This is it!
We're coming down to the final stretch and Barack Obama needs your help now, more than ever before!
Please bring your cell phone, a charger and a few fun friends who care about change and join with thousands of your neighbors in the largest ever-attempted phone bank effort in New York state history. The Obama campaign is hosting several of these "mega call centers" all over New York, so invite your friends and family to make calls to voters in key battleground states and change America for years to come.
Visit http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/nylastcall to find a location near you.
http://ny.barackobama.com/NYlastcall
In Rock Island, Illinois we were hit with a horrible storm at 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning. The after math of what they are calling straight line winds, is devestation. There are power lines down all over town with entire poles being broken in two like they were toothpicks, street lights broken in half at the pole, houses with holes in their roofs, cars crushed by fallen trees, cable lines and phone lines torn out, huge oak and maple trees completely uprooted. We are now on day 3 of nothing. Personally we have two huge branches on our roof and without being able to lift them to look underneath, it appears as though our roof has been saved. One huge branch is on our garage, branches are everywhere in the yard and there is barely enough room to get out of the back door. We are lucky compared to many others.
They have called in repair personnel from other states to help get electricity back to the 53,000 who are still without power. The thing that tore me up was hearing that a 9 month old baby was killed during the storm. The family was camping and had no warning of the impeding storm. No sirens were sounded until well after the damage had been done.
They are completely out of ice in this area and have been for 2 days. Those who did have ice threw the price up to $5.00 per bag. I had just returned home form a short trip to Florida on Friday evening so went to the grocery store on Saturday morning spending well over $200.00 to replenish the freezer and the refrigerator. All of that is gone, in the garbage. I just cannot imagine how this is going to impact the grocery stores when power is restored and everyone wants to go restock the frig. I uess I can cross the bridge to Iowa and shop there to avoid huge crowds of people. Right now they are speculating that the power may not be restored until Friday. So, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are being eaten out at whatever places we can find that are open.
E.J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Monday, June 23, 2008
Barack Obama's decision to forgo public funds will bring joy to opponents of campaign finance reform. But to say that Obama has killed public financing is to miss the point.
The current system began to unravel eight years ago. George W. Bush became the first candidate since the post-Watergate reforms of the mid-1970s to decline public money in the primaries, thus avoiding the limits it imposed.
Bush's decision was the single-most important reason he defeated John McCain for the 2000 nomination because Bush was able to spend without limit to win South Carolina after his loss in the New Hampshire primary. John Kerry walked away from the public financing system for the primaries in 2004. Note that Kerry won the nomination, too.
Obama has heeded those lessons. Bush and Kerry paid no political price for opting out of the public money system in the primaries. And Kerry's political operatives argue that they would have been able to respond more effectively to the outrageous attacks on their candidate's Vietnam service record if they had not been hampered by their acceptance of public funds and spending limits for the general election.
This might be seen as a handy rationalization for the Kerry campaign's failure to take the attacks seriously early enough. Still, the Obama campaign wants to avoid falling into the same trap.
Two things are true about Obama's decision to be the first presidential candidate since Watergate to reject public financing for the general election. It is, whatever Obama may say, an opportunistic move. But in political terms -- this is hard for reformers to take - Obama certainly made the right call.
Obama's decision is based on the assumption he can raise remarkable sums of money, online and elsewhere; his desire to compete in states outside Democratic comfort zones; and his belief that as the first potential African American president, he will need more resources than public financing allows to combat especially scurrilous attacks.
Obama's choice has been criticized by reformers such as Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and even normally sympathetic editorialists because his new position contradicts his old one that he'd accept public funds, raises questions about his credibility and strikes a blow to a public financing system he said he respects.
And, contrary to Obama's claims, the fact that he has revolutionized and democratized fundraising has not eliminated the dangers of big money in politics. As of May 31, Obama had raised 33 percent of his money from contributions of $1,000 or more, according to a report by the Campaign Finance Institute that will be released Tuesday. (McCain raised 62 percent of his money that way.) In the coming months, Obama will be raising big money as well as small money.
