Dear George:

The Charlottesville CD will not swing to the Democrats unless and until campaign workers devote their weekends and evenings for two years to canvass the areas where Goode is strong and convince his backers he does not represent their interests.

Back in 1956, when Carmine Desapio was the boss of Greenwich Village and the most powerful political leader in New York State, a group called Villagers for Stevenson was formed. It so happened I arrived in New York City about that time and was a member. We canvassed hard and made a respectable showing during the campaign against Eisenhower. The reformers remained in operation afterwards as Village Independent Democrats and when the fight came to elect a district leader two years later they almost beat DeSapio. Everybody knew then it was just a matter of time. I think it took six years. They had demographics on their side. Young professionals were moving into the area. A couple of elections later the Number One reactionary Democratic political leader in New York State was out of power and a new crew of reformers led by Herman Greitzer and wife were in. It's a well known political tale, and they did it by hard work. There wasn't a night for the four or six years or however long it took them to defeat DeSapio when twenty or thirty canvassers were not knocking on doors.

Dick Kuh and later Ed Koch, I believe, were among those who came out of the VID. They were effective. Adrienne Weinberger and people of like mind need to start working now to defeat Goode in the areas of his strength and to establish the mechanisms for bringing the unregistered and the indifferent to the polls on election day. Having a group of people like me discuss what to do is not doing. Action is required: immediate, forceful action. When Virgil Goode votes on Friday against a progressive bill, handbills need to be given out on Saturday and Sunday in Lynchburg, even if the election is 20 months away. People need to get out into the country to the farms and country stores and spread the word. Handbills should have a theme. One side might always read "Goode For Nothing" and the other side, "Except wasting your money...." followed by a specific message. The theme side might remain the same; the other side could be changed to focus on his latest wrong vote.

The handbills could be reprinted as newspaper ads. The Democratic candidate should be picked early and should be out four days a week with his or her team knocking on doors. Organize to Democratize. There's nothing new in this, I know, but I've seen it work. Have a hard day, ain't no other way.

Sherwood Ross (electronic mail, January 22, 2005)