Most of these are from the "as prepared for delivery" press releases (my note-taking ability couldn't keep up; hence, for most of the speakers, I didn't even try...); some are from different meetings and forums...
"With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States." - Senator Barack Obama during his acceptance speech...
"All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do — that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be. " - Michelle Obama...
"We need a president who puts the Barney Smiths before the Smith Barneys." - Barney Smith, former Republican and former RCA worker whose job was sent overseas...
"This is our time. This is our moment to change the course of history." - Mark Udall, Colorado Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate...
"For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and honor the Constitution, no longer will you hear the eight most dreaded words in the English language: "The Vice President's office is on the phone." " - Senator and Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden...
"If every criminal has the right to see a lawyer, every family should have the right to see a doctor." - John Melcher, former U.S. Senator from Montana, at a meeting of the Senior Caucus (This was a major talking point among the health care reform crowd; I heard it from other speakers at various meetings, but Melcher was the first I heard, so he gets credit. )
"Barack Obama had the good judgment to know that we should not risk the lives of our brave soldiers in the wrong war." - Illinois Senator Richard Durbin...
"That's a thousand dollar hat on a 10-cent head." - Populist and Texan Jim Hightower to the Rural Caucus, discussing pictures of George W. Bush wearing a cowboy hat while clearing brush on his Texas ranch, the one that has not cattle.
"Card laid, card played - keep your word." - Representative Mike Honda (D-CA), speaking at the Veterans' Caucus about the plight of Filipino WW2 veterans who were screwed out of their benefits by Congress immediately after the war (but it's a valid sentiment in other areas, too)...
"Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time?" - Senator Barack Obama...
"These are extraordinary times. This is an extraordinary election. The American people are ready. I'm ready. Barack is ready. This is his time. This is our time. This is America's time." - Senator Joe Biden...
"It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it." - Senator Barack Obama...
"We honor McCain's service; we ask him to honor ours." - Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers, speaking at the Veterans' Caucus...
"McCain has been AWOL on Veterans' issues." - Colonel Richard Klass, USAF (Ret.)
"...we don't need four more years . . . of the last eight years." - Senator Hillary Clinton...
"In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own." - Senator Barack Obama, referring to the Republicans' 'trickle-down' theory of economics [which I call 'tinkle-down' economics]...
"Obama will be a great president, but he can't do this alone. He needs your help." - Congressman John Dingell...
"All the governors need a partner in the White House, and Barack Obama will be that partner." - Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio...
"I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. - Senator Barack Obama...
"No way. No how. No McCain." - Senator Hillary Clinton...
"It was the classiest thing that I've heard in 32 years of coming to these conventions." - DNC Chairman Howard Dean, referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton's speech on convention Tuesday.
"McCain may pay hundreds of dollars for his shoes, but we will pay for his flip flops." - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson...
"I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families." - Senator Barack Obama...
"Barack Obama will lead us away from division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope. If, like me, you still believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary, Chelsea and me in making Senator Barack Obama the next President of the United States." - former President Bill Clinton...
"The forces of the status quo are desperately afraid of the change that Barack Obama represents." - Al Gore, former Vice President, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and Oscar winner...
"Barack Obama is my candidate. And he must be our President." - Senator Hillary Clinton...
"Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America." - Senator Barack Obama...
Showing posts with label 2008 convention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 convention. Show all posts
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
More pics and observations from Denver
This is Sandy and Kathy. Met them in line outside Invesco Field (aka - Mile High). They volunteered all week for the convention and were excited to be going to Barack Obama's acceptance speech. Sandy thinks that it is likely that Colorado will go for Obama in November. Where Berny Morson of the Rocky Mountain News believes that rural CO is strongly Republican and will vote for McCain, Sandy believes that the depressed rural areas will vote for Obama. Something about blaming Bush for the economy and the fact that McCain is entirely too Bush-like.
________________________________________
One of Thursday's early speakers, DNC Chairman Howard Dean, had a pointed comment that was both artful in its simplicity and painful in its accuracy -
"John McCain is not a maverick. John McCain is a 'yes' man."
________________________________________
What can I say? I like Sheryl Crow.
Of course, so did everyone else.
_________________________________________
Staying on the musical theme, most observers (not just me) felt that Michael McDonald wasn't the best choice as the final musical guest. Both Crow and Stevie Wonder did a good job with their performances and did much more to energize the crowd.
McDonald? Not so much.
Most people seemed to feel that McDonald's performance was decent in and of itself, but entirely too yawn-inducing for the environment at the acceptance speech.
_________________________________________
Among the speakers, the Coloradans received strong cheers, and of course the ovation for Barack Obama blew the doors off the place, but the speaker receiving the most cheers was New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. His address won him more fans too. More than one person told me afterwards they could see why I liked him early on during the primary season.
_________________________________________
Had a chance to speak to Marshawn and Ken, the two people seated next to me in the nosebleeds. Actually, I mostly spoke to Marshawn; Ken was friendly, but spent most of the evening with his eyes locked on to a pair of binoculars.
She's a teacher who was a big fan of Hillary Clinton until she had a chance to see Obama speak two years ago. After that, she started following his campaign, eventually caucusing for him in CO. She was totally thrilled when she had the opportunity to see the acceptance speech live.
She and Ken are from Parker (CO) and much like Sandy above, believe that Obama will win CO.
(Sorry, no pics - the angle was too tight to get a good shot in the cramped confines of the stadium.)
_________________________________________
More tomorrow when I arrive home...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wow.
That's all I have to say tonight, but here are a few pics (sorry about the quality, but A) I'm not a photographer, and 2) I was in the nosebleeds, as in "any higher and you have to notify Denver Air Traffic Control :) ...
Bill Richardson (he kicked ass)
Al Gore (Did pretty well himself)
And some guy who also had a pretty good night, too. :)
A report and more pics tomorrow from the trip home (a Motel 6 in Gallup to be precise)....
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Wednesday - Health Care Forum with HRC
On Wednesday, Families USA and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) hosted a forum on Health Care and the 2008 Election in the Seawell Ballroom of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. While the crowd wasn't quite as large as the one at Tuesday's meeting of the Women's Caucus, but the list of speakers may have been even more high-wattage (by political standards; by the standards of normal folks, Eva Longoria is a brighter star than even the big star of the forum - see the pic below.)
While some of the speakers were the expected officials from the sponsors,like Andy Stern, President of the SEIU, and L. Toni Lewis, SEIU Executive Board member and President of the SEIU's Committee on Interns and Residents, there was also an assortment of elected officials and normal people on hand to call for health care reform and to compare Barack Obama's positions and votes on health care to those of John McCain.
Guess which one comes up short in that comparison. :))
Anyway, back to the list of eminent officials. Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA) was one of the early speakers, talking about efforts to make health care more accessible and why that hasn't been accomplished yet.
Also lending his presence was the man who is currently the longest-serving member of the House, Congressman John Dingell (D-MI). He focused on highlighting the records of George W. Bush and John McCain on health care for all Americans (hint: they have horrible records) and urging everyone present to help elect Democrats across the board.
"Obama will be a great president, but he can't do this alone - he needs your help" by giving him stronger majorities in both the House and Senate (especially getting 60 votes in the Senate!)
One of the lower profile guests, but one who was one of the highlights of the forum, was the brief talk by Pauline Beck, the home health care worker that hosted Barack Obama as he spent a day in her shoes. (SF Chronicle coverage here) She spoke highly of Sen. Obama, both of his work ethic and his compassion. While before meeting Obama she was a Hillary Clinton supporter
Note: She spoke at the convention; her remarks as prepared for delivery are here.
Another low profile but effective speaker was 13-year old Graeme Frost. Last year, he delivered the Democrats' weekly radio address on SCHIP and how it benefitted him when he and his sister were severely injured in a car accident. At the time, he urged President Bush to sign a just-passed renewal of SCHIP.
He vetoed it.
However, that wasn't good enough for the Republicans - they "Swift Boated" him and his family. (A refutation of the Reps' smears is here, courtesy Time Magazine.)
Anyway, Graeme earned a standing ovation from the nearly 1000 attendees when he closed his talk with "the only hope for SCHIP [renewal and improvement] is if Senators Obama and Biden are elected to the White House."
Other, higher-profile, speakers included Governors Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS), Ed Rendell (D-PA), Deval Patrick (D-MA), and Ted Strickland (D-OH).
Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle spoke passionately about the four steps necessary to successfully implement national health care reform - first, understand the nature of the problem, including the issues with access, cost, and quality; second, destroy the myths and lies that suffuse the discussion of health care reform (starting with "we do *not* have the best health care system in the world"); third, build a framework of transparency, with an apolitical decision-making board; and finally, get focused and go on offense - instead of defending health care reform, make opponents "explain why the status quo is good enough"
After that was a brief period of stalling while the organizers awaited their marquee guest, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Finally, traffic cleared long enough for the Senator to make it over to the forum (and believe me, the traffic was lousy in downtown Denver on Wednesday).
She strongly and eloquently advocated for health care for all Americans, "no exceptions, no excuses."
She talked of technological improvements and modernization (healthcare information card, involving all stakeholders, not just the big insurers, and simply "making the case" for healthcare reform.
She reminded the audience that "[w]e have let the perfect be the enemy of the good for too long" and not to let petty objections derail efforts to produce a workable plan.
She closed the forum with a simple yet passionate unity message -
"Let's elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden!"
Other highlights from Wednesday -
- Clinton's incredible Tuesday night speech was the talk of the Colorado Convention Center on Wednesday, but after people finished raving about her speech, they immediately referred to the crowd pleasing address of Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), given just prior to HRC's, and said simply, "WOW."
- Perhaps I'm the only one who thinks this, but it seems to me that Wednesday's huge ovation at the Pepsi Center when President Bill Clinton was introduced was the delegates' way of saying "Come back to the light, Bill, we still love you" and his speech was his way of doing just that. There may still be some disaffected HRC supporters who will go over to McCain rather than vote for Obama, but they'll be few in number and doing so in spite of HRC's (and Bill's!) wishes.
- Democrats in the Plains states have two eloquent rising stars in Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin of South Dakota and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Both spoke to the Rural Caucus on how Heartland issues are national issues (trade, education, healthcare) and on the importance of increasing Democratic turnout in rural areas. Herseth-Sandlin mentioned that she was inspired/mentored by Tom Daschle, while Klobuchar showed why the former prosecutor was mentioned by the New York Times as one of the seventeen women most likely to become President.
Note: with all due respect to Sen. Klobuchar, I'm kinda partial to one of the other women mentioned in the article, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. :)
- After the healthcare forum, I was interviewed by Melissa Blasius of Phoenix's Channel 12 News (apparently, I was the only attendee from Arizona, or the only one who would admit to it). My answers were a little weak (OK, they were almost goofy), so I hope the footage isn't used.
It was still cool though. :))
Later!
While some of the speakers were the expected officials from the sponsors,like Andy Stern, President of the SEIU, and L. Toni Lewis, SEIU Executive Board member and President of the SEIU's Committee on Interns and Residents, there was also an assortment of elected officials and normal people on hand to call for health care reform and to compare Barack Obama's positions and votes on health care to those of John McCain.
Guess which one comes up short in that comparison. :))
Anyway, back to the list of eminent officials. Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-CA) was one of the early speakers, talking about efforts to make health care more accessible and why that hasn't been accomplished yet.
