic candidates beat John McCain. Obama winsw 52-39 and Clinton wins 51-49.
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Tue Apr 22, 10:49 AM
You might have heard, there is a little election today in Pennsylvannia.
If you are in PA be sure to go and vote. Here is some important information for you:
Got it? Good!
After you vote --tell us about it here in the comments.
blog
by Tony Cani, Political Director
on Mon Apr 21, 06:00 PM
An action Alert from Atima Omara-Alwala, National Chair, Women' s Caucus
Young Democrats of America
April 22nd, 2008 is Pay Equity Day!
Currently, women earn 77 cents to the dollar, over a working lifetime, this wage disparity costs the average American woman and her family an estimated $700,000 to $2 million, impacting Social Security benefits and pensions.
In 1996, Equal Pay Day was created by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) as a way to raise awareness about the gap between men's and women's wages. The day, observed on a Tuesday in April, symbolizes how far into the year a woman must work, on average, to earn as much as a man earned the previous year. (Tuesday is the day on which women's wages catch up to men's wages from the previous week.) Because women earn less, on average, than men, they must work longer for the same amount of pay. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color.
As Young Democrats we are well positioned to make a difference in our communities.
Visit www.yda.org/payequity2008 to get a one pager of what you can do in your Young Democrat local chapters and/or your Women's Caucuses, to raise awareness and take action around an issue important to us all.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Mon Apr 21, 05:08 PM
blog
by Alexandra Acker, Executive Director
on Fri Apr 18, 02:48 PM
“You could make an argument that there's been great progress economically over that period of time" -- John McCain, when asked about the economy over the last seven years. (Bloomberg News, April 17, 2008)
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Thu Apr 17, 03:23 PM
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Wed Apr 16, 05:13 PM
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Tue Apr 15, 04:28 PM
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Mon Apr 14, 02:58 PM
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Fri Apr 11, 11:52 AM
It is important for you to know what is being said about your organization in both new and traditional media outlets. You may also want to keep track of posts and stories about candidates, issues, and legislation that your organization is interesting in. This post will give you two tips to efficiently monitor the media. These are the methods I use in compiling all the stories in my link posts.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Thu Apr 10, 12:45 PM
In Part 1 of the Developing a Traditional Media Strategy series I discussed how to create a media contact list and best practices for writing and sending press releases. Today’s post will give you some advice on working with reporters once you have their attention.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Thu Apr 10, 10:52 AM
This is the first in a four-part series about developing a traditional media strategy.
So I have written about reaching out to new media, but it is always important to develop a traditional media strategy to get your message out to print, radio, and television news. This post will help you create a media contact list and learn some best practices about writing and sending press releases.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Wed Apr 9, 10:20 AM
Cross-posted on Kevin Bondelli's YD Blog
One of the best ways to get your message out to an audience that is likely to be receptive to your message is by working with established bloggers to cover your organization. Good blogger outreach is a subtle art, and this post is a crash course in implementing a strong outreach program.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Tue Apr 8, 04:37 AM
Cross-posted on Kevin Bondelli's YD Blog
We all know the stereotype of the composition of local and state Democratic Parties: a plethora of old activists that consider anyone under 50 a young Democrat. While this keeps many younger voters from becoming involved in those entities, it would be to your advantage to bite the bullet and take the plunge.
blog
by Kevin Bondelli, Southwest Region Director
on Mon Apr 7, 02:46 PM
Cross posted in Kevin Bondelli's YD Blog
Blogging has grown from being a novelty in political communication to a vital tool for candidates, campaigns, and organizations. This post is designed to guide Young Democrats chapters in developing their blogging strategy.
Why is blogging important?