Gov. Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign started what Sen. Barack Obama and his campaign have now finished. Dean for America pioneered the idea of a broadly distributed, loosely organized campaign where individual groups around the country operated with autonomy. As importantly, and perhaps ultimately more importantly, the Internet was exploited as a campaign tool as never before.
Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy is being credited for playing a significant role in Barack Obama’s victory as well as Democratic success in Congressional races. And the social media tools and techniques pioneered by Dean’s team were perfected by Obama’s campaign.
Gov. Dean, you deserve a lot of credit for the Democratic victories yesterday. Thank you. My fellow Deaniacs: We ultimately did get our country back. Thank you.
You can read more about my experience as a Deaniac on my blog at lifeonq.com
While blogging about the League of Conservation Voter's endorsement of Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin in Georgia, I took a closer look at the environmental group's analysis of Obama's environmental positions. The LCV published a comparison chart (in PDF format) outlining the environmental policies of Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. Obama has a lifetime enviornmentally-friendly score 86 percent vs. 24 percent for McCain. And for 2007, the most recent year scored, McCain was given a 0 (yes, that’s zero) vs. 67 for Obama.
Here in Georgia, Republican encumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss is rated at only 5 percent in LCV’s 110th Congress 2008 National Environmental Scorecard. According to the LCV, Senator Chambliss has accepted $107,500 in contributions from oil and gas interests for his 2008 re-election campaign. His signature negative advertising is therefore funded, in part, by oil companies. Considering the recent gas shortages and high prices we've suffered here, along with all Chambliss' negative TV ads we've had to endure, it's clear that Jim Martin is the cleaner candidate-in more ways that one. You can check out my full blog post on the environmental issue at lifeonq.com.
Georgia has a sizable LGBT population, one of the largest in the nation. It's up to us to not only vote ourselves, but get out the vote in general. I've put together a complete guide for LGBT Georgia voters on my blog at www.lifeonq.com, including links to info on the proposed Constitutional Amendments on the ballot, judicial candidates, and Georgia General Assembly Candidates.
I hope we LGBT Georgians will do everything we can to turn Georgia blue for Obama, and make wise choices for our judicial nominees, state legislature candidates and constitutional issues. Please check out the Georgia Voter's Guide for Queers at Life on Q, and let's make sure we vote for change all the way down the ballot.
Barack Obama is trying to take the high road, declaring Gov. Palin’s children off-limits in political discourse, referring to the controversy over Palin’s unmarried, pregnant 17-year-old daughter Bristol. But I respectfully disagree. I strongly disagree. Of course, it’s not the glaring lack of family values that a pregnant high school daughter that is the worst reflection on Sarah "Teach Abstinence" Palin. What reflects unflatteringly on Gov. Palin is that she herself put her daughter in the political fray. The first sentence of the governor’s statement on her daughter tells us that, unlike Senator Obama, Gov. Palin has no problem using her daughter for political purposes. That is what all the national pundits are missing. When Gov. Palin stated that she “is proud of her daughter’s decision to keep her baby,” she opened the door.
That is Republican political code for, “See, I’m against abortion, even when my daughter has an unwanted and unplanned pregnancy.” Sarah Palin made her daughter the political poster child for anti-choice zealots. That is why Bristol Palin’s pregnancy is fair game. Her mother made it political. Period. End of story. It's not her daughter's pregnancy that is the real story here. It's her mother's willingness to throw her daughter, a high school senior, to the wolves for the sake of political pandering. If Republicans and the media can’t see that, then irrationality, double standards and hypocrisy have reached heights never before seen.
Read more on Palin politicizing her family here.
In the Democrat’s convention grand finale, party nomination the acceptance speech watched by millions, Obama’s speech was no less than perfection. The “rock star” environment, often used as a slur by Republicans, was masterfully managed with the counterpoint of Obama’s humility, the added meat of the policy specifics that provided the substance many tried to paint as lacking, and point-by-point counterpoints for all the arguments the McCain camp has made against him. Obama even bravely took on the hot button issues that have divided this country for more than a generation: gun control, abortion, gay rights–he challenged virtually every issue that separates us with a call for compassion, community and common ground.
And while African-Americans were justifiably moved by Obama's nomination, I too was moved by a moment of history that touched me and millions of my fellow LGBT Americans. I have never before heard calls to end discrimination based on sexual orientation so directly and prominently. Tears welled up when he challenged homophobia head-on, saying:
I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothrs and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and live their lives free of discrimination… This too is part of America’s promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
Obama proved to be the master orator we had seen before, but not just for soaring rhetoric. There was sizzle, and steak to energize the masses. With an estimated 38 millioin watching on TV and 80,000 seeing history in person, Obama knocked it out of the park. I woke up this morning with a hope hangover. All observers, no matter their politics, are giving Obama his due today. It’s too bad Democrats didn’t take the opportunity for irony. In addition to fireworks and streamers, there should have been a banner unfurled in Denver, reading: Mission Accomplished.
Read more on my reaction to the Democratic Convention on my blog at www.lifeonq.com.
