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"Red State Challenge"
Linked to groups: Democracy for America - Georgia Chapter, Georgia for Democracy, Blogs United, Jonesboro DFA, Morrow DFA, Peachtree City DFA, Stockbridge Progressives, Atlanta DFA - Voter Registration & Education, DFA Night School, Training Academy Alumni, Class of 2007, DFA Atlanta Alumni Crew
I hope every "Red State" will do what we will be doing here in GA.
I say we... but I just came up with the idea today at our election year kickoff here in Henry County GA. My idea is the "Red county Challenge"
The goal is for every "Red county" to compete with each other to have the largest turnout for Obama in November. If you went for Bush in 04 you are a "Red county" for definitional purposes.
Even bigger each of the "Red States" can join together to recruit all of their "red counties" and unite to try to win the "Red State Challenge" Where all the Red States compete to have the largest overall turnout. I guess some math person can explain how we can weight this so small and large states can compete on equitable ground for this game. But I came up with the challenge others can figure the rules out as we spread the word.
The goal is to get every single "red" county in this nation to be knocking on doors, holding house parties, and registering new voters. So that we can Get out the Vote this november and make history!
Together we can't be stopped. As Chairman of Henry County GA Democratic Party my goal is to win the "GA red county challenge" and recruit the other county chair's who are in red counties here in ga to participate as well to that there is 100% participation in every Red County in GA.
Come on red states! Do your part by getting your county party chairs to accept this challenge!
Have your county Chairman email me so I can keep up with how many counties across the state and nation are taking part.
Jim
The Executive Director of DFA, Arshad, is from Grand Forks, ND. I went to college in GF.
Arshad and I were living in GF at the same time and it isn't that big of a town. Small world.
Who would Jefferson pick?
Martha Randolph Carr and Shannon Lanier, descendants of Thomas Jefferson, speak about the importance of family, change and openness at the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ conference on on the last 10 years of Virginia politics.
By Brian McNeill Who would Thomas Jefferson vote for in the 2008 presidential race? Barack Obama. At least, that is the view of an outspoken descendant of the nation’s third president. “If Jefferson was here today, he would probably be one of the ones voting for Barack,” said Shannon Lanier, a black man whose lineage traces back to Jefferson’s relationship with slave Sally Hemings. Both Jefferson and Obama, Lanier pointed out, share democratic values and an ambition for change. “In the words of Barack Obama, ‘We are the change we’ve been waiting for,’” said Lanier, co-author of “Jefferson’s Children: One American Family.” Lanier and his white cousin, Martha Randolph Carr, spoke Friday afternoon at the University of Virginia Center for Politics’ two-day conference on the last 10 years of Virginia politics. The Jefferson cousins discussed race, politics and DNA testing in an air-conditioned tent behind the Center for Politics’ new headquarters at Montesano off Old Ivy Road. Lanier and Carr described what it was like growing up with the knowledge that they were descended from a founding father. Carr rejected the expectations and labels attached to her heritage. Lanier was proud of his Jefferson connection, but was often met with disbelief. Ten years ago, retired UVa professor Eugene Foster collected DNA samples from male descendants of Jefferson and Hemings. The results of his testing indicated that Jefferson may have fathered a child with Hemings. While some of Jefferson’s descendants reject the notion that black people may also be descendants, most of them have embraced their newly larger family, Lanier and Carr said. As a Jefferson descendent, Carr has seen firsthand her family’s struggle with race and history. Now, she said, in a political season with history’s first black presidential nominee, America has a chance to move beyond skin color. Obama’s candidacy, she said, is showing the nation that the world is changing and the old notions no longer apply. “What it will say to every child out there is that the dream you hold in your heart is a possibility,” she said. Ken Stroupe, the Center for Politics’ chief of staff, said that the story of Jefferson’s descendants shows that divisions of the “dysfunctional American political family could also be healed.” Stroupe said that American families are having frank discussions about race because of Obama’s candidacy against Republican presumptive nominee John McCain.
Published: June 7, 2008
Great idear, Jim. It builds upon Dean's 50-state strategy so well embraced by the Obama campaign. Best part is, that no matter which county 'wins', we *all* win :-)
...a suggestion, rather than wait to hear from other county chairs, contact them.
- Fathers of corporations -- are they forgetting about the rest of the family ?
By * rdorgan on Jun 15, 2008 2:54 PM EDThttp://www.startribune.com/business/19956869.html
AP IMPACT: Even as economy grew cloudy in 2007, CEO pay chugged ever higher, AP analysis finds
By RACHEL BECK and MATTHEW FORDAHL , Associated Press
Last update: June 15, 2008 - 1:39 PM
NEW YORK - As the American economy slowed to a crawl and stockholders watched their money evaporate, CEO pay still chugged to yet more dizzying heights last year, an Associated Press analysis shows.
