FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

THE RESISTANCE

Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address the other night. It was not well received by the American public, just like his Presidency has not been. He demonized immigrants, lied repeatedly, and during his 80(!) minute speech said precious little about most of the urgent issues we face. However, the shortcomings of his speech will be quickly forgotten if he and his allies continue to try to sabotage everyone who is investigating his campaign, transition, or administration. It seems very likely he is trying to get rid of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or Special Counsel Robert Mueller (or both). His allies are trying to discredit the FBI by releasing a memo with cherry-picked secret information released with the President’s

blessing and cooperation. The FBI told Trump and Republicans it would be dangerous to national security to release the memo, but that didn’t stop them. An FBI led by his appointed director. A Justice Department led by his Attorney General Jeff Sessions. These are the people who told Trump and his puppet Rep. Devin Nunes not to release the memo. They did anyway. We now know Trump tried to fire Mueller last June though his underlings wouldn't do it for him. We must be prepared to go to the streets, no matter how cold it is, if Trump tries to fire Mueller or Rosenstein. Resist. The government shut down for three days in January because the Republicans wouldn't support making Dreamers safe again. We got a six-year extension of the CHIP program out of the shutdown, but there is still no budget for the 2018 fiscal year, just another continuing resolution that runs out on February 8. Protection for Dreamers runs out on March 5. Trump's proposals for immigration “reform” have been characterized as a “ransom note” for Dreamers because of his incredible demands for wall funding and restrictions on legal immigration. Many don’t understand why we fight for the hundreds of thousands who will be torn from their families and lives by the Alt Right’s efforts to deport non-whites at every opportunity. Trump tried to co-opt the phrase “Dreamers” in the State of the Union speech. Be prepared for a battle as the Feb. 8 budget deadline approaches. We must hold on to the truth that deporting 800,000 Dreamers could destroy the very foundations this country was built upon. Immigrants and diversity are our lifeblood. Take that away, and the Tiki-torch march we witnessed in Charlottesville, VA, on Aug. 11, 2017, will become a norm not an aberration. Be prepared to defend these nurses, teachers, service personnel, mothers, daughters, sons and fathers. Be prepared to defend our family and our neighbors. Resist. Trump promised to hire only the best people, but many of the people he hired have been jokes. Recently the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was forced out because of her

financial conflicts of interest, including ownership of tobacco stocks, some of which she bought while in office. Someone who graduated from college in 2016 and had lied repeatedly on his resume was made the deputy chief of staff in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy last July at age 23. Resist. It works. The 2018 elections are only 10 months away. We must elect two U.S. senators. Tina Smith holds the seat only through the next election unless she is elected in her own right. The strong preference for Democrats on the generic Congressional ballot, now 5-10%, makes it more likely another DFLer will succeed Tim Walz in Congress. It also speaks well for our chances to keep a DFLer in the Governor’s office and in other constitutional offices. It raises hope we can beat Nels Pierson for the 26B seat in the Minnesota House if we have a decent candidate. However, all this will take work- door-knocking, calling, message development, and fundraising. We must identify supporters of DFL candidates in Senate District 26 and must persuade undecided or swing voters they should vote for DFL candidates. We hope this spurs you to activism. Please direct some of that activism into Senate District 26 DFL. How will you help? Nothing is guaranteed. This president normalizes the outrageous by overloading us with racist, sexist, untrue, and just plain bizarre statements at a rate that cannot be fully digested. It’s reassuring a majority can see how bad a leader he has been, but we can’t be complacent, as approval rates can rise even if he just avoids moments of crazy. Trump’s popularity is down a bit from last month. The Gallup tracking poll has his approval rate at 39% and his disapproval rate at 59%, based on a rolling average of polls 1/26-1/28, from 40/55% last month. Our democracy remains under attack. We must respond without violence, but with truth, energy and tenacity. Join us. Help with your time, your ideas, or your money. Start by coming to caucus on February 6.

2018 CAUCUSES AND CONVENTION The 2018 DFL caucuses will be 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 6. Registration starts 6:30 p.m. You should come to caucus. It is one of the truly grassroots events in our politics. If the crowds and chaos at the 2016 caucuses put you off, those are unlikely to happen this year. Based on the 2010 turnout at caucuses compared to 2008, we only expect 10-20% as many people to attend this year as in 2016. Parking and traffic should not be problems. We will have caucuses at Willow Creek Middle School (Rochester), Century High School (Rochester), Byron Middle School, Chatfield High School, Dover-Eyota High School, and Stewartville High School. All caucuses for people in Rochester who live in Senate District 26 are at Willow Creek -

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except for those living in Ward 5, Precinct 7, the area near Century High School east of East Circle Drive. Check http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/ for your caucus location. What do you do at caucus?