Obama can afford to shrug off the criticism. This is that rare election in which Democrats are positioned to raise more private money than Republicans, and given the collapse of the Republican Party's standing, 2008 represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Democrats to compete in places where they haven't set foot in years.
In any event, Obama did not kill the presidential financing system; the failure to reform it did. For what it's worth, I wrote back in 2006: "It's only a matter of time before antiquated limits force presidential candidates to forget about public funds altogether."
But Obama's move could be destructive unless we draw the right lessons from what he's done.
We don't know yet if the online revolution in fundraising will have the same impact in the future that it has had this year. We do know that special interest money will not go away. We also know that until Congress allowed the system to fall out of date, public financing worked. Conservatives who doubt this should consult veterans of Ronald Reagan's campaigns.
What's needed is a new system that responds to new circumstances. Specifically, tax credits and vouchers should be used to support the democratization of fundraising by providing strong incentives for candidates - for both Congress and president - to raise funds in lots of, say, $200 or less.
Outdated spending limits should be repealed or revised, and legal loopholes for supposedly independent groups and parties should be closed. We should rid ourselves of an irrational regulatory patchwork that distorts campaigns and encourages candidates to prevaricate about "coordinated" versus "uncoordinated" political activities.
Is Obama's move self-interested? Of course. The question is whether it will mark the end of campaign finance reform or instead remind us that even good reforms need to be reformed, or else they wither and die.
E.J. Dionne Jr.'s e-mail address is postchat@aol.com.
This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Our local Red Cross has announced today that they are out of funds for assistance to families who are being effected by the floods of 2008. They are releasing an urgent message for fundraising.
Posted: June 17, 2008 04:52 PM
Updated: June 17, 2008 11:28 PM
QUAD CITIES -- The American Red Cross is requesting donations for the Iowa Flood Relief Fund.
Latest estimates predict over $3,000,000 in damage in the state of Iowa as a result of the floods. 84 of the 99 counties in the state have been adversely affected with 80 of these having been declared disaster areas.
If you would like to make a donation, it will be accepted through June 30th at all local Quad City Bank and Trust locations.
You can also mail a check to:
American Red Cross Iowa Flood Relief Fundc/o Quad City Bank & Trust
3551 7th Street, Moline, IL 61265
WE MUST ALLOW OURSELVES THE GIFT OF PATIENTS. IF THE TV BOTHERS YOU TURN IT OFF. IF THE NEWS PAPER BOTHERS YOU TURN IT OFF. PLEASE LET'S JUST STICK TO THE ISSUES. WE CAN'T ALLOW ANYONE TO STEAL THIS ELECTION WHILE WE FIGHT OVER THE STUFF THAT DOES NOT MATTER. TAKE A BREATH HOLD TIGHT. THE JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGUN. LET'S NOT GIVE (JOHN MCCAIN) ANYTHING TO USE AGAINST US. THEY AIN'T FINISHED WITH US YET. SO PLEASE STAY FOCUSED. PRESS TOWARD THE DREAM. (BARACK OBAMA) IN THE WHITE HOUSE. THEY HAVE TIME ON THERE SIDE WE HAVE TO CATCH UP . SO GET OUT THE VOTE. PHONEBANK. OUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. (BARACK AND ROLL).
(THE WORLD IS WATCHING)
WHAT WILL THEY SEE
Great Article about our Pike Obama Chairman Ryan. Way to go and JOB WELL DONE leading the way to get out the vote for Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday March 22nd!!
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NEWS/804200329/-1/NEWS
If you look on Hillary's website under EVENTS...there's very little posted within a 250 mile radius:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/actioncenter/event/?mt=0&d=250&z=10940&s=z&EventSearchAndResults%3A_ctl0.x=20&EventSearchAndResults%3A_ctl0.y=11
NOT that I plan on going to any...but either they're clandestine...OR...nobody cares!! Hmmm...in the meantime for all the Obama events I've attended there are just as many HIL-iots making a scene. Wonder if they are using our Events listings to follow our movements and impact us at various locales...thoughts??
