By Deb Melton
The Democratic Club of Quail Creek met for our monthly meeting on August 19 at the Kino Center. The guest speaker was Paul Eckerstrom, 1 st Vice Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. Paul lives with his family in Tucson and shared with the group what he sees as a strategy to win in 2024. First, he said, “ we need to help people understand” what Paul calls the “Biden Miracle” meaning, “the amazing number of things that President Biden has accomplished thus far.”
Paul went on to explain, “When Biden took office in January of 2021, the economy was in the tank and nearly all economists warned of a recession. It never happened thanks to a set of economic
achievements that most people didn’t think were possible. President Biden got the Infrastructure Bill
passed with bi-partisan support, something that Republicans had been talking about, but never got it
done. Biden did. “

Then the Chips Act passed which has both national security implications and economic advantages using tax incentives to bring manufacturing of computer chips back to the United States.
The Inflation-Reduction Act came next. However, most experts, including Biden himself, agree that the name does not fit what the bill really accomplishes. According to the White House website, “The
Inflation Reduction Act is a transformative law that is helping the United States meet its climate goals and strengthen energy security, investing in America to create good-paying jobs, reducing energy and health care costs for families, and making the tax code fairer.” This act really reflects what Democrats are all about. Republicans call it inflationary, but as Paul pointed out, it is really “Investing in our country to help everyone prosper. Investing in things that help everyone is what governments should be doing.”

And don’t forget Biden’s foreign policy accomplishments, such as strengthening NATO and securing the West’s alliances against Russia, along with the latest accomplishments bringing about a historic alliance between Japan and South Korea to strengthen our alliances in the Pacific. These are all amazing accomplishments in just 2 years! Paul urged the group, “Democrats we need to talk about these accomplishments with our friends and neighbors so that they understand how the President’s
leadership will affect their everyday lives.”

But to turn Arizona blue we will also need to do the hard work of registering people to vote and getting them to vote for candidates who share that vision. Data shows that it is Gen Z who voted heavily in the mid-term elections and elected Democrats across the country. Gen Zers care about climate change, gun control, and women’s reproductive rights. Clubs like ours can help by participating in voter registration drives at H.S. and colleges and by making sure that there are Democrats running for every office on the ballot. Arizona can turn blue if we make this a priority and get them signed up for Active Early Voting List, which allows them to receive a ballot in the mail.
For more information about The Democratic Club of Quail Creek visit our website http://www.dcqc.page