CDMO/YDMO Connections

I mentioned earlier that the College Democrats of Missouri and Young Democrats of Missouri are coordinating their efforts at least to some degree through their officers having roles in each organization. I said that I would try to sort through it all. I had grand aspirations of drawing a diagram, but you'll just have to settle for this instead.

Nate Kennedy - CDMO President, YDMO Nat'l Committeeman, Mizzou Dems Member
Rick Puig - CDMO Comm. Director, YDMO President, Mizzou Dems Treasurer
Mark Buhrmester - CDMO Pol. Director, YDMO Member, Mizzou Dems President
Stephen Griffard - CDMO Member, YDMO Secretary-Treasurer, Mizzou Dems Vice-President

Clearly, Mizzou is the nexus of power for the CDMO and YDMO, but expect to see the responsibilities start to move out to other chapters like Missouri State, Missouri Southern, SLU and WashU as they are strengthened and brought into the CDMO/YDMO organization.

YDMO in Dallas

The Young Democrats of Missouri arrived in Dallas today for the Young Democrats of America National Convention. There are no contested elections for national executive board positions that I'm aware of, and neither are there any Missourians running. Rick Puig, President of YDMO and an intern with the Nixon campaign, gathered an entourage of about ten Missourians to make the trek down to Dallas. This is a large improvement for YDMO after years of turmoil.

A side note: YDMO and CDMO are cooperating, as opposed to competing which they do in some states. Nate Kennedy, the President of CDMO, is the YDMO National Committeeman. There's actually quite a tangled web of CDMOers, YDMOers and individual chapter leaders (most notably from Mizzou) that I will attempt to unravel at some point.

YDA and CDA Conventions coming up, too

I just wanted to make a quick post to mention that the Young Democrats of America Convention and the College Democrats of America Convention are both coming up as well. The YDA Convention is July 18-21 in Dallas and the CDA Convention is July 26-29 in Columbia, SC.

A bit of background: Many states are active in either YDA or CDA, but not both. Many other states are active in both, allowing YDA to focus on youth pre- and post-college, and having the college students be the niche of CDA. Traditionally, Missouri has only been active in CDA, but they've been shifting to the latter model ever since Rick Puig of Mizzou was elected President of YDMO in March.