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A Message From Chair Jill Derby |
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Last week I asked for your feedback on our historic presidential caucus. I received hundreds of emails with a variety of experiences and many productive ideas on how to improve the caucus.
I want you to know that we have read each and every one of the emails we received. After looking through the many good ideas sent in, I have decided to appoint a committee that will examine this information, propose specific improvements to the next caucus and oversee implementation. We have heard your input, and we know there are ways we can improve the process.
With hundreds of emails coming in, it’s difficult to summarize all of
the suggestions we received in one email to you. However, we have heard
your recommendations, especially on streamlining the check-in process,
improving sites that host multiple precincts and even simplifying the
caucus process.
We also received many emails with positive feedback on the caucus.
Democrats told us they enjoyed meeting their neighbors at the caucus,
and it was exhilarating to see so many Democrats spend a few hours on a
Saturday morning to change our country for the better.
After giving suggestions on the caucus, one Democrat wrote to me, “On
the PLUS side, it was great to stand up and be counted.....to be a
human with an opinion who could voice that opinion openly instead of
punching a card or flipping a switch in a nameless, voiceless voting
machine! That, in itself, made all the ‘silly moments’ trivial.”
We also heard from Nevadans who said you’d prefer to have a primary
instead of a caucus. I certainly understand your frustrations.
However, as we continue this discussion, I’d caution you that Nevada’s
new early status could be put in jeopardy if we changed to a primary.
You might not know that Nevada has held a presidential caucus (instead
of a primary) for decades. That’s one of the reasons our state was
chosen as one of the first to weigh in on our presidential candidates
in 2008. The Las Vegas Sun recently published a column from me on this
topic that you can read here:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/feb/03/nevadas-importance-tied-caucus/
We have so much to be proud of and have come so far in recent months.
Democrats have thousands of volunteers identified around the state that
we can deploy to help win Nevada for our Democratic nominee in
November. We hold a voter registration advantage in Nevada for the
first time in 15 years. And we put Nevada on the political map once
and for all by turning out almost 118,000 Democrats to our first-ever
competitive caucus. This year, we can prove the pundits wrong and Turn
Nevada Blue.
Thank you again for all that you do, and for giving your feedback so that we can work together to make our party even better.
Best regards,
Jill Derby
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June 12, 2009 - Ensign, Heller to Nevada children: Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em
Candidate for Boulder City City Council
