Dear California… a report from the Draft Movement and their CA Primary Ballot Campaign

We are in the halfway mark of the ballot effort. It’s been real interesting meeting people, listening to their comments and learning how to work the political system from the grassroots levels. I recommend it to everyone to get involved with this effort as it will open your eyes to what is really been felt and said by us regular Americans.

Right now in my area I am pushing for voter registration along with our nomination papers. You can’t believe how many people don’t know their address has to be updated every time they move, some people don’t even know what party they are. So we working on correcting these problems.

I wish this experience could go on a long time, but alas, we must stop Dec. 4.

We are looking for volunteers, money and properly registered CA Democrats with a little moxy, imagination and political will. Are YOU one?

WE NEED MONEY AND PROFESSIONAL CIRCULATORS RIGHT NOW TO FINISH OUR JOB! GO TO
www.california4gore.org

The Draft Gore Movement Is Setting A Standard. We believe our “candidate” represents the level to which all other political aspirants should aspire to, including our current crop of presidential candidates.

And guess what? So does a lot of mainstream America.

I have Green Party members becoming Democrats so they can sign the nomination papers.
So many people ask me “Oh we really wish Al would run.” Less and less are saying no thanks. Get the picture? 

Like the song says… “I need to wake up”

Every vote counts!!!

Take Care California…Until next time…

  “Organizers of California Draft Gore, a grassroots campaign to put Al Gore’s name on the California presidential primary ballot, announced today that the campaign has volunteers located in or assigned to all of the state’s 53 congressional districts.

Originally convening on websites like algore.org, meetup.com, and draftgore.com, California Gore supporters quickly built the infrastructure necessary to take advantage of the California Election Code, which allows for a candidate’s name to be placed on the ballot if at least 500 registered Democrats’ signatures are obtained from each of the state’s congressional districts.

“In less than sixty days we have filled almost all of the campaign coordinator positions,” said Patrick McGovern, the Los Angeles regional campaign coordinator. “With estimates of over 1,000 volunteers statewide, we are a broad cross-section of Californians.”

One of the first of many Gore ’08 groups to move beyond petitions and pleas, the California campaign’s well-organized grassroots volunteers are optimistic about its chance of success.  California Election Code allows signatures to be collected from October 8th through December 4th, and Berkeley campaign coordinator Gabi Baty believes that the campaign will meet that deadline because “we have people ready to hit the ground running.”

“There’s no doubt we’ll succeed.  The only question is, how quickly.  The sooner it’s inevitable that Al Gore will be on the ballot, the sooner he’ll take notice,” mused San Diego coordinator Ben Cooper.  “We want Gore to realize that we’ve ignited the ‘new movement to rekindle the true spirit of America,’ he described in The Assault on Reason.  We’re not trying to pressure him to run.  We’re planning to inspire him.”

Many of the campaign’s volunteers view their efforts in this light. “We’re doing our part to help him make a decision,” said Beverly Flynn, a campaign coordinator from Turlock who had never been involved with politics until she joined California Draft Gore.

Baty agrees. “Our work to get him on the California ballot may encourage Gore. He may find himself at the front of a wave that’s pushing him forward.”

Campaign organizers are still recruiting volunteers for the signature-gathering campaign. Though California Draft Gore counts many seasoned politicos among its members, it also attracts political newcomers. Linda Morreale, is one such volunteer. Why Gore and why now? “It feels important,” she said. “Of all the choices, he’s the best.”
For more information on the campaign or to contribute to California Draft Gore’s campaign, visit www.california4gore.org.
About California Draft Gore:
California Draft Gore, a grassroots organization, is a Federal PAC. The organization and its website are not affiliated with or authorized by Al Gore, any candidate or candidate’s committee.”

This is something new in American Politics…

Don’t discount the efforts of real people doing what, for the longest time only spin machines, special interest money and professional campaign people did, pick their choice for President. We have a right to make this civic action, it’s our job as citizens. It is not the outcome that is so significant but the process being done. I think Mr. Gore will agree with that and is quite fascinated by our work. We exemplify what he talked about in the Assault On Reason. Just look at past popular movements in this country such as the Civil Rights Movement. I’m sure people discounted them in the beginning. Don’t be so quick to judge, it takes time to test out these things. 

If you have a mind, use it, if you have a voice, speak it, if you have political will,
exercise it. I thank God for Al Gore. God bless America and God bless this beautiful earth.

