WASHINGTON -- January 24 -- In spite of inclement weather that brought most activity in Washington D.C. to a standstill over the weekend, over 500 activists representing over 40 states and a variety of ages and ethnicities gathered in the city to strategize for the future of the Democratic Party.

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) coordinated the Counter-Inaugural Summit to follow the inauguration of George W. Bush. The summit attracted an extensive team of progressive leaders to speak and participate in strategy meetings, ranging from policy analysts to grassroots organizers. Several of the panels will be rebroadcast on C-Span during the upcoming week.

Conference attendees resolved to move forward on a pro-democracy agenda with the following actions:

Continue to advocate for electoral reform, including:

• Working toward passage of the Right to Vote Amendment advocated by Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
  
• Advocating for public financing for elections.
  
• Supporting instant runoff voting (IRV).
  
• Work to cut the purse strings for funding the war in Iraq.
  

Progressive Democrats of America is building on the recent coalition successes in challenging the Ohio electoral vote certification in Congress. Various leaders from the voting reform movement spoke at the conference, including Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb, who praised PDA for its work on the issue, and Gary Flowers from the Rainbow Push Coalition.

PDA will regroup for its first regional meeting in Phoenix, Arizona on February 6, 2005. “It’s our first meeting outside the beltway, and it’s designed and organized by the grassroots, which is what we’re all about,” Said Kevin Spidel, Deputy Director of PDA.

In the meantime, Summit participants will return to their respective communities to continue to work on PDA’s pro-democracy agenda at a grassroots level. Most participants are leaders in their own regions, representing chapters of PDA and associated organizations. Many of the activists can’t wait to get home and put what they learned into action. “I’m energized,” said Judy Pope, of Northern California “These are some of the best panels I’ve ever seen.”

The overwhelming majority of progressive organizations in attendance felt that the PDA national conference was a watershed event in the progressive movement in this country. Tim Carpenter, Director of Progressive Democrats of America, noted, “Finally, the various branches of the progressive movement have made conscious decisions to cooperate with one another across differences in cultural and political ideologies in order to fight for ordinary families and citizens who desperately need quality healthcare, affordable housing, access to higher education, social security, enlightened foreign policy, and to cut the purse strings on Iraq.”

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