The uplifting Yes We Can video has been seen more than 11,000,000 times on Youtube alone. And now, Will.i.am has a follow up video: We Are The Ones
Daily Archives: February 29, 2008
Democrats Work : The New Permanent Campaign
David Sirota’s nationally syndicated column this week focused on the new politics of service and the organization “Democrats Work“.
In 1976, a young political consultant named Patrick Caddell sent a memo to Jimmy Carter telling the president-elect to wage “a continuing political campaign” that fuses public policy and political goals. This doctrine became known as the permanent campaign, and it is now changing from a White House tactic into a national grassroots organizing strategy.
Today’s permanent campaign aims to ensure that the recent surge in Democratic voter turnout becomes the foundation of a lasting political infrastructure for progressives, rather than a momentary boomlet of presidential election euphoria. That means “creating mechanisms for people to remain engaged in politics between elections,” as Thomas Bates says.
He co-founded Democrats Work, a nonprofit group whose mission was on display when 12 volunteers of varying ages gathered last week to prepare dinner for residents at a Denver homeless shelter. The participants were not just giving back to their city – they were becoming Democratic Party activists.
“Lots of folks want to do community service but are not political,” says Erin Egan, who runs the 500-member Colorado branch of Democrats Work. “But when they volunteer with us, they see the Democratic Party’s values and often become committed political volunteers.”
The word is spreading! Be a part!
Our projects next month include working the San Francisco Food Bank. On March 29th we will be helping to distribute thousands of pounds of food to the hungry throughout the city. Visit Democrats Work for the details and to get updates on other projects near you.
50 State Blog
I'm headed off to Texas here in a bit, and juls is off to Ohio. This weekend should be really interesting heading into what might be make or break primaries. Over the flip, check the 50 state roundup.
California 
Karen Bass will become the new Speaker of the Assembly. She will team with Senator Darrell Steinberg to lead the California legislature for the next two years. She is the first female Democrat to lead the Assembly.
New York 
Daily Gotham reports on endorsements in a Congressional race beginning to heat up in New York's 13th District. This one is all that stands between us and a free-of-republican-Congressmen New York City.
Iowa 
noneed4thneed reports that corporate groups are already funding television and radio ads attacking some Democrats in the Iowa House.
North Dakota 
What if one of the people spreading the crazy lies about Barack Obama is a senior Republican member of the North Dakota House of Representatives?
Kentucky 
In the wake of the KY debacle two weeks ago with the state party in the Senate primary, BlueGrassRoots made a Wiki project to give Kentuckians the informational tools to “infiltrate” and take over their party at the local/county level.
Washington 
Nicole Brummitt is mother of a son whose father is incarcerated in Washington and transferred to a private prison in Arizona. In her story, $3.3 billion company profits of the pain of incarcerated Washingtonians and their families, she sheds some light on Corrections Corp of America. Washington Department of Corrections currently contracts with CCA. In a time where we are seeing crime decrease in Washington there is also a strange epidemic of the prison population increasing. More prisons and more prisoners means more profit for CCA.
Virginia 
The Virginia GOP says it won't stoop to smearing Obama, allowing the media to talk about smearing Obama. Every Virginia GOP representative voted against energy efficiency last week.
Texas 
Sen. John Cornyn tried to swiftboat Democrat Rick Noriega by calling on him to release his military records. Looks like that backfired as Noriega released them and his records are stellar.
New Mexico 
Outgoing Senator Pete Domenici is a shill for Big Oil and an opponent to alternative energy proposals.
Oregon 
Vicarious Thrill Dept: It was endorsement week in Oregon, and everybody went Obama. Senate candidate Steve Novick offered his highly-developed support for Obama, with primary competitor Jeff Merkley following up with his own version, as well as a dig at Novick for not endorsing him HARD enough. But maybe the most important blessing came from a new Oregonian who may actually be more popular than Obama in the state: Greg Oden got a call from Barack and tells us in his blog diary he will cast his first vote for Prez this fall for Obama.
Illinois 
A bill to correct some of the state's over-reliance on local property taxes for education by “swapping” out a portion with the state income tax is making its way through the Illinois Senate
Iowa Shows of support for an Iowa House bill that would make it easier for moms to breastfeed will include a “nurse in” at the State Capitol next week
Indiana 
Another nutty complaint was lodged against the Andre Carson campaign this week
New Jersey 
Paid family leave is one step closer to being a reality in New Jersey.
