Daily Archives: July 15, 2007

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Our Back Fence

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(xposted at terryfaceplace and reprinted at CPR.)
There’s an exciting, new project brewing in San Diego’s east county, and soon we’ll be reading the inaugural issue of Our Back Fence. Much of the East County of San Diego is covered by Congressional District 52 which has been represented by Duncan Hunter since 1980. Every term he runs with little or no competition, and some of the most conservative communities in San Diego can be found in this area. The east county is primarily considered to encompass Santee, Lakeside, La Mesa, Spring Valley, El Cajon and all surrounding communities extending eastward to the Imperial County line. It’s been strongly and consistently “red” for many years, in part because there have been precious few outlets or resources for liberals or progressives in that region.  That is about to change.

I am so pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Our Back Fence, the first-ever progressive online community magazine for San Diego’s East County. According to the publisher, Miriam Raftery…
Our new magazine will include Internet TV interviews, a Soapblox blog plus editorials and reader comments, polls and interactive features on hot topics such as “Blackwater in the Backwater.”  Coverage will include labor, poverty and social justice, healthcare, energy, environment, candidate profiles, a “how they voted” section, land use, election integrity, media reform, and local politics.  We’ll also have just-for-fun features, such as festival previews and “Back Country Eater” restaurant reviews, encouraging people to pass our magazine on to friends.

Woo.

I’m beyond thrilled.

I can’t wait.

This will be a powerful tool, and a shiny new soapbox for those of us who face the overwhelming right wing bias of the San Diego media, and the often-times extreme conservative mindset of eastern San Diego. Together we will make this exciting and much needed change in San Diego’s east county. If you live in San Diego and are interested in contributing to this effort you’re welcome and encouraged to contact Miriam Raftery. If you would like to contribute articles, features, photography, or to help build the distribution list, please email Miriam at [email protected].

We are also looking for additional sponsors and donations which for now will be accepted by way of the East County United website. Please indicate that you’re making this donation for Our Back Fence.

I can hardly wait and I’ll be certain to announce the inaugural issue as soon as it’s online!

Orange County

CA-42: A Blogger is Running for Congress

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(OMG, I can hardly wait for the 18th! : ) – promoted by atdleft)

It is a rare privilege to be present at the creation of something extraordinary–but it is an even rarer priviliege to be the first to announce that creation to the public.  Today, I am greatly honored to introduce to the netroots community and the world the creation of a new kind of campaign–a campaign of bloggers and onine activists, run by bloggers and online activists, managed by managed by online activists, and with a homegrown blogger as its candidate.

And it’s not just any campaign: it’s a campaign for Congress.  It’s a campaign against one of the most corrupt and reactionary Republicans on Capitol Hill (which is really saying something).  It’s a campaign that, until a few short months ago, had no credible Democratic candidate to offer–until that is, someone stepped forward to take on the challenge.  And that someone turned out to be one of us.

It is often said that great things come from small beginnings.  The tiny seeds of this campaign were first planted several months ago at an unassuming, convivial gathering at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles’ famed Miracle Mile district.  Many of Southern California’s most prominent Kossacks had gathered to celebrate the arrival of our good friend clammyc, who was in town on a business trip.  Out of that gathering came a decision to do more than just blogging and traditional activism; we decided that we needed to work together–as a team–to support a candidate for Congress.  A candidate who would reflect the interests and ethos of the progressive netroots.

Little did we know, on that festive evening, that that candidate would be one of us there in that room.

Fast forward to today, and what had been a twinkle in our eyes is now a reality–complete with a blogger candidate, a blogger campaign manager, and an entire blogger brain trust full of some of the DailyKos community’s best and brightest from Southern California and beyond.  The ActBlue page is ready, the local grassroots and insiders behind us, and every structure in place.  There is no credible primary challenger looming, and the Republican incumbent is, shall we say, more than a little vulnerable.  Following in the footsteps of Dailykos’ own inimitable NYBri, we have the opportunity to take a giant leap for the Netroots and for progressives all across America.

Unfortunately, I can’t give you the name of the candidate just yet.  I’ve been asked by the campaign–whose identity is being kept secret until the official announcement is made here on July 18 (so if you know the secret, keep quiet until then!)–to begin the online rollout for the campaign right here on Daily Kos where it all began.

