2020 Dems Close Shop

Apropos of my last post, I just wanted to add that last week the 2020 Democrats closed shop due to lack of funding.

It's sad to see them go. They were one of a number of groups that sprang out of the 2003/2004 Presidential cycle (including MFA and Drinking Liberally). They tried some interesting ideas, such as using wiki's to create collaborative statements of progressive values, and they held one of the better "Young Democrats" events that I attended at the 2004 convention in Boston. Ultimately, it seemed like they wanted to be a Roosevelt Institution for progressive grad students and young professional set.

It's a shame to see them go, and I hope Josh and Jorge end up landing on their feet at another progressive organization. I've pasted their "farewell email" after the jump. I encourage everyone to read it.

Dear 2020 Dems,

It has been some time since we, Josh and Jorge, last wrote you, the members of 2020 Democrats.
For the last little while, we have been working to raise money to pay for full-time staff, so that we could take 2020 Dems to the next level. Sadly, we must now admit that our fundraising efforts have failed.

In failing, we were forced to evaluate the value of 2020 Democrats. Should 2020 Dems continue? Should we keep asking for time and money from our busy and broke peers? Should we compete with other outstanding organizations for scarce resources? As we asked ourselves these questions, we were reminded of something so obvious and yet so important -- the most valuable part of 2020 Democrats is YOU.

The 2020 network is small. But it's filled with people who are doing extraordinary things. There's Ben Rahn, an original conference participant who went on to found Act Blue. And Matt Spence, also an original conference participant who went on to found Truman Democrats. And Meg Ansara, yet another (of many incredible) original conference participants, who became the MA State Director of Stand for Children. And the list goes on.

Looking ahead, we believe that the potential of 2020 Dems, as a centralized organization, pales in comparison to the potential of the individuals that comprise the 2020 network. And so we have decided to end 2020 as we know it and make one final request:

Will you please keep in touch with each other, and support each other's remarkable efforts?

A little while ago, we stumbled across a new tool that may be helpful in keeping us in touch with each other. The tool, PeopleAggregator, is an open-source social network. Using PeopleAggregator, we have created a 2020 Democrats social network. We now invite you to join this network, so that we can stay in touch with you, and so that you can stay in touch with each other.

Top Three Reasons to Create a Profile:

1. If we all do it, we can stay in touch with each other;
2. It's cheap (free!) and easy (takes about two minutes);
3. Your profile can be used on any other network created using PeopleAggregator.

This e-mail is bittersweet - it comes on the 3 year anniversary of our inaugural conference in Washington, D.C. Three years ago today, we believed that you had the power to reshape our party's and our country's future. Much has changed, but our belief in your potential has not. We thank you for your efforts over the last three years, and we look forward to supporting your efforts in the years ahead.

All the best,

Josh and Jorge
2020 Democrats
email: membership (at) 2020democrats (dot) org
phone: 646-279-6093
web: http://2020.peopleaggregator.net/register.php?