"Why can't we get it done? Because we have lobbyists in the White House" writing health care laws and policy.
Also lending his presence was the man who is currently the longest-serving member of the House, Congressman John Dingell (D-MI). He focused on highlighting the records of George W. Bush and John McCain on health care for all Americans (hint: they have horrible records) and urging everyone present to help elect Democrats across the board.
"Obama will be a great president, but he can't do this alone - he needs your help" by giving him stronger majorities in both the House and Senate (especially getting 60 votes in the Senate!)
One of the lower profile guests, but one who was one of the highlights of the forum, was the brief talk by Pauline Beck, the home health care worker that hosted Barack Obama as he spent a day in her shoes. (SF Chronicle coverage here) She spoke highly of Sen. Obama, both of his work ethic and his compassion. While before meeting Obama she was a Hillary Clinton supporter
Note: She spoke at the convention; her remarks as prepared for delivery are here.
Another low profile but effective speaker was 13-year old Graeme Frost. Last year, he delivered the Democrats' weekly radio address on SCHIP and how it benefitted him when he and his sister were severely injured in a car accident. At the time, he urged President Bush to sign a just-passed renewal of SCHIP.
He vetoed it.
However, that wasn't good enough for the Republicans - they "Swift Boated" him and his family. (A refutation of the Reps' smears is here, courtesy Time Magazine.)
Anyway, Graeme earned a standing ovation from the nearly 1000 attendees when he closed his talk with "the only hope for SCHIP [renewal and improvement] is if Senators Obama and Biden are elected to the White House."
Other, higher-profile, speakers included Governors Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS), Ed Rendell (D-PA), Deval Patrick (D-MA), and Ted Strickland (D-OH).
Former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle spoke passionately about the four steps necessary to successfully implement national health care reform - first, understand the nature of the problem, including the issues with access, cost, and quality; second, destroy the myths and lies that suffuse the discussion of health care reform (starting with "we do *not* have the best health care system in the world"); third, build a framework of transparency, with an apolitical decision-making board; and finally, get focused and go on offense - instead of defending health care reform, make opponents "explain why the status quo is good enough"
After that was a brief period of stalling while the organizers awaited their marquee guest, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Finally, traffic cleared long enough for the Senator to make it over to the forum (and believe me, the traffic was lousy in downtown Denver on Wednesday).
She strongly and eloquently advocated for health care for all Americans, "no exceptions, no excuses."
She talked of technological improvements and modernization (healthcare information card, involving all stakeholders, not just the big insurers, and simply "making the case" for healthcare reform.
She reminded the audience that "[w]e have let the perfect be the enemy of the good for too long" and not to let petty objections derail efforts to produce a workable plan.
She closed the forum with a simple yet passionate unity message -
"Let's elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden!"
Other highlights from Wednesday -
- Clinton's incredible Tuesday night speech was the talk of the Colorado Convention Center on Wednesday, but after people finished raving about her speech, they immediately referred to the crowd pleasing address of Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT), given just prior to HRC's, and said simply, "WOW."
- Perhaps I'm the only one who thinks this, but it seems to me that Wednesday's huge ovation at the Pepsi Center when President Bill Clinton was introduced was the delegates' way of saying "Come back to the light, Bill, we still love you" and his speech was his way of doing just that. There may still be some disaffected HRC supporters who will go over to McCain rather than vote for Obama, but they'll be few in number and doing so in spite of HRC's (and Bill's!) wishes.
- Democrats in the Plains states have two eloquent rising stars in Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin of South Dakota and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Both spoke to the Rural Caucus on how Heartland issues are national issues (trade, education, healthcare) and on the importance of increasing Democratic turnout in rural areas. Herseth-Sandlin mentioned that she was inspired/mentored by Tom Daschle, while Klobuchar showed why the former prosecutor was mentioned by the New York Times as one of the seventeen women most likely to become President.
Note: with all due respect to Sen. Klobuchar, I'm kinda partial to one of the other women mentioned in the article, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. :)
- After the healthcare forum, I was interviewed by Melissa Blasius of Phoenix's Channel 12 News (apparently, I was the only attendee from Arizona, or the only one who would admit to it). My answers were a little weak (OK, they were almost goofy), so I hope the footage isn't used.
It was still cool though. :))
Later!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
More caucuses and an arrest...
...and *no*, I wasn't the one who was busted. :)
The day started early with breakfast with the Arizona delegation (thanks Lauren!).
It was a pretty low-key morning, with Sam Rosen, the father of Sarah Rosen, paying tribute to his daughter. Sarah is the former ADP Communications Director who died in a car accident in 2005. He has established a fund in her name to help pay Democratic Party interns. (PolitickerAZ coverage here)
Governor Janet Napolitano spoke very briefly, mostly to comment about Monday night's Convention activities ("great night") and Michelle Obama's speech ("talk about hitting it out of the park") before heading off to speak to other states' delegations about the West. (more PolitickerAZ coverage here)
Congressman Raul Grijalva also spoke, and in comments that foreshadowed most of Tuesday's speeches on the Convention floor, sent delivered some zingers directly at John McCain.
- "Arizona has a tradition of being the only state where moms can't tell their sons that they can grow up to be President. Let's keep that tradition going."
- Referring to John McCain's poor record in AZ, and AZ's poor record in areas such as education and the environment during McCain's watch, jibed that "we don't want to see that record repeated" across the rest of the nation.
After breakfast was a quick trip downtown via light rail (certain folks in Scottsdale just got indigestion at reading that :)) ).
The first stop at the Colorado Convention Center was the Women's Caucus.
OK, that sentence doesn't really cover it, not by a long shot.
Let's try this one -
The first stop at the Colorado Convention Center was at the jam-packed, energized, and LOUD Four Seasons Ballroom for the Women's Caucus.
Not great, but definitely better... :)
The throngs at the Caucus (2000 +!) were treated to a long list of "superstar" speakers that included Andrea Wong, CEO of Lifetime Television, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Donna Brazile, longtime Democratic activist (her resume is too long to list specifics), actress and activist Rosario Dawson, DNC Vice-Chair Lottie Shackleford, Ellen Malcolm, founder and president of Emily's list and more. There was even a quick guest appearance by actress Eva Longoria.
And that was just in the first 50 minutes or so, before I had to run off to another caucus.
This caucus had the best speakers of the day, especially Malcolm and Brazile, but for me, the highlight was that the giveaways at this caucus were the best so far. Normally, caucus swag is limited to pins, bumper stickers, and rally signs.
The Women's Caucus gave away tambourines, magazines and posters. I didn't bother with the magazine (can read those anywhere), but I kept the tambourine and posters. The tambourine will make a great giveaway at the next LD17 meeting, and the posters will look good on the walls of the coordinated campaign offices in Tempe and Scottsdale.
After the Women's Caucus was the Faith Council, where a group of incredible orators spoke about how many of the issues that concern people of faith also concern Democrats. Both communities are find common ground in working for the common good on issues such as poverty, education, a living wage, the environment and even immigration.
As Bishop Wilfredo Dejesus of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference said, "We must stand by all of God's children, even the undocumented ones in our country." (Wow - I'm not even in AZ and I get to write something that will tick off Russell Pearce and the rest of the nativists. I call that a good day. :)) )
As good as the speakers at the Faith Council were (preachers of whatever faith get lots of practice working an audience, don't they? ), the crowd was, to put it tactfully, a little stodgy, especially when compared to the Women's Caucus.
However, things livened up quickly at the Veterans and Military Families Caucus.
Near the very beginning of the proceedings, an anti-abortion protester jumped and proclaimed that he was a Marine and that a vote for Obama was a vote for killing unborn babies. He continued shouting his rant, even when the audience of more than two hundred people instantaneously started a chant of "Obama! Obama!" until security arrived to lead him away.
Note: I didn't take any pics as he was wasn't resisting arrest and the police weren't using excessive force, and I believe it is generally a bad idea to give extremists of any stripe free publicity.
The meeting was set up mostly as an interactive forum, with a few speakers such as Rep. Mike Honda discussing the issue of Filipino veterans of WWII getting screwed out of veterans benefits and Cecil Roberts of the United Mine Workers talking about his service in Vietnam and the close relationship between unions and veterans.
He had the best line of the day regarding John McCain's abysmal record on veterans' issue -
"We honor McCain's service; now we ask him to honor ours."
The actual "forum" part of the forum discussed Senator Obama's qualifications to be commander-in-chief. Major General Scott Gration USAF (Ret.) and Colonel Dick Klass USAF (Ret.) spoke eloquently (not a word normally associated with military folks, eh?? LOL) about Obama's compassion, courage, ability to relate to military personnel and, above all, judgement to lead.
At that point, around 2:15 p.m., I started crashing and headed out. I have to give the delegates and party officials a little respect here - most of their days are 16 hours or longer (at breakfast, Maria Weeg, the Executive Director of the ADP, talked about getting three hours sleep) and they are still fully energized by the time the Convention hits prime time at 8 or so at night.
Anyway, it's after midnight as I finish typing this, so it's off to bed for me. Another early start tomorrow, though not as early as the delegates.
Later!
The day started early with breakfast with the Arizona delegation (thanks Lauren!).
It was a pretty low-key morning, with Sam Rosen, the father of Sarah Rosen, paying tribute to his daughter. Sarah is the former ADP Communications Director who died in a car accident in 2005. He has established a fund in her name to help pay Democratic Party interns. (PolitickerAZ coverage here)
Governor Janet Napolitano spoke very briefly, mostly to comment about Monday night's Convention activities ("great night") and Michelle Obama's speech ("talk about hitting it out of the park") before heading off to speak to other states' delegations about the West. (more PolitickerAZ coverage here)
Congressman Raul Grijalva also spoke, and in comments that foreshadowed most of Tuesday's speeches on the Convention floor, sent delivered some zingers directly at John McCain.
- "Arizona has a tradition of being the only state where moms can't tell their sons that they can grow up to be President. Let's keep that tradition going."
- Referring to John McCain's poor record in AZ, and AZ's poor record in areas such as education and the environment during McCain's watch, jibed that "we don't want to see that record repeated" across the rest of the nation.
After breakfast was a quick trip downtown via light rail (certain folks in Scottsdale just got indigestion at reading that :)) ).
The first stop at the Colorado Convention Center was the Women's Caucus.
OK, that sentence doesn't really cover it, not by a long shot.
Let's try this one -
The first stop at the Colorado Convention Center was at the jam-packed, energized, and LOUD Four Seasons Ballroom for the Women's Caucus.
Not great, but definitely better... :)
The throngs at the Caucus (2000 +!) were treated to a long list of "superstar" speakers that included Andrea Wong, CEO of Lifetime Television, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Donna Brazile, longtime Democratic activist (her resume is too long to list specifics), actress and activist Rosario Dawson, DNC Vice-Chair Lottie Shackleford, Ellen Malcolm, founder and president of Emily's list and more. There was even a quick guest appearance by actress Eva Longoria.
And that was just in the first 50 minutes or so, before I had to run off to another caucus.
This caucus had the best speakers of the day, especially Malcolm and Brazile, but for me, the highlight was that the giveaways at this caucus were the best so far. Normally, caucus swag is limited to pins, bumper stickers, and rally signs.
