Happy New Year to All! I hope that everyone has had a chance to take a break following our successful November elections, and to enjoy time with family, friends, and loved ones over the holidays. And, yes folks, it's time to start rolling up our sleeves again and laying the groundwork for the 2008 election cycle.

As we begin 2007, we Democrats have much to be excited about. Due to our successful campaigning efforts in 2006, we now have Democratic-controlled legislatures in both Salem and Washington, D.C. Our party leaders are breathing life, energy, and new priorities into the legislative process at both the state and federal levels. Five Democratic leaders have already announced their intentions to run for President in 2008, and there are sure to be others to jump in soon.

Here in Oregon, our Democratic leaders in the legislature have vowed to implement their "12 Point Road Map" of legislative priorities that the party caucus articulated during the fall campaigns. The field organizers placed in Oregon by Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean all remain on board. They’re eager to work with county party committees and the Democratic Party of Oregon caucus groups to reinforce our infrastructure and keep us organized and focused through the 2008 election cycle. Closer to home here in Benton County, our county commissioners and various city council members are hard at work tackling the more pressing local issues. We ought to feel quite pleased and proud to live in a county and state where Democrats have been elected to positions of leadership at ALL levels of government!

The new members of the BCDems executive committee have met twice since being elected in November, and we look forward to meeting with all the BCDems at our upcoming regular monthly meeting. We plan to have an interactive meeting, hearing from party members, setting up new committees, and identifying our priorities and goals for the coming year. We hope you will plan to attend. The meeting is set for next Thursday, January 18, at Grace Lutheran Church. Doors open at 6:30 pm for informal socializing, and the meeting will convene at 7 pm.

As the new chair of the Benton County Democrats, I wish to extend my personal thanks and deep appreciation to the outgoing executive committee members — Mike Van Laere, Pat Malone, Marion McNamara, Tanya Shively, and Biff Traber — for all their hard work and great leadership over the past few years. They have left some pretty big shoes for the new exec committee members to fill, but us "newbies" are awfully excited to get things rolling again with the New Year! Please feel free to communicate directly with us if you have any questions, concerns, or exciting new ideas. Here's hoping we can all hang tight together as we keep doing the work of "taking back our country!"