Yes, it's beautififul weather, great times to be outside and CANVAS FOR OBAMA!! Please MAKE the time for CHANGE and come out to Pennsylvania and help local offices -- THIS IS THE FINAL WEEKEND before Primary Day on Tuesday April 22nd.
Contact and Location information follows. Office is open until 8:00 PM. Please dont just sit there - do SOMETHING. This effects every democrat. If you live near PA or in PA, look up your local Obama office on this website and participate. We have particular need at the location below, which is minutes from the Delaware river across from Orange County NY and Sussex county, NJ. Right off Interstate 84.
If you want REAL change in America and support Senator Barack Obama - this is a crucial period - please join us! Thank you!
Location:
Office Address:201 W. Harford StreetMilford, PA, 18337Second Floor of the Old Milford School House
The office is located across from the Milford Post Office on the second floor of Joey's Pizza. This location is easily accessible for out of state volunteers wishing to help out this weekend or on Tuesday. (Located off of Interstate 84 and Routes 206 + 209)
Contacts:
RyanPike County for Obama Chairman570-540-0640
Ari SchoenholtzField Organizer - Pike and Wayne countiesObama for America651-402-4176
In the summer of 1996, President Bill Clinton delivered on his pledge to “end welfare as we know it.” Despite howls of protest from some liberals, he signed into law a bill forcing recipients to work and imposing a five-year limit on cash assistance.
As first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton supported her husband’s decision, drawing the wrath of old friends from her days as an advocate for poor children. Some accused the Clintons of throwing vulnerable families to the winds in pursuit of centrist votes as Mr. Clinton headed into the final stages of his re-election campaign.
Despite the criticism and anxiety from the left, the legislation came to be viewed as one of Mr. Clinton’s signature achievements. It won broad bipartisan praise, with some Democrats relieved that it took a politically difficult issue off the table for them, and many liberals came to accept if not embrace it.
Mrs. Clinton’s opponent in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama, said in an interview that the welfare overhaul had been greatly beneficial in eliminating a divisive force in American politics.
Mrs. Clinton, now a senator from New York, rarely mentions the issue as she battles for the nomination, despite the emphasis she has placed on her experience in her husband’s White House.
But now the issue is back, pulled to the fore by an economy turning down more sharply than at any other time since the welfare changes were imposed. With low-income people especially threatened by a weakening labor market, some advocates for poor families are raising concerns about the adequacy of the remaining social safety net. Mrs. Clinton is now calling for the establishment of a cabinet-level position to fight poverty.
As social welfare policy returns to the political debate, it is providing a window into the ways in which Mrs. Clinton has navigated the legacy of her husband’s administration and the ideological crosscurrents of her party.
In an interview, Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that “people who are more vulnerable” were going to suffer more than others as the economy turned down. But she put the blame squarely on the Bush administration and the Republicans who controlled Congress until last year. Mrs. Clinton said they blocked her efforts, and those of other Democrats, to buttress the safety net with increased financing for health insurance for impoverished children, child care for poor working mothers, and food stamps.
Mrs. Clinton expressed no misgivings about the 1996 legislation, saying that it was a needed — and enormously successful — first step toward making poor families self-sufficient.
“Welfare should have been a temporary way station for people who needed immediate assistance,” she said. “It should not be considered an anti-poverty program. It simply did not work.”
During the presidential campaign, she has faced little challenge on the issue, in large part because Mr. Obama has supported the 1996 law. “Before welfare reform, you had, in the minds of most Americans, a stark separation between the deserving working poor and the undeserving welfare poor,” Mr. Obama said in an interview. “What welfare reform did was desegregate those two groups. Now, everybody was poor, and everybody had to work.”
Mr. Obama called the resulting law “an imperfect reform.” Like Mrs. Clinton, he called for an expansion of government-provided health care, child care and job training to assist women making the transition from welfare to work — programs he says he helped expand in Illinois as a state senator.
Asked if he would have vetoed the 1996 law, Mr. Obama said, “I won’t second guess President Clinton for signing.”
