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.

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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."

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What can I say? I like Sheryl Crow.

Of course, so did everyone else.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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More tomorrow when I arrive home...

Dateline: Ohio - Dispatches from the war on the middle class

While I've been busy traipsing around Denver getting sunburned and meeting all sorts of interesting people, Jerry Gettinger, President of NJDC Arizona, has been observing, thinking, and writing. Here's his latest piece...

Notes: It is unedited, except for paragraph structure, and the headline is mine.


I have just returned from a trip to Cleveland, Ohio.

It concerned personal business, so I had some time to drive around the city and its suburbs. My family and I had lived in Shaker Heights in the late 70's through the early 80's so I was in a position to compare the look of the city from then to now. It was sad.

The Cleveland area has the distinction of being number one in the nation in the number of foreclosures. That's no accident. The city was especially suited to be where it is. What I saw was houses boarded-up and neighborhoods that were well-kept, having been transformed into slums. This was city of neighborhoods where the lawns were mowed and the houses were a source of pride. All that is gone.

During the apex of our country being the major manufacturing nation in the world, many eastern Europeans came to work in the steel mills and factories and make Cleveland their home.

These were hard-working people. The unions came and saw to it that they were provided a living wage, good benefits and a secure retirement. In turn, the workers bought houses, secured mortgages and worked the 25 to 30 years to pay off the loan. It was a comfortable retirement. There was the pension from the mills, medical benefits and social security. And while no became rich, neither did anyone become poor. The important aspect was that the house became debt-free and thus the retirement was secure. Pensions. medical, and a fully-paid house. Then came the loan sharks.

They promised that the homeowner could receive money for a vacation, a new car or perhaps a college education for their child. These were simple people and uneducated in the way of finance. Yes, they could have the money and in the few years the house would become more valuable and they didn't have to worry. It didn't work out that way.

The house didn't become more valuable and when it came time to begin making payments there wasn't enough money. So people who once had a secure and comfortable retirement began losing their homes. Not just a few, but many.

For the last 7 years I have heard that the best regulation is the least regulation. Well, don't tell that to the person who just lost his home. There was no one around to see to it that the sharks stayed away and the little guy was protected. I don't want to hear about less regulation. From Wall Street to the homeowner in Cleveland, there was no one around to watch the store. The business channel talks about the number of foreclosures, but not about the families that have been displaced.

Just as we went to war with too few troops, the Government ran the economy with too few watchdogs. The result in both cases was the same. Many casualties and no one to take responsibility.

I don't want to hear about the problem of too much regulation. Our financial system is in shambles. Those who had the responsibility of overseeing the economy just were not there. They had been sent home and told they were not needed. Now it's too late.

Not just to lock the barn after horse has been taken, there is no barn. It will take at least a generation to recover and, if were do avoid financial Armageddon, then let's hope that a lesson has been learned. Simply put, there has to be a referee to see to it that the game is played fairly. Or else? Well just look at "or else" as it is now.

One additional fact: the decline in home values and the number of foreclosures have just about wiped out the middle class. That part of our society has to be rebuilt.

Jerry Gettinger

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 - 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.

"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!

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!

Cruising Caucuses and breaking news of a possible assassination plot

Breaking news from the Denver Post -

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!

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. :)

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.)

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!

Congrats to Doug Mings, new Executive Director of MCDP!

First he was named as LD Chair of the Year earlier this month, and now Doug Mings has been named as Executive Director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

From PolitickerAZ -

Doug Mings, Chairman of the Legislative District 17 Democrats, is replacing Todd Landfried as executive director of the Maricopa County Democratic Party, according to Mark Manoil, who chairs the Maricopa Dems.

The new job is a well-deserved compliment to Doug, who has guided the LD17 Democrats while they've turned around what had been a solid Republican registration advantage. In addition, LD17 is one of the most active LDs in the state, where 75 - 80 people attend the monthly meetings (there are some LDs where even a dozen folks is a good month).

Whoooo hooooo!

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!

Short Attention Span Musing

- Challenger Ed Hermes (D-SD1) is doing almost embarrassingly well against long-time (but never-challenged) incumbent Maricopa County Supervisor Fulton Brock (R).

