SNAP Notes

This Wednesday, February 24, between 6PM and 8PM, The Nation and Katrina vanden Heuvel (the publisher of The Nation) are holding a fundraiser in support of Students for a New American Politics (SNAP). The event will be taking place at The Nation’s office in New York City: 33 Irving Place.

SNAP is a political action committee that is dedicated to engaging America’s youth in electing progressive leaders today, and to training the progressive leaders of tomorrow. The lessons we’ve learned since President Obama’s inauguration have taught us the necessity of having a firm majority of progressives in both houses of Congress — it is not enough to have a majority of Democrats.

Furthermore, the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court — the decision in which a small majority of the Court ignored precedent to allow unlimited contributions by corporations directly to political candidates for office — has underscored the need for an active, vibrant and well-funded progressive grassroots movement. Without such a movement, we will be unable to combat the influences of multinational corporations whose primary motivations are profit, not what is best for the American people.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Rhiannon Bronstein by e-mail (rhiannon.bronstein@snappac.org) or by phone (206-778-6404).

Dear Friends,

After the success of the 2008 election and our endorsement of Tom Geoghegan last spring, we have spent the last months reflecting on what SNAP has accomplished and we are headed.

After four years, we have seen that SNAP’s model, providing fellowships to students to work on progressive congressional campaigns, has worked. Over 40 students have worked on more than 20 campaigns, helping to elect 12 progressive leaders to Congress.

Now we must make sure that this opportunity is available to as many students as possible. It is time for our organization to expand its impact.

To that end, we are pleased to announce two new members of SNAP’s team: Rhiannon Bronstein, our new Executive Director, and Kendra Green, our first Director of Development and Outreach.

A junior at Yale University, Rhiannon had her first opportunity to work on a political campaign as a SNAP Fellow in the summer of 2008, working on Darcy Burner’s congressional campaign in Washington State. Since then, she has worked in politics from the local to the federal level, and she will bring her enthusiasm for student organizing to SNAP.

Kendra Green joins SNAP with an extensive background within the democratic and progressive movement. She was recently a development coordinator with Progressive Majority and prior to that she worked for several other 527’s and PACs. Kendra began interning on campaigns while a student in college at Randolph-Macon Women’s College, where she received her B.A. in Political Science and Women’s Studies in 2000.

These are big steps for the organization. In bringing on our first Director of Development and Outreach, we are confident that SNAP will be able to exponentially expand its impact on progressive politics.

At this crucial moment, we can’t allow the progressive change we need to slip away, and we can’t lose the momentum of the student activism that played such an important role last November. We know that the 2010 election must send an important message to Washington: that change has only just begun and that progressive elected officials and students across the country will be working tirelessly for the values we believe in.

And, for this, we need your support. Between now and December 31, we must raise $15,000 to begin our expansion. Please contribute today to support progressive leadership throughout the country.

Thank you so much for your continuing support!

Sincerely,

Hugh Baran & Margaret Sharp
Executive Directors, Students for a New American Politics PAC

http://www.snappac.org/contribute

P.S. We want to thank everyone who made these last four years for SNAP possible. Leaving SNAP is not easy for the two of us. It has been a powerful incubator for our own values, skills and commitments. SNAP is truly unique in progressive politics in its deep belief in the power and vision that students can contribute to our movement. We are grateful to you for recognizing our potential in these early years, and we thank you for your continuing commitment to our vision. As we move on to continue our work within the progressive movement, we know that we are leaving SNAP in good hands.