NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday October 16, 2007
Democrats will win big in 2008, party leaders predict
Arizona Democrats will take back the offices from the White House to the State House, party leaders said Saturday at the quarterly state party meeting.
“Our trajectory is up and I see a bright future in 2008,” Chairman Don Bivens said.
Rep. Raul Grijalva urged members of the Arizona Democratic Party’s state committee to continue to work to send Democrats to the U.S. Congress. Americans wants immigration reform without rancor and a solution to the war in Iraq – exactly what Democrats are working to accomplish, he said.
“There has to be a reinvestment in America and the American people,” Grijalva said. “Let us do the job the American people want us to do.”Congress has passed landmark legislation to raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, increase funding for veterans more than any other time since the Veterans’ Administration was founded and provide the largest expansion of student aid since the GI bill was passed.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords told the committee members that Congress has worked hard and has more work to do.
“We’re going to need one more election cycle to pick up the seats we need,” Giffords said. “Our next president – who will be a Democrat and either a he or a she – will be real instrument to move our agenda.”
The state committee meeting was held at Tucson High School, where Rep. Giffords’ father graduated in 1953. The state has changed dramatically since then and will change dramatically in decades to come, she said.
“It’s up to us to define what we want our state and our country to look like,” Giffords said.
Attorney General Terry Goddard, House Minority Leader Phil Lopes and George Cunningham from Gov. Janet Napolitano’s office also described how the committee members’ hard work will pay off on Election Day 2008.
In addition to speeches from elected officials, committee members also learned about the process to become delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August 2008. Information is available on the party’s Web site, azdem.org .
The committee also voted for the following resolutions: supporting the Stop Payday Loans initiative; protecting people from air quality affected by aggregate mining; and supporting workers’ rights. The committee also voted to congratulate Nobel Laureate Al Gore on his award. Information about the resolutions is also available at the party’s Web site .