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College Democrats of America
College Democrats of America
College Democrats of America
recruited tens of thousands of grassroots activists for the Democratic Party. Thanks in part to the hard work of CDA activists, John Kerry won a groundbreaking 54% of the youth vote in 2004. [1]
Activities
The activities of CDA chapters vary from chapter to chapter. Typical activities include inviting guest speakers (often elected officials or party activists), arranging for members of the club to work on campaigns, and organizing students for letter-writing campaigns or phone banks. Local clubs also organize voter registration drives as well as Get out the vote (GOTV) drives on Election Day.[2] Every year, the national organization of the CDA holds a national convention. Features of the convention include workshops on how to be effective in government and campaigning, as well as prominent speakers from the national Democratic party (previous speakers have included Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, members of Congress, and Cabinet members). The CDA convention that occurs on presidential election years is typically held in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention.
President Founded Headquarters Mother party Website
Katie Naranjo 1932 Washington, D.C. Democratic Party www.collegedems.com
The College Democrats of America (CDA) is an organization of college and university students that support the Democratic Party.
History
The College Democrats of America organization was founded in 1932 to help the election campaign of presidential nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt. It had a good deal of success during its first decades, and claims on its website to have been "the largest student organization in the nation" during the 1940s. However, in 1967, the CDA took up a position opposing the Vietnam War; this enraged then-President Lyndon B. Johnson, who cut the CDA out of funding from the Democratic National Committee. It was eventually revitalized by then-Senator Al Gore, and by the time Gore became Bill Clinton’s vice presidential nominee, there were more than 50,000 members. Since 1992, CDA has actively promoted the Democratic legislative agenda and Democratic candidates for office. By training and equipping campus activists across the country to work on and manage campaigns, CDA has mobilized countless young voters and
Organization
The national organization is overseen by the CDA Executive Board.[3] The function of the Executive Board is officially to "determine and implement the organization’s goals"; its members are elected annually at the national convention. Pursuant to the CDA Constitution[4], each local chapter receives three (3) votes, each state federation receives two (2) votes and each member of the outgoing Executive Board receives one (1) vote. More than 600 members attended the 2008 convention. CDA is also guided by a National Council, which consists of state officers from every state federation. The National Council is presided over by a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary, also elected annually at the
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national convention. The National Council Chair serves as a voting member of the Executive Board. The day-to-day operations of CDA are handled by the Executive Director. The current Executive Director of CDA is Tamia Booker.
College Democrats of America
[2] http://collegedemsny.com/blog/?p=309 [3] CDA Officers Contact Page [4] CDA Constitution • "CDA Platform", retrieved August 25, 2008. • [1]
See also
• • • • Democratic Party Democratic National Committee Young Democrats College Republicans
External links
• The official College Democrats website • College Democrats of America Alumni Association • College Democrats of America 2008 National Convention
References
[1] CNN Election 2004 National Exit Poll Results
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