The Women's Caucus gave away tambourines, magazines and posters. I didn't bother with the magazine (can read those anywhere), but I kept the tambourine and posters. The tambourine will make a great giveaway at the next LD17 meeting, and the posters will look good on the walls of the coordinated campaign offices in Tempe and Scottsdale.
After the Women's Caucus was the Faith Council, where a group of incredible orators spoke about how many of the issues that concern people of faith also concern Democrats. Both communities are find common ground in working for the common good on issues such as poverty, education, a living wage, the environment and even immigration.
As Bishop Wilfredo Dejesus of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference said, "We must stand by all of God's children, even the undocumented ones in our country." (Wow - I'm not even in AZ and I get to write something that will tick off Russell Pearce and the rest of the nativists. I call that a good day. :)) )
As good as the speakers at the Faith Council were (preachers of whatever faith get lots of practice working an audience, don't they? ), the crowd was, to put it tactfully, a little stodgy, especially when compared to the Women's Caucus.
However, things livened up quickly at the Veterans and Military Families Caucus.
Near the very beginning of the proceedings, an anti-abortion protester jumped and proclaimed that he was a Marine and that a vote for Obama was a vote for killing unborn babies. He continued shouting his rant, even when the audience of more than two hundred people instantaneously started a chant of "Obama! Obama!" until security arrived to lead him away.
Note: I didn't take any pics as he was wasn't resisting arrest and the police weren't using excessive force, and I believe it is generally a bad idea to give extremists of any stripe free publicity.
The meeting was set up mostly as an interactive forum, with a few speakers such as Rep. Mike Honda discussing the issue of Filipino veterans of WWII getting screwed out of veterans benefits and Cecil Roberts of the United Mine Workers talking about his service in Vietnam and the close relationship between unions and veterans.
He had the best line of the day regarding John McCain's abysmal record on veterans' issue -
"We honor McCain's service; now we ask him to honor ours."
The actual "forum" part of the forum discussed Senator Obama's qualifications to be commander-in-chief. Major General Scott Gration USAF (Ret.) and Colonel Dick Klass USAF (Ret.) spoke eloquently (not a word normally associated with military folks, eh?? LOL) about Obama's compassion, courage, ability to relate to military personnel and, above all, judgement to lead.
At that point, around 2:15 p.m., I started crashing and headed out. I have to give the delegates and party officials a little respect here - most of their days are 16 hours or longer (at breakfast, Maria Weeg, the Executive Director of the ADP, talked about getting three hours sleep) and they are still fully energized by the time the Convention hits prime time at 8 or so at night.
Anyway, it's after midnight as I finish typing this, so it's off to bed for me. Another early start tomorrow, though not as early as the delegates.
Later!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Cruising Caucuses and breaking news of a possible assassination plot
Breaking news from the Denver Post -
There is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon; more details as they become available.
Spent the day sitting in on caucus meetings.
First up was the First Americans Caucus, a gathering of Native American Democratic leaders from across the country. This year marked the largest group of participants yet in one of these caucus meetings, which coincides with the growing influence of Indian voters. As DNC Chairman Howard Dean said in his address to the caucus "[t]here are five U.S. Senators who would not be where they are today without Indian Country votes."
Caucus chair Frank Lemere, co-chair Kalyn Free, and the rest of the speakers tended to focus on the need to remember that "all politics is local." In other words, while Indian Country voters are exercising a growing influence nationally, they need to find and elect candidates who can help turn back efforts in various states and localities to undermine tribal sovereignty.
While the "tribal sovereignty" concern was different from what grassroots activists deal with, the need to focus on local races such as school boards, city councils, and the like was not. I was struck by how many of the concerns of Indian voters (ensuring a quality education for their children, health care that's accessible and affordable, clean energy and more) are the same concerns that most Americans have.
While at the meeting, I had the opportunity to speak to Christopher Deschene, an Obama delegate and a candidate for AZ State House in LD2. He's a graduate of the Naval Academy (eventually rising to the rank of major in the USMCR), and has both a law degree and a masters in engineering from ASU. He's currently a practicing attorney. He wants to bring strong leadership and a voice for rural Arizona to the lege. He is also very concerned about the coming budget battle over next year's deficit.
Chris Deschene
Second on the agenda was the Senior Caucus. Led by former Montana Senator John Melcher, the speakers stressed the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. Mostly the discussion centered on Senator Obama's strong support of both and Social Security and Medicare, and of Senior Americans in general, and McCain's strong and consistent efforts to undermine SS, Medicare, and the economic and health security of those same Senior Americans.
Former Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly, currently the Chair and CEO of The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, spoke passionately, rousing the crowd before summing up simply "Barack Obama will save Social Security."
The third and final caucus meeting that I attended on Monday (there were many more that I couldn't make it to) was the Rural Caucus; actually, the Rural Council of the Democratic National Committee. The meeting got off to a slow start due to some technical difficulties.
The mic on the podium didn't want to work, in many ways mirroring some of the difficulties facing Democrats as they try to communicate their message to Rural Americans.
So naturally they dealt with it the same way in the caucus meeting that they do in the town councils and community meetings in rural areas.
They shouted until the mic was fixed. :)
Guest speakers included Jim Hightower, populist and contemporary of Molly Ivins, and Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America. They were both excellent speakers, though they chose different tacks to put forth their messages.
Hightower used folksy but blunt humor, like his line "the water won't clear up 'til we get the hogs out of the creek" describing efforts to clean up the messes made by the Republicans, or how "John McCain's idea of a farm program is 'Hee-Haw'. "
Roberts was more of a crowd energizer, speaking like life-long union organizer that he is. He spoke with a firey and heartfelt passion, occasionally shouting and pounding his foot on the podium.
If he had been born in another place and time, he'd have been a tent revivalist, and a good one at that.
While they took different approaches to their addresses to the caucus, everything the speakers said led back to the same point - Barack Obama has a plan to protect and nurture Rural America; John McCain only intends to corporatize it (at best!).
It was a bit of a long day (though not as long as a delegate's day :) ; time to finish watching the main show on CSPAN and get ready for tomorrow.
Later!
Federal authorities have scheduled a press conference for Tuesday afternoon amid reports that a fortunate traffic stop by Aurora Police may have disrupted an assassination attempt against Barack Obama.
KUSA-TV is reporting that two men have been arrested on weapons charges after the traffic stop early Sunday.
The first man, identified by the station as Tharin Gartrell, 28, was charged with suspicion of being a felon in possession of a weapon after police found two rifles, a high-powered scope and methamphetamine in his car after the traffic stop.
There is a press conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon; more details as they become available.
Spent the day sitting in on caucus meetings.
First up was the First Americans Caucus, a gathering of Native American Democratic leaders from across the country. This year marked the largest group of participants yet in one of these caucus meetings, which coincides with the growing influence of Indian voters. As DNC Chairman Howard Dean said in his address to the caucus "[t]here are five U.S. Senators who would not be where they are today without Indian Country votes."
Caucus chair Frank Lemere, co-chair Kalyn Free, and the rest of the speakers tended to focus on the need to remember that "all politics is local." In other words, while Indian Country voters are exercising a growing influence nationally, they need to find and elect candidates who can help turn back efforts in various states and localities to undermine tribal sovereignty.
While the "tribal sovereignty" concern was different from what grassroots activists deal with, the need to focus on local races such as school boards, city councils, and the like was not. I was struck by how many of the concerns of Indian voters (ensuring a quality education for their children, health care that's accessible and affordable, clean energy and more) are the same concerns that most Americans have.
While at the meeting, I had the opportunity to speak to Christopher Deschene, an Obama delegate and a candidate for AZ State House in LD2. He's a graduate of the Naval Academy (eventually rising to the rank of major in the USMCR), and has both a law degree and a masters in engineering from ASU. He's currently a practicing attorney. He wants to bring strong leadership and a voice for rural Arizona to the lege. He is also very concerned about the coming budget battle over next year's deficit.
Chris Deschene
Second on the agenda was the Senior Caucus. Led by former Montana Senator John Melcher, the speakers stressed the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. Mostly the discussion centered on Senator Obama's strong support of both and Social Security and Medicare, and of Senior Americans in general, and McCain's strong and consistent efforts to undermine SS, Medicare, and the economic and health security of those same Senior Americans.
Former Congresswoman Barbara Kennelly, currently the Chair and CEO of The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, spoke passionately, rousing the crowd before summing up simply "Barack Obama will save Social Security."
The third and final caucus meeting that I attended on Monday (there were many more that I couldn't make it to) was the Rural Caucus; actually, the Rural Council of the Democratic National Committee. The meeting got off to a slow start due to some technical difficulties.
The mic on the podium didn't want to work, in many ways mirroring some of the difficulties facing Democrats as they try to communicate their message to Rural Americans.
So naturally they dealt with it the same way in the caucus meeting that they do in the town councils and community meetings in rural areas.
They shouted until the mic was fixed. :)
Guest speakers included Jim Hightower, populist and contemporary of Molly Ivins, and Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America. They were both excellent speakers, though they chose different tacks to put forth their messages.
Hightower used folksy but blunt humor, like his line "the water won't clear up 'til we get the hogs out of the creek" describing efforts to clean up the messes made by the Republicans, or how "John McCain's idea of a farm program is 'Hee-Haw'. "
Roberts was more of a crowd energizer, speaking like life-long union organizer that he is. He spoke with a firey and heartfelt passion, occasionally shouting and pounding his foot on the podium.
If he had been born in another place and time, he'd have been a tent revivalist, and a good one at that.
While they took different approaches to their addresses to the caucus, everything the speakers said led back to the same point - Barack Obama has a plan to protect and nurture Rural America; John McCain only intends to corporatize it (at best!).
It was a bit of a long day (though not as long as a delegate's day :) ; time to finish watching the main show on CSPAN and get ready for tomorrow.
Later!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Florida and Michigan delegates seated! Oh wait...
...that isn't exactly breaking news.
What actually took place Sunday was that the Convention's Credentials Committee passed the resolution making that official.
While the meeting generated a lot more interest than Saturday's meeting of the Rules Committee (lots more press coverage on Sunday; Saturday was pretty much CSPAN and a few intrepid bloggers), it was so scripted it was totally boring.
And I missed the three AZ representatives to the committee. :(
However, that disappointment was compensated for by the increase in people-watching opportunities (*much* better than Saturday's non-existent crowds).
There were the anti-abortion protesters, the "Jesus is my God and is the only God and you'd better get straight with him or you're gonna buuurrrn" protester, and the "keep church and state separate" protesters outside the Colorado Convention Center, and the anti-war protesters all over the place that seemed to be going somewhere in particular, but I'm not sure where.
There were cops everywhere - normal looking street cops, the talk into sleeve mic types that were probably federal (FBI or Secret Service), riot cops mounted on an SUV, ready to deploy, SWAT teams, and even multiple police helicopters hovering over downtown.
Traffic was already a mess - the main road, Speer (normally one of the main arteries in and out of the area), was already blocked off inbound, and many of the side streets were heavily restricted with Jersey barriers ready to move into place to completely close them down.
And it was only Sunday, and the Convention hadn't even started yet. Wait until Monday. :))
The day ended on a positive note though, with a family dinner at Pagliacci's, long a Denver dining landmark. The best Italian cuisine west of the Mississippi, great service, and atmosphere like I haven't seen since my Nonna's kitchen. :)
Give them a read for more of an insider's perspective.
