A January 2007 prediction by the Dean of Ga. Politics is proving to be true: "The election of Kidd seems to point to better days for Democrats."

A 12-20-04 post that discussed the Democratic Party of Georgia's first meeting following the November 2, 2004 election concluded with the following from the Ballad of Sir Andrew Barton:

"Fight on, my men," says Sir Andrew Barton,
"I am hurt, but I am not slain;
I'll lay me down and bleed a while,
And then I'll rise and fight again."

This past Saturday in Macon the Democratic Party of Georgia had its first meeting following the January election of Jane Kidd as its Chair. Without question all in attendance at the standing room only crowd felt the bleeding had ceased, and all were ready to rise and fight again.

While some of this optimism was expected given the GOP's role in the just-adjourned disastrous legislative session, most of it emanated from the party's obvious confidence in the leadership of our new Chair.

Chair Jane Kidd reported that day by day, week by week, the party was gradually returning to a stable financial condition. But she also cautioned that if we are to be the strong, unified party that we want to be, we must cease being fractured and divided among ourselves, wallowing in petty disagreements and not putting party ahead of personality.

This is wise counsel, and I am confident that with Jane at the helm, we can change our party's reputation as reported by Tom Crawford in a 2-11-07 post:

"Running the Democratic Party of Georgia isn’t necessarily the hardest job in the world, but it comes close, as Jane Kidd will soon discover. As the newly-elected chair of the state Democratic Party, Kidd has the unenviable job of bringing order to a party that is famous for its divisiveness and its inability to get everybody to agree on even the simplest task. It’s been said that chairing a group of Democrats is like trying to herd cats; in the case of Georgia Democrats, it’s like trying to herd a pack of angry mountain lions ready to tear you to shreds at the first opportunity."

As all in attendance on Saturday will agree, Jane is up to the task. She shared with us how on days when she is not making her daily Athens-to-Atlanta commute, she and her staff are traveling the State to both our cities and rural areas to raise funds and rebuild the party and work toward assuring that every county has a grass-roots Democratic presence, and in the process working to revitalize those Democratic organizations that have languished over the past several years and even disappeared in some counties.

Jim Galloway did a splendid job writing about on our party Chair that was the subject of a 3-9-07 post. In his article he notes:

"Kidd, by trade a public relations consultant, wants a kinder-but-still-firm face for the party, the better to appeal to independents."

Jane Kidd is off to a great start, and as noted by Bill Shipp in a 1-31-07 post:

"The election of Kidd seems to point to better days for Democrats."

In addition to the Chair, other party officials and workhorses in attendance who contributed to making Saturday a great day for the party included Rep. Calvin Smyre ("In politics, when you see a good fight, get out of the way"), Parliamentarian Chuck Byrd and Counsel Michael Jablonski.