According to their latest campaign finance reports, Hermes raised $27301.65 in the period from July 1 thru August 13.

Brock raised $6910 , or a little more than 1/4 as much.

The situation has gotten so desperate for Brock that some of the Rep bloggers have taken to criticizing Hermes on his age (24) while ignoring Hermes' experience (State Board of Regents, Arizona Department of Agriculture, Governor Napolitano's Smart Growth Cabinet).

The planted stories aren't doing anything to enhance their credibility or their candidate's.


- In a moment that shows just how out of touch he is with the average American, John McCain forgot how many houses he and his wife own (John: Seven.)

Yes, in an era when too many Americans are wondering how they can keep their one home, McCain has so many that he's forgetting them.


- In all of the hubbub over the soon-to-be-announced nominees for VP, the MSM and both campaigns are ignoring the simple fact that unless the VP ascends to the presidency, no one outside of his/her family members will care who the VP was after the term is over.

Most of the hype is due to the fact that it is political silly season - it's after the primaries and before the conventions. There's note a lot going on other than the occasional press release, so there just isn't much for the MSM to cover. Plus, the VP hype gives the campaigns some free publicity. Always a good thing, even when a campaign is operating on a Presidential campaign budget instead of, say, a school board candidate's budget.


...It really has been a long couple of days, so it is time for sleep.

Later!

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...

My vote in the Scottsdale election...

I wasn't going to weigh in on the races in Scottsdale, but since it seems that everyone else with an online outlet for their opinions is doing so (Scottsdale Republic endorsements here, Jim McAlister, an AZ Rep blogger, lists his votes here, and the EV Tribune has coverage of a number of different endorsements here), here's how I voted...sort of (more on that later)...

The candidates for Council basically fall into two camps (yup, I know that I'm simplifying their positions, probably far more than any candidate would ever want, but) -

- The continued unfettered growth/"whatever is good for developers is good for Scottsdale" crowd (supported by the Chamber of Commerce) - incumbents Ron McCullagh and Betty Drake, as well as candidate Suzanne Klapp. Candidates Liza Borowsky and Oren Davis seem to fall into this category (to be fair though, with Davis it's hard to tell because he's been dealing with some family medical issues and hasn't been able to focus on campaigning in an effective way. Could be an interesting candidate if he chooses to run again in two years.)

- The No Growth/"we like Scottsdale the way it is and won't let anything change no matter what" crowd - Nan Nesvig and Tom Giller.

As you might be able to tell from the way that I've simplified (perhaps oversimplified), I don't exactly subscribe to either school of thought. Mostly, I think that both schools of thought are shortsighted. The first ignores the needs and desires of most of Scottsdale's residents who just want *homes*, not a cover story in Architectural Digest. The second ignores the fact that change happens whether you want it to or not; trying to totally prevent rather than to control and guide change only leads to uncontrolled change.

Joel Bramoweth, the eighth candidate for council, doesn't really belong to either grouping. Therefore, I voted for him.

OK, not really. I *did* vote for him, but because he has nuanced, well-thought out positions and because he has worked hard for the last couple of years to learn about Scottsdale's government from the boards and commissions on up, not just at City Council meetings.

He does tend to ramble a bit when speaking in public (ok - he rambles a *lot*), but he's an educated, intelligent, and decent human being who will be an asset to the Council and to the City (even if occasionally annoying to listen to :) ).

While I'm sure that we are going to disagree on some positions and votes, I firmly believe that when we differ, his positions will be chosen because he truly believes that those particular positions are the right ones, not because he is in someone's pocket or because he wants to appease some local reactionaries.

In other words, he'll be wrong, but he'll be honest and reasoned about it (God knows when we disagree, it won't happen because *I'm* wrong, right?? LOL).

I did cast votes for Mayor and the other two seats on the Council, but those were all exercises in "trying to find the least bad candidates" rather than "voting for good candidates." I won't name who I voted for but will say that my votes for Council were split between the two camps.

Anyway, have a good week; don't expect any more posts at least until Friday from Denver.

Later!

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!

Proposition updates...