A few of the pics from today's travels -
The God guy.
There was only one of him, but he had a good PA system. So he rates his own pic. :)
The "Keep Church and State Separate" folks, next to the God guy (Love that irony!).
And the anti-abortion types (loud and obnoxious, but welcome to free speech.)
What actually took place Sunday was that the Convention's Credentials Committee passed the resolution making that official.
While the meeting generated a lot more interest than Saturday's meeting of the Rules Committee (lots more press coverage on Sunday; Saturday was pretty much CSPAN and a few intrepid bloggers), it was so scripted it was totally boring.
And I missed the three AZ representatives to the committee. :(
However, that disappointment was compensated for by the increase in people-watching opportunities (*much* better than Saturday's non-existent crowds).
There were the anti-abortion protesters, the "Jesus is my God and is the only God and you'd better get straight with him or you're gonna buuurrrn" protester, and the "keep church and state separate" protesters outside the Colorado Convention Center, and the anti-war protesters all over the place that seemed to be going somewhere in particular, but I'm not sure where.
There were cops everywhere - normal looking street cops, the talk into sleeve mic types that were probably federal (FBI or Secret Service), riot cops mounted on an SUV, ready to deploy, SWAT teams, and even multiple police helicopters hovering over downtown.
Traffic was already a mess - the main road, Speer (normally one of the main arteries in and out of the area), was already blocked off inbound, and many of the side streets were heavily restricted with Jersey barriers ready to move into place to completely close them down.
And it was only Sunday, and the Convention hadn't even started yet. Wait until Monday. :))
The day ended on a positive note though, with a family dinner at Pagliacci's, long a Denver dining landmark. The best Italian cuisine west of the Mississippi, great service, and atmosphere like I haven't seen since my Nonna's kitchen. :)
Donna at Democratic Diva is doing a good job of chronicling her adventures as a delegate; the highly deserving Tedski at R-Cubed is handling the officially sanctioned blogger duties for AZ; and Michael Bryan at Blog for Arizona is hosting three delegates as guest bloggers - Paul Eckerstrom, Patricia Canady, and John Adams (the retired general, not the former President).
Give them a read for more of an insider's perspective.
A few of the pics from today's travels -
The God guy.
There was only one of him, but he had a good PA system. So he rates his own pic. :)The "Keep Church and State Separate" folks, next to the God guy (Love that irony!).
And the anti-abortion types (loud and obnoxious, but welcome to free speech.)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Democratic Convention Officers Named
On Saturday, the Rules Committee of the of the Democratic Convention met in the Colorado Convention Center. There, in a bit more than an hour, they officially nominated and approved the Convention officers for this year's convention in Denver as well as approved establishing a commission to examine the problems with the caucuses and primaries this year.
After being introduced by DNC Chairman Howard Dean, the Convention CEO, the Reverend Leah Daughtry, and former Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, Sunita Leeds, and former Governor David Walters, the three co-chairs of the Rules Committee, each spoke briefly.
Even if she hadn't been introduced as "Reverend," Daughtry quickly made her preaching background clear, rousing the crowd of representatives from each state with "it's an exciting year for Democrats" and how, in less than a week, "our party will have made history" with the nomination of Sen. Barack Obama.
Walters took a moment to stress the importance of the Rules Committee and rules in general, reminding onlookers that "rules are foreign to the current administration" and that "Bush cares about the rules of the land as much as he cares about the rules of grammar."
Oakar, in what is sure to be the first of many tributes this week, asked for a moment of silent prayer for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones on her passing last week.
Leeds expressed gratitude (and that of grassroots Democratic activists everywhere) for Chairman Dean's 50 State Strategy and for the current strength of the Democratic Party.
Anyway, the officers named Saturday include (the entire list and more is at the above link) -
Permanent Chair - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Co-Chairs - Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, and State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of Texas
Vice Chairs - Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington, Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida, Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, OH, and Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
On Sunday, the Convention's Credentials Committee is scheduled to meet. I don't expect much action there, but at least there is a *slight* potential for some. (Writers, even amateur ones, find vast amounts of subject matter by observing conflict :) )
I missed the opportunity at Saturday's meeting to speak with Nathan Gomez, an Arizona representative to the Rules Committee. However, at Sunday's Credentials Committee meeting there are supposed to be three Arizonans there, Sharon Covey, Adelita Grijalva, and David Waid. There should be a chance to check in with at least one of them to see how the week is shaping up for them.
I have a couple of pictures, but they're pretty boring - shots of an empty room, shots of a filling room, and distant shots of a couple of the speakers. Nothing with Arizona ties (boring or otherwise), so I'm not going to waste blog space by uploading them.
Later!
After being introduced by DNC Chairman Howard Dean, the Convention CEO, the Reverend Leah Daughtry, and former Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar, Sunita Leeds, and former Governor David Walters, the three co-chairs of the Rules Committee, each spoke briefly.
Even if she hadn't been introduced as "Reverend," Daughtry quickly made her preaching background clear, rousing the crowd of representatives from each state with "it's an exciting year for Democrats" and how, in less than a week, "our party will have made history" with the nomination of Sen. Barack Obama.
Walters took a moment to stress the importance of the Rules Committee and rules in general, reminding onlookers that "rules are foreign to the current administration" and that "Bush cares about the rules of the land as much as he cares about the rules of grammar."
Oakar, in what is sure to be the first of many tributes this week, asked for a moment of silent prayer for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones on her passing last week.
Leeds expressed gratitude (and that of grassroots Democratic activists everywhere) for Chairman Dean's 50 State Strategy and for the current strength of the Democratic Party.
Anyway, the officers named Saturday include (the entire list and more is at the above link) -
Permanent Chair - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Co-Chairs - Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, Mayor Shirley Franklin of Atlanta, and State Senator Leticia Van de Putte of Texas
Vice Chairs - Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington, Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida, Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus, OH, and Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
On Sunday, the Convention's Credentials Committee is scheduled to meet. I don't expect much action there, but at least there is a *slight* potential for some. (Writers, even amateur ones, find vast amounts of subject matter by observing conflict :) )
I missed the opportunity at Saturday's meeting to speak with Nathan Gomez, an Arizona representative to the Rules Committee. However, at Sunday's Credentials Committee meeting there are supposed to be three Arizonans there, Sharon Covey, Adelita Grijalva, and David Waid. There should be a chance to check in with at least one of them to see how the week is shaping up for them.
I have a couple of pictures, but they're pretty boring - shots of an empty room, shots of a filling room, and distant shots of a couple of the speakers. Nothing with Arizona ties (boring or otherwise), so I'm not going to waste blog space by uploading them.
Later!
Friday, August 22, 2008
Register For Change Bus Tour Reaches Denver
Over 100 enthusiastic supporters greeted Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean when the Register for Change Bus Tour reached Denver on Friday afternoon.
Introduced to a rousing round of applause by Patricia Waak, chair the Colorado Democratic Party, Dean took the opportunity to give a speech that was at once a campaign speech("Vote for Obama") and a motivational speech ("Work to get other people to vote for Obama, too") -
...He blasted John McCain, George Bush, and the Republicans for the damage that they have done to America, its economy, and its standing in the world.
...He cited a laundry list of the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain, including the fact that Obama, like most American homeowners, owns one home while McCain has so many that he can't keep track of them all.
...He talked about how in Bush's hometown of Crawford, Texas, more than 700 people turned out for the kickoff of the bus tour because they knew that a vote for McCain is a vote for four more years of Bush's failed policies.
...He wryly observed that the McCain of 2000 wouldn't vote for the McCain of 2008.
...He challenged Waak, the Colorado Dems, and the Young Dems on the campus to walk and knock on 40 doors 4 times between now and the election, saying that could be done over four weekends during the next 11, and that it wasn't too big a sacrifice to help put Barack Obama into the White House and the country back on the right track.
...He reminded the audience that people have the power, more power than talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly.
...And he called on people everywhere to understand that the campaign isn't just about the economy, Iraq, or gas prices; it's about a "new America."
He closed his speech by highlighting the need to restore American moral authority in the world and the fact that Democrats are the ones best suited to do just that, citing the examples of Harry Truman (Marshall Plan), Jimmy Carter (the treaty between Egypt and Israel), and Bill Clinton (his work in the Middle East peace process and also in Northern Ireland.)
He wound up his speech with "You can't preach democracy and human rights unless you practice it at home and abroad."
Other observations from a day spent on Blake Street and the 16th Street Mall (a shopping district built for walking) -
- A number of Convention staffers and volunteers were in the area for lunch. They looked young enough to make the Chinese National Team in gymnastics. :))
- Anyone visiting the convention should be prepared to walk or bike around the convention site and nearby areas. An already congested traffic system will be further tangled with the massive road closings and blockages. A news story on this subject, with links to more info, can be found here.
- Chairman Dean, the spiritual leader of the grassroots elements of the Democratic Party, took a moment to show his appreciation for the grassroots, as can be seen in the pic below.
Ignore the date at the bottom of the pics; we were using my sister's camera. I'll crop later.
Rocky Mountain News coverage from writer Berny Morson can be found here. He's the bearded man in the hat behind Dean. :)
Later!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
850 Miles...
...It took approximately 16 1/2 driving hours (10 on Wednesday, 6 1/2 on Thursday), but I finally arrived in Denver.
At the height of freakin' rush hour.
Note to self: the next time you have the brilliant idea of driving through lunch to make it to your destination before rush hour hits, make sure you know what time rush hour actually starts in your destination city. Turns out that while Phoenix's PM rush hour starts at (roughly) 4:30, Denver's starts around 3.
I hit downtown Denver at around 4.
Bumper-to-bumper on I-25, speed ranging from 20 mph to a dead stop, for 10 miles or so.
Your normally witty and charming blogger was anything but for a while there...
Note to delegates: When possible, plan on shuttling from your hotels to the convention site. It'll save you a lot of headaches.
Other things that I learned on the drive to Denver -
- The folks that recommended that I not take I-17 to get to I-40, that instead I take Rt. 87 to 260 to 77 north were right about a few things. That route was scenic. There were lots of lush trees and rolling hills and majestic vistas. What they forgot to mention was that the speed limits were much lower than I-17's 75 mph, and there were almost NO FREAKIN' PASSING LANES!
When I reached Holbrook and the junction of I-40, I figured out that I had averaged less than 45 mph for that part of the trip. 25% less than the 60 mph I had figured on when calculating my schedule. Made up some of that shortfall on I-40 to Albuquerque and then I-25 north of Albuquerque to Santa Fe.
- Santa Fe was great, at least for the time I spent there. I ate dinner at a local place called the Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery. The meal was something called New Mexican Shepherd's Pie (From the menu: "Seasoned ground beef and calabacitas topped with mashed potatoes, green chile and cheese then baked in a skillet".)
It was great, with the green chile giving it just the right kick. The service was great, too - once the server found how thirsty I was, she brought me two Sprites, not just the one I had ordered. Which brings me to the next lesson...
- Drives like this can be very dehydrating. Don't just bring water (I had a case of .5 liter bottles in a cooler), *drink* it. That night in the motel, I was dizzy from the drive, and drank 5 bottles of the water, even after the two large Sprites.
- Which brings up another "I should have known this already" point - Bring and use sunblock. My left arm was fried on Wednesday, and I needed to drive with a towel over my arm on Thursday to minimize further damage and pain.
