Welcome to Democrats Abroad United Kingdom (DAUK)!

DAUK members receive a monthly e-newsletter with fun and useful information for Democrats in the UK.  Please forward to other Americans living abroad, and encourage them to join Democrats Abroad.

Table of Contents

1) From the Chair

2) Massachusetts Special Election – How You Can Help

3) Want to Help Get Out the Vote for 2010?

4) Join the Policy Action Network at the hottest play in town: Enron

5) Wanted: Communications Team Volunteers – Build up experience on your CV

6) Join DAUK on Facebook & Twitter

7) Contact Us

Please do not reply directly to this email -- find all DAUK Contacts here: http://www.democratsabroad.org...

1) From the Chair

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings.

Here, at the beginning of the month named for Janus, we stand at the gateway of a new decade.

Let us ponder the ending of the old and the beginning of the new.

For most Americans, the Bush years were not kind

…..Two wars, seemingly without end.

…..A financial crisis and an economic recession that brought the world economy to the brink of total collapse and that wrecked havoc on individual Americans, with lost jobs, rising mortgage foreclosures, disappearing retirement savings, and collapsing hopes for the future.

…..A doubling of the national debt--with little of consequence to show for it. Compare with the preceding Clinton administration, which left the nation a budget surplus and had begun paying down the national debt that had previously been trebled by Reagan.

…..The first administration in living memory to end its tenure with no net increase in jobs. Compare the Clinton legacy of 23 million new jobs during his tenure.

….A decade in which average income actually declined in real terms and in which growing economic inequality intensified (which, in all fairness, has been a trend over multiple administrations and in most developed societies, not merely our own. It was, however, worsened rather than counteracted by the Bush tax policies that benefited disproportionately those at the very top of the economic ladder, especially those in the top one-tenth of 1% of income.).

…..A record of neglect of the problems of the Middle East, especially of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, without a resolution of which peace in the area is impossible.

….. A record of neglect, indeed of hostility, to the efforts to address the challenge of climate change or to increase the nation’s energy security.

It was a sorry time for most U.S citizens.

It ended, however, on a note of hope and change--with the election of President Obama.

We should remember, too, that for many around the world, the record of the past ten years--at least economically--was much better. In four of the five most populous countries on the globe with 40% of the world’s population (China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia--all but the U.S.) the decade was one of rapid economic growth and progress. (To reverse an old saying, every silver lining has a cloud, though--the growth in rapidly developing countries only intensifies the need to address the challenge of climate change)

We now approach the first anniversary of President Obama’s swearing in. And like Janus, we must look forward as well as back in time.

There are those who are disappointed in the first year, especially on the left. There are those on the right who are alarmed--misled as they often are by Republican politicians who seem to exist at times in a strange alternative universe, where facts do not exist or at least where, as with the Red Queen in Alice’s adventures, words and facts mean only what they choose them to mean.

And yes, perhaps a stronger push on health care reform with less time expended would, in hind sight, have been better--but then, no President has ever gotten this far, and not for want of trying.

Perhaps an earlier and more forceful emphasis on jobs and job creation would have helped--but employment is always a lagging indicator, especially when a recovery is slow, as it has been when the nation has suffered simultaneously both a severe financial crisis and a sharp economic recession.

Perhaps the Administration could have done a better job in explaining to the American people how and why both the rescue of the financial system and the economic stimulus were necessary and, as is increasingly clear, effective. Indeed, the very success in pulling the country back from an economic abyss undercuts the push for meaningful financial reform (But then, with little public notice, a major bill has come out of Barney Frank’s Committee and passed the House and soon will be addressed by the Senate.)

Whatever the quibbles, whatever the result of second-guessing and hindsight, we should be under no illusion.

The success of the Obama administration in addressing the myriad challenges that remain depends, it seems to me, upon three factors:

1. Continued and strengthening signs of economic recovery over the next ten months (especially a decline in unemployment),
2. A consequent decrease in the usual losses at the mid-term election in November of this year, and
3. Yes, the willingness of at least some of those in the Republican party to move beyond blind opposition, especially on issues which do not divide the parties as sharply as has been true this year.

There is only one of those three factors that we in Democrats Abroad can directly affect--and that is the outcome of the 2010 elections.

