Young Democrats

This fundraising page was created in response to the Buncombe County Republican Party's September 11th fundraiser. Although, the primary goal of the BCGOP’s ridiculous and ironic September 11th fundraising scheme may only be to gain attention, the Young Democrats of Buncombe County would like to put your attentiveness to good use. Elaine Marshall is a fantastic democratic candidate running to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, and she needs your help.

So for every time you laughed out loud at the YouTube video of Mr. Nesbitt (be honest, gods watching you), the Buncombe County Young Democrats would like YOU! to donate between $25-$50 to Elaine Marshall’s campaign for U.S. Senate.

With the State Executive Committee occurring tomorrow and the election of our new party officers, recent events have made me reflect about the barriers that are in place against young Democrats being elected to party and other elected offices. And I think it's even more of a struggle for young Democratic women.

For those who think about running for any kind of office, a balance must always be maintained (however precarious) among family, professional life, and politics. However, this balance is even more difficult for those just starting out in their careers, especially those with young children. Or else they may be in school or, if they are out of school, having to battle loan payments and other debt. There is certainly an advantage for those who are retired, wealthy, have a dependable second income from a spouse (or family money), or have a job that allows them flexible hours. To be sure, so-called Young Democrats are not alone in these issues...Democrats in their 30s, 40s, and 50s face similar concerns.

We are starting a Young Democrats club in Brunswick County, and if you live in the county, we'd love for you to join!

Mark your calendars now for the 2008 YDNC State Convention, which will be held March 29 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in RTP (http://www.sheratonrtp.com/). The keynote speaker at this year's convention will be James Carville, the CNN commentator, political strategist, and all around firey speaker.

The convention will also host trainings, presentations, and (hopefully) debates between state-wide Democratic candidates. More information will follow in the coming weeks, but mark your calendars now. BlueNC will receive updates, but do consider signing up for the YDNC email newsletter at http://www.ydnc.org. The signup box is on the left.

This past weekend College and Young Democrats from all over North Carolina converged in Asheville for the annual Vance-Aycock dinner. Saturday morning the group put its energy and youthfulness to good use by hitting the streets of Asheville to canvass for two Young Democrats facing reelection on the Asheville City Council. The candidates, Brownie Newman and Brian Freeborn, spoke to the 30 students and young people in attendance and thanked them for their service. The canvassers knocked on over 850 doors and distributed literature on the candidates while speaking to citizens of Asheville about important issues facing the city.

Military families at heavily deployed bases like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune are communities at war without their country. Never in our history have so few been asked to sacrifice so much while so many are asked to do nothing at all. Too many Americans hear about the war in Iraq on the evening news, switch off their TV's and sleep well at night confident that the yellow ribbon magnet they bought for their car last week is a sufficient sacrifice. My two military children have sacrificed more before age 10 than the grown men in Washington four times their age who beat the loudest drums to send their Daddy off to war...

The Young Democrats of North Carolina will be holding our first-ever state-wide YD day for the Troops on Saturday, September 8th, 2007 at 10:00 am. Since my first post about this event, we have decided upon the exact places in Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, and Jacksonville.

Our purpose is to show our support for the troops and connect with them on a personal level. A large percentage of our troops are actually YD aged (between 18 and 35), and it is our aim to show all of them that we Democrats appreciate them even if we may disagree with the policies they must operate under.

Like all Democrats, the Young Democrats of North Carolina support our troops, and we want you to help us put that support into tangible action. On Saturday, September 8, 2007, YDNC will hold our first-ever statewide USO day, which we are calling Operation: YD Day for the Troops.

This day will take place at four sites across the state: Asheville, Charlotte, Durham, and Jacksonville. Our support will be shown by having a month-long drive for items needed by troops and their families for school, home, and relaxation. With this donation and presentation on September 8, we will begin to counter the misperceptions that some have about our party and the military.