Tim Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, unveiled a new logo and website for the Democratic Party Wednesday at an event in the Jack Morton Auditorium.
Kaine used the event, which was booked as a “major announcement” for the party, to hail the accomplishments of President Barack Obama and other Democrats, telling Democratic supporters to look beyond the November elections.
With the Democrats facing a tough election atmosphere, the party aims to excite voters before the November election.
“I’d like to unveil the new symbol of today’s Democratic Party: Democrats delivering the change that matters,” Kaine said.
As Kaine made the announcement, three dozen volunteers ran out wearing T-shirts with the new logo, tossing free paraphernalia into the crowd.
“The new look demonstrates that we’re about the people,” Kaine said of the new symbol, which is a light blue circle with the letter “D” placed in the center. “The [old] DNC logo focused on the committee, but we want to focus on the Democrats, the 75 million strong.”
Kaine also used the event to tout the accomplishments of Obama and congressional Democrats.
“The fight isn’t over,” Kaine said. “We have to keep fighting because we aren’t out of the woods yet. We have to keep fighting for progress, for our country and a brighter future.”
The former Virginia governor added that the DNC’s goal was a “new look [and] new tools,” for the party’s Internet presence. The DNC’s revamped site – which launched on the morning of the announcement – is designed to be action-orientated and allow voters to donate to campaigns and sign up to volunteer.
“The tool will connect our people with their candidates and their local parties wherever they are,” Kaine said. “We want to connect people.”
Senior Ari Kasper said his favorite part of the new website is the fact that it is localized, showing each person the particular races that are happening in his or her area.
“I think that’s a really cool feature that’s going to get a lot of people involved,” Kasper said. “Instead of just seeing the national Democrats and which candidates the national press thinks are the big candidates, you get to see the candidates in your area.”
Kaine endorsed the notion of Democrats producing “Change That Matters,” which Kaine unveiled as the new slogan for the party.
“Voters turn to Democrats looking for change, and over and over again, we have delivered change that matters,” Kaine said, referring to past Democratic successes like the Civil Rights Act and balancing the federal budget.
Kaine also referred to the change that Democrats have enacted in the current administration after “a decade of failed leadership,” citing health care reform, expansion of Pell grants and Wall Street reform.
“That’s change that matters, folks; that’s change that matters,” Kaine said. “Again and again, Democrats have delivered.”
Kaine said he thought the new logo would attract people to the party, and hopefully pique excitement in the party at the right time. He added that he didn’t believe a new look was the silver bullet that would lead to Democratic success in the fall.
“We think it’s going to be a better November than a lot of people think,” Kaine said.
Josh Altman, president of the College Democrats, the group that hosted the event, said the chairman showed how the Democratic Party “adapts and keeps moving forward in a dynamic way.”
Altman said the energy of the crowd – members of his organization, people of the media and GW officials – was beneficial to the cause.
“The room was filled,” said Altman. “I think we might even [have] had some fire code violations.”
