October 2024 Club Newsletter
Upcoming Meeting
—by Tim Dixon
Join us for our hybrid (In-person and Zoom) October 20, 2024, club meeting, which will be held at the Peninsula Center Library, 701 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates. Our meeting starts at 2:30 pm but join us at 2 pm to chat with other Democrats.
Fearless journalist and author Brian Karem, a columnist for Salon magazine, will be our guest via Zoom for the October 20 monthly meeting. Brian is the former senior White House correspondent for Playboy. He has covered every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan,
sued Donald Trump three times successfully to keep his press pass, spent time in jail to protect a confidential source, covered wars in the Middle East and is the author of seven books.
Our live speakers for October 20 feature two Democrats running for PVPUSD School Board, Eric Alegria and Ami Gandhi.
For more information, or to register for this event, please click here.
President’s Message
—by Rob Wynne
The 2024 election serves as a referendum on the future. Do we go forward and embrace the future with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris? Or do we go backwards and look towards the non-existent, magical, prosperous past (where women and minorities "knew their place") with the Republican nominee Donald Trump?
The same dynamic -- the past versus the future -- will play out right here in Palos Verdes. For our local elections, nothing may be more important than voting Yes on SOS. The Save Our Schools amendment will create a bond
measure to fix the crumbling infrastructure of all the schools in our district. It's almost impossible to imagine how badly the classrooms, locker rooms and auditoriums in our schools have deteriorated.
Parents with children in school today know all about this, and most of them will do the right thing and support SOS. I hope the older, retired, and more conservative members of our community will resist the temptation to cut corners and save money in the short term. Quality schools and better facilities improve the safety and quality of education for our students. Better schools increase the value of our homes. SOS is a win-win for all citizens in Palos Verdes in the short and long term.
September 2024 Club Meeting Report
activities that they experienced while attending the convention in Chicago in August. Both of our delegates reflected on all the enthusiasm and excitement in Chicago!
Nancy Mahr and Ann Nye, speakers from the League of Women Voters, provided an in-depth analysis of the ballot propositions on the upcoming November ballot. Although the ballot propositions contain complex language, the presentation provided our members with a detailed analysis of the key issues and impact of each proposition and explained which groups and organizations are supporting or opposing the propositions.
To watch the video, visit our YouTube channel.
—by Tim Dixon
On Sunday. September 15, 2024, the Palos Verdes Democrats held their monthly meeting at the Peninsula Center Library and via zoom. The attendance at the meeting was outstanding with over 50 democrats in attendance and more than 80 people including members attending via zoom.
Palos Verdes Democrats’ Past President Connie Sullivan and Second Vice President Tim Dixon, who were delegates to the Democratic National Convention, reported to the members present on the business and
Activism for October: 34-day Countdown from October 1 st
—by Caryl Schwartz
To quote Michelle Obama “Do something!”
The 2024 general election is about more than the candidates it is the future direction of American democracy.
Trifecta is the goal! We need to win the Presidency and majorities in both the House and Senate. I am optimistic we will flip the house, not by 5 seats but closer to 25 seats. I am a strong believer in a million people doing a million small actions will change the trajectory of the MAGA movement.
To expand the Senate, we must win Toss-Up seats in Arizona, Montana and Ohio. Polls are improving daily for Rep. Colin Allred; Texas is in play. Fox News recently called it a Toss -Up race. Florida race is also getting interesting, Democrat Debbie Mucarel- Powell is polling within the margin of error, or how I like to think of it margin of opportunity. Michigan, Neveda, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, are critical battleground states that we also must win. If you have the ability to contribute financially, I suggest any of these Senatorial campaigns: Ruben Gallego, Arizonia, John Tester, Montana and Sherrod Brown, Ohio, Elissa Slotkin, Michigan, Jacky Rosen, Neveda, Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin, Debbie Mucarsel- Powell Florida and Rep. Colin Allred. Texas.