From The Santa Barbara Independent
“The People’s President”
The Draft Al Gore For President Movement
By Marta Jorgensen, co-regional director of AlGore.org (AGO), Southwest chapter.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
“In my heart, I do believe that democracy was harmed by my network and others on November 7, 2000.”
—?Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News Network, February 14, 2001. (How to Steal an Election, David W. Moore)
Most of us remember painfully well the 2000 election. But some of us aren’t content to let it be simply a painful memory.
In 2002, a dedicated group of individuals who had been involved with Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign set up a Web site called gore04.org and organized a rally in Nashville, Tennessee. Gore told them to stop. He wasn’t into it. In the middle of 2006, the group got it rolling again, teaming up with AlGore.org (AGO) and working with other sites such as draftgore.com, meetup.com, and algoresupportcenter.com. To date, the combined Draft Gore Movement has collected 120,000-plus signatures urging Gore to run. And this time Gore hasn’t told us to cut it out.
The Draft Gore Movement is a labor of love on the part of its rapidly growing membership. Members and organizers do not have deep pockets, but use their own resources and intelligence to try to accomplish what mainstream political parties accomplish with their special-interest money and media spin doctors. They intend to place his name on the primary state ballots and put in place a voting base. Just in case …
Why all this effort? Why not support one of the Democratic candidates who has officially thrown his or her hat in the ring? To put it bluntly, none of them come close to Gore. He has established relationships with numerous world leaders, is well-liked internationally, and is not in anyone’s pocket.
Given the Bush administration’s unprecedented expansion of the unitary executive and sweeping constitutional changes, our next presidency may mean the difference between preserving our constitution and the principles upon which this country was founded, and losing them forever. Gore put it best himself in his 2006 speech, “Restoring the Rule of Law”: “If the pattern of practice begun by this administration is not challenged, it may well become a permanent part of the American system. Many conservatives have pointed out that granting unchecked power to this president means that the next president will have unchecked power as well. And the next president may be someone whose values and belief you do not trust.” The Clintons were involved in various breaches of constitutional law while in office, including allegations that Hillary’s brothers received large sums of money in exchange for requesting (and obtaining) presidential pardons. Both John Edwards and Barack Obama are too inexperienced to adeptly lead America out of its current constitutional and diplomatic crisis.
Gore would make the climate crisis the number one issue for 2008, a necessary agenda no candidate from either party has adopted. By unifying world powers in pursuit of the goal to save our planet, Gore would restore America’s standing in the world, thereby changing the global dialogue on other geopolitical crises as well. If elected president, Gore would: eliminate all payroll taxes and replace that revenue with pollution taxes, principally on CO2; help negotiate a stronger second-generation Kyoto Treaty; create an “Electranet,” a smart electricity grid that would allow individuals and businesses to buy and sell electricity, forcing them to monitor their own consumption; and promote profitable alternative energy business models. Gore is also committed to ending the war in Iraq, which goes hand in hand with reducing our dependence on oil.
In The Assault on Reason, Gore stated, “Many Americans now feel that our government is unresponsive and that no one in a position of power listens to or cares what they think. They feel disconnected from democracy. They feel that one vote makes no difference, and that they, as individuals, now have no practical means of participating in America’s self-government.” Gore is well connected with the citizenry, even engaging in citizens’ Web blog discussions from time to time. As president, he would restore public participation in politics.
Gore has stated that he can accomplish his goals as a private citizen, without getting caught up in the political game. But that can only go so far. Real change in governance must come from the executive. The goal of the Draft Gore Movement is to show him that the people want him to run, and that he has enough popular support to win. According to a recent 7NEWS / Suffolk University poll, 32 percent of Democratic voters would support Gore over the candidate toward which they are currently leaning.
That’s why the Draft Gore effort is becoming so insistent and vocal. Members have shown up at all of The Assault on Reason book-signings. In Los Angeles recently, the “Gore People” were in full force, handing out Gore ’08 buttons, signs, and gear to the 2,000 attendees. Gore said he was “flabbergasted” by the level of organization.
This is real democracy in action. Since 2000, a sizable part of the nation has grown from its pain, is less naïve, and more politically active and vocal, thanks to the Internet. Gore has also grown from his pain, as a man and as a leader. He would be the People’s President. It’s high time the nation and the leader shook hands.
Visit AlGore.org to get involved.

Our latest project: Getting his name on the CA
Primary Ballot.