Our goal this month is to work one-on-one with 31 states in 31 days, we're already well on our way.

Over the last few months Grassroots Democrats has been visiting a number of states to work on online strategy going into the 2008 election. Last week we did things a little bit differently. Members of the progressive movement met last week in Chicago for Yearly Kos, a four-day conference where everyone from presidential candidates to netroots activists gathered for conversations, planning and celebration.

In addition to building relationships with other progressive organizations and talking about the importance of working with state parties to build strong Democratic infrastructure; we had the opportunity to talk to and strategize with many of the state parties that sent representatives to the event.  Online strategists from states like Ohio, Michigan and Kansas all spent four days learning, sharing and building relationships with the best of the progressive netroots. This conference is another great example of how far state parties have come and where they are going.

In the next three weeks, Grassroots Democrats will be even busier. Erin, our Online Strategy and Communications Director, heads out to work with state parties in Oregon, Washington and Alaska to help build their online plans for mobilizing voters, public advocacy and strengthening the parties overall. These three states will play a huge role in the next election, including important races for the Senate (AK/OR), the House (AK/OR/WA), and Governor (WA), and continuing down-ballot to the state legislative, city and school board levels. Alaska and Oregon have already begun their online outreach with innovative websites targeting a few of their most notorious Republican incumbents. Check out www.dropdon.com and www.stopgordonsmith.com for more info.

Out in Washington, the race is on to ensure the most closely won race of 2004 doesn't have a repeat nail-biting finish. The party is building infrastructure and strategic plans to ensure a clean win for Governor Christine Gregoire. Find out more on our Washington State Briefing Page here http://www.grassrootsdemocrats.com/files/Washington.pdf, or by clicking on the graphic above.

The rest of the Grassroots Democrats team will meet up with Erin in Seattle to host the Compliance and Finance Program August 23-24th. This innovative workshop brings the state party Compliance and Finance Directors together to build a strategic, legal program to ensure every state party raises and spends money in the most effective way. So far over 25 state parties have signed up to attend. In addition to the states that attended Yearly Kos and the three states we'll be visiting to work on online strategy, we will more than hit our goal of 31 states in 31 days.