- Based on bumper stickers anyway, Obama has the lead in Colorado and New Mexico. I didn't see even one McCain sticker (or sign for that matter) in either state so far, and could do well in AZ as they were about even there.
...And on an unrelated but truly sad note, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) passed away after suffering a hemorrhage from a brain aneurysm. She was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and she was the first black woman to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Deepest condolences go out to her family, friends, constituents, and colleagues...
At the height of freakin' rush hour.
Note to self: the next time you have the brilliant idea of driving through lunch to make it to your destination before rush hour hits, make sure you know what time rush hour actually starts in your destination city. Turns out that while Phoenix's PM rush hour starts at (roughly) 4:30, Denver's starts around 3.
I hit downtown Denver at around 4.
Bumper-to-bumper on I-25, speed ranging from 20 mph to a dead stop, for 10 miles or so.
Your normally witty and charming blogger was anything but for a while there...
Note to delegates: When possible, plan on shuttling from your hotels to the convention site. It'll save you a lot of headaches.
Other things that I learned on the drive to Denver -
- The folks that recommended that I not take I-17 to get to I-40, that instead I take Rt. 87 to 260 to 77 north were right about a few things. That route was scenic. There were lots of lush trees and rolling hills and majestic vistas. What they forgot to mention was that the speed limits were much lower than I-17's 75 mph, and there were almost NO FREAKIN' PASSING LANES!
When I reached Holbrook and the junction of I-40, I figured out that I had averaged less than 45 mph for that part of the trip. 25% less than the 60 mph I had figured on when calculating my schedule. Made up some of that shortfall on I-40 to Albuquerque and then I-25 north of Albuquerque to Santa Fe.
- Santa Fe was great, at least for the time I spent there. I ate dinner at a local place called the Blue Corn Cafe and Brewery. The meal was something called New Mexican Shepherd's Pie (From the menu: "Seasoned ground beef and calabacitas topped with mashed potatoes, green chile and cheese then baked in a skillet".)
It was great, with the green chile giving it just the right kick. The service was great, too - once the server found how thirsty I was, she brought me two Sprites, not just the one I had ordered. Which brings me to the next lesson...
- Drives like this can be very dehydrating. Don't just bring water (I had a case of .5 liter bottles in a cooler), *drink* it. That night in the motel, I was dizzy from the drive, and drank 5 bottles of the water, even after the two large Sprites.
- Which brings up another "I should have known this already" point - Bring and use sunblock. My left arm was fried on Wednesday, and I needed to drive with a towel over my arm on Thursday to minimize further damage and pain.
- Based on bumper stickers anyway, Obama has the lead in Colorado and New Mexico. I didn't see even one McCain sticker (or sign for that matter) in either state so far, and could do well in AZ as they were about even there.
...And on an unrelated but truly sad note, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH) passed away after suffering a hemorrhage from a brain aneurysm. She was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and she was the first black woman to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Deepest condolences go out to her family, friends, constituents, and colleagues...
Monday, August 18, 2008
Short Attention Span Musing....
...Your humble but ever so wise wiseass blogger is finally moving into the 20th Century. I have acquired that ubiquitous but possibly cancer-causing electronic leash known as a cell phone. For years, I've avoided getting one but since I'm driving to Denver this week across three relatively uninhabited states, it was time.
Of course, when I get the first bill next month, it may be time for screaming... :))
...According to PolitickerAZ, in CD3 the Shadegg campaign is finally talking to the Lord campaign about debates. They're still in the "posturing" phase of the negotiations (the Shadegg campaign wants six debates over the 8 or so weeks between the primary and the general election) so nothing may come of it, but that still puts John Shadegg, someone who's been mailing it in all year, ahead of Joe Arpaio, who still refuses to publicly debate Dan Saban, his challenger for the Maricopa County Sheriff's job.
Somebody needs to let Joe know that it doesn't look good when even a candidate who's tried to retire this year and who thinks his job is "boring" is putting more effort toward his reelection bid than he is.
Not good at all.
...Of course, Shadegg is still doing everything he can to avoid Bob Lord and to minimize his contact with the residents of CD3 (you know - his constituents).
- First, he's been staying in D.C., leading his Republican colleagues in a shameless campaign to befoul America coastlines to benefit Big Oil's profit margins. (The Phoenix Business Journal)
- Next week (August 25 - 28), he's going to Alaska to visit Prudhoe Bay to advocate for the pollution of ANWR, also to benefit Big Oil's profit margins. (PolitickerAZ)
- The week after that (September 1 -4) is the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. The event will be held at the XCEL Energy Center.(GOPConvention2008)
And then on September 8, the week after that, the U.S. House of Representatives is back in session.
In other words, Shadegg is spending his summer district work period doing almost anything but working in his district.
...Posting will be lighter than normal this week, due to the aforementioned trip to Denver (projected high temps for the next week: mid to upper 80s; projected low temps: mid to upper 50s.) :))
Later!
Of course, when I get the first bill next month, it may be time for screaming... :))
...According to PolitickerAZ, in CD3 the Shadegg campaign is finally talking to the Lord campaign about debates. They're still in the "posturing" phase of the negotiations (the Shadegg campaign wants six debates over the 8 or so weeks between the primary and the general election) so nothing may come of it, but that still puts John Shadegg, someone who's been mailing it in all year, ahead of Joe Arpaio, who still refuses to publicly debate Dan Saban, his challenger for the Maricopa County Sheriff's job.
Somebody needs to let Joe know that it doesn't look good when even a candidate who's tried to retire this year and who thinks his job is "boring" is putting more effort toward his reelection bid than he is.
Not good at all.
...Of course, Shadegg is still doing everything he can to avoid Bob Lord and to minimize his contact with the residents of CD3 (you know - his constituents).
- First, he's been staying in D.C., leading his Republican colleagues in a shameless campaign to befoul America coastlines to benefit Big Oil's profit margins. (The Phoenix Business Journal)
- Next week (August 25 - 28), he's going to Alaska to visit Prudhoe Bay to advocate for the pollution of ANWR, also to benefit Big Oil's profit margins. (PolitickerAZ)
- The week after that (September 1 -4) is the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. The event will be held at the XCEL Energy Center.(GOPConvention2008)
And then on September 8, the week after that, the U.S. House of Representatives is back in session.
In other words, Shadegg is spending his summer district work period doing almost anything but working in his district.
...Posting will be lighter than normal this week, due to the aforementioned trip to Denver (projected high temps for the next week: mid to upper 80s; projected low temps: mid to upper 50s.) :))
Later!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
In the news...
...Congrats all the way around to LD17's legislative delegation of Senator Meg Burton Cahill, Representative Ed Ableser, and Representative David Schapira (Democrats, one and all). Each earned a grade of 100% from the Arizona League of Conservation Voters in their Legislative Scorecard for the 2008 session. While there were many high-scoring districts, LD17 was the only district where more than one legislator earned a grade of 100%.
On the opposite end of the scale was LD3, with Sen. Ron Gould and Reps. Trish Groe and Nancy McClain (Rs one and all - of course) earning an average score of 27%.
...While it's been a lot of fun to watch the LD18 Republicans tear themselves apart (LOTS of fun :) ), the media coverage of all of the negative campaigning and polls conducted by Republican firms has all but ignored Tammie Pursley and Judah Nativio, the strong Democratic candidates in the west Mesa district (for House and Senate, respectively). However, the EV Tribune ran a full story on Nativio on Thursday. It was a pretty good piece, one that pointed out that the race for the LD18 senate seat won't end on September 2nd when the contest between immigration attorney (and brother-in-law of Congressman Jeff Flake) Kevin Gibbons reaches its conclusion.
The real race will just be beginning.
...Friday morning at 10, the AZ Democrats will be holding a rally to highlight John McCain's close ties to Big Oil. The rally will take place from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the southwest corner of 48th St. and Thomas, across from the Mobil station.
...Apparently nobody told McCain and the Republicans that they've been calling themselves the party of private property rights - they're getting sued for misappropriating and misusing someone's private property.
From AP -
Jackson Browne sues McCain, RNC over song in ad
Jackson Browne doesn't want John McCain running on anything fueled by his lyrics.
The singer-songwriter sued McCain and the Ohio and national Republican committees in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Thursday, accusing them of using his song "Running on Empty" without his permission.
Perhaps their "respect" for private property rights just doesn't apply to the property of famous liberals...
...In an example of willful irony (OK, it was shameless hypocrisy, but I'm trying to be tactful here - this isn't supposed to be an unmitigated McCain-bashing post), McCain has criticized the Russian invasion of Georgia (the country, not the state), saying things like "In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations."
Iraq, John. Iraq.
...Darragh Murphy, head of PUMA PAC, an organization that purports to be a group of grassroots Hillary Clinton supporters working to secure her nomination at the Democratic Convention in two weeks, has some credibility problems.
It turns out that in 2000, she supported John McCain in the Republican Presidential primary to the tune of $500.
Can you say "astroturf"?
This stuff and other stuff about PUMA PAC has been going around the internet for a more than a month now, but she was blathering (and getting ripped apart) on Hardball on Thursday. So I figured that it was my turn (I know a couple of Clinton delegates who read this blog).
...And in goofy news of the day, a Chandler resident wants his city to sue the Obama campaign because he feels that the campaign's logo is so similar to the City of Chandler's logo that it constitutes trademark infringement. (AZ Republic)
I think it's BS, but you decide (logos courtesy the AZRep article linked above) -
Later!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Wow, those superdelegates - they get the best seats in the house!
The DNCC announced today that Arizona's own Governor Janet Napolitano will be onstage at the Democratic National Convention. On Tuesday, August 26, she will be one of the speakers presenting Sen. Barack Obama's economic plan to the convention delegates and to America.
From the DNCC press release -
Other Tuesday speakers include -
Keynote speaker Mark Warner, former Governor of Virginia.
Senator and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of New York.
Governors Ted Strickland of Ohio and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania will speak about how the failed BushCo economic policies of the last eight years have seriously jacked up our economy (note: "jacked up" is my term, not the DNCC's, and it's a euphemism.)
Senator Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will speak about how Sen. Obama's economic plan has been shaped and influenced by the needs and concerns of middle-class America.
Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana and Federico Peña, former Mayor of Denver and Secretary of both Energy and Transportation will speak on the relationship between energy and America's economic vitality.
Other, previously announced, speakers include Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson (Michelle Obama's brother), Sen. Claire MacCaskill of Missouri, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. They'll speak on the opening night of the convention. Monday night will also feature a tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy.
On Wednesday, Sen. Obama's as-yet-unannounced pick for VP will speak. The announced theme for Wednesday is national security.
On Thursday, Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado will speak and Sen. Obama will give his acceptance speech at Invesco Field.
Later!
From the DNCC press release -
Tuesday night’s featured speakers include Convention Co-Chair Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, both early supporters of Barack Obama, who will outline his detailed economic plan to grow the economy, create jobs, restore fairness and expand opportunity.
Other Tuesday speakers include -
Keynote speaker Mark Warner, former Governor of Virginia.
Senator and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of New York.
Governors Ted Strickland of Ohio and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania will speak about how the failed BushCo economic policies of the last eight years have seriously jacked up our economy (note: "jacked up" is my term, not the DNCC's, and it's a euphemism.)
