"It was awesome!"

That was the reaction of one of the Tennessee activists at the end of the two-day DFA Training Academy held in Knoxville last weekend.

Many of those who filled Karns Middle School had not worked on a campaign before or were not familiar with the sophisticated techniques outlined by DFA trainers. During breaks they peppered instructors with more questions and began making plans about how they would use the information in future efforts.

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On Easter weekend, close to 80 progressives from Memphis to Knoxville and all points in between attended Democracy for Tennessee’s Convention ’07 in Nashville throughout the day on Saturday.

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Democracy for Tennessee's Candidate Forum for Nashville's mayoral candidates at the DFT Convention was a huge success, the only downside being that it wasn’t longer. The best part: that we were able to incorporate some of the issues we had been working with earlier in the day into the questions asked of the five wannabes. As we have in the past, we asked audience members to submit questions and selected some to ask the candidates after their three-minute speeches.

One campaign manager commented afterward it was the first forum where the candidates didn’t have the questions beforehand. Sorry, but the teacher in me doesn’t want to dumb down the test. If they haven’t even thought about the issues we care about without being told to prepare, that’s something we need to know about them. For the most part, I was pleased with what they said. The four audience-submitted questions were about the right to organize and earn a living wage, Vote By Mail, LEED, also known as "green building" standards, and also one about education.

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Posted by Amy Broyles, former candidate for the Knox County Commission.

Dear Friends,

Great news! The Tennessee Supreme Court handed down a decision that will have a huge impact on Knox County's government. Eight of our nineteen commissioners, along with the Sheriff, Trustee, County Clerk, and Register of Deeds, have been declared term limited and unable to serve out their current terms. It looks like the County Commission will be making appointments for temporary replacements in the near future, with an election for more permanent replacements to follow.

Commissioner Billy Tindell of District 2 was among those affected by this ruling. If you recall, I ran against Commissioner Tindell in the Primary and General elections last year, both times as a write-in candidate. In the Primary I came within 94 votes of beating him, and in the General I received almost 30 percent of the vote, quite an accomplishment for a write-in candidate! I ran a vigorous, positive, exciting campaign, and was endorsed by The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Frank Cagle of Metro Pulse, Colvin Idol of The Knoxville Journal, Sandra Clark of The Halls Shopper, Democracy for Tennessee, and the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee.

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On December 7, close to 40 potential Metro Council candidates gathered with DFA Nashville for a presentation on running for the council. Former Councilman Stewart Clifton spoke to the crowd, going over the decision-making process many are going through as they decide whether or not to throw their hats in the ring.

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Democracy for Tennessee is proud to announce our FULL HOUSE slate of candidates that will help change the course of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Even though these candidates might not be in your own House district, it is still important that our state government hear from progressive voices in the Legislature. By donating to and campaigning for these candidates, you are helping to change the political landscape in Tennessee.

So dig deep and contribute or pack up the car and drive a few miles to go door-to-door for the FULL HOUSE slate. Remember, you have the power to take our country back... use it!

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Democracy is on the rise in Tennessee as progressive candidates up and down the ballot scored major victories yesterday in an election that had Phil Bredesen and Harold Ford Jr. receive the Democratic Party nominations for Governor and U.S. Senate. Thanks to the hard work and determination of the grassroots, candidates endorsed by Democracy for Tennessee and supported by local DFA chapters won all across the Volunteer State, demonstrating the new people-powered network that DFT has been organizing for the last year and a half.

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Six months of hard work paid off last night when Mark Harmon defeated incumbent David Collins for County Commission in Knox County Tennessee.

The main themes of Mark's campaign were:
1) Improving the Commission's relationship with the School Board and therefore improving the schools in the district.
2) Sensible restrictions on sprawl in the more rural parts of Knox County.
3) Watchdogging our dishonest Sheriff and his spending.

A few weeks later, another theme appeared:

4) Term-limits

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Democracy for Tennessee is honored to announce our endorsed candidates, the "Tennessee 12".

Changing the political landscape and advancing progressive values across the state is our primary objective and these are the people that our local leaders have found that can do that... with your help!

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I don't normally like to post articles on this site because I feel like, to a certain extent, enterprising progressives with a computer are able to locate news fairly easily on their own without having it forced on them by email blasts, Yahoo Groups, and the rest.

But I am breaking my own commandment for a special occasion to share this great piece from The Nation about an organization called "Progressive Majority".

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