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February 28, 2006

He Said It ...

President Bush in an ABC News interview with Elizabeth Vargas:

VARGAS: So you don't agree with that report that calls the U.S. "woefully unprepared"?

BUSH: I think the U.S. is better prepared than woefully unprepared.

That about sums it up ... without minimum standards, what else would he have to shoot for.

Governor Corzine Delivers Weekly Radio Address

"Over the past two weeks, the American people have learned that the British company that handles cargo at six major U.S. ports was being taken over by Dubai Ports World - a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates.

There are many reasons why this transaction fails the basic test of common sense with regard to our nation's homeland security..."

Listen here. Full transcript in the extended entry.

Keep reading "Governor Corzine Delivers Weekly Radio Address"

"The Weakest Adminstration on Defense We Have Seen in Many, Many Years"

(From a speech given by Governor Dean earlier today at the the Annual Conference of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. -- Tim)

"Karl Rove says that the Republicans are going to win on the issue of defense. I submit to you that if the issue is defense, the Republicans will lose because this is the weakest Administration on defense that we've seen in many, many years. What I mean is this. For five years this President has been in the White House. For five years North Korea continues to possess nuclear weapons. For five years this Administration has been in the White House, Iran moves closer every day to producing nuclear weapons. For four years, Osama Bin Laden has been on the loose and remains so. And today we see the specter, as reported in the Jerusalem post- of a company that is about to take over American ports, which actively continues today to boycott Israel.

"The Democrats have a better idea. First we will conclude the negotiations with the Chinese and the North Koreans to disarm North Korea. Secondly, under no circumstances will a Democratic Administration ever allow Iran to become a nuclear power. Three, we will kill or capture Osama bin Laden and four, the authority and the control of the ports of the United States must be retained by American companies.

"We are not simply speaking about the United Arab Emirates -- we are also speaking about the western ports which are controlled by companies controlled by the Chinese government. Foreign governments of any kind ought not to be controlling American ports, especially when the Coast Guard already recommended that they could not guarantee the security of the ports."

"We will defend America."

"Republicans have been in power long enough to show that they can't be trusted with your money, your defense or power. The truth is today, 34% of the American people think that the President is doing a good job. So, we're not talking about a fifty-fifty country- we're simply talking about a country that wants competence and honesty in their leadership again"

"While the Republicans have done a good job winning elections the. . .way they win elections is the root cause for why they've done such a terrible job governing America. . .

"If you divide people in order to win elections, you can't govern. . .The president has to understand that they are the President of all people, not just 50.1%."

Together, America Can Do Better - A Positive Democratic Agenda

"So our strategy is very simple- we want to make it clear to the American people what the Republicans are about and what their discrepancies are between what they say and what they do. We also want to make sure the American people understand what we are going to do differently.

"One- we will pass ethics legislation within the first 100 days of our re-ascension to power, and eliminate the scandals and the corruption that the Republicans have brought to power. We want honest and open government in America again.

"Two- we want a strong national defense which begins with telling the truth to our citizens and our soldiers and our allies before we send troops abroad.

"Three- we want American jobs that will stay in America by creating a new energy independence industry, creating thousands of manufacturing jobs and construction jobs to retrofit our homes and businesses.

"Four- we want a health care system which works for everyone, just like 36 other countries in the world have.

"And five- we want a strong public education system so we can have opportunity and optimism back in America again. . ."

2008 Democratic National Convention Cities Announced

Eleven cities have received requests for proposals to host the 2008 Democratic convention. The cities are: Anaheim, CA; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Las Vegas, NV; Minneapolis, MN; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Orlando, FL; Phoenix, AZ; and San Antonio, TX.

After the proposals are returned to the DNC by May 19, the technical advisory committee begins the process of reviewing the applications and visiting the cities this summer. The convention is scheduled for Aug. 25-28, 2008.

Republican Governors See President as a Drag

Add Republican Governors to the list of elected officials racing to get off the sinking ship that is George Bush's presidency.

Republican governors are openly worrying that the Bush administration's latest stumbles from the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina to those of its own making on prescription drugs and ports security are taking an election-year toll on the party back home.

The GOP governors reluctantly acknowledge that the series of gaffes threatens to undermine public confidence in President Bush's ability to provide security, which has long been his greatest strength among voters.

Their discomfort didn't stop them from receiving a dizzying $9.6 MILLION dollars raised at a single fundraiser yesterday evening, with the president as the draw. I'd also quibble with the author's characterization of Katrina response, the prescription drug fiasco, port security, and later in the article, Iraq, as mere "gaffes." These are examples of a severe failure of leadership that weaken our security at home and cost American lives; they are not mere blunders. You know its bad for the president when criminally convicted Republican Governor Bob Taft goes public in his critique of President Bush.

"Bring Us Home"

Zogby:

An overwhelming majority of 72% of American troops serving in Iraq think the U.S. should exit the country within the next year, and nearly one in four say the troops should leave immediately, a new Le Moyne College/Zogby International survey shows.

The poll, conducted in conjunction with Le Moyne College's Center for Peace and Global Studies, showed that 29% of the respondents, serving in various branches of the armed forces, said the U.S. should leave Iraq "immediately," while another 22% said they should leave in the next six months. Another 21% said troops should be out between six and 12 months, while 23% said they should stay "as long as they are needed."

February 27, 2006

Thirty-Four Percent

There isn't very much to say that hasn't already been said over the past few months about the CBS News poll just released today showing the president at a 34% approval rating; it's actually kind of sad that so many Americans view the most powerful man in the country in such an unfavorable light. More regretable, however, is the path President Bush has led the nation down over the past five years.

-- 30% approve of the way he has prosecuted the war in Iraq.

-- 32% believe the president has done an adequate job responding to the needs of Katrina victims.

-- Only 43% believe the president has done a good job fighting "the war on terror."

-- And the majority of Americans think "the president does not care much about people like themselves."

Oh, and the vice president, that beacon of hope and optimism, has an approval rating of eighteen percent. It's no criminally convicted Republican Governor of Ohio Bob Taft (who polls at 14%), but at least it gives him something to shoot for.

"Bribe Menu"

ABC News:

Prosecutors call it a corruption case with no parallel in the long history of the U.S. Congress. And it keeps getting worse. Convicted Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham actually priced the illegal services he provided.

Prices came in the form of a "bribe menu" that detailed how much it would cost contractors to essentially order multimillion-dollar government contracts, according to documents submitted by federal prosecutors for Cunningham's sentencing hearing this Friday. [...]

The sentencing memorandum includes the California Republican's "bribery menu" on one of his congressional note cards, "starkly framed" under the seal of the United States Congress.

The card shows an escalating scale for bribes, starting at $140,000 and a luxury yacht for a $16 million Defense Department contract. Each additional $1 million in contract value required a $50,000 bribe.

Maybe there is no parallel in the overt stupidity displayed by ex-Congressman Cunningham and his enablers in the Republican controlled Congress, but when it comes to the size and scope of the evil deeds, stay tuned. People ask all the time "why would these people need so much campaign cash if they are consistently re-elected by overwhelming margins?" It's cause the most grand pay-to-play scams at the are not just about incumbent protection ... they are about pure unadulterated power at the highest levels of the United States government. It's about being dubbed, "The Mayor of Capitol Hill." It's about being able to flip six seats at once in the 2004 congressional elections in Texas. Of course, in places like, ohhh, let's say the Florida U.S. Senate race, they are about achieving financial parity with a well-liked Democratic incumbent. And yes, in some cases it's about putting greed and purely personal gain above national security. All for things like yachts and mansions other goodies the vast majority of Americans will never even see, let alone alone own. That's why a functioning ethics committee and looking into the public financing of campaigns is so important, and also something you will never see from a Republican party that believes neither in accountability nor oversight.

South Dakota Ban Crosses State Lines

(The following entry was submitted by Christy Agner, Director of the Women's Vote Center at the DNC -- Tim)

Last week, the South Dakota GOP-Controlled Legislature passed legislation specifically to challenge the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling - a ruling that keeps politicians out of the private health decisions of women. Now GOP 2008 presidential hopefuls are testing the waters - and the patience - of the majority of Americans who support the privacy of individuals to make their own health care decisions. Over the weekend, at a dinner set up to hob-knob with newsmakers in Washington, DC, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee - who is rumored as a 2008 hopeful - voiced his support for a ban on all abortions except if the women will die. "I've always felt Roe v. Wade was illegitimate," Huckabee said, and in fact, Arkansas has a law on the books which has the same prohibition, but Roe vs. Wade made it illegitimate. No beating around the bush here - if the Supreme Court meddles with Roe v. Wade, politicians - in South Dakota, Arkansas and possibly the state where you live - will be unwelcome third wheels in your bedroom.

Read news coverage for yourself: Huckabee supports S.D. bill restricting abortions.

The DNC knows where it stands - FIRMLY with women and their privacy.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, speaking on South Dakota approval of a ban on abortion:

"Once again, Republican politicians, this time in South Dakota, are injecting themselves into deeply personal and private health care decisions that Americans believe women and families have the right to make for themselves. We can all agree that abortion should be rare, but it should also be safe and legal. This difficult personal health care decision should be made by a woman, in consultation with her physician, and not by politicians."

"Bonded by Democracy"

Jessica, who does our graphics work, put together a beautiful montage of photos and testimonials from Democracy Bond holders across the country -- it's worth a look. Leave the appropriate props in the comments.

Polls ... Polls ... Polls ...

The first set of primaries are but a week away. It almost makes me feel as I did as a boy when the "Boys of Summer" took the field for the first time each year. Being a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan, I am used to hearing the phrase, "hope springs eteranla." With election season nipping at our heels, these numbers begin to take on new meaning. Unless otherwise indicated, all polls are conducted by Rasmussen Reprts, 500 respondents, have an MoE of +/- 4.5%, and applicable trend lines in parentheses.

Oregon Governor
Ted Kulongoski (D): 51%
Kevin Mannix (R): 36%

Ted Kulongoski (D): 47%
Ron Saxton (R): 33%

Ted Kulongoski (D): 48%
Jason Atkinson (R): 36%

This is terrific news, as the incumbent governor has struggled somewhat in some of the 50 state polling on governor popularity across the country.

Alabama Governor
Bob Riley (R): 53%
Lucy Baxley (D): 37%

Roy Moore (R): 44%
Lucy Baxley (D): 46%

Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich (D): 42% (37)
Judy Baar Topinka (R): 36% (48)

Rod Blagojevich (D): 49% (43)
Jim Oberweis (R): 37% (39)

Rod Blagojevich (D): 47% (40)
Ron Gidwitz (R): 33% (40)

As you can see by the HUGE gains Governor Blagojevich has made over the past few weeks, I'm guessing that something was seriously amiss with the last set of numbers Rasmussen released on this race. Of couse, it could have something to do with a biting Republican primary.

West Virginia U.S. Senate
Robert Byrd (D): 58%
John Raese (R): 32%

Robert Byrd (D): 60%
Hiram Lewis (R): 29%

Robert Byrd (D): 61%
Zane Lawhorn (R): 28%

This ... is terrific news. For months we heard from Senator Elizabeth Dole that West Virginia would be a state with a bullseye on it in 2006. But, much like the poor job she did recruiting in multiple states across the country (See Nebraska/Florida), the GOP is left-with third teir candidates that potentially make this race close only because of their ability to self-finance. Doesn't matter, Senator Byrd is extemely popular and looks to be well on his way to a walk in November.

Colorado Governor
Bill Ritter (D): 40%
Bob Beauprez (R): 33%

Bill Ritter (D) 41%
Marc Holtzman (R): 28%

Gary Lidstrom (D): 36%
Bob Beauprez (R): 37%

Gary Lidstrom (D): 35%
Marc Holtzman (R): 33%

I saved the best for last on this set of numbers. Now that Mayor Hickenlooper (D) has decided to sit out the race, the numbers for the Democratic candidates have surged. I say the best for last because Beauprez is absolutely shameless and insufferable. It was only earlier this month he was parading around the campaign trail in full military flight regalia despite requesting, and receiving, three deferments during the Vietnam war. What's worse, Beauprez has the worst voting record in Congress on military issues according to the Disabled American Veterans.

The New York Times ran a nice piece late last week providing a decent snapshot of where we stand as of right now in gubernatorial contests across the country.

At a time when considerable political attention is focused on the Democrats' uphill struggle to recapture Congress, leaders of both parties say Democrats appear to be in a much stronger position on another pivotal battlefield this November, the contests for governors.

Democrats have a strong chance to pick up a number of seats held by Republicans while keeping seats even in states that President Bush won in 2004, potentially allowing Democrats to put their view of government on display across a bigger swath of the country and strengthening their position for the 2008 presidential race, party officials said.

Among the states that could flip to the Democratic column are Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Ohio, all general election battlegrounds carried by Mr. Bush, as well as New York and perhaps California.

Play Ball!

Open Thread

Late start ... thread's open.

February 24, 2006

9/11 Commission Chair Speaks Out Against Port Deal

Republican Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Thomas Kean*, spoke out today against the Republican plan to sell of six major U.S. ports to a foreign, state-owned corporation. The Associated Press:

Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey who led the bipartisan probe of the Sept. 11 attacks, said the deal was a big mistake because of past connections between the 2001 hijackers and the UAE.

"It shouldn't have happened, it never should have happened," Kean said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The quicker the Bush administration can get out of the deal, the better, he said. "There's no question that two of the 9/11 hijackers came from there and money was laundered through there," Kean said.

