Forward…

To my friends in the BMG community,

I wanted to share with you an email I sent to the members of the Democratic State Committee earlier.

Last Tuesday was a good day, but we have much to do. For those of you who are members of your local Democratic Committee, thank you. If you haven’t plugged in there yet, I hope you will.

John Walsh

– – – – – – – – – – –

Dear Fellow Democratic State Committee member,

Please allow me to apologize for the impersonal nature of this “blast” email.

I write to inform you of a decision I announced to our Executive Committee a couple days ago: I have decided to seek another term as Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and I would be honored to have your support at the state committee meeting in Springfield on Wednesday.

These last five years have been a time of great accomplishment for our party and a time where we have experienced significant challenges. We remain electorally strong. With Governor Patrick and Lt Governor Murray atop our all-Democratic slate of constitutional officers and with Senate President Therese Murray and Speaker Bob DeLeo at the helm of the legislature, Massachusetts is back in the leadership business – on healthcare, education, veterans services, energy conservation and clean energy policies, Massachusetts leads the nation. In Washington, John Kerry and the all-Democratic congressional delgation reinforced with the election of Joe Kennedy, III, is recognized as one of the strongest in the nation. The 2010 election of Scott Brown to the US Senate and the election of a group of Tea Party Republicans to the Massachusetts House of Representatives later that same year were serious setbacks for us. I am proud to have worked with you to reverse those results by electing Elizabeth Warren – a strong woman, finally (!) – to the US Senate last Tuesday and to begin the process of reversing the Tea Party gains in the legislature that same day.

Even so, there is more work to do and after discussion with my wife Donna, I feel I am prepared and energized to continue the work we have begun together. It will be no surprise to anyone that I believe our greatest strength is our grassroots organizers and I hope to continue to work to engage the best of them in our local Democratic town and ward committees. These 600 organizations, when they are storng, provide our best hope for success. The local faces and voices make our presence real in every neighborhood and the local wisdom they bring make our election efforts better. For those committees that are running well, we will continue to provide support, ideas and tools to take them to the next level. For those committees that need some help, we will continue to be there to assist.

In Massachusetts, we are stronger because of the depth and breadth of Democratic leadership at all levels. We benefit from our diversity and I will continue to work to see that our leadership reflects the best of all groups across the Commonwealth. We gain from the experienced wisdom of long-time party leaders and we are vigorous because we include leaders of all ages. I promise to coninue to build a strong relationship with young leaders who are at once the future of our party and at the same time stepping up today in important ways. Our success, with the growing presence of Young Democrats of Massachusetts chapters and the enthusiasm of the College Democrats of Massachusetts on a growing number of campuses, gives me hope. With the emerging corps of high school organizers, we will keep our eyes on the future.

I recognize that an important part of this job is to be accessible to the leaders of our party – elected and grassroots. I promise to continue to do my best to hear you and be responsive, to travel to all parts of the state to listen to the concerns and suggestions of Democrats throughout the Commonwelath and to build our party at all levels.

If community organizing were the only job of chairman, I’d be a happy guy. I also recognize the responsibility to raise the financial resources necessary to keep us moving forward and to articulate our message to the broader community on a consistent basis. I hope you feel I have been successful at those important tasks. I welcome your suggestions at any time.

As we move into 2013, many opportunities are on the horizon. We swear in a new US Senator, a new Congressman from the 4th District and newly elected officials at all levels. At the same time we’ll return many effective Democrats to office for another term – President Obama at the top of that list. We’ll engage in a process to look at our party platform at the state convention next June where we’ll be including a parallel Youth Convention for high school organizers. Municipal elections are right around the corner and – depending on which whispers and rumors you believe – many more exciting days are just ahead.

If you see fit to grant me another term, I will do my best to fulfill the responsibilities of this important job. I’d be honored to have your support and vote.

Thank you,
John E Walsh, Chair
Massachusetts Democratic Party
Candidate for re-election

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