The AP review of compensation for the heads of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index finds the median pay package added up to nearly $8.4 million. That's a comfortable gain of about $280,000 from 2006.
The 3 1/2 percent pay increase for CEOs came even as the landscape for both workers and shareholders darkened considerably and the economy was choked by a housing market in free fall, layoffs and soaring prices for fuel and food.
...
I've read only the overnite thread so far and want to reply to your "sheesh."
I posted those quotes to show the danger we're in for trying to drown the baby...I don't agree with any of that...they're dire warnings for our democracy. People sometimes think everything I post I post becuz I agree with it. Not at all true. I post inflammatory stuff sometimes just to remind us all, including me, that we're in deep doo-doo and it started years ago.
Phil, you should know me better than that! I'm a flaming progressive fer god's sake and think BO and most critters are way too conservative!!!!
I say take the wars money and give it to us for social programs!
looked a bit like Howard Dean. Haven't seen him since 2005 though.
Happy Father's Day to all the fathers here.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/It-s-Just-Plame-Impeachabl-by-David-Swanson-080615-261.html
Not everybody agrees on every detail of Constitutional interpretation, but James Madison and George Mason have opinions that ought to carry a little weight, since they wrote the thing. And they both thought impeachment would be applicable if a president were ever to pardon someone for a crime that he himself had something to do with.
So, along comes President Allhat Nocattle, who commutes the sentence (and will surely later pardon the crime) of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the crime of obstruction of justice. Libby was, of course, obstructing an investigation into a crime that evidence shows us involved the Vice President and the President directly. Libby was Chief of Staff to the Vice President.
This would be impeachable, were Bush not directly implicated. The drafters of the Constitution created a single executive in order to hold him accountable for the entire executive branch. When Bush promised to fire anyone in the White House who was involved in leaking the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, he was simply doing his job. When he then refused to fire those involved, he was betraying his oath of office.
Of course, as Scott McClellan has been pointing out on television, Bush would have had to fire himself if he were firing everyone involved in the leak, since he authorized it. But we already knew this from Cheney's handwritten notes exhibited at Libby's trial.
Then there's the little matter of treason. The leaking of Plame's identity, exposing an entire network of supposedly valuable spies working to counter the proliferation of nuclear weapons is not just any random crime. It's treason. An impeachment hearing is just the beginning of what would be not only appropriate but required by the oath of office taken by every member of Congress.
Total number or as a percentage of the Democratic or total voters of the County? Because population of the county and population of registered voters would put some states at an advantage and others at a disadvantage.
It is a good concept but to swing it by my Chairs, the rules gotta be in place. They have enough going on and would at least need to know the basic guidelines.
Any thoughts on which way you'd work it? I'm talking to some local county chair to figure that one...
thanks for the feedback...
You asked for some math person (will astrophysics do?) to help out, so here goes – I suggest giving awards to the “red county” that has the highest number of voters for Obama (total numbers needed to get the state-wide totals up) and to the “red county” that has the highest percentage voter turnout for Obama (number voting for Obama divided by number of registered voters). The first favors populous counties, the second favors the efforts of less populous counties.
Dennis
Dennis W. Marks
Chair, Lowndes County Democratic Committee;
Treasurer, Ga. Assoc. of Democratic County Chairs;
1<sup>st</sup> Congressional District Chair,
<script></script> Democratic Party of Georgia
Any thoughts?
Another suggestion to Jim ~ get the 'math person/s' working to flesh it out.
Bottom line is, it doesn't matter who 'wins' because the combined effort makes all of us winners. I see it more as a fun motivation and extension of the 50-state strategy already in place. County chairs are surely already working their buns off. IMO, this challenge isn't so much a competition between chairs and isn't about a prize for themselves, but more of a personal challenge for each chair to set higher goals and the ultimate prize of Obama in the White House.
lol, I see you're already on the suggestions before they're made. Welcome, thanks for being here :-)
Jim, I'm gonna play with your words for a sec... the challenge as proposed is really competing 'against' each other, not competing 'with'. As such to win one wishes the 'other' team to not do as well, certainly not your intent. How about making it a challenge to work together to turn as many as possible counties/states blue? Build the network among chairs to share ideas for organizing, flyer materials, publicity, GOTV... No need to invent the wheel to set up a networking structure - this is a great forum to do so, there are wonderful resources among the bloggers here. If you're interested, I'd be willing to help set up a 'red county' chair group with regular threads.