Also of note in the article, President Bush says he refuses to reconsider the deal that places corporate interests ahead of national security ... again. The president has said before that he wasn't "all that concerned" with Osama bin Laden, but now it's becoming clear that he isn't all that concerned with national security in total. You might remember the last time the Chairman of the 9/11 Commission was forced to speak out on the president's national security creds. "It's not a priority for the government. A lot of things we need to do to prevent another 9/11 just simply aren't being done by the president or by the Congress." In fact, the commission found the president and his rubber stamp Republican Congress' were a collective failure in protecting the country -- giving them 1 A (and it was an A-), out of 41 categories in a post-9/11 progress report.

*Thomas Kean Sr. should not to be confused with Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, Thomas Kean Jr. (as much as Jr. would like you to)

FL-Sen: More Bad News for Katherine Harris

First she wakes up to find herself trailing Senator Bill Nelson by 22 points, 53 to 31...

A few hours later, she is outed as having received huge amounts of illegal campaign contributions from Mitchell Wade. San Diego Union Tribune:

In a summary of the prosecution's case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard R. Sklamberg disclosed that Wade made about $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions in 2004 and 2006 to two members of Congress he did not name. The lawmakers were targeted because they had the potential to steer federal contracts to MZM.

Roll Call lowers the hammer a few hours later.

Wade also steered $78,000 in illegal contributions to the re-election campaigns of Reps. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) and Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) during the 2003-04 and 2005-06 election cycles. Neither lawmaker was aware that Wade was reimbursing other donors for making those contributions, according to the criminal information document.

Notes From Rumsfeld Meeting on 9/11

2:40 P.M - Notes Taken By DoD staffer Stephen Cambone in meetings with Donald Rumsfeld

"Best info fast ... judge whether good enough hit S.H. @ at same time - not only UBL."

"Hard to get a good case"

"- Near term target needs --
- go massive - sweep it all up
- Things related + not"

The documents were FOIA'd by... a blogger. Some of this information, like the SH [Saddam Hussein] & UBL [Usama Bin Laden] quotes, found its way into the 9/11 Commission Report and Bob Woodward's book. Some of them, like "sweep it up - things related + not" only saw the light of day in a little seen CBS news piece in November of 2002. Either way, it's pretty clear the adminstration's plans to attack Iraq were underway on 9/11, and they weren't going to let facts get in the way... a common theme over the past 5 1/2 years.

The blogger has posted the full compliment of notes totaling four different pages in .pdf form and on his flickr account. Here is the a letter to Mr. Anderson from the Department of Defense.

"In Case YOU Missed It" ...

... the American people trust the Democratic Party in Congress more than President Bush when it comes national security.

Rasmussen. 1000 Adults. Febrary 23-26, 2006. MoE +/- 4%

Trust More on National Security
President Bush: 41%
Democrats in Congress: 43%

Should Dubai Ports World Be Allowed to Buy Port Operating Rights?
Yes: 17%
No: 64%

At long last, a plurarity of Americans see right through an adminstration so completely out-of-touch with reality.

Anything for a Buck

Bob Dole, International Man of Mystery:

With his wife under fire from Democrats, and lobbying spouses under increased scrutiny, former Sen. Bob Dole pledged Thursday not to pitch members of Congress -- including Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. -- on the controversial ports deal involving a Persian Gulf-based company. Dubai Ports World has hired Dole and his law firm, Alston & Bird, to help rescue the deal giving it control of six U.S. ports.

Flashback, from Congressman Sherrod Brown's book, Myths of Free Trade:

"We discovered that the Chilean government had hired Bob Dole to represent them against U.S. salmon farmers. Dole had served as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, the panel with jurisdiction over trade. After my office alerted the media, Dole angrily demanded to know who that Ohio Congressman was who had outed him."

An Apocalyptic Day In Iraq - An Out Of Touch Administration

You need look no further than the front page of the Republican National Committee website to see just how out-of-touch the current administration is with reality -- the message: "Clap Louder." A whole week worth of good news compiled from a total of four links... Here's a few more links with information conspicuously missing from their "news of the week."

Because the nation teeters on the brink of civil war, there are now day and night time curfews (Link)

Iraqi police admit attacks on at least twenty-seven mosques in Baghdad alone, coupled with the murder of three clerics. (Link) And that's just what has been confirmed by Iraqi police; "the main Sunni religious group said 184 Sunni mosques had been damaged, some destroyed; 10 clerics had been killed and 15 abducted." (Link)

And oh yeah, bombers blew up one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, the Golden Dome, in Samarra (Link)

Here's how one of the top stories in the New York Times this morning described the scene across Iraq:

After a day of violence so raw and so personal, Iraqis woke on Thursday morning to a tense new world in which, it seemed, anything was possible.

The violence on Wednesday was the closest Iraq had come to civil war, and Iraqis were stunned. In Al Amin, a neighborhood in southeast Baghdad, a Shiite man said he had watched gunmen set a house on fire. It was identified as the residence of Sunni Arab militants, said the man, Abu Abbas, though no one seemed to know for sure who they were.

"We all were shocked," said Abu Abbas, a vegetable seller, standing near crates of oranges and tomatoes. "We saw it burning. We called the fire department. We didn't know how to behave. Chaos was everywhere."

In a world where naysayers and pessimists are all to often branded by Republicans as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy", isn't about time someone at Republican Party Headquarters and in the White House do something other than "clap louder?" Even Karl Rove was at it again this morning on ... wait for it ... Fox News.

SNOW: So you expect this [the bombing of the mosque] is going to strengthen the opposition to the terrorists?

ROVE: I think it could. I think it’s likely to.

It's just a complete denial of reality from a completely out-of-touch administration. The three year public relations plan for success of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best has run its course. The Democratic Party is focused on a positive plan for Iraq -- one that acknowledges reality.

Open Thread

One more before bed. And if this story from Rochester, New York doesn't put you down for the evening, or help you wake up, with a smile on your face... well, then I just don't know what to tell you:

An autistic teenager proved hoop dreams can come true. Jason McElwain is the basketball manager for Athena-Greece High School. For three years, he suited up and sat on the sidelines during every game. On Feb. 15, the coach let him play in the school's final varsity basketball game of the season.

What happened next? Jason hit a three-pointer. And another. And another. And another... Five three pointers in a row. The tear-jerker? There's video.

February 23, 2006

VT-$en: PWN3D

It's only fitting that the candidate hoping to purchase a U.$. $enate seat in Vermont with $10 million dollars of his personal fortune found himself "owned" in a public debate over campaign finance.

Republican gazillionaire Richard Tarrant asked Independent candidate Bernie Sanders to stand with him against third-party advertising in the upcoming U.S. Senate election. A cynic might believe that Tarrant's overture had something to do with the ridiculous amout of his own personal fortune he intends to spend in the race ...

But Sanders, to his credit, accepted anyway and basically says, since we are all about holding Vermont up as a national example, why don't we put spending caps on our campaigns? And I'll tell ya what, since my name ID is a bit higher than yours, and I already hold a statewide office, I'll even agree to let you spend 20% more than I will in the campaign. And oh yeah, no negative ads... and if you gotta go negative, we'll agree to talk directly into the camera, no hiding behind manipulated photos and digitally remastered audio tracks. And while we're at it, let's take our case directly to the people a bit more often; how about a debate in each and every one of Vermont's counties between now and election day?

Tarrant... wait for it ... hold on... refused. His campaign manager called the counter offer by Sanders an "incumbent protection plan." Never mind the Senate seat is open. Looks like the early cynics might have been correct.

As an aside, Sanders landed one of my personal favorite writers for his campaign blog ... making it a daily must-read.

Open Thread - Quotable Edition

President Bush, earlier today:

"People don't need to worry about security."

The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, Page 53 (.pdf)

Our current system for homeland security does not provide the necessary framework to manage the challenges posed by 21st Century catastrophic threats.

Support the Troops ... Price Them Out of Health Care

Associated Press:

The Bush administration wants many military retirees to pay more for health care, a proposal that could force the Republican-run Congress to choose between savvy politics and budget discipline.

Only in a Republican controlled congress would funding the health care promises we make to veterans when they sign the contract be a choice between "savvy politics" and "budget discipline." How about it gets funded because it's the right thing to do ... Because its the promise we make when that young Marine signs the contract in his kitchen alongside his wife and newborn child.

The Pentagon projects that as many as 600,000 military retirees will be priced out of TRICARE as a result of the higher fees. This adminstration never hesitates to stand infront of the troops when it comes to a photo-op, but consistently fails to stand behind them when it comes time to fulfill the promises made.

All Your Reproductive Rights Are Belong To Us

South Dakota State House:

13 Women
57 Men

South Dakota State Senate:

2 Women
33 Men

The South Dakota Argus Leader:

A bill designed to urge the Supreme Court to reconsider the ruling that legalized abortion passed its highest hurdle Wednesday, clearing the South Dakota Senate with a 23-12 vote.

HB1215, which declares that human life begins at conception, would ban most abortions in South Dakota.

The bill now goes back to the House, which passed an earlier version and now must decide whether to accept changes made by the Senate.

The South Dakota Senate rejected amendments to the bill that would have allowed exceptions in the case of rape/incest. They also rejected, by a vote of 13-22, an amendment allow an abortion to protect the health of a pregnant woman.

Current U.S Supreme Court:

1 Woman
8 Men

DNC Podcast: Senator Mary Landrieu

This week, the Democratic National Committee's Podcast features an interview with Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu. Following a House report issued last week by Republican Rep. Tom Davis, Senator Landrieu criticized the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

"Having the Republican leadership that has been loath to give much oversight at all to this Administration release such a report says volumes about how far we are from where we should be as a nation preparing our people," Landrieu said. "I agree with Tom Davis's scathing assessment. It really should have Americans all over, whether they're Republicans, Democrats, or Independents, waking up."

In contrast to the Davis report, the White House introduced a report from a White House conducted "investigation" that concluded everyone but top White House officials were to blame for the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. Go figure...

Listen to Senator Landrieu here.

Trivia Time...

Where have we heard a similar exchange before?

Levin, raising his voice at the briefing, told Kimmitt, "If you want the law changed, come to Congress and change it but don't ignore it."

Kimmitt responded, "We didn't ignore the law. Concerns were raised. They were resolved."

Warner then jumped in to assure Levin that he would ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to prepare a memorandum on the administration's interpretation of the law.

Acceptable answers:

Today, at a Senate briefing about handing over the security of six of our nation's largest ports to a foreign, state-owned corporation.

or...

The past few months, when it became clear that President Bush authorized an illegal domestic spying program.

This is what happens under Republican one-party rule; there is absolutely no oversight and the adminstration is allowed to run amuck over existing statute and even the Constitution. Bonus points for those who can come up with the laws violated in each instance.

Governor Dean at UCLA

The Daily Bruin:

As elected chairman of the Democratic Nominating Committee and a frontrunner for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, Howard Dean has faced larger, more critical audiences but Wednesday evening he spoke to a UCLA lecture hall filled with student supporters to its 227-person capacity. ...

The event, put on by the Bruin Democrats, consisted of a 20-minute speech and a 20-minute Q-and-A session, and is one of the many college stops Dean has made.

The article in its entirety is linked above.

Senators

Survey USA released it's latest state-by-state polling of all 100 United States Senators. Of note... the four seeking re-election with the lowest approval ratings are Republicans.

Priorities

Associated Press/Ipsos. 1,000 Adults. February 13-16, 2006. MoE +/- 3.1%

"Which do you think should be the higher priority for government spending: the war in Iraq or recovery from Hurricane Katrina?"

Iraq: 31%
Katrina: 64%
Unsure: 5%

"Thinking about the areas in Louisiana and Mississippi hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina: To the best of your knowledge, are those areas now mostly recovered, or are they still badly damaged?"

Mostly Recovered: 7%
Badly Damaged: 87%
Unsure: 6%

"How confident are you in the federal government's ability to handle a major disaster in the future?"

Confident: 47%
Not Confident: 52%

For some of us that live in different parts of the country, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is something we think about when we see the words pop up on a television screen or scroll past them when reading something online or in a newspaper. It's only then that we recall the horrific images of people standing on top of roofs, clammoring outside the convention center, and images of young children starving for food... and within minutes, it leaves our minds again.

For the people of Louisiana, and formerly of Louisiana who still want to return, Katrina and specifically the response to Katrina is something that continues to impact almost every aspect of their lives, and impacts it every single day. All you have to do is take a look at the Times Picayune on a daily basis for a sobering reminder of what they are going through months after the Hurricane struck and the levees broke. As the polls above show, the people of America get it right again as the Republican congress in D.C. continues to come up way short for the people of the Gulf Coast. We simply must do better.

Civil War

Most of us saw the news yesterday morning; bombers wearing uniforms entered one of the most sacred Shi'ite sites -- the "Golden Mosque" -- and detonated explosives that blew the top off of the site's signature dome. Dozens died, and many view the horrific event as the tipping point that sends Iraq spiraling into civil war.

The aftermath looks even worse -- Associated Press:

Gunmen shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad Thursday as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine. Sunni Arabs suspended their participation in talks on a new government.

At least 47 other bodies were found scattered across Iraq, many of them shot execution-style and dumped in Shiite-dominated parts of Baghdad.

The hardline Sunni Clerical Association of Muslim Scholars said 168 Sunni mosques had been attacked, 10 imams killed and 15 abducted since the shrine attack. The Interior Ministry said it could only confirm figures for Baghdad, where 90 mosques were attacked in Baghdad, one cleric was killed, and one abducted.

Officials said at least 110 people had been killed across the country in violence believed triggered by the mosque attack.

The president called for restraint and asked the people of Iraq to "pursue justice in accordance with the laws and constitution of Iraq." Unfortunately, they are seeking the only justice they know in the "new Iraq." The circus that is the Saddam Hussein trial isn't doing us any favors in convincing the people of Iraq that the rule of law is really the way to go. And the country we attacked to save is now spiraling deeper and deeper into civil war... and that is a tragedy.

