Summer's gone, school's back in. Holidays are around the bend. Yet change is on its inexorable path, waiting for no one. You've made an enormous impact, and the finish line for one historic change, health care reform, is in sight! Can you help make it the change you want to see?
You've all made thousands of calls, gotten your neighbors to sign tens of thousands declarations, you've sent thousands of emails. What did you achieve? For one, Sen. Maria Cantwell went from "no comment" on the public option, to public support for the public option. Sen. Patty Murray and many of our Representatives are also on board. Four of five committees have voted on a bill - and that has never, ever happened before.
Do you want to make sure they stand strong? The biggest hurdle is right up ahead. We expect the final of five committees, the Finance Committee, to vote on Tuesday. It could take a little longer - that seems to happen pretty often, right? But next is the full Senate and full House, then they have to reconcile their bills, then it's the final vote to send it to President Obama to sign.
You can imagine the bill you want will be signed. Go ahead. Imagine.
Bremerton for Health Care Reform:
Time to talk to neighbors, 1-to-1 again! Gather the troops and meet us Saturday, August 22nd at 10 a.m. to canvas the area around Evergreen Park. We will have a script, homemade clipboards, and a list of Independent voters. We’ll start with a quick training/review, and walk the neighborhood in pairs, to gather from 50-100 signed declarations from voters in favor of health care reform with a strong public option.
RSVP here:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfcdf
Remember, we are the change we’ve been waiting for. The anti-health reform lobby is going strong, even though it is still a minority. It’s time we help demonstrate what most voters really want: reform, now, with a strong public option! Bring comfortable shoes, bottled water, a smile and a friend!
Organizing for America Listening Tour -- All Fired Up to Make Change a Reality (Listening Tour)
Organizing For America would like to invite you to an important gathering for volunteers in our city. Across the nation, volunteers like you will attend Listening Tour stops in their communities. At the meeting, you will:
* Meet your new statewide Organizing for America staff.
* Hear about Organizing For America's mission, accomplishments, and State-specific goals.
* Provide lots of input on what Organizing for America should look like in your hometown.
Many of us were moved to share hundreds to thousands of hours of our time during the campaign. We shed tears on election night when we realized beyond the shadow of a doubt that our nation is ready to grow. Now is the time to step forward and support President Obama's agenda in an active way!
Each of you have important testimonies to share on how we best support President Obama's agenda and build a formidable grassroots movement in Washington State. Please join us and share your vision. Together we will create the change we voted for!
Time: Tuesday, May 19 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Host: Dustin Lambro
Location: Lynwood Commons Community Center (Bainbridge Island, WA) 4779 Lynnwood Center Rd NE Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Bring a snack/refreshments to share if you're able! Thanks!
RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpcsz7
We have never had a better chance to impact this critical issue. Our reps are willing to use "budget reconciliation" to overcome filibuster threats and pass health care reform (since private insurers are still at the table), but on climate change and cap-and-trade, the resistance is absolute, from Democratic reps from mining, coal, oil, gas states, not just from Republicans.
Since our representatives are more indebted to their oil, gas, mining and coal lobbyists than to our environment or our President, it's the EPA to the rescue! There will be a 60-day comment period so please write, right now, and get everyone you can to attend 2 public hearings in May, in
Support w/your comments to:
GHG-Endangerment-Docket@epa.gov
Subject: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0171
Do it please, now! Background at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/endangerment.html
Post this on Facebook, all your networks, Digg to push story to front page:
http://digg.com/world_news/U_S_says_greenhouse_emissions_endanger_human_health
Send this alert to all your friends, especially in the vicinity of VA and WA!
I think lobbyists are ruling our Democratic reps and senators, as there is no push in either house to support Obama's budget proposal for cap-and-trade and as of now, it's beaten, it's out, so, if you're as p-o'd as I am about it, don't wait for a call to action - just write the DNC now: http://www.democrats.org/page/s/contactissues
Choose "Energy Independence", and tell them you want it reinstated. If we sit back, we can kiss it goodbye. Obama is having a lunch with the Dems on Wednesday to push for it - let's all help him, and our poor arctic-ice-melting planet!
"Healthcare reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year." - President Obama speaking to the congress, Feb. 24, 2009.
Curious about the different Healthcare options being discussed today?
Wondering what President Obama’s healthcare plan entails?
Interested in supporting legislation to move America toward health care for all?
The following presenters will discuss the different healthcare policy options and answer questions from the audience.
David Loud, Rep. Jim McDermott's Community Liaison for Health Care
John Burbank, Executive Director, Economic Opportunity Institute
Lynne Nguyen, Community Organizer, The WA Community Action Network
David McLanahan, M.D., Physicians for a National Health Program
Facilitator: Bev Spears, Legislative Director, WA CAN
An open mic time will be available for statements and questions from the audience.