First, Jim, to answer your questions I would say the county that gets the highest percentage of their Democratic voters out to vote would be the winner. Every County keeps track of registration monthly, so it can be whatever starting date and that is used as the # and percentages based on that. Our SOS and County recorder publish the numbers monthly too. You could include independents either as part of the total or as a parallel competition. Maybe if we could talk Howard Dean into it, the winning state gets a personal visit. And if we could talk Obama into it too...
Don't know if you want to break it down by county or state (not sure how many counties in the US). I know for us we would like county because we are more active than our northern counterparts, but logistically it is a lot harder to do with so many.
Then, to keep this a competition about everyone winning as Thankful says, there should be an overall goal that if achieved by all counties combined, everyone wins. That way everyone gets 'bragging rights" since that is all there is, lol, for meeting the greater goal.
We did this a lot in sales...rewarded individuals but also the entire department if the department goal was met and so even the people who couldn't get as much as the top salesperson still felt important to the team and got their award certificate for the team goal.
Each County could make it really fun by submitting names of people who did the most canvassing, phone calls, voter registration, etc. Our state party does an awards ceremony every year where people vote on the top volunteers.
That might seem complicated but it really isn't since every Chair should have that info anyway. I think at our HQ it is the executive director and volunteer coordinator who handle all that. The Chairs are more figureheads and spokespeople, doing interviews and such. So, maybe connecting all the executive directors and their volunteer coordinators is a better route (and CCing the Chairs). I guess it all depends on the county and how active the Chairs are in the day-to-day but in my experience, operations fall to the Executive Chair. We just got a new one this month.
Anyway, that is just off the top of my head. I am sure others have better ideas.
In fact our biggest challenge is to work more and more with each other because we keep reinventing the wheel and working as "other teams"--or at least that has happend at times here in GA... from the very little I've seen. I wasn't a Democrat until late '07 and am looking back filling in the blanks.
I can't really head much up online but I think we could get a great forum going based off of some form of this idea.
I'll keep trying to recruit chair's to sign on.
- That's contradictory
In other words business of making profit MUST NOT BE the ONLY business pursued and not the FIRST among others I've listed above.
===============
in fact that sounds more like what you are saying.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-Impeachment--Off-the-Ta-by-Kathryn-Smith-080615-915.html
So, why is impeachment "off the table?" Of course, it is not within my powers to read minds and hold a crystal ball. Not being some kind of Merlyn or Wizard of Oz, all I can do is speculate. But based on a few facts, I think there is ample evidence to conclude that Congress fears not turning off their constituents with the "waste of time" argument by doing a negative show where impeachment is concerned. Neither are they, I believe, lying down or "caving" in to Bush's fear mongering.
Instead, I believe they are protecting themselves. If they impeached either Bush or Cheney, so much would come to light about Congress' own complicity in Bush and Cheney's crime rings, that they would be impeaching themselves along with the two murderers holding nuclear weapons in their hands
John,
During tbe Clinton administration Congress concluded that Iraq's contiuning weapons of mass destruction program threatened vital U.S. interests and international peace and security, and that Iraq continued to aid and harbor members of al-Qaida and other terrorist orginizations that threatned the lives and safety of American citizens.
The Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 expressed the sense of Congress that it should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove from power the current Iraqi regime and promote the emergence of democratic government to replace the regime.
In October 1998 the Iraq Liberation Act vote was unanimous when Democratic and Republican senators recognized the threat Iraq posed to the United States and to other nations around the world.
So that is why Congress will not impeach Bush or Cheney because neither man was in Washington in 1998.
The "Iraq Liberation Act" was just one more panic-driven piece of legislation with no basis in fact. It was horrible,misanthropic, racist legislation, but no one acted on it until Bush, Cheney, and their neocon dingbats decided to go after Iraq.
When they did, an awful piece of legislation rapidly morphed into war crimes, for which Cheney-Bush must be impeached.
The Constitution doesn't allow for political cowardice on the subject of impeachment.
The "Coalition of the Willing" is being lead by the "Coalition of the Unindicted."
"The Coalition of the Unindicted" coerced the cooperation of "The Coalition of the Complicit." In turn the "Coalition of the Complicit" won't impeach the "Coalition of the Unindicted," fearing the wrath of the "Coalition of the Formerly Disinformed."
When the "Coalition of the Unindicted" blows the whistle on the "Coalition of the Complicit," "The Coalition of the Formerly Disinformed" will become the "Coalition of the Really Pissed Off."