Open Thread

Respect.

February 22, 2006

Open Thread

In case you missed 'em:

FL-Gov & Sen: Crist (R) & Nelson (D) Lead
MD-Sen: "Stem Cell Steele" in Big Trouble
Who's In Charge Over There?
Rep. Louise Slaughter - "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption"
Governor Dean in Washington
Candidate Senator McCain Plays Presidential Politics With Port Deal
Yet Another Reason...

Yet Another Reason...

The New York Times provides yet another reason why handing over control of U.S. port security to a foreign, state-owned company in the manner the president continues to insist upon is a bad idea ... cause it's against the law.

The administration's review of the deal was conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a body that was created in 1975 to review foreign investments in the country that could affect national security. Under that review, officials from the Defense, State, Commerce and Transportation Departments, along with the National Security Council and other agencies, were charged with raising questions and passing judgment. They found no problems to warrant the next stage of review, a 45-day investigation with results reported to the president for a final decision.

However, a 1993 amendment to the law stipulates that such an investigation is mandatory when the acquiring company is controlled by or acting on behalf of a foreign government. Administration officials said they conducted additional inquires because of the ties to the United Arab Emirates, but they could not say why a 45-day investigation did not occur.

There is still time for the president to order such an investigation, and the International Longshoremen's Association just joined Senators Schumer, Clinton, Menendez, Coburn, Lautenberg and Dodd in calling for the full 45 day review.

Candidate Senator McCain Plays Presidential Politics With Port Deal

Everyone's favorite "maverick," Senator John McCain, has transformed his "straight talk express" into the only fully-funded first reponse operation paid for by the current Bush Adminstration.

Bush and McCain have begun to build a political alliance for 2008. As public opinion on the war continued to drop, Bush highlighted McCain's "strong support" for the war in Iraq in December of 2005. In turn, Bush loyalists "have talked [McCain] up in private chats with Republican strategists and have even tried to steer people to the Arizonan's effort.” In addition, McCain has used Bush's direct mail list of major political donors to raise funds for his PAC. [Oval Office press conference, 12/15/05; CBS News Poll Summary, 12/28/05; U.S. News and World Report, 2/20/06; Chicago Sun Times, 2/19/06]

Indeed, it was candidate Senator McCain coming to the aid of President Bush first in regards to the impending national disaster that would be handing the keys to six major U.S. ports over to a foreign country, the United Arab Emirates.

We all need to take a moment and not rush to judgment on this matter without knowing all the facts. The President's leadership has earned our trust in the war on terror, and surely his administration deserves the presumption that they would not sell our security short...let's make a judgment when we possess all the pertinent facts.

Judgement has been reached, we have all the pertinent facts -- starting with the fact that this would be the the "first-ever sale involving U.S. port operations to a foreign, state-owned company." Senator Menendez said it best, "I don't think any foreign government company should be running our ports, managing, leasing, owning, operating. It just raises too many red flags."

Governor Dean in Washington

Traveling the country, raising money for state parties, inspiring activists, and continuing his work on the 50 State Strategy. From The Olympian:

Democrats credited both President Bush and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean with bringing people to Saint Martin’s University Monday, as the state Democrats raised a record amount of money at their annual crab feed. [...]

About 1,000 people registered for the day's events, and at least 200 more showed up for the crab feed, raising about $70,000, said party spokesman Viet Shelton.

He said a previous record of around $43,000 was set in 2004.

Dean was the featured speaker at the annual event. He was joined onstage by Gov. Chris Gregoire, State Auditor Brian Sonntag, State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, all six Democratic congressmen and, from the state Legislature, Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown.

Former Gov. Booth Gardner also made brief remarks.

Dean, addressing the crowd, said the party’s new "50-state strategy" of campaigning in all states, not just swing states, already is paying off. He cited recent Democratic wins in local elections in traditionally Republican states.

"If we can win in Mississippi, Alabama and Utah, Democrats can win anywhere in America," he said. "We're not going to win in 2008 if we don't go and stand there right now."

The entire article detailed and well-worth the read. LHfromSeattle also attended the event and has a write-up available on Howard Empowered People.

Rep. Louise Slaughter - "America for Sale: The Cost of Republican Corruption"

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter released a 103 page (.pdf) report detailing the Republican culture of corruption and it's impact on the American people.

A Confusing and Expensive Medicare Program Millions of American seniors have been forced into a confusing and expensive new Medicare drug program that was not created for them, but for the insurance and drug industries who were given special access to shape this legislation.

An Energy "Strategy" That Saves No Energy While American consumers must live with an energy policy that the Energy Department itself has found will not reduce our high oil and gas prices, the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration have rewarded the oil companies with billions of dollars in new tax breaks and subsidies.

Polluters Re-Writing Environmental Laws The quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink has been degraded because energy lobbyists temporarily working in the Bush Administration have undermined some of our country's most important environmental standards.

A Nation Still Vulnerable to Terrorist Attacks No American citizen can be sure that the billions of dollars the federal government is spending on homeland security projects are making us safer, rather than just making politically-connected defense contractors richer.

A Government Run by Political Hacks Americans have no confidence that their government will be able to adequately respond if a disaster (natural or man-made) strikes their community, because its agencies are staffed not by professionals, but by political cronies and lobbyists like Michael Brown, who botched the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Fat Cats Get Their Defense Contracts, but Soldiers Don't Get Their Body Armor American soldiers and their families don't know if they are going to have the body armor and other supplies they need to fight in Iraq, because Members of Congress are instead steering hundreds of millions of dollars to defense contracts for products and services the military often says it does not need and, at the same time, unscrupulous contractors like Halliburton are defrauding the government of millions of dollars.

Drug Companies Get Off the Hook if Their Products Injure Americans While American citizens, public health officials, and first responders worry about how our country would handle the outbreak of a flu pandemic, the Republican Congress recently relieved the pharmaceutical industry of any responsibility for the harm their vaccines or other products might cause during such a crisis.

Corporate Profits Up, American Family Income Down While record numbers of American workers are losing their good-paying jobs as well as their health and pension benefits, large corporations are enjoying new tax breaks and record profits, and are still free to move their corporate organizations overseas to avoid taxes.

Student Loan Debt, Student Loan Industry Profits Both at Record Highs Thanks to the efforts of newly-elected Majority Leader John Boehner, private student loan companies are some of the most profitable companies in America and American students are graduating with record student loan debt.

The report pulls no punches, and names names. Congresswoman Slaughter stopped by Daily Kos to explain the report while going into a bit more detail than I provided above.

Who's In Charge Over There?

As the president runs around threatening to veto attempts to stop the transfer of our national security to a foreign government, the United Arab Emirates, it turns out even he had no idea about the port deal until after it happened.

President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday.

Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats.

Calls for extended review by both political parties are completely warranted here.

MD-Sen: "Stem Cell Steele" in Big Trouble

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. February 19, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Ben Cardin (D): 49% (40)
Michael Steele (R): 35% (45)

Kweisi Mfume (D): 41% (38)
Michael Steele (R): 42% (45)

That's quite a swing over the past month. Wonder why? Well, it's because the Michael Steele campaign is completely imploding. First, Steele compared stem cell research to the Holocaust -- ridculous on it's face and something I'll let go without further comment. Then, only a week later, he claimed to support embryonic stem cell research during a talk show interview. Next up... his campaign manager quit and Republican D.C. consultants swarmed in with the belief that their national expertise will help rescue Steele's local campaign -- which, essentially started a war inside the campaign leading to the resignation of his communications director.

Not a good few weeks.

FL-Gov & Sen: Crist (R) & Nelson (D) Lead

Governor's Race - Quinnipiac. 1,076 registered voters. February 15-20, 2006. MoE +/- 3%

Davis (D): 36% (40)
Crist (R): 40% (39)

Davis (D): 36% (41)
Gallagher (R): 37% (38)

Smith (D): 32% (36)
Crist (R): 42% (41)

Smith (D): 34% (36)
Gallagher (R): 38% (41)

Democratic Primary
Davis (D): 29%
Smith (R): 13%

The problem here, if there is any this early in the campaign, is that both Democrats have pretty low name identification throughout the state. By far and away, Republican Attorney General has the highest named ID of the lot, even though that is only at 31% statewide.

U.S. Senate Race - Strategic Vision (R). 1,200 Likely Voters. February 17-19, 2006. MoE +/- 3%

Bill Nelson (D): 49%
Katherine Harris (R): 34%
Undecided 17%

This race remains a rout almost every single time any polling operation takes a look inside the sunshine state. Amazingly, Nelson doesn't do as well against two other potential Republican challengers.

Bill Nelson (D): 48%
Mark Foley (R): 40%
Undecided 12%

Bill Nelson (D): 47%
Allan Bense (R): 35%
Undecided 18%

Unfortunately for Elizabeth Dole and the NRSC, Harris is damaged goods in a general election -- Floridians remember well her role in the 2000 presidential election. However, among Republicans, her name is golden, despite the fact it appears she is not the best candidate to take on incumbent Senator Nelson.

Katherine Harris (R): 46%
Mark Foley (R): 12%
Allan Bense (R): 6%

If that's who they want... we'll take it.

Open Thread

Ever wake up and feel like you just got punk'd?

February 21, 2006

President Shrugs off National Security

The president is shrugging of consensus from both parties ... again.

This time it has to do with national security concerns -- specifically, allowing a foreign country to handle United States port security.

Dubai Ports World's agreed acquisition of US port operations from P&O , the British port operator, was facing jeopardy on Tuesday as more Washington lawmakers, including the Senate's top Republican, threatened to block the deal until it was investigated more thoroughly.

President George W Bush immediately responded by saying he would veto any legislation and warned the US was sending "mixed signals" by raising barriers now when no objection had been made against British ownership. Lawmakers, the president said, must "step up and explain why a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard."

This isn't about holding a Middle Eastern company to a different standard, this is about turning over control of six of our nation's major entrances to ANY foreign country. Even Rick Santorum is outraged:

That's why I'm concerned any time it appears as if we're not taking the terrorist threat seriously enough. As I write you, the control of six major U.S. seaports -- including the Port of Philadelphia -- could be outsourced to the United Arab Emirates, a nation that was implicated in the events of 9/11.

The short-hand version of the email Santorum sent out basically accuses the president himself of not taking national security very seriously. And frankly, it appears he is right. Here is a president that has not used his veto power a single time in his five years of office -- and for this, to hand over our port security to a foreign nation, he is willing to break out the pen for the first time.

Open Thread

From earlier today:

All for the Photo-Op
IL-Gov: More Lord of the Flies
NM-AG: Patricia Madrid Delivers Radio Address
UT-Sen: Just Lie To Me, Baby...
Democrats Focused on Plan for Iraq
Ohio GOP Chair: Blackwell's "Guttural Politics"
PA-Sen: Casey Still Smoking Santorum
PA-Gov: Rendell/Swann Neck and Neck
OH-Gov: Strickland Leads All

All for the Photo-Op

Do they even try to hide it anymore?

On the eve of a presidential visit to a renewable energy lab in Colorado, the Department of Energy said it has transferred $5 million to the operation, which had funding cut and employees laid off this month due to budget shortfalls.

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman transferred the money over the weekend to restore jobs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, according to a department news release.

...

According to The Associated Press, 32 workers, including eight researchers, were laid off two weeks ago at the Colorado lab.

The restoration of funding left lab employees and renewable energy proponents puzzled about the motivation behind the decision.

"I'm still questioning why the budget cuts even happened or why the layoffs had to happen in the first place -- like how it can happen two or three weeks later they restore the money to the budget," said Tina Larney, an employee being rehired who works with state and local governments on energy initiatives.

"It makes me question ... the seriousness of the commitment [of] the administration and the government in Washington to renewable energies and moving the U.S. forward in our energy policy."

After all these years, I shouldn't be surprised that the Bush Administration doesn't know the difference between a public relations and public policy.

IL-Gov: More Lord of the Flies

Daily Herald on last night's Republican Primary debate:

Patience among the field of five appeared to be running thin, as evidenced by an end-of-debate exchange between Sugar Grove businessman Jim Oberweis and state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka of Riverside.

"Judy, do you really have to read a closing statement instead of speaking from your heart?" Oberweis interjected.

Replied Topinka, "Ah, I'm sick of listening to 'Oberweis dairies' and your milkmaid stories."

Oberweis is threatening to acquire the "frequent candidate" moniker after losing two straight bids in Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Bear in mind that Oberweis was passed over in favor of Alan Keyes to take on Senator Obama in 2004.

The fight for the conch continues:

Brady said he's been serving as a lawmaker for 12 years and thinks the lack of accountability in education is a problem.

That prompted Gidwitz to reply: "Bill, I've been working on education reform for 20 years. You may have been in Springfield, and maybe you’re part of the problem, Bill."

Said Brady in response: "Ron, you've been chairman of the state board. You want to talk about a problem?"

And more Republican fun:

For perennial candidate and former Democrat Andy Martin of Chicago, it meant explaining a past that includes a 12-year mail fraud sentence that later was overturned, the Illinois Supreme Court’s refusal to grant him a law license citing paranoid delusional behavior, and anti-Semitic comments made during the 1980s. ...

For Topinka, it meant discussing her past praise of George Ryan, the ex-Republican governor who now faces federal corruption charges in an ongoing trial. Topinka said when she made her comments, people didn’t know about the actions that prompted federal charges against Ryan.

And so it was yesterday evening... Recent polling shows a tight race between Governor Blagojevich (D) and his Republican rivals. You can visit the incumbent Democrat's campaign website, here.

NM-AG: Patricia Madrid Delivers Radio Address

This week, New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid was the first Democratic challenger of the 2006 cycle to to deliver the Democratic Radio Address.

