A shot heard (or that should have been heard) round the state. - Chair has her troops out early, ready to do battle, at 1st Cong. District meeting.

The first of Georgia's 13 congressional districts to report in reports having a very, very successful quarterly meeting. Hopefully there are 12 more such great reports.

1st Congressional District has its quarterly meeting in Waycross this past Saturday.

This week in Atlanta the "State of the State" was delivered by the Governor.

But a much more inspiring delivery -- in both style and substance -- was heard by those in attendance Saturday at the 1st Congressional District quarterly meeting as Chair Danita Knowles of Douglas delivered the "State of the 1st Congressional District."

The message: (1) To win elections and operate better, the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG) must operate from the county level up; not from the top down; (2) keep the faith and persevere; and (3) 2006 is just around the corner. I intend for the 1st Congressional District to be ready. With your help and the enthusiasm demonstrated by the large number of faithful Democrats in attendance today, persevere we shall.

As usual, AJ Squared Away Chair Danita Knowles had her mess ready for the 1st Congressional District's first quarterly meeting of 2005.

On the program to share their thoughts and expertise with those in attendance at the packed conference room at the Holiday Inn in Waycross were:

-- Linda Graham of Liberty County, former county commissioner and now with Jordon Jones & Goulding, had a short message commemorating Dr. King;

-- Tony Center of the State of Chatham, who brought the group up to date on the party's recently revised bylaws and the role of state committee members;

-- Angelia Knight of Gwinnett County, Director of the Georgia Association of Democratic Chairs (GADCC) and DPG County Affairs Director, who travels the state 24/7 with her husband Tasso (talk about commitment) to make sure each county committee in Georgia's 159 counties is up to date with the requirements of the Georgia Election Code and that a qualifying agent assists in qualifying candidates. This was one update from a party expert that all in attendance both appreciated and needed. (I noted that Tasso Knight is a committed Democrat. It gets even better. He is the
newly elected 7th Congressional District Chair.)

-- Pat Pullar, Deputy Director of the DPG Coordinate, got the troops rallied with her usual enthusiastic and vibrant delivery, updating us on being ready for 2006 by having rapid response teams, coordinators around the state, and establishing a local neighborhood Democratic headquarters in each community (whether at a residence or local business). She also gave a brief report on the DNC Southern Caucus meeting held in Atlanta last weekend.

-- Rep. Al Williams, whether planned or just given that he is a natural, delivered the highlight of the day for me.

Rep. Williams of Liberty County reminded us that currently we are in a war for the soul of the Democratic party. We have the problem and face the challenge of bringing back within the fold white males.

And to compound this challenge, we risk losing Hispanics and other minorities.

While acknowledging that historically being the big tent party makes it tough to hold our various constituencies together, it is something we must be vigilant about and do.

And we must quit allowing it to be said that our party has a problem with God, morality and ethics. Since when, he asked, was our party not a party about God, morality and ethics.

He said it was hogwash and a crime to let the Republicans get away with claiming to own God, to own values.

Just because our party is for choice does not mean that we have no morals.

And to hear otherwise from national party members perceived to be elitists and claiming to speak for the party does nothing to help. As he put it, "The average voter in Hahira [a small, rural community in Lowndes County] could care less" about such elitist talk.

The days of the party operating 7 months out of four years must end. E-mail is great, but nothing beats the knock, knock, knock at the door as we canvass the neighborhoods.

I could go on and on with Rep. Williams message to the troops, but you get the idea. But I can't quit without sharing a line that Rep. Williams attributes to Rep. Calvin Smyre: "Coal runs a train; gold runs a campaign."

-- James Byrne, Gunner Hall and Cory Vaillancourt from Savannah each spoke briefly about their experience this summer in getting youth involved in party affairs. Write these names down. Request their e-mail addresses from me and that they attend your next meeting. Not only are they our future, they are the present.

They know firsthand what we did right and failed to do in 2004. And based on what I saw Saturday, they would be honored to share their knowledge and hands-on experience with you.

-- Jim Pearsall of Houston County, former State Committee Member and now Vice Chair for Houston (who made a 3 hour plus drive to join the group); Maxine Harris of Chatham County, Vice Chair for Chatham and a State Committee Member; and Linda Victory of Camden County, County Chair and State Committee Member, each provided brief updates on party affairs in their respective counties.
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I have been informed that our revised bylaws (that I confess to having read prior to attending -- as a guest -- the Executive Committee meeting in Atlanta on December 18, and thinking as I did, man, you hate the "but the bylaws say this" type) require quarterly meetings.

Here's to hoping the other twelve were as successful as that held in the 1st Congressional District. There is much to be done, and no time like the present.