Eventually, the "Coalition of the Really Pissed Off" will open the "Coalition of the Formerly Unindicted" before taking the next two election cycles to purge the "Coalition of the Complicit" from the depths of "Whatever it Takes."
It should be very interesting.
Keep Him Safe
As Head of State
Make Howard Dean
His running Mate
Burma Shave
Tonight on C-span
| Bernard, Michelle D. | President and CEO, Independent Women's Forum |
Michelle is an avid Obama supporter and often said he must be the nominee "or else."
<!-- cspaninclude abstract -->
..then there's that little thing of assassinating a head of a sovereign state...Saddam. That alone is impeachable!
So are we now gonna have to look at s/o examining OBL's (or look-alike) teeth? Are the voters dumb enuf to fall for this should OBL be *found?*
Good posts, Huron.
**************************
Thank goodness people are helping one another while waiting for our Norquist-like gov't to keep us drowning. It's so literal it's frightening. My new husband and I were living in Queens during the famous '64 blackout....known hoodlums were directing traffic and helping the elderly...citizens were on the bridges directing traffic...people with extra candles were handing them out to neighbors who didn't have any....I was home alone when the lights went out and my husband finally made it home in the car and then we took provisions over to some friends. Later stats showed that crime in the city plunged to the lowest in x years..I don't remember how many years...and 9 months later, the birth rate was the highest in many years. LOL
Happy Father's Day to all the delightful fathers on and off this blog.
Impeachment has become an imperative to save our country, while many dems are treating it as word salad. I don't care if the next prez is a saint; a dangerous precedent will have been set and power corrupts.
then why did we fund him for so many years? And fund Osama? Plus there are worse dictators who we do nothing about.
We still train them in the US too.
As long as the media keep Americans ignorant on not only what our foreign policy has been but what does on in our back yards, we will keep ingesting Spears latest head shave or whatever and continue to be the controllable sheep. I will give Ron Paul credit for that. Out of all the candidates he most succinctly pinpointed our foreign policy disaster and what it has led to back home.
McCain Texas Fundraiser Back On, Sans Oilman
By Juliet Eilperin
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) has decided to hold a fundraiser initially sponsored by a controversial Texas oilman later in the summer at a different venue, according to an aide who asked not to be identified.
McCain had planned to hold a joint fundraiser with the Republican National Committee on Monday at the Midland, Tex., home of Clayton Williams, who ran for governor of his state in 1990. But after reporters from The Washington Post and ABC inquired Friday about a remark Williams made comparing rape to bad weather -- "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it" -- the campaign cancelled the fundraiser. Williams has apologized for the remarks.
This morning, a McCain aide confirmed in an e-mail that the contributors who had already made a combined donation of at least $300,000 to the event would have another chance to meet McCain.
"The event at Williams' home on Monday has been cancelled and there will be another Midland event for supporters at a public venue later this summer," the staffer wrote.
For more on this story, see McCain Says No to Returning Funds Raised
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/15/mccain_texas_fundraiser_back_o.html?hpid=topnews
"Worst Massacre in Argentine History" Goes to Trial
http://www.truthout.org/article/worst-massacre-argentine-history-goes-trial
From Buenos Aires, Sam Ferguson writes for Truthout: "On a narrow street in the heart of downtown Buenos Aires, just blocks from the city's most emblematic landmarks - the Obelisk, the Casa Rosada, the Congress - sits a neglected federal police station, the Intendencia of the federal police. Buses and small taxis whiz by, depositing soot on the rusting frame of the nine-story outpost at 1417 Moreno Street. Save the Argentine flag hanging from the second floor and a small police coat of arms above the entrance, the station looks the same as many other buildings crammed next to it frame against frame. Rusty old air-conditioners gasp for air, dirty tinted windows open to the little sun that penetrates the urban canopy. Boxy and functional, it was built long after Argentina had hopes of becoming a world power. It is a typical bureaucratic dump, constructed only with regard to the bottom line. It is where cases are filed to be forgotten."
For those who have never been, it would be fascinating. Tell us about the people you meet through dancing and some photos. You leave again for a few weeks soon, don't you?
Such fascinating and seemingly convoluted history.
FOCUS | The Long Life of the Frontier Mullah
http://www.truthout.org/article/the-long-life-frontier-mullah
For The Nation, Basharat Peer uncovers the history of the mullahs and their importance in shaping political and social life in Pakistan's border region: "The 'war on terror' has made the borderlands a newsworthy topic, yet accounts of the daily struggles, aspirations and challenges of the region's population are rare... The rise of the frontier mullahs is not solely religious in origin. While the mullahs' emergence is inextricably linked to the nineteenth-century revival of the ideas of a seventeenth-century north Indian Muslim philosopher, Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, and his disciple Shah Wali Ullah, their ascendance was boosted by the transformation of those ideas into weapons of regional warfare and, later, anticolonialism. Sirhindi mixed Sufi practice with a return to the fundamentals - the Koran and the hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Wali Ullah added the idea of social practice based on Shariah and called for social and political reform."