I was at my local pharmacy here in New Mexico a few weeks ago, I was in line behind a senior who couldn't afford his prescription drugs. It hurt me to see seniors in my own community asking the pharmacist for half-orders, so they can at least have some of their medicines.

I have elderly parents who rely on medication, and I know that the prices are astronomical. Like many Americans, I was pleased when the President and Congress decided to address this problem. What I didn't know is that the Republican Congress would put the pharmaceutical companies in charge of the process, and write a law that serves their interests while making things harder for seniors. ...

You can listen to the entire address, here.

UT-Sen: Just Lie To Me, Baby...

Stolen in it's entirety from Think Progress:

What Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said about Saddam Hussein’s relationship with al-Qaeda on Saturday:

Nobody denies that [Saddam Hussein] was supporting al-Qaeda ... Well, I shouldn't say nobody. Nobody with brains.

What the bi-partisan 9-11 commission said about Saddam Hussein’s relationship with al-Qaeda:

The Sept. 11 commission reported yesterday that it has found no "collaborative relationship" between Iraq and al Qaeda, challenging one of the Bush administration's main justifications for the war in Iraq.

Hatch made his remarks at an invitation-only luncheon. They’ve only been reported in a small Utah paper, The St. George Daily Spectrum.

Democrat Pete Ashdown is running an innovative and inspirational campaign to unseat Senator Hatch in November.

Democrats Focused on Plan for Iraq

While From the Boston Globe:

Democratic Party leaders are beginning to coalesce around a broad plan to begin a quick withdrawal of US troops and install them elsewhere in the region, where they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and help fight terrorism in other countries.

The concept, dubbed "strategic redeployment," is outlined in a slim, nine-page report coauthored by a former Reagan administration assistant Defense secretary, Lawrence J. Korb, in the fall. It sets a goal of a phased troop withdrawal that would take nearly all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2007...

Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee chairman, has endorsed Korb's paper and begun mentioning it in meetings with local Democratic groups. In addition, the study's concepts have been touted by the senator assigned to bring Democrats together on Iraq -- Jack Reed of Rhode Island -- and the report has been circulated among all senators by Senator Dianne Feinstein, an influential moderate Democrat from California.

This common sense plan, though not a formal policy, puts Democratic ideas squarely at odds with the Republican three-year plan of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, a nifty public relations plan for success, and asking people to serve their country by placing U.S. Senate campaign bumper stickers on the back of cars. The current course staked out by President Bush, which completely ignores reality and military commanders' advice on troop levels, is no longer an option. That's why the majority of Americans now feel the war was a mistake and disapprove of the way the president has handled the prosecution of the effort. And that's to say nothing of the majority who also believe the president deliberately misled the American people on WMDs and Iraq in the run-up to the war.

Ohio GOP Chair: Blackwell's "Guttural Politics"

Ha! Ohio GOP Chairman Bob Bennett on Kenneth Blackwell's latest slash-and-burn primary campaign ad:

"The race for governor should be a contest of ideas, not smear tactics and attack ads. I expect this kind of negative campaigning from the Democrats, but Ken Blackwell should have a better strategy for winning this primary than simply burning down the house. A man who models himself after Ronald Reagan should have a little more respect for winning on ideas and vision. He knows the accusations in these ads are politically motivated, and this kind of guttural politics doesn't win votes. If we can't win with substantive ideas for leading Ohio, we don't belong in the race."

Lord of the flies, indeed.

PA-Sen: Casey Still Smoking Santorum

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. February 16, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Bob Casey (D): 52%
Rick Santorum (R): 36%

Captain K-Street himself is suffering from a serious case of foot-in-mouth syndrome that continues to cost him with Pennsylvania voters. Whether it was his book blaming working mothers for societal ills, or his ridiculous claim about having no affiliation with Grover Norquist and the K-Street Project, Santorum's worst enemy continues to be, well, himself. He also faces the threat of an extremely fired up group of grassroots organizations committed to defeating the junior Senator from Pennsylvania in November.

The poll failed to include Bob Casey's primary challenger, Chuck Pennacchio.

UPDATE: The invaluable Will Bunch has the cover story about Senator Santorum in the current American Prospect.

PA-Gov: Rendell/Swann Neck and Neck

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. February 16, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Ed Rendell (D): 46%
Lynn Swann (R): 43%

Lynn Swann is the freshly minted endorsed candidate for Governor of the Pennsylvania Republican Party and is undoubtedly the recipient of a post Super Bowl bounce in the polls. Unfortunately, Swann is asking Pennsylvanians to do something he hasn't done much of in the past 36 elections ... vote.

OH-Gov: Strickland Leads All

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. Date Unclear/Released Monday. MoE +/- 4.5%

Ted Strickland (D): 47%
Ken Blackwell (R): 35%

Ted Strickland (D): 44%
Jim Petro (R): 37%

The Ohio Republican Party is in complete dissaray. The chairman of the party, Bill Bennett just wanted someone, anyone, to drop out of the gubernatorial primary. Unfortunately for him and the GOP faithful in Ohio, that day has come and gone. We now have until May to watch Blackwell and Petro slime eachother, almost daily, on the news, in press releaes, and on Blackwell's campaign blog.

UPDATE: HT to Buckeye Senate Blog on this one -- Ken Blackwell has just gone nuclear on his primary opponent, Jim Petro. I hate linking to the Ken Blackwell campaign website, but this ad is nuts.

Worse than Bob Taft? In case you needed a reminder, Repbulican Governor Bob Taft has a 14% approval rating in Ohio.

Open Thread

Ding ding ding.

February 20, 2006

Open Thread

Light posting, I'll be on the road. Play nice.

February 19, 2006

A Year of Progress for DNC LGBT Outreach

This week marks the one year anniversary of Howard Dean taking the helm of the Democratic National Committee. Under Dean's leadership, the DNC has dramatically expanded and improved its outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities across America. Today, Dean issued the following statement on the progress of those efforts:

"In the past year, the DNC has made tremendous progress in expanding and improving outreach to our friends and family in the LGBT community. I am proud to say that, because of the organizational reforms implemented when I became Chairman, we have dramatically increased the resources brought to bear in our LGBT messaging, organizing, and outreach efforts. Under the leadership of the American Majority Partnership, our Party is moving into a new era in reaching out to our closest allies.

"The Democratic Party has never been more committed to protecting equal rights for the LGBT community. We are standing strong with the community, fighting the Republican Party's repugnant efforts to exploit the politics of fear and division and scapegoat LGBT families for electoral gain. I am proud to lead a Party that will never resort to such shameful tactics. As long as I am chairman, this Party will always help provide the LGBT community every opportunity to live the American Dream."

The following is a fact sheet on the DNC's accomplishments in enhancing DNC outreach to LGBT communities and empowering those communities in Dean's first year as Chairman:

Establishing the American Majority Partnership.

The DNC has replaced the old "political desk" system with the American Majority Partnership, an integrated approach to constituent outreach that incorporates LGBT outreach throughout the work of the DNC and seeks to identify common issues of concern to all the Democratic Party's core communities.

• AMP is located directly in the Chairman's Office, giving outreach to constituent groups the visibility and importance it deserves and helping ensure that LGBT outreach is never subordinate to other work within the DNC.
• AMP is implementing an expanded, institutionalized and permanent LGBT outreach program, replacing the traditional system of establishing isolated "political desks" and simply parachuting LGBT organizers into targeted states weeks before an election.
• AMP has specific goals to address the LGBT community, including working with LGBT elected officials to develop state-specific strategies for LGBT outreach and messaging, participating in Pride and other community events, and sponsoring national LGBT political conferences and meetings.
• By instituting a DNC-wide working group on LGBT outreach and messaging, AMP has dramatically increased the resources brought to bear addressing LGBT issues.

Investing in the LGBT Community.

In order to help empower the LGBT community, the DNC has made a significant, permanent investment in building a nationwide capacity to organize the LGBT community. This investment is being made earlier than ever before, and is for the first time intended to build a permanent capacity in the LGBT community. Highlights of the effort include:

• The DNC is providing organizers to all 50 states and equipping them with state-specific information about the LGBT community and training in how to communicate with the LGBT community. This unprecedented nationwide commitment institutionalizes LGBT outreach throughout state parties.
• The DNC is assisting state parties in developing state-specific messaging and outreach on LGBT issues.

Extensive Consultation with LGBT Community Leaders

Under Dean's leadership, the DNC has maintained the Democratic Party's open door policy with our allies in the LGBT community, and expanded its efforts to build collaborative relationships with LGBT organizations, elected officials and community leaders.

• In his first three months as party chair, Dean met with over 30 LGBT leaders from 20 diverse LGBT organizations to discuss strategy and reassure the community about his commitment to LGBT issues.
• Dean and senior DNC staff continue to meet with LGBT organizers and community leaders across America. To date, Dean has met with more than 500 state and local LGBT leaders in communities across the country.

Speaking out on Issues that Matter to the LGBT Community.

Throughout the past year, the DNC and Dean have aggressively sought to stand up with our friends in the LGBT community and fight Republican efforts to scapegoat LGBT families by:

• Assisting the successful challenge of anti-LGBT ballot initiatives and legislation in places like Maine and Oregon, and fighting Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of California marriage equality bill.
• Issuing official statements from Dean and the DNC on matters of concern to the LGBT community, including recognition of Pride in 2005, National Coming Out Day, World AIDS Day, victories by openly LGBT candidates, and the recent hate crimes in Massachusetts.
• Establishing a new "blog" section on the DNC website dedicated solely to LGBT outreach and current issues, highlighting the work of LGBT activists and organizations.

Reports From the Ground: North Dakota

I happened to catch this Daily Kos diary from an activist in North Dakota:

I had an opportunity to chat with one of more progressive state legislators in North Dakota this week and asked him how the staff people funded by Dean's DNC 50 State Strategy was working out. He said they were working out very well and there was a lot of excitement in the party that's been missing for a while.

In particular he pointed to the party's policy meetings held in early February. In the late 90s he said those meetings often were hamstrung because not enough Dems showed up to make a quorum. This year almost every district sent their two delegates and many sent alternates as well. Given the moribund state of the state party for at least a decade, this qualifies as a near miracle. It is the first hopeful sign I have seen that North Dakota may return to its century of progressive traditions after wandering in the wilderness since 1992.

I was particularly pleased to come across this diary because I cannot recall writing about North Dakota since arriving at the DNC. The ultimate goal is to have people from all fifty states checking in on a routine basis with progress reports from the ground -- hopefully you'll be a part of that effort.

Open Thread

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend -- sorry for the delay.

February 17, 2006

I'll "Defer" to Senator Hagel

Forbes:

And Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a Republican and Vietnam war veteran, told The Omaha World-Herald, "If he'd been in the military, he would have learned gun safety."

Despite the protestations from those at Fox News, this story is not, and has never really been, about a hunting accident. It's truly a microcosm for an entirely too secretive adminstration that feels it is either above the law, or flatly is the law. The big difference between this story and those that came before it is the adminstration can't really muddy the waters with nonsense claims about Gorelick memos, obscure budget gymnastics, and parlor games like six degrees to Jack Abramoff. This story is something most people get, completely.

Feel Safer Now?

The president is shrugging this one off as well... From the New York Times:

The Bush administration dismissed the security concerns of local officials yesterday and restated its approval of a deal that will give a company based in Dubai a major role in operating ports in and around New York City.

Representatives of the White House and the Treasury Department said they had given their approval for Dubai Ports World to do business in the United States after a rigorous review. The decision, they said, was final.

Dubai Ports World is buying the British company that currently operates the cruise-ship terminal on the West Side of Manhattan, one of the biggest cargo terminals in New York Harbor, and terminals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and other big ports.

Several lawmakers, including Representative Peter T. King of Long Island, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, have criticized the administration for its approval of the deal, saying it was done too quickly and without enough scrutiny of the ramifications for security at American ports.

"In the post-9/11 world, there should have been a presumption against this company," said Mr. King, a Republican.

Dubai Ports World is owned by the United Arab Emerites. Think Progress has some facts about the country:

- The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

– The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia.

– According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.

– After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden’s bank accounts.

Follow the news as it develops here.

Ohio SoS Accepts Statewide Petitions

The following statewide candidates on both sides of the aisle have turned in petitions with the Ohio Secretary of State's office yesterday. Primary day is May 2, 2006 -- I'll have the full list of congressional and state legislative candidates by the afternoon.

U.S. Senator
Sherrod Brown - Democrat
Merrill Samual Keiser, Jr. - Democrat
Mike DeWine - Republican
John Mitchel - Republican
William G. Pierce - Republican
David R. Smith - Republican

Governor / Lieutenant Governor (Joint Candidates)
Bryan E. Flannery and Frank M. Stams - Democrat
Ted Strickland and Lee Fisher - Democrat
J. Kenneth Blackwell and Thomas Raga - Republican
Jim Petro and Joy Padgett - Republican

Attorney General
Subodh Chandra - Democrat
Marc Dann - Democrat
Tim Grendell - Republican
Betty Montgomery - Republican

Auditor of State
John B. Reardon - Democrat
Barbara Sykes - Democrat
Christopher McNulty - Republican
Mary Taylor - Republican

Secretary of State
Jennifer L. Brunner - Democrat
Greg Hartmann - Republican
Robert G. Montgomery - Republican
Jim Trakas - Republican

Treasurer of State
Richard Cordray - Democrat
Hugh Quill - Democrat
Jennette B. Bradley - Republican
Sandra O'Brien - Republican

Supreme Court Justice (Term commencing January 1, 2007)
William Michael O'Neill - Democrat
A.J. Wagner - Democrat
Terrence O'Donnell - Republican

Supreme Court Justice (Term commencing January 2, 2007)
Ben Espy - Democrat
Peter M. Sikora - Democrat
Robert R. Cupp - Republican

Friday Morning Open Thread

Enjoy!