North Carolina 
Greg Flynn at BlueNC covers the drought that extends to every area of North Carolina. Not one area of the state is spared.
New York 
The Albany Project deconstructs the GOP spin the day after an historic state Senate win of an upstate seat in republican hands for 128 years.
Arizona 
Rick Renzi “Staying the Course” in Arizona while facing a 35 count indictment and many years in prison if found guilty.
Alabama 
Thirty-one counties in Alabama lack a hospital offering maternity care, yet midwife assisted home birth is not legal in the state. The Alabama Birth Coalition organized a march on the State House last week advocating for legislation to allow licensed midwives to practice in Alabama.
Wisconsin 
Rabid wingers in Wisconsin tur “mistakes” molehill into “voter fraud” mountain.
Ohio 
An eloquent self-produced video reflects the excitment building for Obama in all across Ohio, in Testimonial and Field Report From Morrow County, Ohio
West Virginia 
At West Virginia Blue they're going after Shelley Moore Capito. The woman doesn't stand a chance.
Pennsylvania 
Democrats in Pennsylvania want Ralph Nader to pay his legal bills from his last failed run for President before gaining access to the ballot in the state this year.
Missouri 
Show Me Progress outlines the qualifications of Andria Simckes who is running to be state treasurer.
Minnesota 
Barack Obama picked up two more superdelegates in Minnesota this week
Nevada 
Freshman Rep. Dean Heller (NV-2) is among the worst in Congress on Children's issues according to the Children's Defense Fund. The Clark County Democratic Convention in Las Vegas to allocate delegates for Obama and Clinton for the state convention ended up in a big mess with a do-over necessary. Here's an eye-witness account.
Kentucky BlueGrassRoots has the inspirational story of lobbying to restore voting rights for felons.
Maine 
Maine's Morning Sentinel apologizes after headline reads “Video shows Allen burning flag”
Prison Policy & Open Thread
I have a post up at Hullabaloo, where I’m proud to be writing, about the disturbing new Pew report which shows that more than 1 in 100 adults in this country are behind bars, and when you add in the parole and probation system it’s probably more like 1 in 50. This is fast becoming the biggest problem that state legislatures face, and in California it’s magnified by soaring costs, overcrowding, and a continued fealty to “Tough on Crime” solutions.
I highlighted what two red states are doing as a novel solution, something we could certainly try in California instead of our haphazard collection of early release and building more jails and nixing independent sentencing commissions:
Kansas and Texas are well on their way. Facing daunting projections of prison population growth, they have embraced a strategy that blends incentives for reduced recidivism with greater use of community supervision for lower-risk offenders. In addition, the two states increasingly are imposing sanctions other than prison for parole and probation violators whose infractions are considered “technical,” such as missing a counseling session. The new approach, born of bipartisan leadership, is allowing the two states to ensure they have enough prison beds for violent offenders while helping less dangerous lawbreakers become productive, taxpaying citizens.
The comments over there are, as usual, great, and I wanted to open the discussion here. Plus we haven’t had an open thread in a while, so here ya go.
Run, Democrat, Run!
Cross posted on Daily Kos
Last week we wrote a diary encouraging Democrats throughout the State of California to roll up their sleeves, get involved, and run for a seat on their local Democratic County Central Committees.
Since that time, a group of East Bay grassroots activists (a few of whom are Caliticians!) has put together a video talking about what motivates them to work through their local Democratic Party and why they think YOU should run for your Democratic County Central Committee.
Time is running short, though. The filing deadline to run for your County Central Committee is next Friday, March 7 at 5:00 p.m. To beat that deadline, you’ll need to go to your County Registrar of Voters, register as a candidate and get copies of petitions. Then you’ll need to gather 20 valid signatures from registered Democrats in your district. You MUST turn in your signed petitions by March 7.
For a complete guide to the process, please go to our website at www.cadem.org/countypartyfaq.
In this critically important election year of 2008, there’s no better way to get involved with other committed and hard-working Democrats throughout your community and across the state.
Penny
Online Organizing Director
California Democratic Party