Senator Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will speak about how Sen. Obama's economic plan has been shaped and influenced by the needs and concerns of middle-class America.
Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana and Federico Peña, former Mayor of Denver and Secretary of both Energy and Transportation will speak on the relationship between energy and America's economic vitality.
Other, previously announced, speakers include Michelle Obama, Craig Robinson (Michelle Obama's brother), Sen. Claire MacCaskill of Missouri, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. They'll speak on the opening night of the convention. Monday night will also feature a tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy.
On Wednesday, Sen. Obama's as-yet-unannounced pick for VP will speak. The announced theme for Wednesday is national security.
On Thursday, Governor Bill Ritter of Colorado will speak and Sen. Obama will give his acceptance speech at Invesco Field.
Later!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Headlines
...The big news (for those of us who plan on being in Denver in 3 weeks, anyway), the DNC has announced its public credentialing plans for Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field. Half of the credentials will go to Colorado residents, and 2/3 will go to residents of Mountain West states (which includes AZ).
Interested AZ residents should call (720) 362-2500 or email CommCredentials@DemConvention.com. The initial contact will ask for your name, state of residence, telephone number and email. It should be noted that travel and lodging for recipients will be their responsibility.
...Has anyone noticed the irony of Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers and his cohorts wanting Governor Napolitano to call a special session of the legislature to find funding for 500 school vouchers, but want to spend millions of dollars to avoid funding ELL education for more that 130,000 students? Yes, I know that other have covered this before, but the story just hasn't died down (apparently Weiers may be serious about this - as opposed to just engaging in a little election-year posturing.)
...The McCain campaign can deny it all that they want, but all indications are that they've written off any hope of winning over any African-American voters. As such, there is no need for them to maintain even a pretense of civility.
From Florida Capital News (emphasis mine) -
Thanks to jobsanger for the heads-up on this story.
More later....
Interested AZ residents should call (720) 362-2500 or email CommCredentials@DemConvention.com. The initial contact will ask for your name, state of residence, telephone number and email. It should be noted that travel and lodging for recipients will be their responsibility.
...Has anyone noticed the irony of Arizona House Speaker Jim Weiers and his cohorts wanting Governor Napolitano to call a special session of the legislature to find funding for 500 school vouchers, but want to spend millions of dollars to avoid funding ELL education for more that 130,000 students? Yes, I know that other have covered this before, but the story just hasn't died down (apparently Weiers may be serious about this - as opposed to just engaging in a little election-year posturing.)
...The McCain campaign can deny it all that they want, but all indications are that they've written off any hope of winning over any African-American voters. As such, there is no need for them to maintain even a pretense of civility.
From Florida Capital News (emphasis mine) -
McCain security ousts reporter
Tallahassee Democrat senior writer Stephen Price on Friday was singled out and asked to leave a media area at the Panama City rally of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain
Price was among at least three other reporters, and the only black reporter, surrounding McCain's campaign bus — Gov. Charlie Crist and his fiancee, Carole Rome, were already aboard — when a member of the Arizona senator's security detail asked the reporter to identify himself. Price had shown his media credentials to enter the area.
{snip}
When another reporter asked why Price was being removed, she too was led out of the area. Other state reporters remained.
Thanks to jobsanger for the heads-up on this story.
More later....
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Congrats to Tedski!
Earlier today, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean, announced the names of the blogs selected for the national convention's "State Blogger Corps." The members of the State Blogger Corps will be seated with their states' delegations on the convention floor.
Ted Prezelski, arguably the dean of Arizona's progressive blogosphere, received the well-deserved nod for Arizona.
The entire list -
Congratulations go out to all of the bloggers honored with their selection for the State Blogger Corps.
Later!
Ted Prezelski, arguably the dean of Arizona's progressive blogosphere, received the well-deserved nod for Arizona.
The entire list -
STATE - BLOG NAME - BLOG URL
ALASKA - Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com/
ALABAMA- Doc's Political Parlor - http://www.politicalparlor.net/
ARKANSAS- Under The Dome.com - http://www.underthedome.com/
ARIZONA - Ted Prezelski - Rum, Romanism and Rebellion -http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net/
CALIFORNIA - Calitics- http://calitics.com/
COLORADO -SquareState.net - http://squarestate.net/
CONNECTICUT -My Left Nutmeg - http://myleftnutmeg.com/
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA- DCist.com - http://dcist.com/
DELAWARE - TommyWonk - http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/
DEMOCRATS ABROAD - Democrats Abroad Argentina -http://www.yanquimike.com.ar/
FLORIDA - Florida Progressive Coalition - http://flaprogressives.org/
GEORGIA- Tondee's Tavern - http://www.tondeestavern.com/
GUAM - No Rest for the Awake - Minagahet Chamorro -http://minagahet.blogspot.com/
HAWAII - iLind.net: Ian Lind Online - http://www.ilind.net/
IOWA - The Iowa Independent - http://iowaindependent.com/
IDAHO - 43rdStateBlues.com - http://www.43rdstateblues.com/
ILLINOIS- Prairie State Blue - http://www.prairiestateblue.com/
INDIANA- Blue Indiana - http://www.blueindiana.net/
KANSAS - EverydayCitizen.com - http://everydaycitizen.com/
KENTUCKY - BlueGrassRoots - http://www.bluegrassroots.org/
LOUISIANA - Daily Kingfish - http://www.dailykingfish.com/
MASSACHUSETTS - Blue Mass. Group - http://www.bluemassgroup.com/
MARYLAND - The Center for Emerging Media -http://www.centerforemergingmedia.com/
MAINE - Turn Maine Blue - http://www.turnmaineblue.com/
MICHIGAN - Blogging For Michigan - http://bloggingformichigan.com/
MINNESOTA - Minnesota Monitor - http://minnesotamonitor.com/
MISSISSIPPI - The Natchez Blog - http://natchezms.blogspot.com/
MISSOURI - Fired Up! LLC - http://www.firedupmissouri.com/
MONTANA - Left in the West - http://www.leftinthewest.com/
NORTH CAROLINA - BlueNC.com - http://bluenc.com/
NORTH DAKOTA - NorthDecoder.com - http://www.northdecoder.com/
NEBRASKA - New Nebraska Network - http://www.newnebraska.net/
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Blue Hampshire - http://www.bluehampshire.com/
NEW JERSEY - PolitickerNJ.com - http://www.politickernj.com/
NEW MEXICO - Democracy for New Mexico -http://www.democracyfornewmexico.com/
NEVADA - Las Vegas Gleaner - http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com/
NEW YORK - Room 8 - http://www.r8ny.com/
OHIO - Ohio Daily Blog - http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/
OKLAHOMA - DemoOkie - http://www.demookie.com/
OREGON - BlueOregon (blog) - http://www.blueoregon.com/
PENNSYLVANIA - Keystone Politics - http://www.keystonepolitics.com/
PUERTO RICO - Jusiper - http://jusiper.blogspot.com/
RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island's Future - http://www.rifuture.org/
SOUTH CAROLINA - CracktheBell.com - http://www.crackthebell.com/
SOUTH DAKOTA - Badlands Blue - http://www.badlandsblue.com/
TENNESSEE - KnoxViews/TennViews - http://www.knoxviews.com/
TEXAS - Burnt Orange Report - http://www.burntorangereport.com/
UTAH - The Utah Amicus - http://utahamicus.com/
VIRGINIA - Raising Kaine - http://www.raisingkaine.com/
VIRGIN ISLANDS - Democratic Party of the US Virgin Islands -http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democratvi
VERMONT - Green Mountain Daily - http://greenmountaindaily.com/
WASHINGTON - HorsesAss.org - http://www.horsesass.org/
WISCONSIN - Uppity Wisconsin - http://www.uppitywis.org/
WEST VIRGINIA - West Virginia Blue - http://www.wvablue.com/
WYOMING - Hummingbirdminds blog - http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/
Congratulations go out to all of the bloggers honored with their selection for the State Blogger Corps.
Later!
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
OK, it's all over but the shouting...
...and the 'shouting' in this case will be the shouts of support at the convention when Barack Obama strides to the podium to give his speech accepting the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.
Not only did Obama win big in North Carolina (15 percentage points, >230,000 popular votes), he closed the pre-election gap in Indiana, leaving Clinton a victory margin that fell short of expectations and far short of what was needed for her campaign to maintain viability (2 percentage points, <23,000 votes).
He should net a gain of approximately 13 or more pledged delegates after everything is said and done, offsetting the 12 that Clinton gained with her win in the Pennsylvania primary.
There are a few remaining primaries left (Oregon, Kentucky, Montana, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, West Virginia), but the math just isn't there for her. There are just 217 pledged delegates available in those states (DNCC delegate map here).
After tonight, Hillary Clinton needs 334 delegates to secure the nomination, Obama needs 189. (CNN Election Center here). The race will come down to superdelegates, and right now, they are trending toward Obama (right along with the popular vote).
The last best hope for the Clinton campaign is now reseating the Florida and Michigan delegations in a way that helps her; any neutral way of handling that situation hurts her at a time when she needs to make strong gains. The DNCC's Rules Committee is scheduled to meet on May 31 to discuss many delegate-related issues, including Florida and Michigan; however, any chicanery there will fracture the Democratic Party.
That probably won't happen - while the contenders may desire the nomination with every fiber of their beings, they aren't stupid.
Right now, the Obama/Clinton battle for the nomination has energized the Party in a way that it hasn't been for decades, but that could change in a heartbeat if one of the candidates goes overboard with insider games. Any result from that meeting that even hints of unfairness will totally undercut the gains made by the Party in outreach to new and independent voters, turning them off to the Democratic Party for years, perhaps even a generation.
And in four years, the grassroots of the Party will be certain to remember the campaign (and campaigners) whose blind devotion to personal ambition and cynical 'business as usual' politics condemned the country to four more years of a Bush-era government (aka - a McCain presidency).
Not only did Obama win big in North Carolina (15 percentage points, >230,000 popular votes), he closed the pre-election gap in Indiana, leaving Clinton a victory margin that fell short of expectations and far short of what was needed for her campaign to maintain viability (2 percentage points, <23,000 votes).
He should net a gain of approximately 13 or more pledged delegates after everything is said and done, offsetting the 12 that Clinton gained with her win in the Pennsylvania primary.
There are a few remaining primaries left (Oregon, Kentucky, Montana, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, West Virginia), but the math just isn't there for her. There are just 217 pledged delegates available in those states (DNCC delegate map here).
After tonight, Hillary Clinton needs 334 delegates to secure the nomination, Obama needs 189. (CNN Election Center here). The race will come down to superdelegates, and right now, they are trending toward Obama (right along with the popular vote).
The last best hope for the Clinton campaign is now reseating the Florida and Michigan delegations in a way that helps her; any neutral way of handling that situation hurts her at a time when she needs to make strong gains. The DNCC's Rules Committee is scheduled to meet on May 31 to discuss many delegate-related issues, including Florida and Michigan; however, any chicanery there will fracture the Democratic Party.
That probably won't happen - while the contenders may desire the nomination with every fiber of their beings, they aren't stupid.
Right now, the Obama/Clinton battle for the nomination has energized the Party in a way that it hasn't been for decades, but that could change in a heartbeat if one of the candidates goes overboard with insider games. Any result from that meeting that even hints of unfairness will totally undercut the gains made by the Party in outreach to new and independent voters, turning them off to the Democratic Party for years, perhaps even a generation.