February 16, 2006

Events

Just a quick note about the release of our events tool. In the past we've used it for special occasions -- the November 15 National Organizing Kickoff and the State of the Union Watch Parties. We did it that way because we're building a bigger, better system and we wanted to learn what worked, what didn't, and where we could tweak and improve. We've learned a tremendous amount, mostly from the dedicated hosts and attendees who have been very helpful in walking us through their experiences. But while version 2.0 is being built, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able organize real-world action on Democrats.org with what we have now (it's still a great tool, after all).

So you'll now find under the "Action" menu a permanent link to Democratic Events center. We've kept it simple because we think that's important, but understand that the system can be used for anything -- from candidate rallies, to social events at the local coffee shop, to the official DNC Spring meeting in New Orleans. Just click or visit http://www.democrats.org/events to get started.

PA-Gov: Shorter Lynn Swann

Vote for me despite the fact I have only taken the time to vote in 16 of the last 36 Pennsylvania elections.

Harris Poll: Change the Course

Harris Poll. 1,002 Adults. 2/3/06 - 2/7/06. MoE +/3%

"How would you rate the overall job President George W. Bush is doing as president -- excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Positive: 40% (43)
Negative: 58% (56)

"How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing - excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?"

Positive: 25% (25)
Negative: 71% (72)

"Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?"

Right Direction: 32% (33)
Wrong Track: 59% (54)

While completely unfortunate that Americans have lost faith in the president and a Republican controlled congress, Chris Bowers reviewed National Election Survey data and came up with an important observation ... not all Americans know that the Republicans actually have control in Congress. For example:

In 2002, 72% of the electorate believed that Democrats controlled the House of Representatives. That year, Democrats lost 6 seats in the House of Representatives.

We have two challenges in the upcoming months: First, to do what we can in promoting an agenda that creates jobs in America, provides health care for all Americans, and cleaning up the culture of corruption in a Republican controlled congress. Unfortunately, the other challenge is to make sure that American people understand that control all three branches of government, especially the legislative, rest in the hands of the Republican Party. Those 71% that believe Congress is doing a poor job need to know that it's a corrupt one-party rule dragging us down the wrong track.

OH-Gov: Lord of the Flies

Lost in the shuffle of all-things-Ohio is the complete meltdown of the state's Republican Party in the race for governor this year. Try to follow this if possible: You have a state party chair urging one of the state's most powerful Republican Congressmen to step aside if he is indicted -- said congressman warns the chair about how easily glass houses break, and the state chair steps back. The same state chair puts a poll in the field for the governor's race in the hope that either Secretary of State Ken Blackwell or Attorney General Jim Petro step aside based on the results. The poll shows Blackwell leading, and in response Petro comissions his own poll that show the two neck-and-neck. Petro asks the state chair to apologize for the misleading poll saying, "At best their poll was an exercise in sloppy research; at worse, it was a deliberate effort to mislead the State Central Committee."

Today the exchanges heated up even more, with Blackwell basically accusing Attorney General Petro of incompetence on the job. From one of the country's best and most under-read newspapers, the Toledo Blade:

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell yesterday called Attorney General Jim Petro, his opponent in the Republican primary for governor, a "watchdog asleep at the switch."

In a speech to Ohio Farm Bureau members, Mr. Blackwell charged that Mr. Petro has a "disturbing pattern when it comes to watching over taxpayers' funds."

He pointed out that Mr. Petro was a Cuyahoga County commissioner in 1994 when the county treasurer lost more than $100 million in a failed investment fund, a member of the State Teachers Retirement System board when its director was snared in an ethics scandal, and he reacted sluggishly to problems with the investment practices of the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, including the $50 million rare-coin investment that GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe controlled.

"You can't profess to be the state's most competent manager when there are so many examples of being asleep at the switch, when millions of dollars have been lost," Mr. Blackwell said.

Meanwhile, moderate factions of the state's GOP fear Blackwell is an entirely too extreme for a reasonable Ohio electorate ... and you know what? They are right.

Unfortunately, their only other option, Jim Petro, is being investigated by the FBI for punishing state law firms for not contributing to his campaigns.

The FBI has opened an inquiry into a report that Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro took lucrative state legal work away from two Akron law firms after their principals refused to contribute to his campaign.

Akron lawyers Jack Morrison and Ray Weber said they have been contacted by FBI agents and the Summit County prosecutor's office as a result of comments they made in a Jan. 29 Plain Dealer story.

Both lawyers said Petro punished them in 2002 for not supporting his campaign by withdrawing special-counsel contracts they had received from former Attorney General Betty Montgomery to handle patent and intellectual- property mat ters.

Weber said two FBI agents interviewed him for two hours on Thursday. Morrison said he agreed to meet with agents today.

The only other option, current Auditor Betty Montgomery, dropped out of the race several weeks ago. Of course, she didn't leave without Blackwell battle scars... In a post now pulled from Blackwell's campaign blog, the current Secretary of State advised her to "lay off the sweets." Nice guy.

NJ-Sen: Menendez (D) Holds Slight Edge

Rasmussen Reports. February 14, 2006. 500 Likely Voters. MoE +/- 4.5%

Robert Menendez (D): 39% (35)
Tom Kean Jr. (R): 36% (42)

This is tremendous news for Senator Menendez who trailed by seven percent, well outside the margin of error, last time Rasmussen conducted a poll on this race. You can find a good deal of information about daily New Jersey politics over at Blue Jersey.

Thursday Morning Open Thread

The words many of us can't wait to hear around this time every year... "Pitchers and catchers report to camp."

MD-Sen: Steele (R) Campaign Falling Apart

The Washington Post reports:

The man hired to run Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's campaign for U.S. Senate has resigned, an internal move disclosed for the first time yesterday in the aftermath of an off-balance week for the Republican candidate.

Campaign manager Graham M. Shafer made a quiet exit earlier this month, citing family obligations, a campaign spokesman confirmed yesterday. His departure highlighted a growing tug within the Steele campaign between the candidate's Washington advisers and his coterie of longtime loyalists from Maryland, of which Shafer was one.

Absolutely typical, when a campaign begins to implode, folks from Washington swarm upon it thinking they know exactly what's best to resuscitate the effort. Changes in major campaign personnel are often seen as a sign of instability within to outside observers. Unfortunately for the old campaign manager, I'm not sure how much of this is really his fault. It was only last week that that Steel compared stem cell research to the Holocaust -- a move that caused quite an uproar outside, and apparently inside, the Steele camp -- setting advisor vs. advisor in their misguided attempts at defending their boss. Only problem is, you can really defend remarks like that.

February 15, 2006

Open Thread

Have at it.

MI-Sen: Stabenow In Control

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. February 9, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Debbie Stabenow (D): 54%
Michael Bouchard (R): 33%

Debbie Stabenow (D): 53%
Keith Butler (R): 32%

Debbie Stabenow (D): 53%
Jerry Zandstra (R): 33%

How Good of Witness is Katherine Armstrong?

Much of the cover for Vice President Cheney shooting Harry Whittington last weekend comes from the "witness" unbelievably allowed to give the story to the press. Her name, Katherine Armstrong.

The host, Katharine Armstrong, said no one had been drinking before the shooting and all were wearing blaze-orange safety gear.

She said Whittington did not announce himself when trudging toward the group after picking up a quail he had just shot. Cheney did not see him as he swung his 28-gauge shotgun toward a covey of quail just taking flight, said Armstrong, who witnessed the accident.

Forget the "blame the victim" mentality on display, again, by the White House spin brigade. The article goes on to note...

From what Armstrong said she saw as she sat in the hunt vehicle about 100 yards from Cheney and the other hunters...

So... basically everyone is relying on the "testimony" of a witness who was sitting in a car, a football field away, as it was getting dark, and was supposedly watching ... through thick brush.

Unfortunately for the new tale, Armstrong's old tale reveals someone who really had no idea what actually happened that day. From one of the initial Associated Press reports:

Armstrong said she saw Cheney's security detail running toward the scene. "The first thing that crossed my mind was he had a heart problem," she told The Associated Press.

Armstrong, unfortunately for those in search of the truth, is probably not the best source of information for this story.

Katrina Findings: President Should Have Been Involved Earlier

Associated Press:

The deaths and suffering of thousands of Hurricane Katrina's victims might have been avoided if the government had heeded lessons from the 2001 terror attacks and taken a proactive stance toward disaster preparedness, a House inquiry concludes.

But from President Bush on down to local officials there was largely a reactive posture to the catastrophic Aug. 29 storm — even when faced with early warnings about its deadly potential. [...]

It also found that Bush could have speeded the response by becoming involved in the crisis earlier and says he was not receiving guidance from a disaster specialist who would have understood the scope of the storm's destruction.

"Earlier presidential involvement might have resulted in a more effective response," the inquiry concluded. [...]

"The preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina should disturb all Americans," said the report, written by a Republican-dominated special House committee chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va.

"Passivity did the most damage," it said. "The failure of initiative cost lives, prolonged suffering, and left all Americans justifiably concerned our government is no better prepared to protect its people than it was before 9/11, even if we are."

The article includes a quote from Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend that claims President Bush was "fully involved" with Hurricane Katrina. They cannot take responsibility for anything ... No one needs to be reminded of pictures showing the president playing country music star as people suffered and died in the Gulf Coast, but that's only part of the story. Fully involved?

But that's only part of the story. During those fateful days, the president refused to cut vacation time on the ranch short, despite people clammoring for him to return to D.C. Not only that, but he spent time in Arizona celebrating Senator McCain's birthday, complete with a cake-holding photo-op. He also went on to California to deliver a speech in celebration of VJ day.

Fully involved, doubtful? Did that cost American lives and prolong suffering? That's what the report the says.

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Fresh.

February 14, 2006

About Paul Hackett

As you know, Iraq veteran Paul Hackett left the race for U.S. Senate in Ohio today. In his campaigns, Paul had the courage to stand up and speak out for what he believes in. That is how Democrats will win elections and take this country back for the people who built it. Our country and our party are better off when people like Paul step up and run for office, up and down the ballot, in every election. I also want you to know that it is the policy of the Democratic National Committee not to intervene in contested primaries. We need more people running for office at every level, gaining experience and bringing new voices into our party. I want to thank Paul Hackett for inspiring so many people to be part of the political process, including many of the "Fighting Dems" running for office across the country. Keep up the fight, Howard

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

I choo - choo - choose you.

February 13, 2006

Annual Report to the Grassroots

Re-posted in full, because this is exactly what you have helped to accomplish in Governor Dean's first year as chairman. -- Tim

One year ago today... Governor Howard Dean launched his plan for building a new Democratic Party. The members of the Democratic National Committee endorsed that plan unanimously when they elected
him chairman, and hundreds of thousands of Democrats signed on to that plan during his first week on the job. Below are the points of that plan, and the results so far.

The Plan:

• Show Up Everywhere
• Strengthen State Parties and the Grassroots
• Focus On Our Core Values
• Take Advantage of Cutting-Edge Technologies
• Train Tomorrow’s Leaders

The Results So Far:

Show Up Everywhere

Wins in Virginia and New Jersey: A seven million dollar investment in these two crucial contests produced two new Democratic governors. Governors Tim Kaine and Jon Corzine will continue to benefit from the long-term investments made in these states, and their wins signal that Democrats can and will win elections everywhere. In a signal of things to come, Democrats also picked up two seats in the Virginia legislature in post-November special elections -- seats that had been held by Republicans.

Wins at Every Level of Office: In addition to these high-profile Democratic victories, historic down-ballot victories in Arizona, Minnesota, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Alabama are another early indication that Gov. Dean’s plan to reinvigorate state parties with organizers will provide Democratic victories up and down the ballot in 2006, 2008 and beyond. In Tucson, Arizona, Democrats took back the city council by defeating two Republican incumbents. In Minnesota, two Democrats won seats in the state Senate elections that Republicans had held for over a decade. We also elected mayors in West Virginia and Alabama, including the first African-American mayor of Mobile, and won seven of eight special elections for the New Hampshire state legislature.

Strengthen State Parties and the Grassroots

State Party Partnership Program: Governor Dean launched an unprecedented program to provide well-trained staff and resources to state parties based on their individual needs to strengthen the local party infrastructure. To date, every single state has received funding and more than 150 activists and operatives have been hired and trained. These organizers will work with the state party to build Democratic organizations in every single precinct in their states. They have hit the ground in important swing states like Ohio and West Virginia, but also meant an historic investment in places like Alaska and Arkansas.

The American Majority Partnership: Last summer, Chairman Dean created the American Majority Partnership to change how the DNC reaches out to our core constituencies, replacing a series of isolated operations with a proactive, constituency-focused, issues-based program. Housed in the Chairman’s office to elevate the visibility and profile of this critical work, AMP coordinates constituency-related activities across all DNC departments. AMP has led successful community outreach events in Texas, California, North Carolina, Colorado, Ohio, Arizona, Washington and Missouri, hosted two major national constituency-focused grassroots summits (Hispanics and Women) and will soon host a third, the first-ever national Asian American and Pacific Islander political organizing summit.

A New Off-Year Record in 2005: Building upon the success and long-term investment of former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, the DNC raised more than $51 million in 2005 -- a record for a non-election year and a 20% increase over the total raised in 2003. This record fundraising has enabled the DNC to make critical early investments in grassroots organizing across America.

Record Numbers of New Donors: The number of committed monthly donors more the doubled in 2005, thanks to the Democracy Bonds program. In addition, the number of major donors to the DNC has more than tripled since 2003. Overall, more than 584,000 people contributed to the DNC in 2005 -- an increase of more than 90,000 people compared to 2003.