(Things look better than some contemporary analyses would suggest--see Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post, Tuesday, January 5 (washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010403313.html?wpisrc=nl_politics .)

That is why, in the coming months, we in DAUK will be intensifying our voter registration and absentee ballot efforts.

Too much rides on the continued success of DA in voter turnout and in making a difference in close elections to let up now.

Bill Barnard

Chair, Democrats Abroad U.K.

2) Massachusetts Special Election – How You Can Help

The Massachusetts Special Election to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat is on January 19th.  Our Democratic candidate Martha Coakley needs your help. The race to fill Senator Kennedy’s seat is surprisingly close in the polls.

Two emails have now been sent to our members who are Massachusetts voters, reminding them to cast their absentee ballot.  But even if you don’t vote in Massachusetts, you can still be a part of this critical contest.

You can make phone calls into Massachusetts and urge voters to support Martha Coakley.

Please email foster@marthacoakley.com. Tell them that you would like to help and they will set you up to do this important outreach.

3) Want to Help Get Out the Vote for 2010?

Do You Want to Learn How to Register Voters?

Please join the Voter Registration planning meeting on Thursday, January 28. Voter registration training will be at 6:00pm followed by a voter registration strategy meeting at 6:30. Please RSVP to DAUKVote@Democratsabroad.org.uk

Where can we find Americans?

Do you know of a location where Americans gather?  Perhaps you are a member of an American university alumni organisation or an American woman’s club. Do you work in a company with lots of American employees? If you have an idea of where we can find Americans, please email DAUKVote@Democratsabroad.org.uk and we will see if the organisation will allow Democrats Abroad to send a voter registration volunteer to their location or will allow us to put www.VoteFromAbroad.org in their newsletter. Every vote counts!

4)  Join the DAUK Policy Action Network at the hottest play in town: Enron

The DAUK Economics PAN is organizing a theatre visit with discounted tickets and discussion around the play Enron.  This award winning play by Lucy Prebbles has a new short run at the Noel Coward Theatre.

The play tells the story of the rise and fall of Enron, the infamous Texas-based energy conglomerate whose ‘financial engineering’ led to its downfall.  We will be having a pre-theatre discussion over drinks and a bite to eat. The DAUK Economics PAN has made arrangements for a limited number of premium tickets in the Royal Circle for this event at a discounted price of £35 (regular price, £55).

“...an exhilarating mix of political satire, modern morality and multimedia spectacle.  A fantastic theatrical event.”   The Guardian

Read all the reviews: http://www.enrontheplay.com/re...

Date: 20 April
Time 7.30 -evening performance
Ticket price:  seats in the Royal Circle at discounted price of £35.00 each (regular price £55)
Place:  Noel Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4AU

To reserve and pay for a place, get details of the pre-theatre meeting, please email  Carol Moore at economicsteam@daukpan.org.uk

5) Wanted: Communications Team Volunteers! Build CV Experience

Ever wanted to try out marketing or communications?  Now is your chance!

We have exciting opportunities to help support and develop the communications strategy working with the Head of the Communications Committee. Opportunities include:

* Copy Editors

* Social Media Outreach

* Communication Strategy

* Event Communication

* Surveys

Many of the positions involve lending your ideas & energy and in return gaining new experiences, meeting fellow Americans, advancing our Party’s goals for the United States and hopefully having fun! DAUK volunteer and leadership opportunities span from projects that can be as little or as extensively time-involved as you choose. Several roles can be conducted at home with email and internet connectivity. Some activities are based on an event and others based on your schedule’s flexibility.

If any of the roles/positions below are of interest, please contact us at: dauksecretary@democratsabroad.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.

6) Join us on Facebook & Twitter

Connect with fellow DAUK members on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook: Search under Groups:
* Democrats Abroad
* Democrats Abroad UK
* Young Democrats Abroad UK

Twitter:

* DemsAbroad

7)  Contact us

Click on the link below to access the DAUK contacts page, which includes contacts and links to:

* Join Democrats Abroad
* Volunteer with DAUK
* Chapter / Regional Contacts
* Press Liaison
* Democrats Abroad UK Officers
* Mailing address, fax, other
* Register to Vote / Email to Send Questions

Full List of Contacts and Links: http://www.democratsabroad.org...