Among some advocates for the poor, the growing prospect of a severe recession and evidence of backsliding from the initial successes of the policy shift have crystallized fresh concern. Many remain upset that Mrs. Clinton, once seemingly a stalwart member of their camp, supported a law that they contend left many people at risk.
“If there is no national controversy about welfare reform, we paid an awfully high price,” said Peter Edelman, a law professor at Georgetown University who has known Mrs. Clinton since her college days, and who quit his post as assistant secretary of social services at the Department of Health and Human Services in protest after Mr. Clinton signed the measure.
“They don’t acknowledge the number of people who were hurt,” Mr. Edelman said. “It’s just not in their lens. It was predictably bad public policy.”
Forcing families to rely on work instead of government money went well from 1996 to 2000, when the economy was booming and paychecks were plentiful, economists say. Since then, however, job creation has slowed and poverty has risen. The current downturn could be the first serious test of how well the changes brought about by the 1996 law hold up under sharp economic stress.
“We should have enormous concern about the lack of a fully functioning safety net for families with children,” said Mark H. Greenberg, director of the Poverty and Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group.
In many ways, Mrs. Clinton has sought to moderate her liberal image since leaving the White House. But on welfare, she has faced the opposite problem: accusations from some liberals that she sold out their principles for a politically calculated centrism.
On the campaign trail, Mrs. Clinton is largely focused on the middle class. Since the departure from the Democratic race of John Edwards, who had made poverty a centerpiece of his campaign, there has been little debate about social welfare policy. But in promising on Friday to establish a cabinet-rank poverty-fighting position if she is elected, Mrs. Clinton reintroduced the topic and the question of her record.
In the interview, conducted last month, Mrs. Clinton said she had followed through on her promise to address what she viewed as shortcomings in the welfare law after being elected to the Senate in 2000. She said she had pressed for legislation that would have increased financing for child care for poor mothers by up to $11 billion, seeking to expand food stamps, and allowing welfare recipients to draw cash aid while attending school.
Those provisions were blocked by the Republican leadership.
“We’ve had to mostly spend our time since President Bush came in to office preventing bad things from happening,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Many welfare advocates dispute Mrs. Clinton’s characterization. Since entering the Senate, they say, she has shown a predilection for compromise at the expense of the poor.
When the overhaul bill came up for reauthorization, Sandra Chapin, a former welfare recipient affiliated with a coalition called Welfare Made a Difference, lobbied Congress to allow more women to attend college while they received aid. Mrs. Clinton “wouldn’t have anything to do with it,” Ms. Chapin said.
Ms. Chapin, now program director of the Consumer Federation of California, posted an e-mail message to a discussion board in February accusing Mrs. Clinton of having “had a hand in devaluing motherwork in this country, and no doubt sending thousands of children and their families deeper into poverty.”
In the interview, and in her memoir, Mrs. Clinton said she had serious misgivings about some of the changes proposed to the welfare system as the issue percolated through Washington in the mid-1990s.
Her husband had taken office with a pledge to dismantle the old system. He embraced time limits for cash aid and allowing states to largely decide for themselves how to spend the money. He set out to expand job training, access to health care, child care and food stamps.
When the Republicans took over Congress after the 1994 elections, making Newt Gingrich the House speaker, they seized the initiative. Twice, they passed bills seeking to impose time limits on welfare benefits while cutting other aid. Twice, Mr. Clinton vetoed the bills, with the encouragement of Mrs. Clinton.
In August 1996, three months before Election Day, Congress sent the White House a third bill. This one imposed time limits on cash benefits and barred most legal immigrants from receiving welfare. But it maintained guarantees for Medicaid and food stamps and increased financing for child care. This time, Mr. Clinton signed.
“I agreed that he should sign it and worked hard to round up votes,” Mrs. Clinton wrote in her memoir.
Mrs. Clinton remained troubled by parts of the bill, she wrote in her memoir, particularly the provision barring welfare for legal immigrants. But “pragmatic politics” had to be considered. “If he vetoed welfare reform a third time,” she wrote, “Bill would be handing the Republicans a potential political windfall.”
Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of Children’s Defense Fund, an activist group that had given Mrs. Clinton her first job, blasted the Clintons as betraying the poor, opening a rift that Mrs. Clinton called “sad and painful.” Mrs. Edelman’s husband, Peter, quit his administration post.
In the years that followed, the number of those on welfare rolls plummeted by more than 60 percent. A study last year by the Congressional Budget Office found that from 1991 to 2005, poor families with children saw their inflation-adjusted incomes climb by 35 percent, as employment climbed.
In recent years, however, low-skilled women have struggled. The percentage of poor single mothers neither working nor drawing cash assistance surged from under 20 percent before the welfare overhaul to more than 30 percent in 2005, according to the Congressional Research Service. During the same period, the number of children in poverty rose to 12.8 million from 11.6 million, according to census data.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24060990/
Apathetic, lethargic, cynical and pessimistic.
I was raised by depression era parents, both passed now, hard working, fearful, struggling, happy-at-times, not completely without hope but never too optimistic either. Unfortunately, while we were surprised and rejoiced over the small triumphs of life, the dreams of youth were often dismissed by harsh adult realities. “There’s no way you’re going to do that”. My mother gently but firmly saying “Trust me when I say this, “you’re in the wrong skin””.
How I wished they could’ve lived to see this new historic time in America.
Two words: Barack Obama
Just a toddler in the late-60s, my older siblings were witnesses to those winds of change, the Civil Rights Era, assassinations of Kennedys, King and Malcolm. I delve into that not so long ago past, though I had not “lived” in those moments – unaware as a child should be, but with a sense of mystery and wondering of what?? Why?? Only imagining being a part of the era of excitement, celebration, tragedy, and tumult – the marches, sit-ins, freedom-rides, Woodstock! In a word – Change.
Fast forward to 2004 Democratic Convention, a keynote address by ”some guy named Barack Obama from Illinois”. While I’ve always managed to check the periphery of the political scene, most politicians seem to generate the same repetitive refrain, taxes, healthcare, post 9/11 “gloom and doom”; soaring energy prices. However, this “guy” was talking about so much more than the usual “stuff”. He was intelligent, charismatic and profound; before I knew it, I was fixated and glued on his every word – as if I was transcended away from whatever mundane task or tribulation that was currently gnawing at my being. Who is this guy?? Had to admit my curiosity was certainly piqued. A short time later as some friends and I discussed the speech, one of us said, “He’s ABOUT something”, we clearly agreed a new dynamic was in our midst...
Well obviously, this “ain’t no history lesson”. Present day 2008 – wherever we stand, sit, work, and live we’re talking about Barack Obama. How the electorate is energized, empowered, optimistic, HOPEFUL. For many living within limits, promises not kept, dreams unfilled, unknowing future appearing “bleak” to a world of “YES WE CAN”. From trudging along with the status-quo, to actual involvement in the process! From just pulling a lever in some booth to actually rallying behind the candidate!
What is happening to us? Two words: Barack Obama
For weeks, watching each debate, hours of primary coverage, who’s ahead?? Who’s behind? Who did what to whom? This candidate, a product of Kenya and Kansas, winning states like North Dakota and Idaho?? Say what?! People want change.
I have often talked hypothetically about the revolution this country needs – maybe it’s my 60s birthright, maybe my zodiac sign Aquarius – always free thinking and socially minded. Not even did I feel this strongly about President William Jefferson Clinton, as I have for democratic candidate, Senator Barack Obama.
Stories from the campaign trail had me enthralled. I sought out whatever knowledge and information was available. Friends thought me obsessed, yet I can’t let that discourage me from having hope that maybe, just maybe, we can actually elect a candidate who is above the petty squabbles; who wants to move past the partisan politics and encourage everyone to participate in the process and restore America’s sense of pride, dignity and self worth.
To my surprise, a few days ago, I learned that Obama’s Pennsylvania Tour would be in the Scranton area on Tuesday, April 1. Of all days, I thought, is this for real? Only living 15 miles to the Pennsylvania state line, I had already committed myself to doing whatever was needed to aid campaign efforts for the Illinois senator. My thoughts were spinning, churning; I had to make this journey! As luck would have it, I managed to get tickets to the venue and as overwhelmed and awestruck I became, my seeing the Senator was not long from being a reality.
