by David Safier
A few months ago I was invited by Phil Lopes to a breakfast meeting of the steering committee of the not-yet-begun Tucson Progressive Democrats of America chapter. They wanted a kickoff event and decided to rent a smallish hall so it wouldn't look empty if not too many people showed up.
Monday night, an auditorium that seats 150 people was bursting at the seams, with another 150 lining the walls and sitting on the floor. It helped that Grijalva, Hightower and PDA's national leadership were there.
Very enthusiastic crowd. Excellent, substantive talk by Grijalva. Hightower's usual funny/serious pep talk. It was a huge success by any standards, a promising beginning for the group. We'll see what kind of ongoing presence PDA has on the Tucson political scene.
Rhonda Bodfield wrote an article on the gathering.