Building the Democracy Bonds Community: Governor Howard Dean launched the Democracy Bonds program, and bought the first one himself to signify his commitment, because he believes that we can take our country back with every Democrat taking responsibility for getting their family, friends and neighbors involved. The Republicans raise $10 million every month from corporate interests and lobbyists. The Democratic Party will never be able to compete in the traditional ways with a party that has abandoned the people and taken selling access and influence to a new level. But we can do it if half a million people are giving $20 a month to change the way our political process works. The Democracy Bonds program -- a commitment by ordinary Americans to make small monthly contributions to the Democratic Party -- is already bearing fruit, and in 2006 current online Democracy Bond holders will raise more than $7 million for the DNC.

Raising Money for State Parties: In 2005, Governor Dean traveled to 40 states and hosted fundraisers for 22 state parties, in addition to record-breaking for the Democratic National Committee itself.

Diverse Involvement in Fundraising: Chairman Dean’s fundraising also extends to a diverse group of Councils that work on issues of concern to the Democratic Party. For example, the Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF), building upon 13 years of successful fundraising and networking, has a National Board of 96 women activists, political leaders, and fundraisers working to educate, engage, and mobilize women across the country.

Focus On Our Core Values

Never Backing Down: Governor Dean has lived up to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to never remain silent about the things that matter. From the failed management of the war in Iraq to the moral crisis of 45 million people without access to healthcare, he has shown honesty and backbone and encouraged more Democrats to do the same.

A Clear Agenda: Working with other party leaders, we have created and begun to communicate a clear agenda for change:

Honest Leadership and Open Government -- We will end the Republican culture of corruption and restore a sense of responsibility to elected office, and we will pass fundamental reforms that make government more honest, open, and accountable to the American people than ever before.

Real Security -- We will protect Americans at home by getting serious about homeland security, and address the real threats abroad by capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and focusing on actual (not imagined) nuclear proliferation. We will be prepared for the threats of tomorrow, and we will always tell the truth to our troops and the American people.

Jobs in America that will Stay in America -- We will keep good jobs from leaving and ensure that every job in America is a fair deal. We will balance the budget, ensure that the tax code is simple and fair, and create jobs by making America energy independent.

A Strong Public Education System -- We will strengthen our nation’s public schools to restore opportunity and optimism for every American.

A Health Care System that Works for Everyone -- We will join every other industrialized country by making sure everyone has access to affordable health care. We will change a corrupt, inefficient system into one that makes sure the world’s wealthiest country is also the healthiest.

Take Advantage of Cutting-Edge Technologies

A key part of Governor Dean’s plan to rebuild the Democratic Party is to use the power and potential of technology as part of an aggressive push to meet and include voters, work with state parties, increase fundraising and get our message out.

Overhaul of Democrats.org: The official DNC website, Democrats.org, received a complete overhaul, making the site more dynamic resource portal for state parties, Democratic organizations, and Democratic activists around the world. The web site has made the Democratic Party more transparent, more accessible, and more empowering for ordinary people than ever before.

Online organizing: Governor Dean has committed the DNC to integrating technology seamlessly with the party’s organizing operation. He continues to break new ground not only in fundraising, but in developing new and innovative ways for ordinary people to take part in our political process and organize in their communities. The web site has hosted thousands of events and been the vehicle for millions of independent actions by ordinary Americans to shape our political process, including over a thousand Organizing Kickoff meetings nearly a year before the 2006 midterm elections.

Online fundraising and small donors: Technology has empowered small donors from across the country to become powerful stakeholders in the party. Small donations over the Internet accelerated even faster than the overall improvement in fundraising. The DNC also recently launched a new personal fundraising tool, which allows anyone to create their own page on the web site and take fundraising into their own hands.

Train Tomorrow’s Leaders

Organizers and other staff received comprehensive training: New staff deployed to the states travel to Washington for multi-day training on everything from voter contact to press relations to legal compliance. Several states are trained at the same time, offering the diverse staff the ability to share experiences and best practices as part of the program. All new organizers have clear, measurable
goals and performance reviews, and DNC headquarters staff regularly visit the states to conduct additional trainings.

Trainees become trainers: Part of every professional organizer’s role is to train grassroots volunteers and local leaders to be more effective. They are creating a network for sharing best practices and building a team of volunteers to drive results.

Organizers make a four-year commitment: Organizers being hired in the states make a multi-year commitment to the program, so that the networks and relationships they build will last beyond 2006 and 2008 -- creating a permanent infrastructure of expertise and accountability that will win elections for decades.

Fifty State Strategy: Wyoming & Colorado

Two more video clips for you:

Video: Wymoning Democratic Party Chair Mike Gierau

Video: Colorado Democratic Chair Patricia Waak

A Message To You From Governor Dean

Governor Dean:

I want to say thank you to all the bloggers and online activists who made the first year of my chairmanship at the DNC really fun and enjoyable. Thanks for taking my back when I needed your help too with the inside the beltway folks. We really made a lot of progress. We got folks paid for on the ground, paid for by the DNC, in every one of fifty states...

Watch the rest, click the image below.

Video: Governor Dean Thanks Bloggers & Online Activists

Happy One Year Anniversary Governor Dean!

Open Thread

A whole lot of good stuff comin' today.

February 12, 2006

Success Stories

As I mentioned earlier, a good number of state party officers from across the country descended on Washington, D.C. this weekend for various trainings and discussion; here are two more video clips. The first is Governor Dean detailing some of the success stories from the 2005 election cycle. It wasn't just the high-profile victories of Governors Kaine and Corzine that we should be excited about, but a number of victories by Democrats in local races where we haven't won in quite a long time. The second clip is Arksansas Democratic Party Chairman Jason Willett discussing what the fifty state strategy has meant in his backyard.

Video: Governor Dean Talks About Success Stories in 2005

Video: Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Jason Willett

Breaking: Cheney Shoots 78-Year-Old Man, Bin Laden Still at Large

According to MSNBC:

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and injured a man during a weekend quail hunting trip in Texas, his spokeswoman said Sunday.

Harry Whittington, 78, was "alert and doing fine" after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong.

Armstrong said Cheney turned to shoot a bird and accidentally hit Whittington. She said Whittington was taken to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital by ambulance.

Following the incident, Cheney reportedly claimed that Whittington's ties to the quail were "pretty well established". Despite hitting only Mr. Whittington with his shotgun blast, Cheney was heard to be insisting hours later that the quail, since flown away, was in its "last throes".

Cheney has a history of misdirecting fire, famously playing a key role in the drive to invade Iraq after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The mastermind of those attacks, Osama bin Laden, is still at large.

Dean on 'Face the Nation'

By popular demand, here's Governor Dean on 'Face the Nation' this morning. Immediately below are some highlights; full transcript below that.

On the Democrats' Winning Agenda For 2006:

"One, we want honesty and openness back in government again. Two, we want a strong national defense, first of all, based on telling the truth to our citizens and our soldiers before we send troops abroad to defend America. Three, we want American jobs that will stay in America using energy independence as a new industry to create millions of construction and manufacturing jobs. Four, we want a health care system that works with everybody just like 36 other countries have in the world. And five, we want a strong public education system so we can have optimism and opportunity back in America. I think that's a pretty good agenda and that's one that could win it for us in '06.

"We think this is a real agenda for change. We're going to win a majority in the House and maybe the Senate, if we are the party of change. That's what we need to be. We do not need to behave like the Republicans. We need to be very clear that we want fundamental election reform and ethics reform. We're going to turn around our posture on defense and really be vigorous about the real problems which are North Korea and Iran and strategic redeploy our troops so they are out of harm's way in Iraq. We need to reverse the down slide that's happened to this country under President Bush and we will."

On the Bush Administration's Defense Failures:

"... this President has been weak on defense - not strong. He's been in the White House for five years. We have nuclear weapons in North Korea. Nothing has been done about it. Making little progress in Iran in five years. Sending our troops abroad with no body armor. Misleading the American people about why we're in Iraq. On and on it goes."

Governor Dean also laid out the stakes for a Vice President who may have broken the law:

"As you know there was testimony this week leaked from the grand jury that it may be the Vice President that leaked security information in a time of war in order to discredit political opponents. I don't think the Vice President has any credibility on national security whatsoever. I think he's in deep trouble. If it turns out that Scooter Libby, who said this week that his superiors ordered him to leak the information for political reasons, then this Vice President may not be Vice President very much longer.

"The first course of action I would recommend that is that if we find out if this is true or not. I'm not going to recommend a course of action. If it is true then the [Vice President] has to step aside.

"If it turns out that what Scooter Libby testified that his superior-- and he has only one. If you're the Chief of Staff to somebody, that is your superior. Scooter Libby testified to the grand jury that his superior ordered him or suggested that he leak the information to the press in order to discredit one of their political opponents. If that happened at a time of war, the Vice President cannot sit in the office he now occupies."

Some background on the latest Cheney scandal:

• Libby Authorized By White House "Superiors" To Leak Classified Data. Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, "told a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq, according to court papers. Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in documents filed last month that he plans to introduce evidence" that Libby "disclosed to reporters the contents of a classified National Intelligence Estimate in the summer of 2003." [AP, 2/9/06]
  
  
• Individuals With "First Hand Knowledge" Identified Cheney As One of Libby's Superiors Who Authorized Leak. "The public correspondence does not mention the identities of the 'superiors' who authorized the leaking of the classified information, but people with firsthand knowledge of the matter identified one of them as Cheney. Libby also testified that he worked closely with then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove in deciding what information to leak to the press to build public support for the war, and later, postwar, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence." [National Journal, 2/9/06]
  
  
• Fitzgerald Wrote Letter To Libby Lawyers Indicating Libby Testified That Superiors Ordered Him To Leak Information. "In a January 23 letter, related to discovery issues for Libby's upcoming trial, Fitzgerald wrote to Libby's attorneys: 'Mr. Libby testified in the grand jury that he had contact with reporters in which he disclosed the content of the National Intelligence Estimate ('NIE') ... in the course of his interaction with reporters in June and July 2003. ... We also note that it is our understanding that Mr. Libby testified that he was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors.'" [National Journal, 2/9/06]

Full transcript below.

Keep reading "Dean on 'Face the Nation'"

Open Thread

...

In the States: Mississippi

Just got back from the training with Joe. Some of you asked for a transcript from Governor Dean's appearance on Face the Nation, and we are doing our best to provide not only that, but video as well. Until then, here's Keelan Sanders from the Mississippi Democratic Party talking about the state partnership program and some of the advances they have made over the past year.

Video: Keelan Sanders - Mississippi Democratic Party

Happy One Year Anniversary Chairman Dean

One year ago today, Governor Dean was elected Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Since that day, priority number one has been building organization in each of the fifty states and multiple U.S. teritories. Over the course of the next few days, we will have video clips for you from various state party chairs talking about how the new organizational structure has had an impact in their backyard, a message from Governor Dean to you in the grassroots who make these success stories possible, and other assorted goodies.

Video: Maine Democratic Party Chairman: Pat Colwell

Video: Alaska Democratic Party Chairman: Jake Metcalfe

A number of the state chairs, executive directors, and other staff are in D.C. for the weekend participating in various discussions and trainings. In fact, this morning at around 10:30 A.M., Joe Rospars and I are slated to give instruction on online organizing--something many of the statewide leaders have expressed a tremendous amount of interest in already this weekend.

And don't forget to start and promote your own personal fundraising page in celebration of Governor Dean's one year anniversary -- or just hit the one below.

Keep Coming Back... We'll have frequent updates about the impact of the fifty state strategy from across the country over the next few days.

February 11, 2006

Open Thread

Winter Olympics -- Are you watching?

Tomorrow is Governor Dean's one year anniversary as DNC Chair, but the celebration really begins on Monday. Create your own personal fundraising page and join the party. Expect a whole bunch of goodies throughout the week, including: interviews with state chairs on how the fifty state strategy is working in their backyards, a rundown of accomplishments during Chairman Dean's first year, and a whole lot of other video.

February 10, 2006

Governor Dean on "Face the Nation"

Governor Dean will be on "Face the Nation" Sunday morning, the day of his one-year anniversary as DNC chair. Be sure to watch. If you're on the east coast, you'll be snowed in with nothing better to do anyway.

Inaugural "Brownie" Award Goes to George Deutsch

This Week's Winner: George Deutsch

"Named after Bush crony and former FEMA Director Michael Brown, the Brownie Awards will be given to Bush Administration officials who exemplify the highest levels of cronyism, ineptitude and incompetence."

Washington, DC – The first recipient of the DNC's Brownie Award is George Deutsch, a spokesman for NASA. Deutsch first gained notoreity when it was reported that he tried to muzzle NASA chief climatologist, James Hansen, after he publicly disagreed with the Bush Administration's stance on global warming. Deutsch resigned this week after it was revealed that he lied about his undergraduate credentials.

Bush Press Officer Lied On Resume; Pressured Career Scientists. "George Deutsch, the 24-year-old junior spokesman at NASA's Washington headquarters who joined the agency after working on President Bush’s re-election campaign, resigned late Tuesday. The rapidly unfolding controversy in which he became a figure was triggered by a Jan. 29 report in the New York Times in which NASA's chief climatologist, James Hansen, and unnamed others claimed the White House was attempting to restrain their comments about the consequences of global warming. The resignation followed new reports that his résumé falsely claimed an undergraduate degree in journalism from Texas A&M University." [Houston Chronicle, 2/9/06]

White House Encourages Troops to Violate DoD Policy

Robert Novak:

At the same time, the Bush administration is going directly to the public with its war message. Raul Damas, associate director of political affairs at the White House, has been on the phone directly to Republican county chairmen to arrange local speeches by active duty military personnel to talk about their experiences in Iraq.