I was on pure adrenalin, clear-headed, but restless at the same time – it was total disbelief, unreal, SURREAL.
High Noon: We arrive in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, crowds already began to form. The sky was heather grey and a steady, light mist of rain fell. Didn’t matter to us in the least – we were there and we would not be moved. The talk in the crowd was all things political. A culmination of backgrounds but the common purpose and mission was clear, to see “our” candidate; Senator Barack Obama! As we all reached out to each other, embracing that common bond, becoming one; sharing stories of why we were there, what brought us there; restoring our resolve refusing to merely sit on the sidelines of such history – we were spectators no longer.
As the doors opened, we were led into the building two by two, as if we were animals heading to the Ark itself! Everything was orderly and non-eventful, just more anticipation of things to come. The utter disbelief of “I can’t believe I AM HERE!” Thinking back, it was only eight years earlier, my 67 year old mother quickly succumbed to a sudden heart attack before my eyes at Christmas; and practically 5 years to the day of my mother’s passing, my 80 year old father would finally join her, after a fast moving battle with cancer; within ten months my only brother joining them – too soon, at age 47. With such personal tragedy, who was I to think of HOPE?? That word was clearly not part of my vocabulary during those dark days. Grappling with my grief and the disintegration of my family, out of the fog and despair someone was finally talking, as if to me, you and anyone who would listen about, who I could be, what America could BE – until that moment, it was as if nobody cared anymore, especially myself.
I would think of my mother tirelessly working sometimes double shifts at the VA Center as a Nurse Technician, or my father, still driving a tractor trailer at almost 70 years of age because, outside of his Teamster Pension and Social Security, that would be all he had. They did not have a life of glamour and prestige, it was hard work all the way with 6 children. During my youth, it was not so easily understood why they’d get pissed that I’d bring home a C on my report card; though the remaining grades were exemplary. But, yes, I understand it now. Senator Obama talks in every speech about the importance of good parenting and a solid education for our children. The education system is in a state of dis-repair, even disintegrated in some of our nation’s schools. But those very youth are rising from these ashes – raising their voices – for change.
As the procession into the Dunmore Community Center continued, the excitement swells as much as the crowd, all ready to see this captivating, charismatic leader. 2:00, then 3:00, then 3:30, then moment by moment, people standing, sitting, shouting, waiting…with every movement – is it him?? At 4;00 PM the wait was over and the audience erupted as Senator Obama reached the podium. Everyone captivated by each word. Applauding, clapping, chanting. It clearly was our time – and each moment was indeed precious and cherished. As he closed out the Town Hall, many made their way to the front to get an opportunity to shake his hand. Not sure that I would make through the crowd, people had converged upon the Senator rapidly. i noticed my friend, Martu, made it to the barricade! Somewhat flustered and about to “let it go” a gentleman said to me, “No, you go! Get IN there!” and I pushed on, leaning in with my arm held high, stretched out with all I could muster, as the Senator’s hand shook mine and said “thank you”, making eye contact. It was incredibly surreal – I was living those moments witnessed only on television. The utter exhilaration would not soon be forgotten; for I had touched greatness!
Senator Barack Obama clearly is the embodiment for change. He is courage, dignity and respect. These characteristics are my justification for fervent support of his candidacy for President of the United States. My passionate belief in him bolsters my personal commitment to bring as many to the “movement” as I can enthusiastically carry. The American Dream needs to be restored and rejuvenated in each and every one of us. As much has been taken for granted, those who feel so entitled (as opposed to being privileged), the endless toil of all things common and mundane has made everyone forget why this country was created in the first place. The Patriots and Founding Fathers merely could have toiled on their farms and turned a blind eye, rather than forge for independence over 230 years ago.
America needs to return to the basic principle of government “by the people, for the people, of the people”. The catalyst to restore such action is without a doubt, Senator Barack Obama.
