1.  Announcements

->  MDfA-er Paul Gallagher is now unopposed in May's election for Chair of the Horsham Democratic Committee, basically guaranteeing that Paul will be the next Chair of the Horsham Dems! Congratulations, Paul! Paul will be a busy guy, since he's adding that to heading up the I.T. committee for the county Dems, keeping that voter database current, and pulling out important trends. UPDATE: After another candidate entered the competition at the last minue, Paul was not elected to the position of chair.

->  This year's election cycle is heating up, with candidates' fundraisers and house parties springing to life:

Rep. Larry Curry has been a stalwart at MontcoDFA Monthly Meetings and comes regularly to hear what you have to say about the issues of the day and to report on the activities of the legislature. How many other elected officials afford this kind of availability to and engagement with the voters?   Join Larry and friends for his campaign kickoff at the home of Susan and George Dorshimer in Jenkintown, Saturday, February 13th, From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The suggested contribution is $50 per couple. You can click to RSVP via email or call 215-885-4154. If you can't make it on Saturday,  you can mail your check, payable to “Friends of Lawrence Curry,” to 250 Wyncote Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Please help make sure Larry has the resources he needs this year by making a contribution today of any amount you can.

Montco Controller Diane Morgan will be up for re-election in 2011, but she's not waiting around for the Republicans to paint a target on her back. For some info on what Diane's been up to as the first Democratic Controller in 150 years, check out:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2009/02/09/news/srv0000004666293.txt  . Montco DFA Steering Committee members Kevin Shaw and Mary Clark have both joined the host committee for a house party fundraiser on Sunday, February 28th, from 2-4pm, at the home of Julie Slavet, 430 Vernon Road, Jenkintown. Special Guest: Rep. Allyson Schwartz. While the minimum suggested donation is $100, the campaign has made it clear that smaller donations are also welcome -- they know that their most valuable resource is their supporters' commitment to Diane's reelection. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Neil at (215) 881-9202 or email ndeegan@allysonschwartz.com .

2. Members Reports

Montco DFA's Social Media presence is coming along nicely under the guidance of Lee Nelson. Look for Montco DFA on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MontcoDFA. Facebook page is in the works.

The Progressive Summit was attended by MDfA-ers Kevin Shaw, Mark Painter and Steve Strahs. The Summit had a near capacity crowd of about 500, with huge numbers of simultaneous workshops and sessions. Kevin noted that there was a great deal of issue advocacy, but very little electoral activity -- a worry given the close odds on the Governor's race, and little sign of changing the Republican domination of the PA Senate and near-domination of the PA House. This year will determine which party gets to redraw all the voting districts in the state. The 2000 Republican gerrymandering underlying their domination of the state legislature, and the resulting worsening conditions of life for Pennsylvanians. Nonetheless, the Summit was an important opportunity for the underdog Hoeffel for Governor campaign to network with progressives from across the state. Steve said that overall, the Summit turned out better than he expected, with meaty information and great people.

3. Endorsements

We started off discussing our reasons and our criteria for endorsing candidates. Besides evaluating how well candidates' positions align with our own, we evaluated whether they had made or could make a real difference in the lives of regular Americans consistent with our values. Members noted that endorsements by local DFA groups like ours are one of the key factors in Burlington's decisions about the national DFA PAC donations of both money and publicity. Campaigns for endorsees can also use our endorsement in whatever ways they find helpful. And our endorsements can serve to help launch and develop new candidates, develop our group's relationship with our local Democrats, and help support and hold accountable our elected officials.

We then considered candidates who are running for office this year, starting with multi-candidate primary races. We endorsed the following:

PA Governor -- Joe Hoeffel    http://www.joehoeffel2010.com/

US Senator from PA -- Joe Sestak   http://joesestak.com

U.S. Rep, PA 13 -- Allyson Schwartz   http://www.allysonschwartz.com/

U.S. Rep, PA 6 -- Manan Trivedi    http://www.trivediforcongress.com/

PA 154 Rep -- Larry Curry    http://www.larrycurry.com/

PA 146 Rep --  Mark Painter -- Website not up yet, so a NOTE:  A Montco DFA-er and 4th-term Limerick Twp Tax Collector who first beat out the incumbent when Limerick's registration was 5 to 2 Republican in a township now strongly trending to blue in western Montco. Mark has a strong sense of policy, especially on PA tax policy, and would be a great addition to the PA House!

PA 151 Rep -- Rick Taylor   http://www.taylorforpa.org/

PA 172 Rep -- Tim Kearney    http://www.kearney2010.com

It was a good meeting, jam-packed! Hope to see you next 1st Thursday.

Mary