During the month of August, with Congress and most state legislatures in or near their summer recesses, the New Dem Daily will take a break from its usual format and offer selections from the new, updated, 2002 edition of the DLC State and Local Playbook (released at the July 28-30 National Conversation in New York), perhaps our most popular product for elected officials and other policymakers outside Washington.

Introduced last year, the Playbook is a compilation of innovative policy ideas that are being put into practice by New Democrats at the state and local levels around the country. Each "play" provides everything you need to know about a particular idea -- how it's being implemented, contact names for more information, and additional resources for research, in print and on the Internet.

We've completely revised all of last year's "plays" to ensure the reports, the contact information, and the links are up to date. And we've also added 35 new "plays," for a total of 73. Each day we will provide a brief introduction to a new "play" and a link to the relevant section of the Playbook. We will, of course, interrupt the Playbook series if major developments in the country call for New Dem Daily commentary.

We hope this August Feature gives you a flavor of what's going on in New Democrat circles in state capitols, city halls, and county seats around the country, and will spur additional suggestions to keep the network humming with good ideas in the future.

To browse the Playbook, go to: www.ndol.org/specials/playbook