Monterey County Democrats Shape State Democratic Party Platform

Today the State Democratic Party approved the platform for 2006 and if you ever doubted that individual Democrats can make a difference and influence the party, here is living proof that they can. When the California Democratic Party Platform committee circulated its first draft of the platform in March, a few volunteers in Monterey County read it very carefully and decided that especially the preamble needed some serious improvements.

One of them, Kathy Mackenzie, sat down at her computer and started a first draft, which she circulated among Communication committee members Susan Alnes, Spencer Critchley and Vinz Koller. Over a period of just a few days and over many e-mail exchanges, the group produced a new and, they believed, much improved draft. Jan Knippers Black, who is a Monterey County delegate and member of the state Platform committee, brought the language to that committee and today that very language was adopted by the 2,000 delegates gathered in Sacramento.

Monterey County Democrats in effect wrote the first two paragraphs of the State Democratic Party platform.

As Max Cleland quoted Andrew Jackson this morning, "One person with courage is a majority".

State Platform Chair Christine Pelosi, Vinz Koller and Jan Knippers Black.