PV Dems have been canvassing on weekends in Orange County. Join us, we rotate our efforts between Derek Tran CA 45 and Dave Min CA 47. Derek Tran is running against MAGA incumbent Michelle Steel, who among other things is calling for a National Abortion Ban. Dave Min is running against MAGA candidate Scott Baugh, who when serving in the California State Assembly was indicted for campaign finance fraud. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-23-mn-50499-story.html
You can volunteer to phone bank via Zoom on any of the Senatorial campaigns. All of the campaigns are currently utilizing predictive dialer, Scale to Win, which are very efficient. You are welcome to join me at my home for training or company.
Ohio, Sherrod Brown: Tuesdays 3:00 PM
https://www.mobilize.us/theunion/event/631457/
Montana: Jon Tester: Wednesdays 3:30 PM
https://www.mobilize.us/bigskyvictory/event/617075/
https://www.mobilize.us/massdems/event/653194/
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W6M-T29QvQA57avsvt6JW84GTgZmXlGA/view
Texas: Colin Allred: Thursdays @ 3:30 PM
https://www.mobilize.us/massdems/event/685762/
If you haven’t done so already, consider getting involved in supporting Kamala Harris’s Presidential Campaign. Opportunities are listed on the campaign website kamalaharris.com. Here’s a link I’ve used to sing up to phone bank from home,
https://events.democrats.org/event/664004/.
I say this every month, canvassing and phone banking are the most effective means to increase voter turnout. Statistically voter turnout escalates by 4% with voter-to-voter contact. All the above Senate campaigns are currently engaged in persuasion calls. By mid-October campaigns focus will be on Democrats to GOTV, (get out the vote.) California
Congressional races we have been phone banking for are and they start at 5 PM:
George Whitesides CA 27 https://www.georgewhitesides.com/ Wednesday & Thursday 5 PM
https://www.mobilize.us/georgewhitesidesforcongress/event/636850/
Will Rollins CA 41. https://willrollinsforcongress.com/ Tuesdays & Thursdays 5 PM, Saturday 1 PM
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/694770/
Please feel free to reach out to me at any time for resources, questions or training for the upcoming
Blue Wave.
Caryl
pvcaryl@verizon.net
310 897 0219
Notes from the LACDP September 2024 Meeting
—by Jon Munoz
The LACDP meeting was held on Tuesday September 10th. The entire meeting was taken up with LACDP members voting on endorsement committee recommendations for this November’s election. The meeting, held on ZOOM, lasted over 6 hours as votes were taken on over 110 candidates and ballot measures. Of all the AD 66 candidates, LACDP members voted to approve all the recommendations. Therefore, the following AD 66 candidates are officially endorsed by the LACDP :
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District: Ami Gandhi + Eric Alegria
Rancho Palos Verdes City Council: George Lewis
Palos Verdes Library District Member Board of Trustees: Zoe Unno + Holly Vanderdonck
El Segundo City Council: John Pickhaver
Hermosa Beach City Council: Michael Detoy
Hermosa Beach City School District: Rachel VanLandingham + Carol Reid
Lomita City Council District 2: Wade Kyle
Torrance Unified School Board, Trustee E: Dave Zygielbaum
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday October 8th.
Harris/Walz Lawn Sign Distribution Campaign
—by Reggie Jue
Thank you to all that participated in our Harris/Walz lawn sign effort. Donations collected through that program netted approximately $900 after covering printing costs and credit card fees, and all of that is being donated to candidates on the November ballot. The subcommittee for recommending a donation allocation from the lawn sign net proceeds was composed of Al Shadbourne, Caryl Schwartz, Carol Moeller, and Reggie Jue. After looking at the latest polling data and discussing various strategic priorities, the committee made the following recommendations, and the Board of Directors approved these donations:
Ami Gandhi (PVPUSD School Board): $150
Eric Alegria (PVPUSD School Board): $150
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Florida Senate Race): $200
Sherrod Brown (Ohio Senate Race): $200
Colin Allred (Texas Senate Race): $200
Note that this amount is in addition to the $3700 donations made from the club general fund and reported in the August newsletter.
Color Me a Democrat—October 2024
—by Fraser Perkins
It’s time for a Trump photo essay extravaganza!
To read the entire post, please click here.