Unfortunately, the Department of Defense outlaws the practice:

4.1.2. A member on active duty shall not:

4.1.2.1. Use his or her official authority or influence for interfering with an election; affecting the course or outcome of an election; soliciting votes for a particular candidate or issue; or requiring or soliciting political contributions from others.

4.1.2.2. Be a candidate for, hold, or exercise the functions of civil office except as authorized in paragraphs 4.2. and 4.3., below.

4.1.2.3. Participate in partisan political management, campaigns, or conventions (unless attending a convention as a spectator when not in uniform).

4.1.2.4. Make campaign contributions to another member of the Armed Forces or an employee of the Federal Government.

Gotta hand it to an adminstration always willing to stand infront of the troops for a photo-op, but refuses to stand behind them whem it comes to providing benefits promised to them when the contract was signed. It's no wonder over 50 veterans have chosen to run for Congress on the Democratic ticket in 2006.

Short Schedule

Roll Call - February 9, 2006:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) says that Republicans will fight the 2006 campaign by combining 2002-style attacks on Democrats as "weak on security," 2004-ish attacks on "obstructionism" and a new line of argument that "Democrats have no ideas."

He told me in an interview that the GOP also will have an agenda that emphasizes "securing" what voters hold dear — freedom, the homeland, health care and prosperity — plus reform and solving the country’s long-term problems. The agenda includes lobbying reform, legal reform, border security, competitiveness, "tax increase prevention" and reductions in Medicare growth (which he termed "not cuts").

Frist said "we can’t set our expectations too high" for specific accomplishments because of "a short legislative calendar," and because of Democratic "slow-rolling and obstruction."

Weekly of Business Aviation - February 6, 2006 - (No Link)

Congress won't have a lot of time for taking care of business this year because of an early fall adjournment for election campaigning. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) wants to adjourn Oct. 6, leaving only 130 working days between now and then, says Frist's budget and appropriations adviser, G. William Hoagland. [...]

Appropriations aides from both chambers predicted Congress would wrap up its spending work by mid-October, if for no other reason than "nobody wants to go through the forced march" of last year, when Capitol Hill was still popu-lated close to Christmas.

Bounce

More numbers -- same story -- an unpopular president -- Americans ready for change.

Associated Pres/Ipsos Poll. 1000 Adults. 2/6/06 - 2/8/06. MoE +/- 3%

Overall, do you approve, disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

Approve: 40% (40)
Disapprove: 57% (59)
Mixed Feelings: 2% (1)
Not Sure: Less Than 1%

In fact, there is hardly a facet of this adminstration's policies and actions that the public is proud of.

And when it comes to handling the economy, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?

Approve: 40%
Disapprove: 58%
Mixed Feelings: 2%

And when it comes to domestic issues like health care, education and the environment, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?

Approve: 39% (35)
Disapprove: 58% (62)
Mixed Feelings: 2% (2)
Not Sure: Less than 1%

When it comes to handling the situation in Iraq, do you approve or disapprove or have mixed feelings about the way George W. Bush is handling that issue?

Approve: 38% (39)
Disapprove: 60% (58)
Mixed Feelings: 1% (1)
Not Sure: 1%

And if the election for Congress were held today, would you want to see the Republicans or Democrats win control of Congress?

Democrat: 47% (49)
Republican: 37% (36)
Neither: 13% (12)
Not Sure: 3% (3)

Check out the entire poll -- there is not one piece of good news for the president or the Republican controlled Congress. Americans are ready to change the course. They are ready for energy independence, health care for all Americans, job creation, and to clean the corruption from a Republican congress.

CO-Gov: Ritter (D) Leads Beauprez (R)

The Denver Post:

Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. 625 Respondents. MoE +/- 4%

Ritter (D): 43%
Beaupreaz (R): 37%
Undecided: 20%

Lindstrom (D): 26%
Beauprez (R): 37%
Undecided: 37%

Ritter (D): 43%
Holtzman (R): 24%
Undecided: 33%

Lindstrom (D): 29%
Holtzman (R): 25%
Undecided: 46%

The poll also included popular Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who crushed all comers, but recently decided he was not going to seek the state's chief executive office.

Friday Morning Open Thread

"Brownie" testifying before the Governmental Affairs Committee right now. Open Thread.

... And the President Strummed Away

We knew that the Bush Adminstration was aware Hurricane Katrina was determined to strike the Gulf Coast, potentially "breach levees," cause "massive flooding," and that there could be "major losses of life." We knew they had this information at least 48 hours in advance. What we didn't know, until today, is that on the morning of August 29, the White House knew:

The first internal White House communication about levee failures came at 11:13 a.m. on Aug. 29 in a "Katrina Spot Report" by the White House Homeland Security Council.

"Flooding is significant throughout the region and a levee in New Orleans has reportedly been breached sending 6-8 feet of water throughout the 9th ward area of the city," the internal report said.

Of course the White House spin brigade raced to the defense of President Bush:

White House spokesman Trent Duffy said President Bush and his top aides were fully aware about the massive flooding — and less concerned whether it was caused by levee breaches, overtopped levees or failed pumps, all three of which were being reported at the time.

"We knew there was flooding and that's why the No. 1 effort in those early hours was on search and rescue, and saving life and limb," Duffy said.

Number one effort? A little reminder of what top adminstration officials were doing in the hours and days following Katrina.

President Bush

President Bush plays a guitar presented to him by Country Singer Mark Wills, right, backstage following his visit to Naval Base Coronado, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Bush visited the base to deliver remarks on V-J Commemoration Day. (AP Photo/ABC News, Martha Raddatz)

Condoleeza Rice - Shoe Shopping

Vice President Cheney - House Shopping

"Brownie" testifies tomorrow, and he wrote a letter to the president expressing his willingness to tell all. Regardless of the response, he should anyway. The American people, and more specifically the people of the Gulf Coast, deserve no less.

February 9, 2006

Nice Try

The GOP simply will not cease in their attempt to muddy the waters in the exclusively theirs Jack Abramoff scandal. Another Harry Reid hatchet job just sprung up on the AP Wire:

Reid's office acknowledged Thursday having "routine contacts" with Abramoff's lobbying partners and intervening on some government matters _ such as blocking some tribal casinos _ in ways Abramoff's clients might have deemed helpful. But it said none of his actions were affected by donations or done for Abramoff.

"All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long-held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents," spokesman Jim Manley said.

You don't say. You mean a Senator from Nevada, that represents Las Vegas, has an interest in protecting the expansion of off-resernvation casinos? Stop the presses!

And this is the most ridiculous claim of the entire piece -- and also the heart of the text:

The Marianas, U.S. territorial islands in the Pacific Ocean, were one of Abramoff's highest-paying clients and were trying to keep their textile industry exempt from most U.S. laws on immigration, labor and pay, including the minimum wage. Many Democrats have long accused the islands of running garment sweatshops.

The islands in 2001 had their own minimum wage of $3.05 an hour, and were exempt from the U.S. minimum of $5.15.

Republicans were intent on protecting the Marianas' exemption. Democrats, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California, wanted the Marianas to be covered by the U.S. minimum and crafted a compromise.

In February 2001, Kennedy introduced a bill that would have raised the U.S. hourly minimum to $6.65 and would have covered the Marianas. The legislation, which eventually failed, would have given the islands an initial break by setting its minimum at just $3.55 _ nearly $3 lower than any other territory or state _ and then gradually increasing it.

Within a month, Platt began billing for routine contacts and meetings with Reid's staff, starting with a March 26, 2001, contact with Reid chief of staff Susan McCue to "discuss timing and status of minimum wage legislation," the billing records say.

In all, Platt and a fellow lobbyist reported 21 contacts in 2001 with Reid's office, mostly with McCue and Ryan.

Ohh... Sounds damning, doesn't it? One small problem:

1.) Senator Reid was a co-sponsor of Senator Kennedy's legislation and actually spoke on the Senator floor urging its passage [C.R. 5/6/02].

Bottom line: Despite the best of attempts of a desperate Republican Party, Jack Abramoff is not a bipartisan scandal -- it is a wholly owned problem of the Republican Party. What is particularly troubling is that Democrats have had to beat back an attempt to portray it as a bipartisan problem from day one in the traditional media. It wasn't very long ago that reporters continuously repeated that Jack Abramoff had contributed to Democrats as well as Republicans... fact was, he had never given a penny to a Democrat. And now this -- it's the very definition of attempting to muddy the waters.

Pharmaceutical Pay to Play

An unadulterated abuse of power by a Republican controlled congress. From the Tennessean:

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert engineered a backroom legislative maneuver to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits, say witnesses to the pre-Christmas power play.

The language was tucked into a Defense Department appropriations bill at the last minute without the approval of members of a House-Senate conference committee, say several witnesses, including a top Republican staff member. [...]

Frist has received $271,523 in campaign donations from the pharmaceutical and health products industry since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.

You don't say -- I would have never guessed. The article goes on to note that the practice is highly unusual, but not a violation of the rules. However, Democrats in the House and Senate have sought an end to the tactic as part of an ethics reform package.

I'd say the act by Senator Frist was shameful, but that's pretty much impossible when someone has absolutely no shame. I think most people's Frist-Shock-o-Meters really got toned down after he "diagnosed" Terri Schiavo as being "responsive to visual stimuli," via video, for no other reason than a desire to play presidential politics with a grieving family and attentive nation. Pretty tough to trump that.

Leaked With the Blessing of the VP

Disturbing news from the National Journal via Murray Waas:

Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records.

Libby specifically claimed that in one instance he had been authorized to divulge portions of a then-still highly classified National Intelligence Estimate regarding Saddam Hussein's purported efforts to develop nuclear weapons, according to correspondence recently filed in federal court by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

We all remember President Bush's response to the "leak" of classified information a few weeks ago:

As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

Unfortunately, you just can't take anything seriously that this adminstration says about national security. They condemn the reports about illegal domestic spying, yet keep people like Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney around the White House. They say their first responsibility is to protect the American people, but the 9/11 Commission says the government isn't doing nearly enough to protect American citizens. In fact, here are the actual grades:

# of A Grades: 1
# of B Grades: 12
# of C Grades: 9
# of D Grades: 12
# of F Grades: 5
# of Incompletes: 2

Grade Point Average: 1.53

It's sad, it's shameful, it's unfortunate, it might surprise some people, and it's embarassing to admit, but Governor Dean was right: This president is weak on defense.

DNC Introduces Personal Fundraising Tool

Many of you have asked for it, and today it arrived. You now have the power ... the power to create your own personal fundraising pages, receive credit for recruiting new members to the Democracy Bonds Community, or even start individual fundraising campaigns centered around Governor Dean's one year anniversary as DNC Chair (coming Sunday!), or any issue of your choice. The tool also aggregates all of your indiviudal campaigns into one large total for your effort.

New Features
- Ability to create and manage different pages and the same time.
- Easy-to-use invitation, reminder and thank you system.
- Democracy Bonds add to your total when someone is charged each month until they leave the program.
- Personal thermometer for different mini-campaigns. One master thermometer that adds up everything for every campaign you participate in. You can use the URLs on your own webpage; they even update automatically every five minutes.
- We'll eventually have pages for issues, groups and councils.

Allow me to walk you through, or if you are feeling frisky just click the link below and get started now!

http://www.democrats.org/personalfundraising

Step One: Visit the Page
The tool is hosted at - http://www.democrats.org/personalfundraising - open it in a new browser, take a quick peak, and come back so I can help walk you through the rest.

Step Two: Decision Time
You have many options on how to begin. Do you want to begin by recruiting new members to the Democracy Bonds Community? Do you want to start by celebrating Governor Dean's one year anniversary as DNC Chair? Kick-off your participation by creating a fundraising campaign centered around an issue/event of your choice? Or just get underway by determining an overall goal for fundraising from which all the totals from the previous campaigns mentioned would funnel into. You can even use that "total page" as a stand-alone effort.

Step Three: Let Me Continue to Explain
The first thing I did when I created my own personal fundraising page was to decide what my overall goal was. I visited the page, clicked on "your total" (under manage my campaigns) and set my goal ... $1,000,000. Take a look at how my page looks now.

I [heart] Democracy Bonds, so I stopped by there next to create my own individual Democracy Bonds fundraising page. As you can see, you even get your own graphic as well for use on your website or blog--this goes for each campaign, whethers its the total, Democracy Bonds, Governor Dean's One Year Anniversary, or any other campaign you create. The graphic is tailored to your specific goals/campaign, and the text on the page is completely alterable by you when you set up the page.

For example, if you click on the image to the Democracy Bonds image below, it directs you to the text on my personal page for Democracy Bonds. You, for example, could change that text to talk about why you feel it is so important to invest in Democracy Bonds. Here is how they all look, side-by-side:

Step Three Point Five
As I mentioned, one of the options is to create a page for Governor Dean's one-year anniversary as DNC Chair. The anniversary is actually Sunday, but we are going to be celebrating all week. We'll be coming out with a recap of the first year, sorta like a compilation of greatest hits outlining what your support has meant and what we have accomplished.

In a perfect world, we would love your help with fundraising during this time. Sure, we'll do a lot of the heavy lifting. But our success will increase exponentially if everyone picks up the ball, creates their own "one year anniversary" pages, and promotes them to their friends, family, or on their websites/blogs. Which brings me to my next point...

Step Four: Promotion
Once your page is complete, the new tool allows you to email information about your page to those in your address books. Obviously, you can take it a step further on your own individual websites and blogs by adding "buttons" like the one above on your own sites and blogs that link to your personal fundraising pages.

Getting Credit
Here are a few URLs so you can see how it looks when you create your pages:

Here is a link to my Democracy Bonds Personal Fundraising Page.