A Caesar Salad and Dinner Roll will be provided.
Greenwood Senior Center 7pm 525 N 85th
This meeting is sponsored by the 65th Street Change Gang - A Neighborhood Manifestation of Hope and Change. For more information please contact Richard Hodgin 206-729-8901.
You always want to have a strong backup quarterback. You need someone who knows the plays, has practiced at least as much as the starter, and in whom the whole team can have confidence. That's why Barack Obama picked Joe Biden, a wise and knowledgable foreign affairs and judiciary expert who has been fighting for working class Americans for a long time. He's a rare pick -- a Washington outsider who doesn't even sleep in DC, but takes the train home every night to be with his family in Delaware. We can trust that should anything happen to a President Obama, we'll have a strong, experienced, and very savvy backup.
Can we say the same about Sarah Palin? This is someone whose biggest job so far is governor of a state that has fewer people than any of our major cities, and who is still learning how to pronounce the names of foreign leaders. She doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is, one of the most important foreign policy issues in the last several decades, a policy made by the leader of her own party. Would we really feel safe having Sarah as our backup quarterback? She's already talking about going up against Russia with military force. Is this someone whose finger we trust on the button?
Anyone who knows football, let alone international affairs or domestic policy debates, recognizes that we need an experienced, seasoned player in the backup position. Sarah might talk a good fight about "calling an audible" and not blinking. But it looks more to me like a deer in the headlights than a clear headed, experienced leader.
To me, the fact that McCain would select Palin based on political considerations rather than experience and competence calls his own judgement into question, and certainly undermines the slogan, "Putting America first." But that's another topic on its own.
Let's not risk it. Whether or not you agree with John McCain's policy positions, it's downright frightening to think about Sarah Palin stepping into the quarterback position as Leader of the Free World.
I know this is really trivial when compared to the real, serious issues that our country faces. However, I simply cannot let this go. I have listened to a number of Republican women today who were ranting and raving and with feigned outrage, claiming Obama made a horrible, insluting remark using the words "pig and lipstick". They claim that he was referring to the Govenor of Alaska. Of course he was not. After listening to this garbage, one would think that the phrase "lipstick on a pig" was a totally taboo phrase to never be used in any circumstance. Unfortunately, John McCain has used this phrase on many occasions and at least one time in reference to Senator Clinton's 1993 Health Initiative.
John McCain has been known to make a number of outrageous sexist comments himself over the years. Most of them have been very ugly and I will not repeat them. However, if you want to investigate these yourself, just do the following Google searches: 1986 - McCain and gorilla and rape"; 1992 - "McCain and wife and trollop and makeup"; 1998 - "McCain and Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno." Two of these comments were made as jokes at republican fund raisers. One was in response to his wife teasing him about his thinning hair and was said in front of 3 reporters.
The hypocracy of John McCain, some of his supporters and surrogates surpasses anything I have ever heard. John McCain and his VEEP running mate have done everything in their power to make this election about character and personality and have avoided the real issues like the plague.
We need to be talking about the Economy, Healthcare, Iraq War, Poverty, the Environment and a multitude of valid issues. Obama has made every effort to address the issues but the McCain campaign seems bent on throwing up all sorts of smoke screens in avoidance of responding to tough questions.
As Obama said today ENOUGH ! We must force John McCain to address the issues and we must begin to try to ignore the distraction of Sarah Palin as that is essentially the reason she was chosen.
LETS KEEP ON MESSAGE!! GO OBAMA/BIDEN!!
Recent news coverage of the campaign has begun to use the term "Swiftboating" with greater frequency, referring to the Karl Rove tactic of using a political opponent's strength (e.g., Kerry's Vietnam heroism) against him or her by attacking it directly. This was certainly a winning approach in the 2004 election against Kerry, in which ads undermining his military record were used against him. We see it now in the McCain-Palin campaign, with an attempt to switch the tables on Obama with Sarah Palin, using her inexperience and Washington outsider profile to trump his, and to make him seem like the old time politico by comparison, seizing the mantle of "change" that has been one of Obama's strengths.
Interestingly, both the Swiftboating attack, the books about Kerry and Obama by Jerome Corsi, and most recently Sarah Palin's repetition of lies about her own record and Obama's, have illustrated the another key element of Rove strategy: repeat lies enough times and people will believe them. This was applied in the campaign against Al Gore as well, for example in the statement that Gore claimed to have "invented the Internet." It was even used against McCain by the Bush campaign in their shocking use of fake polling to spread the message that McCain had an out-of-wedlock black child.