And in four years, the grassroots of the Party will be certain to remember the campaign (and campaigners) whose blind devotion to personal ambition and cynical 'business as usual' politics condemned the country to four more years of a Bush-era government (aka - a McCain presidency).
Monday, April 28, 2008
AZ's Democratic Delegation Finalized
At Saturday's meeting of the Democratic State Committee, members selected PLEO (party leader/elected official) and At-Large delegates to this summer's national convention. Some delegates are pledged to Clinton, some to Obama.
The big news of the convention concerned the election of a new 1st Vice-Chair (and automatic superdelegate) of the ADP. Early expectations were that the slot would go to a Clinton supporter, but in a bit of a surprise, Charlene Fernandez, chair of the Yuma County Democratic Party, won the slot after announcing that she supports Sen. Barack Obama for the nomination.
There is an as-yet-unconfirmed rumor (from a state committee member) that one of the Clinton superdelegates may challenge the election of Fernandez. I'll look into this, but if anything comes of it, Tedski will probably have the scoop first (something about him being on the state committee, a brother on the state committee, a mom on the state committee, and so forth :)) ).
The final (pending any challenges) list, courtesy the website of the Arizona Democratic Party (superdelegate endorsement info courtesy PolitickerAZ) -
Uncommitted superdelegates -
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ8)
Congressman Harry Mitchell (AZ5)
State Attorney General Terry Goddard
Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party Don Bivens
Clinton delegates
Superdelegates -
Congressman Ed Pastor (AZ4)
Democratic National Committee member Janice C. Brunson
DNC member Joe Rios
DNC member Carolyn Warner
PLEO -
Arizona Sen. Amanda Aguirre
Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community President Diane Enos
Arizona Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Tony J. Gonzales
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley
At-Large -
Arizona Sen. Ken Cheuvront
Fountain Hills Councilwoman Ginny Dickey
Adam Falk
Katie Hobbs
Michael Incorvaia
Amanda Simpson
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox
At-Large Alternates -
DNC Member-elect and Arizona Democratic Party secretary Judy Kennedy
Arizona Rep. Robert Meza
District level delegates -
Jack Jackson, Jr.
Greg Kaighn
Dawn Knight
Nikki Basque (alternate)
Bree Boehlke
Debra Boehlke
Robert Boehlke
Matthew Miller (alternate)
Howard Bell
Jim Pederson
Lois Pfau
Lisa White (alternate)
Dana Kennedy
Jose Rivas
Angie Crouse
George Paterakis
Beverly Fox-Miller
Roman Ullman
Elizabeth Brown (alternate)
David Martinez
Gail Beeler
Elly Anderson
Chris Campas
JoJene E. Mills
Bruce Heurlin (alternate)
Obama Delegates
Superdelegates -
Governor Janet Napolitano
Congressman Raul Grijalva (AZ7)
ADP 1st Vice Chair Charlene Fernandez
PLEO -
Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned J. Norris
Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez
Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
At-Large -
Magdalena Barajas
Sen. Dennis DeConcini
Ruben Gallego Arizona
Rep. David Schapira
Brandan Spradling
At-Large Alternate -
Phoenix Councilman Michael Johnson
District level delegates -
Christopher Clark-Dechene
Angela Lefevre
Shirley A. McAllister
Eddie Smith
Mark Manoil
Genevieve M. Vega
David Gass
Katharine Widland
Sean Bowie
Donna M. Gratehouse
Lauren Kuby
James J. Brodie (alternate)
John Chiazza
Kit Filbey
Paul Eckerstrom
Lisa Fernandez
John C. Adams
Patricia L. Canady
Congratulations to everyone, and hope to see you in Denver...
The big news of the convention concerned the election of a new 1st Vice-Chair (and automatic superdelegate) of the ADP. Early expectations were that the slot would go to a Clinton supporter, but in a bit of a surprise, Charlene Fernandez, chair of the Yuma County Democratic Party, won the slot after announcing that she supports Sen. Barack Obama for the nomination.
There is an as-yet-unconfirmed rumor (from a state committee member) that one of the Clinton superdelegates may challenge the election of Fernandez. I'll look into this, but if anything comes of it, Tedski will probably have the scoop first (something about him being on the state committee, a brother on the state committee, a mom on the state committee, and so forth :)) ).
The final (pending any challenges) list, courtesy the website of the Arizona Democratic Party (superdelegate endorsement info courtesy PolitickerAZ) -
Uncommitted superdelegates -
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ8)
Congressman Harry Mitchell (AZ5)
State Attorney General Terry Goddard
Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party Don Bivens
Clinton delegates
Superdelegates -
Congressman Ed Pastor (AZ4)
Democratic National Committee member Janice C. Brunson
DNC member Joe Rios
DNC member Carolyn Warner
PLEO -
Arizona Sen. Amanda Aguirre
Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community President Diane Enos
Arizona Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Tony J. Gonzales
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley
At-Large -
Arizona Sen. Ken Cheuvront
Fountain Hills Councilwoman Ginny Dickey
Adam Falk
Katie Hobbs
Michael Incorvaia
Amanda Simpson
Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox
At-Large Alternates -
DNC Member-elect and Arizona Democratic Party secretary Judy Kennedy
Arizona Rep. Robert Meza
District level delegates -
Jack Jackson, Jr.
Greg Kaighn
Dawn Knight
Nikki Basque (alternate)
Bree Boehlke
Debra Boehlke
Robert Boehlke
Matthew Miller (alternate)
Howard Bell
Jim Pederson
Lois Pfau
Lisa White (alternate)
Dana Kennedy
Jose Rivas
Angie Crouse
George Paterakis
Beverly Fox-Miller
Roman Ullman
Elizabeth Brown (alternate)
David Martinez
Gail Beeler
Elly Anderson
Chris Campas
JoJene E. Mills
Bruce Heurlin (alternate)
Obama Delegates
Superdelegates -
Governor Janet Napolitano
Congressman Raul Grijalva (AZ7)
ADP 1st Vice Chair Charlene Fernandez
PLEO -
Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned J. Norris
Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez
Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema
At-Large -
Magdalena Barajas
Sen. Dennis DeConcini
Ruben Gallego Arizona
Rep. David Schapira
Brandan Spradling
At-Large Alternate -
Phoenix Councilman Michael Johnson
District level delegates -
Christopher Clark-Dechene
Angela Lefevre
Shirley A. McAllister
Eddie Smith
Mark Manoil
Genevieve M. Vega
David Gass
Katharine Widland
Sean Bowie
Donna M. Gratehouse
Lauren Kuby
James J. Brodie (alternate)
John Chiazza
Kit Filbey
Paul Eckerstrom
Lisa Fernandez
John C. Adams
Patricia L. Canady
Congratulations to everyone, and hope to see you in Denver...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Convention 101
The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) has a useful feature on the convention's website, DemConvention.com.
Convention 101 details many of the, well, "details" of the convention in August and the events leading up to it.
Interested folks should regularly visit the site for updates as the convention approaches.
Lesson one covers many aspects that people are already at least vaguely familiar with - the selection of a convention site and delegate allocation and selection (lists of certified delegates here). Lesson one does offer some insights into three standing convention committees - the Credentials Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Platform Committee.
The Credentials Committee "determines and resolves issues concerning the recognition and seating of delegates and alternates to the Convention." It will meet prior to the convention to formulate a report, in a public meeting that is almost certain to generate interest from both party faithful and the general public. (Note: the meetings of all of the standing committees are open to the public.)
Florida and Michigan, anyone??
LOL- should be loads of fun, but unless the meetings are in the Phoenix area, I probably won't be able to attend one. :))
The Rules Committee "recommends the procedural rules of the Convention, the agenda, the officers of the Convention and other matters not covered by the other committees."
The Platform Committee "prepares a document delineating the Party’s position on a variety of issues." The platform is then voted on by the delegates at the convention.
Lesson two covers the convention itself.
The preliminary schedule (think "hint of an idea of an outline of a schedule") for the conventions -
Monday - convention opening, Credentials Committee and Rules Committee reports, and keynote address. (Note - the keynote speaker has not been selected as yet.)
Tuesday - discussion and debate on the platform.
Wednesday - formal nomination of the Party's presidential nominee.
Thursday - nomination of the Party's vice-presidential candidate and the presidential nominee's formal acceptance speech.
Ongoing - the delegates' days will usually start with a state delegation breakfast meeting (probably in the delegate hotels), followed by caucus meetings and training sessions. Convention floor proceedings will generally commence during the late afternoon ("late afternoon" in Denver time is "prime time" in the Eastern Time Zone.)
Chapter two of lesson two covers delegate voting at the convention. There's nothing earth-shattering here - the most salient point is that "pledged" delegates don't actually have to vote for the candidate that they pledged to support.
Alternate delegates step in if a pledged delegate is unable to perform their duties, either temporarily or permanently.
Finally, a candidate secures the nomination when he or she receives 2025 delegate votes. That total does not include Florida's or Michigan's delegates, so the number required could change depending on the Credentials Committee report.
More later!
Convention 101 details many of the, well, "details" of the convention in August and the events leading up to it.
Interested folks should regularly visit the site for updates as the convention approaches.
Lesson one covers many aspects that people are already at least vaguely familiar with - the selection of a convention site and delegate allocation and selection (lists of certified delegates here). Lesson one does offer some insights into three standing convention committees - the Credentials Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Platform Committee.
The Credentials Committee "determines and resolves issues concerning the recognition and seating of delegates and alternates to the Convention." It will meet prior to the convention to formulate a report, in a public meeting that is almost certain to generate interest from both party faithful and the general public. (Note: the meetings of all of the standing committees are open to the public.)
Florida and Michigan, anyone??
LOL- should be loads of fun, but unless the meetings are in the Phoenix area, I probably won't be able to attend one. :))
The Rules Committee "recommends the procedural rules of the Convention, the agenda, the officers of the Convention and other matters not covered by the other committees."
The Platform Committee "prepares a document delineating the Party’s position on a variety of issues." The platform is then voted on by the delegates at the convention.
"Decisions concerning the number and locations of Platform hearings and meetings will be made later in the spring. Under the Democratic Party’s rules, any person may submit a written statement concerning the platform to the Platform Committee at any time prior to the Committee’s meeting. In addition, any person may request permission to testify at a public hearing and/or forum. Individuals interested in learning more about the Platform drafting process should e-mail platform[at]dnc.org."
Lesson two covers the convention itself.
The preliminary schedule (think "hint of an idea of an outline of a schedule") for the conventions -
Monday - convention opening, Credentials Committee and Rules Committee reports, and keynote address. (Note - the keynote speaker has not been selected as yet.)
Tuesday - discussion and debate on the platform.
Wednesday - formal nomination of the Party's presidential nominee.
Thursday - nomination of the Party's vice-presidential candidate and the presidential nominee's formal acceptance speech.
Ongoing - the delegates' days will usually start with a state delegation breakfast meeting (probably in the delegate hotels), followed by caucus meetings and training sessions. Convention floor proceedings will generally commence during the late afternoon ("late afternoon" in Denver time is "prime time" in the Eastern Time Zone.)