On Friday, the Arizona Secretary of State's office disqualified Prop 103, the Conserving Arizona's Water and Land Initiative, from the ballot, saying that more than 158,000 signatures out of the 369,000 submitted were determined to be invalid.

In the press release, she blamed the use of paid petition gatherers for the high number of invalid signatures this year.

From the press release -

“It seems very clear to me this year that the unfortunate practice of paying circulators by the signature seems to directly correlate to the significant amount of bad signatures being collected,” stated Sec. of State Brewer. “As I have called for in the past, the Legislature should look closely at this problem and at the problem of privately funded voter registration drives that aren't properly getting people registered,” added Sec. Brewer, “In the end both of these problems are negatively affecting this years' petition process as being among the largest failure rates in the history of our state.”

The status of other propositions:

Prop 100, Protect Our Homes/No New Home Tax - certified for the ballot. If passed, would bar the state from instituting a sales/transfer tax on real estate. Supported by realtors.

Prop 101, Medical Choice For Arizona - disqualified from the ballot but apparently later placed back on the ballot by court decision. Would bar the state from implementing a universal health care plan or from regulating out-of-state insurers. Supported by the Republican Party, Big Insurance, and Big Health Care; opposed by anyone who understands that paying lots of money to health insurers is no guarantee of effective health care, just lots of insurance company profits.

Prop 102, the legislature's anti-same sex marriage amendment to the state constitution - certified for the ballot upon passage by the lege. If passed, would amend Arizona's constitution to bar same-sex marriage. Supported by the Center for Arizona Policy, the Republican Party, and other schoolyard bullies in three-piece suits. Opposed by most Democrats, many Libertarians, and the gay and lesbian community (I expect that most Greens oppose this too, but since I don't know any personally, I can't ask them :) .)

Prop 103 - discussed above.

Prop 104, The Arizona Civil Rights Initiative - pending. If certified for the ballot and passed, would bar affirmative action and other anti-discrimination programs. Supported by Ward Connerly, Randy Pullen, and the Republican Party; opposed by decent people everywhere.

Prop 105. Majority Rules - Let the People Decide - pending. If certified for the ballot and passed, would require that any ballot measures that increased taxes or government spending pass with the votes of a majority of registered voters, not just voters casting their ballots. Given that voter turnout in good years ranges from 60% (off years) to 75% (presidential election years), this measure would make it all but impossible to pass any new taxes or increase spending. Think of it as the "anti-tobacco tax for children's health care" initiative. Supported by the Republican Party; opposed by the Arizona Education Association, the Arizona School Boards Association, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association, the Professional Firefighters of Arizona, and anyone else who favors fiscally responsible governance.

Prop 200, the Payday Loan Reform Act - certified for the ballot. If passed, would make permanent the law allowing payday loan operations, which is due to expire (in 2010, I think.) Supported by the payday loan industry in Arizona and House Speaker Jim Weiers (almost the same thing there); opposed by Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 99, and consumer advocates and community groups across the state.

Prop 201, Homeowners Bill Of Rights - certified for the ballot. If passed, would establish warranties by homebuilders and set out rights and legal remedies for homeowners. Rabidly opposed by the homebuilders; strongly supported by the Sheetmetal Workers Union. And homeowners. And anyone who hopes to ever own a home.

Prop 202, Stop Illegal Hiring - certified for the ballot. If passed, would amend the state's current employer sanctions law. Supported by businesses; roundly opposed by Russell Pearce and the state's nativists.

Prop 203, Transportation and Infrastructure Moving Arizona's Economy ("TIME") Act - disqualified from the ballot, but there is a lawsuit pending to restore it to the ballot. If it makes the ballot and is passed, it would increase the state's sales tax by 1 cent to fund improvements to the state's transportation infrastructure. Supported by Governor Napolitano and the business community; opposed by the Republican Party.

Prop 300, would increase the salaries of state legislators to $30,000 per year. Opposed by people who have been ticked off by something that the lege has or hasn't done and think that all elected officials are bums; supported by people who figure you get what you pay for, and right now we are paying crap. Guess which group I fall into. Hint: not the first group. :))

Updates on the two remaining measures awaiting to be certified (Props 104 and 105) as they become available.

Have a good weekend...