Barack Obama - Brian Schweitzer alliance to seduce Mountain West
Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, keeps the hide of a skunk in his office in the state capitol building in Helena to remind visitors what he thinks about lobbyists. The Rocky Mountain governor, who some believe has an outside chance of being invited to be Barack Obama’s running mate, waves the hide around to demonstrate his point. <!-- LIEN VERS DOSSIER & VERSION FRANCAISE -->
-snippy-
And although Mr Obama describes lobby groups as “special interests” rather than “skunks”, he holds similar views to Mr Schweitzer on ethics reform. The governor of Montana, who, in spite of his earthy reputation, is a trained agronomist who speaks Arabic and worked for years in Saudi Arabia, says Mr Obama’s chances of winning states such as Montana have been sharply improved by the recent candidacy of Bob Barr for the Libertarian party.
The last time a Democrat won Montana was in 1992 when Ross Perot, the third- party candidate, split the Republican vote and allowed Bill Clinton to win. The same, he believes, could happen again if Mr Obama plays his cards right
Mr Schweitzer humorously deflects a question on whether he would accept the vice-presidential slot. But he has advice for how Mr Obama should treat the presidency if he is elected. “The next president will have 100 days to turn the big picture around – after that the skunks will take over,” he says. “If he wants to push through healthcare reform and take down the multinational oil companies he’s got to be quick and tough. There should be dead skunks in the middle of the road.”
Even bigger each of the "Red States" can join together to recruit all of their "red counties" and unite to try to win the "Red State Challenge" Where all the Red States compete to have the largest overall turnout. I guess some math person can explain how we can weight this so small and large states can compete on equitable ground for this game. But I came up with the challenge others can figure the rules out as we spread the word.
So, we are a red state but 11 of our 15 counties are blue so only 4 would be considered red and one of the 4 is barely...borderline. Maricopa is the big red one and they would be the ones who would have to work it in AZ. I know the Chair because I worked to get him elected in 2006 for corp commissioner but I don't know their executive director.
In Pima, people are very active in new registrations, canvassing (we have a LOT of Dem. candidates running trying to take back the house) and making calls. We are weak on using email and mailings though. Only have about 7000 email out of about 150K registered Dems. They don't see the importance of that like I do. Cochise county is very active too.
How many red states are there? That might be workable. Like I said, Arizona has 15 counties and if we could get some untied thing going on it would not only foster friendly competition to increase turnout, but also unit chairs and party staff across the states. Our Party people, ironically, don't get out much to activist things beyond the state meetings and when the DNC meeting happens to be in AZ.
The ground activists tend to work with other states more from what I have seen. Part of it is the Chairs usually have enough on their plates. Like my Chair is an attorney with the AG office and he also does a weekly tv show on political stuff.
- For you Olbermann fans...courtesy of New Yorker via Huffpost
By Annilow on Jun 15, 2008 5:54 PM EDThttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/23/080623fa_fact_boyer?currentPage=1
The Political Scene
One Angry Man
Is Keith Olbermann changing TV news?
by Peter J. Boyer June 23, 2008
Olbermann reveres Murrow, but Murrow never called a President “Idiot-in-Chief.’’
a new thread
Please limit your comments to a discussion of how bad a president John McCain would be.
Jim when I started as County Chair we had a red Courthouse, State Rep., State Senator, Congressman and Governor.
all red
Now they are all blue.
get with it man, you are losing ground
yyyyyeeeeeeaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We're about to lap you.
there aren't any secrets, you just have to want it more than the other party, and out work them
challenges are good
good luck
I've done the research on the 2004 election on every county in the country.
http://left.wikia.com/wiki/United_States_presidential_election_by_county%2C_2004
So, is the challenge for the red states to increase their percentages, their voter turnout, or both? Maybe three categories, % # and both.
I'm also focused on infrastructure in all of these counties, and I've just started looking up each county organization on the web. I just put in Henry County.
http://left.wikia.com/wiki/Henry_County%2C_Georgia
- Howard is first ...
By * rdorgan on Jun 15, 2008 2:07 PM EDT... now, in all 50 states, including the red ones:
http://redstaterebels.typepad.com/red_state_rebels/NDblog.jpg