1. Vote for a candidate for governor on the preference ballot you get when signing in. This vote is not binding, unlike the vote in 2016.

2. Elect a precinct or township chair and two vice-chairs. 3. Elect delegates to the March 24 Senate District 26 DFL convention. 4. Debate and vote on resolutions for the DFL platform and Action Agenda. You can propose

resolutions, ideally prepared in advance. Resolutions that pass will go on to the Senate District 26 DFL convention.

Two videos that may help are https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYJJTppRY0w and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1EjnCi7PZI Some general information is at https://www.dfl.org/caucuses-conventions/

You may hear speeches from candidates for statewide office, for Congress, and for the legislature or from their surrogates. Please consider signing up for the committees (Arrangements, Credentials, Nominations, Resolutions, or Rules) that take care of things needed for the March 24 convention. The Senate District 26 DFL organizing and endorsing convention will start at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 24, 2018 at Mayo High School. Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. What do you do at the convention?

1. Elect unit officers (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Inclusion and Outreach Officer, and Communications Officer) and eleven Directors. Most officer positions will be open seats.

2. Elect three (3) delegates and five (5) alternates to the DFL State Central Committee. 3. Debate and vote on any proposed changes to the unit constitution and bylaws. 4. Endorse candidates for the House District 26A and 26B seats for the 2018 election. 5. Elect 15 delegates and 15 alternates for the 1st Congressional District DFL convention (April

21 in Le Sueur) and for the state DFL convention (June 1-3 in Rochester). 6. Vote on resolutions for the DFL platform and Action Agenda.

The 1st Congressional District DFL convention is Saturday, April 21, at the Le Sueur-Henderson Secondary School. We will endorse our candidate for Congress then. The state DFL convention is Friday, June 1 through Sunday, June 3 at the Mayo Civic Center. We will endorse candidates for Governor/Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, and Secretary of State and for both Senate seats during the convention.

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NEXT CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING Our next Central Committee meeting will be 7-9 p.m. Monday, February 12, at the Rochester DFL office. We'll be reviewing how the caucuses went, planning for our convention, and discussing how to support the state DFL convention in June in Rochester. This meeting is open to all DFLers.

ROCHESTER DFL OFFICE HOURS

Monday Tuesday

1-7 p.m. 1-5 p.m. Wednesday Thursday

1-5 p.m. 2-5 p.m. Friday

4-7 p.m. With more volunteers, we can keep the office open longer. We especially need

people who can be there for a few hours each weekend. We need to keep the office longer this year as the election approaches. If you can staff the office, contact Deb Staley at 507-272-5335 or at dmstaley@yahoo.com.

DONATE TO SENATE DISTRICT 26 DFL-GET SOME OR ALL OF IT BACK

Your help is critical to maintain a DFL presence in Rochester between now and the election. While one-time donations are welcome, we especially need monthly donations. We don’t get money from the national Democratic Party. The state DFL only contributes $500 a month, less than 1/3 of our rent. We rely on our local supporters to keep going and to get the DFL message out. There are tremendous opportunities for the DFL, locally and statewide, in 2018. We need some money at the local level to take advantage of them. We need the money and you want an active DFL. If you give, there will be an office for DFL events and meetings, DFL participation in events and parades that require entry fees, technology that makes the DFL work better, outreach into underrepresented communities, and, potentially, local people hired to talk to people in Senate District 26 to find out who supports the DFL and thus improve our performance in 2018. You can make a refundable donation in 2018 even if you made a contribution to us, to another party unit, or to a candidate in 2017. If you donate to Senate District 26 DFL, you can get up to $50/person or $100 per married couple back from the state of Minnesota if you are eligible to vote in Minnesota and haven’t claimed the refund already this year. When you send us the donation, we’ll send you a receipt. Send the receipt and a form (2017 Form PCR, Political Contribution Refund Application for online use or 2017 Form PCR, Political Contribution Refund Application to complete by hand) needed to claim the reimbursement to Minnesota Revenue Political Contribution Refund St. Paul, MN 55146-1800. If you gave money in

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2017, you have until April 16 to file your refund claim. Make a donation, file a claim, and you’ll get a check back soon. Go ahead and do it now. Make your donation via ActBlue (https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/senate-district-26-dfl-party-1?refcode=sd2). If you would rather write a check, please make it payable to DFL SD26 and send it to:

P.O. Box 9044 Rochester, MN 55904-9044

If you send a check, please include whether you are retired, self-employed or employed. If employed, include the name of your employer and your job title. The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board requires us to collect that information. If you use Act Blue, the appropriate information is collected.