Tomorrow, our own atdleft is going to introduce you to our ethically-challenged (not to mention legally challenged!) opponent in this race, Gary Miller.  atdnext will also introduce the blog he already has up and running, cataloging Gary Miller’s abuses of ethics, law and common decency. 

On Tuesday the 17th, our own Campaign Manager will reveal himself.

And then on Wednesday the 18th, you’ll hear from our Candidate.

From then until the beginning of the YearlyKos convention, many of us who are supporting the campaign in a variety of roles–including a lot of names you’ll recognize instantly–will be writing about different aspects of the campaign: who we are, what we are doing, why we believe in the candidate, the makeup of the district, and why we can–and will–win this race.  We’ll be keeping you informed about every facet of our campaign–because when it comes down to it, this is your campaign, made possible only because this amazing community.

Today, though, I want to celebrate a little bit.  What we have undertaken here is nothing less than “Crashing the Gate” in direct action.  It is just one part of a great leap forward being made all across the progressive netroots to expand our efforts into an honest-to-goodness movement rivaling that of the post-Goldwater conservatives.

This campaign is, simply put, an unprecedented step for the netroots.  We’ve had announced candidates who have come to large community blogs for support–from Presidential candidates like John Kerry and John Edwards to Congressional candidates like Eric Massa, John Laesch and Larry Kissell to many candidates for state, local, and party office.  We have one longtime Kossack, ben masel, who has run a protest campaign for U.S. Senate, and another, our beloved Brian Keeler, who has run a credible campaign for the New York State House and is fighting the good fight again in ’08.

But this is without parallel: we have never had a “homegrown” blogger candidate.  We have never had a netroots participant–someone well-known who has literally been around for years on DailyKos–run for federal office.  We have never had a blogger running not just up against the gates as a protest candidate, but straight through them with the backing of the local Democratic Party.  And we have certainly never had a homegrown blogger running against a Congressman who, despite his conservative district, is being targeted by the DCCC and is regularly named as among the most vulnerable due to scandal.

Perhaps just as importantly, we have never before had a campaign tapping the special abilities and creative talents of netroots activists from top to bottom, from campaign management to strategy to research to outreach to fundraising.  This is truly people-powered politics at its finest: a gathering of some of the best progressive talent available, made possible only by the organizing power of the blogs and the extraordinary energy of this vibrant community.  It’s going to be a hard, long struggle of a campaign–but if experience shows anything over the last many years, it is that there is literally nothing that this community cannot accomplish politically when we put our heads together to make this great country accountable to the people once again.

So watch for the diaries over the next few days: atdnext tomorrow the 16th; the campaign manager on the 17th; the Candidate on the 18th; and more beyond that.  And let us turn this small beginning into a momentous journey for democracy, people-powered politics, progressives and netroots enthusiasts nationwide.

Orange County

CA-42: A Blogger is Running for Congress

1 Comment

It is a rare privilege to be present at the creation of something extraordinary–but it is an even rarer priviliege to be the first to announce that creation to the public.  Today, I am greatly honored to introduce to the netroots community and the world the creation of a new kind of campaign–a campaign of bloggers and onine activists, run by bloggers and online activists, managed by managed by online activists, and with a homegrown blogger as its candidate.

And it’s not just any campaign: it’s a campaign for Congress.  It’s a campaign against one of the most corrupt and reactionary Republicans on Capitol Hill (which is really saying something).  It’s a campaign that, until a few short months ago, had no credible Democratic candidate to offer–until that is, someone stepped forward to take on the challenge.  And that someone turned out to be one of us.

It is often said that great things come from small beginnings.  The tiny seeds of this campaign were first planted several months ago at an unassuming, convivial gathering at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles’ famed Miracle Mile district.  Many of Southern California’s most prominent Kossacks had gathered to celebrate the arrival of our good friend clammyc, who was in town on a business trip.  Out of that gathering came a decision to do more than just blogging and traditional activism; we decided that we needed to work together–as a team–to support a candidate for Congress.  A candidate who would reflect the interests and ethos of the progressive netroots.

Little did we know, on that festive evening, that that candidate would be one of us there in that room.

Fast forward to today, and what had been a twinkle in our eyes is now a reality–complete with a blogger candidate, a blogger campaign manager, and an entire blogger brain trust full of some of the DailyKos community’s best and brightest from Southern California and beyond.  The ActBlue page is ready, the local grassroots and insiders behind us, and every structure in place.  There is no credible primary challenger looming, and the Republican incumbent is, shall we say, more than a little vulnerable.  Following in the footsteps of Dailykos’ own inimitable NYBri, we have the opportunity to take a giant leap for the Netroots and for progressives all across America.

