Our Campaign Academy weekends are 16 hours of interactive workshops that bring hundreds of local activists, campaign staff and candidates together for 2 days of intensive campaign training. Experienced campaign professionals lead sessions in voter contact, fundraising, communications, on-line organizing and much more to empower progressive activists with the skills to win in November and beyond.  Attendees also meet with dozens of local progressive candidates and learn about exciting job and volunteer opportunities in their area.  And of course, everyone receives their own copy of DFA’s 180-page Campaign Training Manual.

Year after year, the DFA Campaign Academy is building a grassroots infrastructure of skilled progressive activists in all 50 states.

The Phoenix Campaign Academy will be held on March 24th and 25th at
United Food & Commercial Workers Hall (Local 99)
2401 North Central Avenue
Phoenix AZ 85004

To learn more about the training and/or to register click here.

The cost for the two-day event is $70 ($35 for students or low income).  This includes two lunches and the DFA training manual.

Register here.

How can you help?

• Call.  If you get a request from an organization you trust to call your elected official, do so even if you think they won’t listen, such as Kyl or McCain or Brewer.  If you call they will know that people care.
• Write letters to the editor. If they get a lot of letters on a subject they will include some.
• Know the facts and correct people when they are wrong, be it on Facebook (FB), Twitter or across the backyard fence or in the grocery line.
• Let us know if you hear something you don’t think we know about.  Our email is info@dfamc.com.
• Regularly check our here, join our FB group, be sure to check in regularly and follow us on Twitter (@dfamc).

We will help you.

• We will share information we get, be it another outrageous thing the Arizona Legislature and/or Brewer are trying to do or provide correct answers to the misinformation (lies) Fox News and the conservative blogosphere is spreading.  Our emphasis will be on Arizona.  OFA’s is national but we will share both.
• We are gathering the names and emails for the many local area newspapers in Maricopa County and will post that information on our Media Response page that you will find under the Team navigation tag above.  As we get the addresses for your local news paper we will post them.
• We will share news from the Arizona Democratic Party and the Maricopa County Democrats.  Join us in Taking Arizona Back.

It’s been a busy week for the Arizona Democratic Party and our new chair, Andrei Cherny. It’s also been an important week as we set the tone for the party’s new direction and provide a strong message to counter the Russell Pearce Republicans who run the state Capitol.

One of the things Andrei has asked us to do, based on conversations with many of you, is to help Democrats be more assertive in getting our message out. We need your help – at backyard BBQs, in the grocery store aisle, in talking to your friends. So, moving forward, we will begin providing weekly talking points to statewide PCs every Friday, in order to help unify and strengthen our message as Arizona Democrats. Here are some basic talking points for this week:

On what Arizona Democrats stand for:

• Today in Arizona, Democrats represent Arizona’s mainstream, while the Russell Pearce Republicans represent only the extreme.
• Just this week, while Arizona’s economy keeps sinking, the Russell Pearce Republicans introduced a so-called “birther bill,” cited Roe v. Wade as a cause of the Tucson attacks, and are seeking to undermine the basic idea that everyone born in America is equal to anyone else.
• The Arizona Democratic Party is now the “big tent” party where Democrats, independents and fed-up Republicans can work together to move our state forward.
• Arizona Democrats are focused on what really matters to Arizonans — a stronger economy, safer streets, and better schools.
• The Russell Pearce Republicans are stuffing more kids in each classroom and kicking kids off healthcare. They’re taking cops off our streets and letting criminals out of jail and back into our communities. They’ve sold our state Capitol to big banks in New York, and they haven’t lifted a finger to help create jobs.

On the 14th Amendment bills:

• First of all, Arizona Democrats believe illegal immigration is wrong and are in favor of strong measures to crack down on the smuggling rings and cartels that are driving this problem.
• At a time when Arizona should be fighting for a stronger future, the Russell Pearce Republicans want to refight the Civil War. When we should be striding into the 21st century, their motto seems to be “Bring Back the Worst Ideas of the 19th Century.”
• These GOP bills are un-American and go against the very idea of America — anyone born here is as American as anyone else.
• This legislation is a waste of taxpayer money and it solves nothing. It’s also a glaring example of the wrong priorities of the Russell Pearce Republicans.
• Their obsession with frivolous legislation is an insult to all those Arizonans who are losing their jobs, their homes or their health care.

We will also announce the slate of officers for 2011 to be elected at the February meeting.  We will also discuss the messaging group for the Maricopa County Democrats and a group being organized to create a think tank for Democrats.

Join us at:

The Old Spaghetti Factory

On Central,  South of McDowell

Meet for dinner at 6:30pm, meeting at 7pm