Chapter two of lesson two covers delegate voting at the convention. There's nothing earth-shattering here - the most salient point is that "pledged" delegates don't actually have to vote for the candidate that they pledged to support.
Alternate delegates step in if a pledged delegate is unable to perform their duties, either temporarily or permanently.
Finally, a candidate secures the nomination when he or she receives 2025 delegate votes. That total does not include Florida's or Michigan's delegates, so the number required could change depending on the Credentials Committee report.
More later!
Friday, April 04, 2008
State Committee Members - an at large candidate for convention delegate asks for your vote
And no, I'm not that candidate :)
Much like Man Eegee, I'm experiencing a bit of a writer's block this week (or maybe I just don't have much to say :) ), so this post and my next post will essentially just be "copy and paste" posts.
For this first one, one of the candidates for an Obama district level delegate slot at this summer's national convention, Dritan Zela, is also a candidate for an at-large delegate slot has written a letter to state committee members in support of his candidacy at the April 26 meeting of the State Committee. I'm publishing it here with his permission. As I'm not a member of the State Committee, this is done as a courtesy, not an endorsement.
From Dr. Dritan Zela -
Note to any other PLEO/At-Large candidates: If you have one, I'd be happy to post a similar letter for you. If interested, please let me know at cpmaz[at]yahoo.com.
Later!
Much like Man Eegee, I'm experiencing a bit of a writer's block this week (or maybe I just don't have much to say :) ), so this post and my next post will essentially just be "copy and paste" posts.
For this first one, one of the candidates for an Obama district level delegate slot at this summer's national convention, Dritan Zela, is also a candidate for an at-large delegate slot has written a letter to state committee members in support of his candidacy at the April 26 meeting of the State Committee. I'm publishing it here with his permission. As I'm not a member of the State Committee, this is done as a courtesy, not an endorsement.
From Dr. Dritan Zela -
Dear State Committee Member,
I am an ASU Mathematics doctoral graduate who never was involved in politics until 2003. I did not grow up as a free man but lived under one of the world’s most repressive communist regimes and, for much of my early life, just going to college or speaking freely my mind was beyond my ability to conceive. I have seen and made the American dream come true - going, in my short life, from the most extreme sufferings and discrimination of a dictatorship to overthrowing it, from making burgers to receiving a Ph.D. in Mathematics with applications to Neuroscience, to being a professor at prestigious universities and community colleges, to working for the Department of Justice, to winning in Supreme Court a civil rights class-action lawsuit against the State of Arizona to protect the indigent healthcare, to being the 2006 employee of the year of Maricopa Community Colleges as well as of Scottsdale Community College, to winning the world prestigious Fulbright Scholar award, to making a very singular, unique impact on an American Presidential campaign, that of Wesley Clark and John Kerry, and later supporting Barack Obama’s historical campaign, and to being elected a 2004 DNC delegate.
From being the co-founder and leader of the Arizona for Clark grassroots organization, to being featured in local, national and international media on Clark, Kerry and education issues and to being the main organizer and national speaker in many rallies for Clark, Kerry or Kosova, from filing on behalf of Gen. Clark his candidacy paperwork with the Secretary of State to helping deliver the immigrant vote to Clark and Kerry, to doing house parties, phone calls, mailing/emailing and making aware the ethnic communities and democratic clubs I represent or am connected with about Sen. Obama helping deliver their vote for him, my contribution to the democratic process has been very singular. Over the years, I worked as a student leader to help overthrow one of the most repressive communist regimes, compiled petitions, organized phone banks, had thousands of people sign petitions to successfully lobby U.S. Congress, current and former U.S. Presidents and iconic figures like Mohammed Ali by influencing them successfully to support intervention for stopping the genocide and ethnic cleansing and help stabilize the Balkans; developed advocacy strategies in support of immigrant, civil rights, ethnic, minority and against genocide causes as well as for presidential campaigns. I have founded, led and advised many cultural, student and Democratic organizations and advocacy groups including SCC Democratic club, Arizona Asian-American democratic association, etc. and have worked closely with Blue Mondays organization and Arizona college democrats. I have made singular impacts on several occasions for just causes like the healthcare in Arizona where, almost single handedly, I forced the state in Supreme Court to change the laws to provide healthcare for the Arizona most vulnerable. As part of my Fulbright Scholar grant in Europe, I became the lead attorney representing Albania and its soccer champion team in a historical international trial against Union of European Football Associations.
Being I am an Albanian-American, I thought it would be of interest to hear from someone whose people experienced the genocide first hand in Kosova and which the Clinton Administration put a stop to it. We would be living in a very different world today if the Bush administration had followed the lessons of its democratic predecessor in Kosova and the visionary ideas of Barack Obama in regard to policies on Iraq and Iran. Multilateralism, collaboration and understanding of people, postwar planning, commitment to the use of force only as a last resort - these are the ingredients of a lasting success, the ingredients of winning, not just the combat operation, but winning the hearts and minds of people and the stability and peace, the toughest battle of all and it were those kind of policies of Democrats that helped Kosova recently win independence. People of Iraq and of the world deserve the same kind of leadership that the Albanian people in Kosova received; the American people,
the American troops deserve the same level of support, visionary ideas and type of inspiring and inclusive experience and Barack Obama and this Democratic Party can deliver those kinds of results, because they already have. Though Obama is the epitome of immigrant’s dream come true, immigrants are still very under-represented group in US and I would like you to consider that as well when you vote.
I know that for most of you being a free person, not being scared for your life, for speaking up your mind or getting an education are things that may be taken for granted but for me, who experienced first hand one of the most repressive communist regimes, and for my Albanian Kosovar people, who saw the unspeakable horrors of genocide, it is a matter of visceral understanding that hope is not a passing fad but a reality, that idealism and inspiration are necessary seeds for positive social change, that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are everyday as precious as the air we breathe and we cannot thank enough this country for helping me and millions of immigrants, who came here because of Statue of Liberty “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” motto, experience these basic rights all over again. All my life, I have fought for democracy, a society governed by the rule of law and not of men, a free market economy and multi-party elections, and those ideals have been defended by me and my family not just with words, time or money but sometimes with the price of internment, imprisonment or even life, not just recently, but all my life and with actions that have changed dictatorial regimes, changed state laws, and influenced national policies.
Whether our ancestors have been here for thousands of years or came here on the Mayflower or in slave ships, whether they landed on Ellis Island, JFK or LAX airports or swam over to Miami, if you believe in the declaration of independence and the constitution, if one accepts the values of freedom, equal rights and other core values this country stands for then you are an American. Being an immigrant, it is time that we all become proud of our president, it is time that someone revives the ideal of what makes this country so great and different from the rest of world, the ideal that this is the country of “What you know and not who you know or who your daddy knows”, the ideal of to “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”, the ideal that our founders proclaimed that we are all created equal in the eyes of God and this Democratic Party and Senator Obama can bring back to us those ideals and I believe I offer a very unique representation of those ideals that Barack Obama personifies in.
I humbly ask you to consider what I have to offer.
Dr. Dritán Zela
P.S. Below is my bio and some articles on me, just in case you may want to know more.http://www.uact.com/academics/faculty_bios.aspxhttp://www.d8dems.org/nl/0502Newsletter.pdf
http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/1216srcampusbeat16fulbrightZ8.html
https://intranet.known-universe.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=https://intranet.known-universe.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/25376
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5518882/
ENDORSEMENTS
One of my colleagues, Professor William Maxwell who was educated at Harvard, the
first professor of thinking in US and who has been dean of schools of education in Fiji, Nigeria, Texas and California and who has lived and taught in more than fifty nations, in his endorsement said: “I feel that American prestige has suffered enormously among well informed persons around the world over the last few years. Dr. Dritan Zela, although an immigrant, embraces the American ideals more passionately than any other academic I have met in recent years. As an African American, I wish that the older Americans, native, white, black, hispanic and others, would defend intellectually the freedoms that made America unique and great as vigorously as Dritan does. Dritan brings to political discourse a first class intellect and a purified passion."
Amy B. Berg: former vice chair and co-founder of Scottsdale Community College Democratic Club, former Chair of College Democrats of Arizona
Dr. Nancy Buel: former State Committee Member, LD8 State Representative candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate
Martha Bruneau: LD4 Chair, Founder of the Blue Mondays, former State Committee Member, LD19 State Senate candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate
Virgel Cain: State Committee Member, LD7 Vice Chair, former LD7 Chair, LD7 State Representative candidate, 2004 DNC Delegate
Ken Clark: former State Representative, 2004 DNC Delegate, Steering Committee Member of John Kerry’s Arizona Campaign, Chair of Arizona Fair Districts/Fair Elections Project
Dr. Robert Murray Davis: Widely published Author, retired University of Oklahoma Professor and former President of the Western Literature Association
Marilyn Fox: State Committee Member, LD7 Chair, LD7 State Representative candidate
Dr. Bonnie A. Gray: Executive Director of Maricopa Community Colleges POWER Diversity Institute, Director of Maricopa Community Colleges Diversity Infusion Program, Professor of Psychology and former Department Chair at Scottsdale Community College
Dr. Paul N. Grocoff: Doctoral Graduate in architecture, university Faculty, President of Avant-Garde Lighting Design and Consulting
Sally Hart: Senior Policy & Litigation Attorney for Center for Medicare Advocacy
Mathew Jewett: State Committee Member, Vice Chair of LD15, 2004 DNC Delegate, Children's Action Alliance Research Associate
James Kimes: 2004 LD1 State Representative candidate, 2002 Gov. Napolitano’s co campaign Coordinator for Yavapai County
Jeffrey Tucker: LD20 Secretary
Jim Hogan: State Committee Member
Dr. William Maxwell: Harvard Doctoral Graduate, first US Professor of Thinking, prominent African-American, Professor and Dean in over fifty nations
Dr. Mark Crispin Miller: John Hopkins University Doctoral Graduate, Professor of media ecology at New York University, national well-renown Researcher of modern propaganda, history and tactics of advertising, American film, and media ownership, national well-renown featured Speaker
Margaret Hogan: LD8 Chair, State Committee Member, former Dean
Kathleen O’Brien: State Committee Member, Administrator of Pediatric Surgeons of Phoenix
Ron Owen: former State Committee Member, former LD8 Chair, 2004 DNC Delegate
Mark Riddle: Arizona State Director of Wesley Clark 2004 Presidential Campaign, Partner in FRCR, a major political media firm
Rano Singh: 2006 Democratic Party State Treasurer Candidate, 2004 LD6 State Representative candidate, Commissioner of Governor Napolitano’s Citizen’s Finance Review Commission, Founder and Chair of Arizona Indo-Democrats, 2008 US SBA Minority Business Champion for Arizona
Slade Mead: former State Senator, 2006 Democratic Party State Superintendent of Public Instruction Candidate, lawyer, professional sports consultant, former Vice-Chair of Appropriations, Government and Education Senate Committees, Maricopa Regional School District Board and Receiver Board member
Suzanne Steadman: former Director of International Study Programs at Arizona State University
HRH Agnes Umuligirwa: Princess and Heiress of Rwanda, NAACP Freedom Fund Award Recipient
2004 Arizona DraftClark Presidential Campaign Core Founders
Note to any other PLEO/At-Large candidates: If you have one, I'd be happy to post a similar letter for you. If interested, please let me know at cpmaz[at]yahoo.com.
Later!
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