Welcome to Democracy for Missouri, P.O. Box 7683, Columbia MO 65205-7683
Please register and sign in...as it increases your ability to interact on the site. We hope that this site will prove to be a useful tool in support of progressive candidates, political reform and grassroots Democratic ideals for Missouri. There are great links to explore, news feeds to inform and a calender to stay up to date on current activities. The achives is where you will find articles, beginning in April 04, which are no longer posted. Please feel free to add your comments to articles. Democracy begins with dialogue. Click on "Read More" under the entries to get the full story.
The core group of folks affiliated with Democracy for MO, were drawn together in Mid Missouri by the powerful vision of Howard Dean's Candidacy. (See the Images section for pics...we like our pics!) We are translating the enthusiasm of that campaign into support for local Progressive candidates and hope to infuse the Democratic party with the message that the power to transform this country resides in each of us.
In Missouri there are two principle organizations descended from the Dean for America campaign...Change for Missouri concentrated mostly in the St Louis area and Democracy for Missouri which is centered in Mid Missouri. There is some organization in Kansas City as well. None of the Democracy for America affiliated groups in Missouri are legally established 527 or 501C3 etc organizations as of July 2005. We do not raise money for our own organization...we raise and give money on behalf of campaigns and for groups like MoveOn.org and DFA. This is a work in progress for progressive politics in Missouri...stay tuned.
On Dec 7th of 2005, we adopted these Bylaws adapted from those found at San Francisco for Democracy.
To meet others in your area of like mind, check out the Democracy for America "DFAlink" (MeetUp) near you. DFAlink is the first Wednesday of every month. In Columbia, we meet at the Labor Temple at 611 N Garth.

A few ground rules...as in any public place kindly be aware of offensive language in posts. Also, everyone can make comments to posts and suggest links, but only a few people can "Blog" post directly to the Main page. E Mail elbimon@mchsi.com if you have something you would like posted or featured on the site.

The following work by Del, is a good reflection of our motivation and purpose.

On a Mission DFA 2.0: Where Do We Go From Here? (Written April 2004)

Howard Dean's run for the presidency is over but the reasons we supported his campaign are still the same. If you're reading this then you, like me, are probably trying to figure out how to keep fighting for what we believe in this new environment.

Fortunately Howard gave us some advice on what we should be working toward and how, in general terms, we should go about it. He gave us four goals and five actions we should pursue to take out country back. Together, these goals and actions describe what his candidacy was all about.

I believe it would be a good thing to review those suggestions and see if we can't
turn them into a specific Mission Statement that makes sense to all of us.

Four Goals:

The governor gave us four goals to work toward (I paraphrase)

1) Build the Grassroots and encourage more citizens to participate actively in the political process. Harness the internet to enlarge and support Democracy for America.

2) Support progressive candidates at all levels. Demand honesty and decency from candidates and government officials.

3) Fight for a progressive ideals and policies. Forge partnerships with other progressive organizations to focus attention on the failings of the Bush Administration.

4) Fight the hold that special interests have on government and countering the radical politics of the right wing. Work to take back Congress and state legislatures.

Yes, yes. All good, but still not terribly specific. What specifically do we, around this table, do to make all of this happen? I'm going to take a stab at distilling all this down to our immediate circumstances.

It boils down to Leverage, Growth, Communications, models for Success and Longevity

The Mission

Leverage our strength through other organizations:
In the course of the Dean campaign we learned to work together to achieve more than our small numbers would normally accomplish. We learned a great deal about getting our message out, engaging the community and creating excitement in our cause. We can leverage this capability by working together with other organizations in the area to build a larger activist network within the community.

Acting individually we can each become involved with a particular candidate, organization or political function and focus our attentions on making it a success. But working together we can use the strengths of our group to coordinate and concentrate our efforts when needed.

The DFA group will become a think tank and an action committee to inject some activist backbone into other organizations that might need it. Whether it be the Democratic Party, specific Presidential Campaigns, the League of Women Voters, Congressional or Senate campaigns, the city council or even the local quilting circle; DFA will be a presence. DFA will be everywhere and people will notice. We will continue to build a name for ourselves.

Grow smart
We need to grow by attracting new members. But unlike Dean's presidential campaign, having a large number of members is not as important as recruiting high quality members. From each of our targeted organizations, from our circle's of friends and from the community at large, we'll find those individuals with the attitude, knowledge, talent, skills and resources complement and enhance our effectiveness.

Communications
We have a new forum to give us a public identity on the web. Check out http://democracyformo.com. This is our brand new blog and will be the bulletin board and organizing tool for DFA in mid Missouri. Sign up and be active on the site. Make it a great place visit and talk between ourselves.

We will continue the strong press relationships that Bob Berlin established during the Dean campaign. Press releases and announcements will make sure that our voices are heard, but we need your involvement there if you can help. Be sure to monitor the local press and be active in writing to editors about their coverage of progressive issues and truth in government.

And wherever we are involved within the community, we need to make sure that the name "Democracy for America" is mentioned and that people know who we are.

Models of Success
Let's not reinvent the wheel. Over the decades scores of citizen groups have grown from small numbers of motivated people to large organizations that influence the community and the country. We need to be on the lookout for organizing principles and activist methods that work. The Sierra Club, and Peaceworks both have outstanding records in motivating progressives and we should study how they did it. Farmer's Markets are a model of local organization.

We should look not only at our side but how the right wing has become so strong. The Christian Coalition has managed to attract a powerful following through its organization and we should learn from them as well.

Whatever organization you choose to involve yourself with, look at how they organize and bring that knowledge back to Democracy for America.

Run a marathon not a sprint.
Change takes time and we have to be prepared to stay in this for the long haul. We have to operate at a pace that is sustainable for not weeks or months but for years. So we have to make sure that enjoy what we are doing and that working together is a pleasure and not a task. The relationships we built have to be valued and nurtured to make Democracy for America a stable and strong organization.

If we stay together long enough, we will someday share the power.

Update July 2005: We have taken Del's advice, and DFA in general and our local DfMO, have done a good job in the last year fulfilling the these expectations. Howard Dean is now DNC Chair. In Columbia MO, there is a permanent Democratic HQ, staffed in large part by DFA affiliated folks. We continue to meet and grow our organization and in many locales DFA folks are running for local office and winning. Together we are taking this Country Back from the right wing oligarchy currently running this Country.