[BwayDems] Letter to Broadway Democrats

[Daniel Marks Cohen]

Dear member of Broadway Democrats:                                                  
 
Just a reminder that I am running for State Committeeman and I hope to receive the endorsement of Broadway Democrats at the club meeting this Thursday, June 3rd.  I ask for your support.
 
As you know, the incumbent State Committeeman, Larry Hirsch, is not seeking reelection and I am pleased to have his endorsement to succeed him in the position. 
 
Following Larry’s announcement I have had a chance to get to know many of you at club meetings in April and May and at the Broadway Democrats fundraiser last month.  And previously I had the opportunity to meet you through the many joint Broadway Democrats/Three Parks campaign storefronts and on trips to Florida for Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004.
 
I have been active in reform Democratic politics since I was able to vote.  I restarted the Manhattan Young Democrats after college, and then became President of New York State Young Democrats.  I have also been involved in Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century, a citywide organization devoted to progressive ideas in New York State and which has consistently supported reform candidates and causes throughout its 20 year history.  I have served on Community Board 7 and the local 24th Precinct Council, and I am currently in the leadership of Coro New York —a civic engagement organization—and the New Israel Fund, a group devoted to a more democratic Jewish state.  I am also a member of Shaare Zedek, a synagogue on the Upper West Side.
 
Although I believe my opponent and I share many, if not virtually all, the same positions on major issues of concern, this race is not only about issues.  It is also about leadership style.  I am inclusive, consultative, and I work to forge consensus on issues and candidates.  I learned this from my work in reform club politics, and it is a way of leadership I will take with me if I am elected to serve as your State Committeeman.  We may not all be able to agree, but you know you will be consulted before I make a decision.  And I may vote in only one club, but I am a member of all the clubs in the 69th AD, and will be active in all three organizations with equal fervor.
 
The State Committee has several functions: it elects members to the Democratic National Committee, elects the New York State Democratic Party chair and other officers, and nominates people for state-wide public office.  This last power is important, for at the party’s State Convention if a candidate receives 25% of the votes from the State Committee, s/he can avoid the petitioning process.  And because it is a weighted vote based on Democratic votes in the previous election, the vote of State Committee members in high-turnout districts like the 69th may count for twice, three times, in some cases even ten times as much as other members of the State Committee.  
 
But the State Committee can do much more – it can highlight issues of concern, put pressure on our elected officials, and serve as a conduit of information and advocacy from residents of the 69th AD to the Democratic Party and the state overall.  And I will continue to be the working club member I have been: collecting signatures, involved in voter contact and participating in issue advocacy in a direct, in the streets, roll-up-my-sleeves way.  I will also maintain Larry Hirsch’s work in the Reform Caucus – and push back against moves to the right in the Democratic Party.  
 
I am proud to have the support of Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, Council Member Gale Brewer, Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, District Leader Paula Diamond-Roman from Broadway Democrats and incumbent State Committeeman Larry Hirsch.  I have also been endorsed by Broadway Democrats members Gretchen Borges, Laura Friedman, Joyce Goodman, Katie Hanner, Lois Lazarus, Joan Levine, Bob Liff, Sarah Martin and Joe Robins…(list in formation). Last week I was endorsed by Three Parks, and this week I would be honored to have Broadway Democrats endorsement too.  
 
Please vote for me for State Committee on Thursday, June 3rd.   
 
Thank you.
 
- Dan Cohen
917-208-9168
newyorkcitydan at yahoo.com
 
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