It occurs to me that Obama might easily undermine one of Sarah Palin's supposed strengths -- her alleged strong moral and religious values -- by reminding people of the 9th Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness." The fact is, she is a chronic liar. She has demonstrably and irrefutably been bearing false witness concerning her own record, and Obama's, with known false statements and distortions over and over again, despite their having been debunked by reputable fact-checkers and journalists.
Perhaps Obama needs ads that remind us that what was most reprehensible about G.W. Bush's political campaigns and his administration was the chronic, strategic bearing of false witness -- the lying and dishonesty. On a full range of issues, the press and respected authors, not the least of whom is Bob Woodward, have shown that Bush and his cronies have repeatedly lied to the American people.
As a people we can forgive mistakes, we can even overlook errors in judgement. But conscious, repeated lies -- "bearing false witness" -- is a commandment that we take seriously in our Constitution and in our civil life. When pointed out so that it cannot be denied, it is not palatable. And particularly in one, such as Sarah Palin, who is revered by many because of her "Christian values," the facts undermine her alleged high moral standing.
Possibly the change that Obama is offering can focus on a refusal to lie, a swearing off of "bearing false witness." Would it be helpful to document, using respected third parties, the factual inaccuracies and the blatant repeated falsehoods promulgated daily by the McCain campaign under the headline, "Bearing False Witness." Don't you think at least some of the Evangelicals and other conservative, God-fearing people in this country might, when faced directly with these facts communicated in that moral context, be less willing to vote for 4 more years of lies and bearing of false witness? It's already started, even before the election. Have we had enough?
Today I watched a clip of the Gov. of Alaska urging her fellow church members to "pray" for the Alaskan pipeline. It seems somewhat trivial to ask God for help wiith a natural gas pipeline as opposed to asking God to help the suffering of many of the world's people. How about praying for the victims of the latest hurricanes, the genocide in Darfur, a cure for AIDs victims, victims of the earth quakes in China, and a multitude of other issues that on a human level are far more important than a pipeline?
It seems as if John McCain is riding on the coattails of Gov. Palin rather than the the Gov riding on the coattails of Senator McCain. Watching and listening to Senator McCain and Gov. Palin, one feels as if they have "fallen down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland." It is so obvious that Senator McCain is "using" Palin shamelessly. The constant touting of Palin's opposition to the "bridge to nowhere" and the "sale of the jet on E Bay", just to name a couple, is so transparent. It will be interesting to see how McCain does on the campaign trail without Gov. Palin next week. When she comes back from Alaska, I say put her out there and let her take questions just like any other candidate. I can understand asking that media have respect but the demand that they treat her deferentially is absurd!
Go Obama/Biden!!
First of all please do not think that I would ever belittle anyone who had the experiences that John McCain had as a POW. He served his country bravely and should be commended for doing so. However, to use this experience as a political talking point is shameful. I have heard members of his campaign state that John McCain "never likes to bring up his POW experiences" and then proceeds to bring them via a political speech. Just yesterday, his new running mate repeated all of this again. In addition, John McCain has also mentioned his POW experience many, many times in response to all sorts of other issues. Below is a web site that has a very interesting new short movie that outlines the opinion a former POWs who was imprisioned in the same place and observed John McCain during that time.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080915/pow_video
Please watch this video and pass it on to others.
I am not from Whatcom County but am from Kitsap County.
Zonna Cowell
Obama/Biden for true change and honesty.
Today was the day after the last speech at the Republican Convention. Hopefully, we can now get down to the business of talking about the real issues. I watched a second McCain/Palin speech in a small town today. Sarah Palen repeated word for word the exact acceptance speech she gave. Apparently she will be sheltered from exposure to the "big bad media" until she has been thoroughly programmed to not make any mistakes.
There has been talk of the fact that Senator Biden will have to closely watch himself in his debate with Palen. Interestingly, there was no talk of soft pedaling it when talking with or about Senator Clinton. It seems like there is a double standard not only between men and women but between which women to clobber. SOS. I think Biden should relate to her as one would to any "Pit Bull" regardless of gender. I am sure since she is so dynamic and tough, she would want to be treated like any male counterpart. I heard one commentator describe her as Rush Limbaugh in a skirt!
Go Obama/Biden.
Nick Denton of gawker.com hit the nail on the head when he suggested that we must go beyond McCain's voting 90% with Bush. Barack and supporters have been using this "McSame" tactic tirelessly. Yet the polls are about even.
The RNC was successful in confirming McCain as a "maverick". The Dem's must point out that mavericks are often dangerous. The recent cover of the Rolling Stone pictures cowboy Bush destroying his party with guns a blazin'. At this time in history the USA doesn't need cowboys and gambling mavericks at its helm.