Unfortunately, I can’t give you the name of the candidate just yet.  I’ve been asked by the campaign–whose identity is being kept secret until the official announcement is made here on July 18 (so if you know the secret, keep quiet until then!)–to begin the online rollout for the campaign right here on Daily Kos where it all began.

Tomorrow, our own atdleft is going to introduce you to our ethically-challenged (not to mention legally challenged!) opponent in this race, Gary Miller.  atdnext will also introduce the blog he already has up and running, cataloging Gary Miller’s abuses of ethics, law and common decency. 

On Tuesday the 17th, our own Campaign Manager will reveal himself.

And then on Wednesday the 18th, you’ll hear from our Candidate.

From then until the beginning of the YearlyKos convention, many of us who are supporting the campaign in a variety of roles–including a lot of names you’ll recognize instantly–will be writing about different aspects of the campaign: who we are, what we are doing, why we believe in the candidate, the makeup of the district, and why we can–and will–win this race.  We’ll be keeping you informed about every facet of our campaign–because when it comes down to it, this is your campaign, made possible only because this amazing community.

Today, though, I want to celebrate a little bit.  What we have undertaken here is nothing less than “Crashing the Gate” in direct action.  It is just one part of a great leap forward being made all across the progressive netroots to expand our efforts into an honest-to-goodness movement rivaling that of the post-Goldwater conservatives.

This campaign is, simply put, an unprecedented step for the netroots.  We’ve had announced candidates who have come to large community blogs for support–from Presidential candidates like John Kerry and John Edwards to Congressional candidates like Eric Massa, John Laesch and Larry Kissell to many candidates for state, local, and party office.  We have one longtime Kossack, ben masel, who has run a protest campaign for U.S. Senate, and another, our beloved Brian Keeler, who has run a credible campaign for the New York State House and is fighting the good fight again in ’08.

But this is without parallel: we have never had a “homegrown” blogger candidate.  We have never had a netroots participant–someone well-known who has literally been around for years on DailyKos–run for federal office.  We have never had a blogger running not just up against the gates as a protest candidate, but straight through them with the backing of the local Democratic Party.  And we have certainly never had a homegrown blogger running against a Congressman who, despite his conservative district, is being targeted by the DCCC and is regularly named as among the most vulnerable due to scandal.

Perhaps just as importantly, we have never before had a campaign tapping the special abilities and creative talents of netroots activists from top to bottom, from campaign management to strategy to research to outreach to fundraising.  This is truly people-powered politics at its finest: a gathering of some of the best progressive talent available, made possible only by the organizing power of the blogs and the extraordinary energy of this vibrant community.  It’s going to be a hard, long struggle of a campaign–but if experience shows anything over the last many years, it is that there is literally nothing that this community cannot accomplish politically when we put our heads together to make this great country accountable to the people once again.

So watch for the diaries over the next few days: atdnext tomorrow the 16th; the campaign manager on the 17th; the Candidate on the 18th; and more beyond that.  And let us turn this small beginning into a momentous journey for democracy, people-powered politics, progressives and netroots enthusiasts nationwide.

Uncategorized

UPDATE: Net Neutrality On Its Way To Passage by CDP

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The merged resolution that came out of negotiations between the Progressive Caucus and the Labor Caucus (specifically Brad Parker of PDA and Jim Gordon of CWA) yielded a very favorable document that was passed through the Resolutions Committee.  In addition, a resolution in support of parole and sentencing reform passed the committee and is on its way to passage.  There’s definitely a different feeling at this meeting; because it’s not as high-profile as a convention, the hard work of progressive activists is being rewarded.  I think that the whole resolutions process is a SYMBOLIC exercise that gives you a sense of where the rank and file of the party is going ideologically, and certainly it’s becoming more progressive.  There’s still a lot of work to be done to turn that symbolism into some real action; it involves making in-roads in county committees and building a progressive bench.  But I think some of the old guard are worried (more on that later).

The new net neutrality language, which I think offers some excellent framing devices, on the flip:

Support of Affordable High Speed Internet for America and Internet Neutrality (it’s actually Network Neutrality –ed.)