FEBRUARY DFL EVENTS ● DFL Happy Hour: Thursday, February 8, 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Cowboy Jack's, 1625 S.

Broadway, Rochester ● Senate District 26 DFL Central Committee Meeting Monday, February 13, 7:00 -9:00 p.m. ● DFL Senior Caucus business meeting Tuesday, February 13, 1:30-3:00 p.m. ● Cabin Fever Celebration Sunday, February 18, 2:00-4:00 p.m. ● Messaging/Letters-to-the Editor Group meeting Monday, February 19, 6:00-7:30 p.m. ● DFL Senior Caucus Coffee Tuesday, February 27, 10:00 a.m. ● Young Democrats Post Governor Forum Social - Thursday, February 22, 8:45 p.m. at The

Half Barrel ● Quilting, knitting, handicrafts Mondays from 11am-2pm

*Events are at the DFL office unless otherwise specified.

POST-CAUCUS PARTY

It's called “Cabin Fever Celebration”. It'll happen Sunday, February 18 from 2-4 pm at the Rochester DFL Office. It's a gathering of the newly elected precinct chairs and vice chairs, all precinct conveners/ward captains, and current officers of Senate District 25, Olmsted-25, and Senate District 26 DFLs.

This will be an opportunity for to:

● meet each other ● discuss upcoming unit conventions

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● discuss the importance of having people to attend the 1st Congressional District (April 21 in Le Sueur) and State DFL Conventions (June 1-3 in Rochester)

● discuss how WE can have a blue Minnesota in 2018.

Food will be “simple munchies”

LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR/MESSAGING GROUP Our messaging/letters-to-the editor group, jointly sponsored by Senate District 26 and Olmsted-25 DFLs, continues to have op-ed pieces and letters published. The group meets next from 6-7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 19, at the DFL office. The group has added discussion about effective political messaging and framing, especially for use of social media. Many people aren’t aware of the principles of effective messaging and can weaken what they say by how they say it. We are asking people who have written progressive letters on their own to join our group. The Post-Bulletin will accept one letter or op-ed a month per person. Letters are limited to 225 words and op-eds should be 750-800 words. We are also looking for people who will contribute content on their blogs, websites, or Facebook accounts. Besides looking for more people who will write and submit letters/op-eds, we need people who will edit and submit drafts of letters/op-eds written by other people. If interested, please attend the meeting or contact Scott Bauer at scott.bauersocks@gmail.com

QUILTING, CRAFTING, AND POLITICS

Mary Anderson runs a quilting and crafting group that meets at the DFL office. She says “Quilters and crafters are having fun Mondays from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the DFL office. Everyone is welcome. Got a project you are working on finishing? Bring it and lunch and talk politics. I've made some new friends there and I hope you do as well. See you there.

DFL OUTREACH AND INCLUSION EFFORTS NEED YOUR HELP

One of the most important functions of a DFL unit is outreach and inclusion. Our Outreach and Inclusion Officer, Aleta Borrud, works very hard, but she can’t do everything that needs to be done. To build strong relationships of collaboration and trust, we need to step up and be present in the struggles of marginalized people. The areas on which she wants to focus are listed below. Will you help her with one of these? Every volunteer matters.

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1. Young people/new voters – We need to get people registered and in the habit of voting. 2. Latinx community – Can the Trump administration do much more to alienate this community?

We need to show them we are for them on critical issues. 3. Somali community – This community leans DFL but is being courted by Republicans. We need

to show DFL policies are better for Somalis and encourage voting in the community. 4. Organized labor – The leadership is generally progressive and union members are more

progressive than their non-union counterparts, but our platform and messaging can bring more to our side.

5. Farmers/rural population – We need to find the progressives in this generally conservative community working with non-partisan progressive groups (e.g. Land Stewardship Project).

6. African Americans – There are many issues DFLers support that are relevant to African Americans but we need to highlight those and work on voting rights restoration so more people in this community can vote.

Do you know of other groups that don’t now have a voice in the DFL and should? Let us know.

CONNECT WITH US!

This is a monthly newsletter. However, lately events are happening on short notice, so we may not be able to include them in the newsletter. Check our website and Facebook pages for the latest news on what is happening.

Website: http://www.dfl.org/sd26

Senate District 26 DFL email:

SD26mn.dfl@gmail.com

@sd26dfl

Official Page: @sd26sd25olm25 or here Young Democrats: @YDOlmstedCo or here

Closed group can be accessed here

dflsenatedistrict26 SEMN DFL

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