For all the “can’ts” I’ve been told over time, I now hear “YES WE CAN”!! America clearly cannot lose with such prolific leadership. Thank you, Senator Obama, for restoring my hope in America.
Viola Sawyer
From: Cafe, Election Central
The Republicans Have Handed Us Their Kryptonite
By Pamela Merritt- March 31, 2008, 8:35PM
I watched McCain’s ad recently, and once I stopped reacting as a person, and instead regarded it as a Brand professional… I was astonished. The Republicans are running away from their Brand. That’s why they are running McCain as an “American.” Because if they run him as a Republican, they will lose. Where to start? The contaminated pet food and toys that strikes the most vulnerable of those we love? The senseless war that has killed, damaged, and endangered the least vulnerable element of our society, the military, and left it unable to do its job? The ridiculous tax cut and deregulation policies which crumble the foundations of our roads and bridges, our education and our skills, our business and our dollars? It's everywhere. It's huge. How do we sum up ALL the cronyism, corruption, and callousness? Republican. They bought it, they broke it, and now they own it. Republican. They've been whining about it, flooding our airwaves with it, and screaming about it for long enough. Let's hang it around their necks. Republican. For thirty years the Republican party has been defining our brand for us. We are the "tax and spend" party, the "wimpy on National Defense" party, the "elitist, latte drinking, Volvo driving," party. The fearsome, horrible, ineffectual, nanny state people who have been damned with the label "liberals." It’s time we took our Brand back. We’ve already started. Democrats want to fix all the stuff the Republicans broke. No more of this sidling over to the Republicans. No more of this "me too" campaigning. What distinguishes the different dish soaps, laundry detergents, and other cleaning products that fill the aisle in the supermarket? Not much,frankly. And they know that. So they hammer at Their Brand. They never, never, never say their dish soap is in any way like another dish soap. Because that's not how you capture the market. The way to capture the market is to say, loudly and clearly and constantly, that their brand is Different! and thus...Better! So we must do the same. The Republicans have destroyed their brand. They hope the electorate will not notice. That's why McCain is campaigning as an American's American in America for Americans who are proud of being Americans. McCain, the Republican, isn't campaigning as a Republican. They know their brand is screwed. They're hoping the voters won't notice. They're hoping we won't notice. We can't make this just another stunt they get away with. They bought it, they broke it, they own it. Republican. End this talk of "Bush administration," and "the conservative mindset" and the "Neocons," and the "religious right." These are holes, ingredients they can label as something their brand no longer has. Of course, it's lies. That's why they say it. But unless and until they change the name of their party, they can't take the Republican out of the party. That's what they are. That's what they all are. All the lies, betrayals, treason, secrecy, mayhem, and bloodshed they have perpetrated is Republican. It's ALL Republican. The falling dollar, bleak economic picture, and high prices at the pumps and produce counter? Republican. The malfeasance and bribery and contempt for our press, our government, and our freedoms? Republican. The ruthless destruction of our homes, our children, and our lives? Republican. Make that word the horror it is. Create in the electorate the same revulsion the word has come to mean for us, who understand it, who realize what's going on, who know how important it is that we break the linkage between what people think they are getting, and what they actually get when they vote: Republican. Every complaint on the street or at the checkout counter, every political discussion, every cry of disillusionment and despair, must be countered with their Brand. Republican. That's the problem. We can't let McCain run away from it. He's gone along with everything they did. He's sucking up to their movers and shakers. He's literally embraced Bush. He's a Republican. All this maverick stuff is just talk. Maverick started as a designation for unbranded calves, which anyone could pick up. But, of course, calling him a maverick is a lie. He's sooooo branded. Republican. It's not just Bush, or imperialism, or deregulation, or Katrina or Iraq. It's all of it; every looted dollar and dead soldier. They bought it, they broke it, and they own it. Republican. Let no one forget.
On this, the eve of opening day for both the Yankees and the Mets, let us rededicate ourselves to the battle which will rage on beyond the end of the World Series. While baseball's year will end at the conclusion of October's fall classic, the true contest this year will have its culmination on the first Tuesday of November.
Stay tuned for presentation of the trophy on January 20th, 2009.