McCain is a dangerous maverick just like Bush is a dangerous cowboy (with a cattle-free ranch). Maureen Dowd referred to "that crazy maverick and gambler McCain". Otherwise, McCain has been given a free-pass to use the "maverick" moniker as a positive method of differentiating himself from Bush.
Yes, we must keep to the issues, but let's not let McCain pretend that "maverick" is a positive. At this time, it is a huge negative. We need a complete break from the past.
For the full story cited above, see http://gawker.com/5045636/the-dangerous-maverick
I am going to this KC Democrats/Obama Campaign Open House tomorrow.
If anyone would like to carpool with me (Prius!), please call me. Nominally, I would like to leave Bainbridge around 11:45 (so that we get there before the food is gone), but my departure and return times are both *very* flexible. Call Eric @ 206-354-3459
The filing deadline to become a PCO is today (June 4) at 4:30 pm.
PCOs walk their precinct before each election making sure their neighbors are registered voters, handing out election materials, and reminding people to vote. They also are a key player in spreading the word about Democratic candidates! PCOs are elected every two years as part of the Democratic primary.
The form to become a PCO (for all counties) can be found at http://www.secstate.wa.gov/_assets/elections/PCODeclarationofCandidacy.pdf and it needs to be in the hands of your county's election division with a $1 filing fee by 4:30 today.
As you may already know, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Columbus, Ohio in March to help canvass prior to the crucial March 4th primaries. I had decided rather than watch disappointing numbers come in on primary night, I'd rather be there on the ground doing what I could to help Obama get every vote he could. As a mother of four and the sole supporter for a family of six, finances would not allow me to go. However, thanks to the kindness and dedication of several blog members and other local Obama supporters who donated frequent flyer miles and travel money, I was able to spend several days working hard in Ohio. A very kind lady named Joyce in Columbus offered me a place to stay and other kind volunteers helped get me to the SEIU Obama headquarters each day. This was all part of an effort the campaign called the One Million March for Change and the goal was to canvass One Million doors in Ohio over that weekend.
The first day I was there I stayed until 2 a.m. assembling canvassing packets and coded door hangers that listed the polling location for each specific neighborhood. Early the next morning I was back and headed out canvassing with two other Obama supporters. Jim was an older gentleman from Virginia that had driven up to Ohio with his wife. She was a driver which meant she was driving large groups of canvassers to different areas around the city. The other guy was young, a university student originally from Brazil. That weekend Ohio was definitely in the spotlight and news agencies including CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN and many other outlets were on hand to interview and film the campaign's activities. As we walked out the door, a professional camera man asked if he could tag along with us as we canvassed. We agreed and he followed us in his car to a part of town I would learn later was called Victorian Village. Near the University, the houses were old brick Victorian storybook houses. Many had been split up into 5-10 separate apartments to accomodate students.
As we went door-to-door through the ice and snow, we all chatted amongst ourselves. We learned that the photographer's name was Chris and he represented CandidatePhotos.com, a website that posted unique, high-quality photographs from the candidate trail that other news organizations would often purchase for their publications or websites. He said that photos he was taking that day would not be up for a long time as he was so busy going from town to town covering the Clinton, McCain and Obama campaigns.
After an hour or two of shooting photos with us, he went off to take photos at another event in town and we finished up our assigned doors and headed back to headquarters. The three of us canvassers went our separate ways and I found two new people go back out canvassing with. I never really thought about the candidate photos guy again - until today. I was reflecting on the campaign and remembering my Ohio trip and thought, "Oh yeah, I should see if the site has any photos of us canvassing in Columbus. I went to www.candidatephotos.com and did a search for Ohio and lo and behold! I found three photos taken of us canvassing:
Canvassing in Ohio 1
Canvassing in Ohio 2
Canvassing in Ohio 3
Seeing these photos brought all the excitement back in a profound way. As the primary campaign draws to a close, it's amazing to think about all the people I have met and all the places I've traveled and experiences I've gotten that I wouldn't have had were it not for this campaign.
Thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication and for being such a great community of hope and inspiration!
Kerry
We need you, as a proud Obama supporter, to file to serve as a Precinct Committee Officer (PCO) in your neighborhood. http://secstate.wa.gov/_assets/elections/PCODeclarationofCandidacy.pdf.
Precinct Committee Officers serve as the foundation of the Democratic Party in the state. They help the Democratic Party register new voters, educate voters, and assist with get out the vote efforts. PCO's serve as the base of the Democratic Party. You are generally expected to make one meeting a month and because of the "top-two" primary, you will endorse Democratic candidates for partisan office.In order to become a PCO, you will need to fill out the declaration of candidacy form and return it to your county's auditor's office (some addresses below) by this Friday June 6 with a $1 filing fee. Your name will then appear on the August primary ballot - where you will be elected by your neighbors.
