General Clark and Operation Homefront at YDA

The national YDA convention is full of informative lectures and loads of energy about the upcoming elections in 2008. The most attended event thus far was a session about community service featuring notable figures from around the nation and some friends of the show. The service being performed right before our eyes was "Operation Home Front," which assists military families by supplying them with basic necessities, and was founded by a spouse of a 9/11 victim. The drive today was specifically for school supplies, and in attendance were numerous single mothers with kids in tow to receive the supplies.

The notable speakers addressing the Young Democrats were:

• Chris Nowinski, who is a WWE wrestler from "Smackdown Your Vote,"
• Representative Allen Vaught,
• Representative Rick Noriega,
• Jon Soltz, co-founder of VoteVets.org,
• and General Wesley Clark, who serves on the VoteVets board.

Josh interviewed Vaught back in March, and spoke with Noriega, Soltz, and Clark during our veterans series; they are all passionate about those issues and about supporting our military families and veterans. The work they are doing in support of those issues, and specifically on Operation Homefront (along with Democrats Work) shows the commitment of the Democratic Party to our veterans and to serving our communities.

General Clark discussed the pride we should have for choosing to be Democrats. According to Clark, the Democratic legacy protects values, freedom, and security for America. He urges Democrats to become "National Security Democrats," to contact your representatives, and to actively fight for our future. He urges the voters to force the Congress to take a good look at the hot and cold wars building around us with Iran and North Korea in an effort to halt any further conflict with these nations.