Dear Friends,
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party unveiled its Pennsylvania Delegate Selection Plan to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, the current plan does not include youth as a constituency group that deserves representation goals in its affirmative action guidelines. In another words, unlike other important groups, Pennsylvania youth are not promised seats at the Convention.
The DNC Charter, a document which is described as "the Constitution of the Democratic Party", actually requires state parties to give seats at the convention to young people based on our percentage of the Democratic vote. Unfortunately, this 30 year-old provision has been ignored by the DNC.
We are asking the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to join other enlightened states like California and Michigan and include youth. As the state parties in Georgia and Virginia can attest, it is easy to alter the delegate plan in order to include youth.
Over the years, the Pennsylvania Young and College Democrats have been exceedingly grateful for the support that Governor Rendell, Chairman Rooney (pictured right) and former Executive Director Morabito have shown to young people. We must now ask them to continue their dedication to our partnership by giving Pennsylvania youth a voice in Denver.
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party unveiled its Pennsylvania Delegate Selection Plan to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Unfortunately, the current plan does not include youth as a constituency group that deserves representation goals in its affirmative action guidelines. In another words, unlike other important groups, Pennsylvania youth are not promised seats at the Convention.
The DNC Charter, a document which is described as "the Constitution of the Democratic Party", actually requires state parties to give seats at the convention to young people based on our percentage of the Democratic vote. Unfortunately, this 30 year-old provision has been ignored by the DNC.
We are asking the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to join other enlightened states like California and Michigan and include youth. As the state parties in Georgia and Virginia can attest, it is easy to alter the delegate plan in order to include youth.
Over the years, the Pennsylvania Young and College Democrats have been exceedingly grateful for the support that Governor Rendell, Chairman Rooney (pictured right) and former Executive Director Morabito have shown to young people. We must now ask them to continue their dedication to our partnership by giving Pennsylvania youth a voice in Denver.
Not only do we deserve these seats because the DNC charter clearly states it, but because Pennsylvania youth have proven to be a consistently Democratic voting bloc! As we have reported before, statistics show that the most reliable age group for either party in our
commonwealth is Democrats under 30. When young people vote, they vote for Democrats, and they are voting in greater numbers than ever before!
Chairman Rooney has graciously opened the delegate selection plan for public comment. It's vital that we share with him our intention to have our voice heard in Denver. Instead of jamming the party's email account with your messages, we will deliver them to our state party's new executive director, Mary Isenhour, in Harrisburg.
Please send your comments to OurPArtyInDenver@yahoo.com Nothing eloquent is required - simply typing your name and address is enough to let our party know that you want Pennsylvania youth to have a voice in Denver.
Chairman Rooney has graciously opened the delegate selection plan for public comment. It's vital that we share with him our intention to have our voice heard in Denver. Instead of jamming the party's email account with your messages, we will deliver them to our state party's new executive director, Mary Isenhour, in Harrisburg.
Please send your comments to OurPArtyInDenver@yahoo.com Nothing eloquent is required - simply typing your name and address is enough to let our party know that you want Pennsylvania youth to have a voice in Denver.
Democratically yours,
The Pennsylvania Young Democrats
3 comments:
I already commented on this yesterday...
I would have expected better of them than to say they'd open it up for comment.
Please.
Fact is - they may not have been approached abot this in the past. Rooney has been a great chairman when it comes to youth issues - I'm sure we'll have his ear on this.
Just for information sake, there will be an inclusion section as required by the Delegate Selection Rules. The wording and provisions will be dictated by public comment. It should also be mentioned that Pennsylvania's Affirmative Action committee is comprised of 26% Young Democrats, more than any other interest group.
Post a Comment