WHEREAS to secure the rights of assembly, and free speech online, which are guaranteed by the Constitution and encourage new innovative American businesses to flourish , Americans are entitled to and require open, equal and impartial Internet access; we need high speed internet for our homes, schools, hospitals and workplaces to grow jobs and our economy; enable innovations in telemedicine, education, public safety and government services; foster independence for people with disabilities and strengthen democratic discourse and civic participation and;

WHEREAS the United States – the country that invented the Internet – has fallen from first to sixteenth in internet adoption; US consumers pay more for slower speeds than people in other advanced nations; millions of Americans, especially in rural and low income areas do not have access to affordable, high speed broadband; then United States alone among the advanced nations has no national, Internet policy; the US definition of “high speed” at 200 kilobytes per second (kbps) is too slow and has not changed in nine years: the US and California collections of broadband data does not tell us what we need to know about broadband deployment, adoption, speeds and prices and consumer and worker protections must be safeguarded on high speed networks and;

WHEREAS the growth of a free and open Internet has provided historic advances in the realms of democracy, free speech, communications, research and economic development; California and US consumers are entitled to and require open, unfettered access to the lawful Internet content of their choice without interference by any entity, public or private; build out of universal, high speed, high capacity networks will promote an open Internet by eliminating bandwidth scarcity;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party endorses national,  state and local policies to promote affordable, high speed broadband for all with strong protections for consumers and the workers who build, maintain and service those networks; and a national goal for universal access and deployment of network capable of delivering 10 megabytes per second downstream and 1 megabyte per second upstream by the year 2010 and the California Democratic Party supports federal and state initiatives to improve data collection on high speed broadband deployment, adoption, speed and prices as a necessary first step; upgrading the current definition of high speed to 2 megabytes per second downstream, 1 megabyte per second upstream and policies that promote public programs to stimulate build out of high speed networks to all home and businesses in the nation and;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party in order to promote vigorous free speech, a vibrant business community, and unfettered access to all information on the Internet, supports policies to preserve an open, neutral and interconnected Internet; protect against any degradation or blocking of access to any websites for content on the Internet and insure consumers have the right to free email; encourages build out of high speed networks to all homes and businesses so that everyone can go where they want and upload or download what they want on the Internet as a public utility maintained by union workers.

Submitted by the
Labor Caucus of the California Democratic Party
Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party

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CDP E-Board: Torres’ Comments and Resolutions Committee

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Let me just say that I think this resolutions thing is a much ado about nothing.  More than anything it is instructive for how the party responds to its rank-and-file.  Nevertheless, I’m here, and so your intrepid blogger will follow it for you.

But first of all, let me make a couple remarks about Art Torres’ comments in the general session.  I’m disappointed and annoyed that he resorted to blaming “the blogs” for criticism that the Party received after the last convention, as part of some comments that he made justifying the CDP’s efforts to compete statewide.  It’s an unfair and deliberately vague characterization.  What blogs?  Which bloggers?  Is there anything specific?  And can you say with a straight face that the ONLY or even the main people to take issue with various matters that happened at the convention are bloggers?  The rank-and-file grassroots wrote those resolutions.  The rank-and-file grassroots had the problems with how they were handled in the resolutions committee.  They had the issues with the quorum call.  They led the fight to create an Audit Committee and the resultant fallout.

We REPORTED it.  And I stand behind my belief that reporting the facts and making opinions on policies and events are NOT personal attacks.  It’s a convenient excuse to blame “mean dirty hippie bloggers” for every criticism ever leveled at the Party.  People have substantive questions, and blogs are one way, and really one of the smaller ways, for people to express those questions.  I think that, at least on this site, there was an extremely healthy debate about the convention fallout, and it’s simply unfair for Torres to lash out in that way.

I will add that the fact that Torres felt the need to defend himself, and defend the Party’s goal of electing Democrats statewide and implementing a 58-county strategy, is a win in itself.  I think we all want to work to that end; it’s certainly a major part of what we do here at Calitics.  You can quote me on that, Art.  By name.

I’ll toss some notes about the Resolutions Committee in the extended entry.

So far, not much has really happened.  The Iraq resolution (the real sticking point at last year’s convention) is being worked on through Karen Bernal on the sidelines.  Still waiting on the only resolutions that interest me, one on parole and sentencing reform, and the merged net neutrality resolution.