Here is a link to my Democracy Bond Make-The-Contribution Page

As you can see, there is a big box on the contribution page (second link) that shows you "This contribution will be credited to Democracy Bonds for Bloggers." Credit is given to whatever you name that page -- which is also your option. In this case, I named it Democracy Bonds for Bloggers.

Various Links
As I said above, in a perfect world, you'll create your own page. But if you have your own site, here are a few links you can you use if you don't want to take the time to do so, but want credit given to the blogger community at large.

Democracy Bonds for Bloggers
One Year Later - We Still Have Governor Dean's Back
My Total/Aggregate Page

Feel free to direct users there -- place the graphics from those links on your own individual sites -- they update every five minutes, so hopefully it will be fun to watch! If you have any problems/questions, please email - websupport@dnc.org

And with that... Please include links to your freshly minted pages in the comments and enjoy!

Governor Dean: The President is Weak on Defense

Transcript of Governor Dean's appearance on ABC's Good Morning America from earlier today.

CHARLIE GIBSON: Joining us now from Burlington, Vermont is Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Good to have you with us.

DNC CHAIRMAN HOWARD DEAN: Thank you for having me on.

GIBSON: Senator Clinton's central point, it seems to me here, is that the Republicans are doing a far better job of convincing the country they can keep them safe and the Democrats aren't doing a very good job of countering that strategy. Do you agree?

DEAN: Your poll shows otherwise. Your poll shows that they have a small edge and that's a smaller edge than they had before. The truth is the Republicans haven't defended us any better than they had dealt with Katrina or senior drug benefits or balancing the budget. On this President's watch, Iran is becoming a nuclear power. The President has nothing, done little about it. North Korea-- after five years-- North Korea still has nuclear weapons. The President sent our troops in battle without adequate armor. He wouldn't listen to the generals who told him if he were going into Iraq that he needed more help. This is not a President who's been particularly strong on…

GIBSON: But --

DEAN: What about our borders? President has been in office for five years. What about the security of our borders? I think the President is weak on defense. They have a great propaganda machine but the fact is they haven't delivered on American security.

GIBSON: You're shot-gunning me on a lot of issues. But, on the issue of national security, 64% of the country says we're a stronger country than before 9/11. Given the mood of this country and the concerns are country and the personal fears, isn't that game, set and match for the Republicans?

DEAN: Absolutely not because the truth is we're not safer than we were when George Bush came into office.

GIBSON: but the country thinks we are.

DEAN: That's an interesting poll but I've seen many others with folks who don't agree with that. Polls are polls. The fact is this President has not defended us because he hasn't listened to the military. He has not treated our military properly. Our soldiers are losing their lives over there. For us to have to wait three years to get them adequate body armor, that is something the Democratic Party will not do. If we send our troops into battle after we take power, I can tell you two things. First, we will tell the truth to the country and our soldiers about why they have to go. And secondly, they'll be adequately equipped.

GIBSON: But she's saying essentially we've lost two elections because we were not able to convince this country that we could keep it safe. That is her central point. And I think there may be in people's minds a real question: What is the Democratic position on national security?

DEAN: The Democratic position on national security is that we will hunt down Osama bin Laden, enough is enough. Two, we will under no circumstances allow Iran to become a nuclear power. Three, we will make the deal that has to be made with the North Koreans and get that done and put pressure and pay attention to that. And four, that we will always adequately equip our troops if we need to send them into battle to defend the United States.

GIBSON: There has been a lot of discussion in Washington in recent days about the warrantless wiretaps that have gone on. The President says this is necessary to fight terrorism. Do you think this is a winner for the Democrats?

DEAN: Many in his own party disagree. Wiretapping is certainly necessary and the Democrats certainly approve of as much spying on Al Qaeda as we possibly can. What we don't approve of is breaking the law in order to spy on Americans. The present law is very adequate and the White House itself said so four years ago. All we ask is that we not turn into a country like Iran where the President of Iran can do anything they want at any time. The reason the constitution of this country has lasted as long as it has and this country lasted as long as it has as a real democracy is because there is a check on presidential power. Now, there's not a big check on this one. We just ask the President to go get a warrant after the fact if he thinks there is an emergency. But there is no reason this President shouldn't obey the law. And, we expect him to obey the law while defending the country.

GIBSON: Governor Dean, appreciate you being with us.

DEAN: Thanks for having me.

February 8, 2006

Congratulations Senator Obama

Or, I should say, Grammy Award winning Senator Obama. He won the Grammy tonight for Best Spoken Word Album for "Dreams From My Father."

Open Thread

1.) Tune into ABC Good Morning America tomorrow morning. Governor Dean will be interviewed by Charlie Gibson at 7:00 AM.

2.) We have an exciting announcement coming tomorrow afternoon regarding the availability of a new web tool for you to use.

That said, open thread.

DFL Launches New Blog

Check out the Minnesota DFL's new blog.

http://www.dflers.org

They promise to update the site almost daily, with the project led by Communications Director David Ruth and Deputy Communications Director Jess McIntosh. DFL staff members will also blog from debates, conventions and other "field" events.

More on the Campaign Finance Story

Yesterday I mentioned the 1997 bill Governor Dean signed into Vermont law placing limits on individual and political action committee contribution totals. The bill also implements spending caps on campaigns. The Democratic National Committee filed a "friend of the court" brief with the Supreme Court earlier this week. Oral arguments are set to begin February 28.

The Burlington Free Press went into more detail earlier today.

"The Democratic Party has to be on record in favor of real campaign finance reform," Dean said. "It's time to take forever the stench of dirty money out of politics." [...]

A decision in favor of Vermont's law would open the door for other states to enact limits on candidate spending, Dean said.

Dean was governor of Vermont when the Legislature passed campaign finance reform, and he signed the law. He volunteered to put the Democratic National Committee on rec- ord as endorsing the law after hearing about the pending Supreme Court case from his old friend and political ally Democratic Attorney General William Sorrell.

Sorrell will argue the state's case for the law before the Supreme Court.

"I'm very proud as the DNC chair to be doing this," Dean said. It would be hypocritical for Democrats to "pillory Republicans for corruption," Dean said, and then fail to support a strong campaign reform law such as Vermont's.

We will certainly continue writing here on the DNC blog about campaign finance and election reform both, along with providing updates about this case as it comes before the nation's highest court later this month.

A Band of Brothers

Still uploading photos/video and preparing a write-up from this mornings event. In the interim, here's a bit of a "Reservoir Dogs" type teaser as the "Band of Brothers" prepare to cross the street together before the big event.

Band of Brothers Prepare to Cross Street Together (Click to Enlarge)

More coming soon.

Open Thread

Just got back from an event on the Mall in D.C. that featured 40 Democratic candidates for U.S. Congress that are all veterans. I'll have pictures and video up as the afternoon progresses.

February 7, 2006

CA-50: Special Election Announcement

As some of you already know, California's 50th Congressional District will play host to a special election later on this year. While the Republicans have six candidates running for the seat, Democrat Francine Busby stands above all comers. Today, she officially kicked off her campaign, turning in 4,161 signatures.

Today I officially announced my candidacy for Congress. Of course I have been running for quite a while but today I turned in 4,161 signatures from people around the 50th Congressional District nominating me to be their candidate. These aren't all Democrats or Republicans but they are all people in the district who want to see change.

The employees at the Registrar of Voters office were surprised that we were turning in signatures instead of just paying the filing fee. Its so disappointing that politicians no longer rely on interacting with voters or having a strong grassroots base of support and instead they rely exclusively on slick TV advertising and well-paid consultants.

The district was made famous by the ethical challenges of its former congressman, Duke Cunningham. The people of CA-50 are ready for a departure from rampant Republican corruption -- Francine Busby is that change.

Exxon Speaks ... Administration Listens

President Bush during the State of the Union:

Breakthroughs on this and other new technologies will help us reach another great goal: to replace more than 75 percent of our oil imports from the Middle East by 2025.

New York Times the next day:

The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.

A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports.

Exxon Today:

The United States will always rely on foreign imports of oil to feed its energy needs and should stop trying to become energy independent, a top Exxon Mobil Corp. executive said on Tuesday.

"Realistically, it is simply not feasible in any time period relevant to our discussion today," Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart McGill said, referring to what he called the "misperception" that the United States can achieve energy independence.

Remember, the president didn't mean it literally when he stood before millions and read the State of the Union.

Bounce

Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Feb. 1-5, 2006. N=1,502 adults nationwide. MoE +/- 3%

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?"

Approve: 40%
Disapprove: 52%
Unsure: 8%

What we have here, is a consistently unpopular president -- just take a look at the recent summary of polls.

Beyond Belief

This will probably make your blood boil ... absolutely shameful. The Charleston, West Virginia Gazette:

The last time 1st Lt. William "Eddie" Rebrook IV saw his body armor, he was lying on a stretcher in Iraq, his arm shattered and covered in blood.

A field medic tied a tourniquet around Rebrook's right arm to stanch the bleeding from shrapnel wounds. Soldiers yanked off his blood-soaked body armor. He never saw it again.

But last week, Rebrook was forced to pay $700 for that body armor, blown up by a roadside bomb more than a year ago.

He was leaving the Army for good because of his injuries. He turned in his gear at his base in Fort Hood, Texas. He was informed there was no record that the body armor had been stripped from him in battle.

He was told to pay nearly $700 or face not being discharged for weeks, perhaps months.

Rebrook, 25, scrounged up the cash from his Army buddies and returned home to Charleston last Friday.

"I last saw the [body armor] when it was pulled off my bleeding body while I was being evacuated in a helicopter," Rebrook said. "They took it off me and burned it."

Rebrook spent more than four years on active duty after graduating from West Point. He is now out of a job, but hopes to take a few pre-med classes in the near future. The article linked above ends with this quote:

"From being an infantryman, I know what it's like to hurt people," Rebrook said. "But now I’d like to help people."

The Republican Party: where "support the troops" is nothing more than a slogan, and the troops themselves mean little more than political cover for completely inept prosecution of the war in Iraq -- and protecting Americans from attack in general. Where is bin Laden? We witnessed first-hand when Katrina struck what our government's response would look like if we are ever hit again.

Supporting the troops is about more than slapping an oversized yellow bumper sticker on the back of your car. President Bush and his friend Congresswoman Jean Schmidt can repeat the words ad nauseum, but it doesn't change the fact that Republicans aren't supporting the troops with the policies or resources they need to be successful and safe in their mission.

Supporting the troops would mean helping the 250,000+ veterans who are forced to wait for their disability claims to be resolved by the VA -- sometimes for up to two years.

Real support for the troops is not shown by the Bush Adminstration and the Republican Congress cutting cash from the budget that provides funding for staff responsible for processing those claims.

Support for the troops wouldn't allow this adminstration to use words like "restructuring the VA" when in actuality, hospitals and beds are shutting down across the country. A study in 2002 showed that 150,000 veterans were forced to wait more than six months for a primary care appointment in that year. It's an absolute disgrace.

Supporting the troops would mean sending them into war with the proper equipment to keep them safe and taking care of their needs when they return -- without question and without exception.

And no slogan is going to make up for those failures.

Taking the Lead on Election Reform

It's one thing to constantly harp on unethical Republicans, and we should continue to shine the light and let all the roaches scatter where they may. But actions speak louder than words, and the Democratic National Committee is taking the lead on the reforms necessary to restore trust in government. From the Associated Press:

In an effort to get the "dirty money out of politics," the Democratic National Committee will ask the U.S. Supreme Court this month to allow states to limit how much is spent on campaigns.

Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic Party, announced Monday that the party will file a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court in support of Vermont's 1997 campaign finance law.

"I feel very, very strongly that the Democratic Party, in this era of this Republican culture of corruption, has to walk the walk and not just talk the talk," said Dean.

"The Democratic Party of the United States has an opportunity to actually do something," said Dean. "I thought it would be hypocritical to be pilloring the Republican Party for their corruption when this opportunity was coming before the Supreme Court."

In 1997, Governor Dean signed a bill into Vermont law that placed limits on individual and political action committee contribution totals, and implements spending caps on campaigns during an election cycle.

The law was contested and a federal appeals court upheld it, for the most part. Now the case is slated to come before the Supreme Court with oral arguments beginning on February 28, 2006.

IL & WI-Gov: Split in the Midwest

Rasmussen Reports tossed a pair of polls on their site this morning. The first has incumbent Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich trailing State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka, tied with Illinois State Board of Education Member Rod Gidwitz, and leading milk maven, Jim Oberweis.

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. January 25, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Blagojevich (D): 37%
Topinka (R): 48%

Blagojevich (D): 40%
Gidwitz (R): 40%

Blagojevich (D): 43%
Oberweis (R): 39%

To volunteer for Governor Blagojevich, visit his campaign website.

The news in Wisconsin is considerably better, where incumbent Democratic Governor Jim Doyle has a comfortable lead over two Republican challengers, Scott Walker and Congressman Mark Green.

Rasmussen Reports. 500 Likely Voters. January 23, 2006. MoE +/- 4.5%

Doyle (D): 47%
Walker (R): 40%

Doyle (D): 48%
Green (R): 41%

Visit Governor Doyle's campaign website. And, of course, there is the Democratic Governors Association.

February 6, 2006

Monday Night Open Thread

Domestic spy testimony or whatever else you want to discuss. Have at it.

Speechless

Senator Feinstein (D-CA) asks:

Can the President suspend in secret or otherwise the application of section 503 of the national security act which states that no covert action may be conducted which is intended to influence United State political processes, public opinion, policies or media? In other words can he engage in otherwise illegal propaganda?

For the record, the Attorney General was not comfortable answering the question. Here was the complete answer Gonzales gave:

Senator, this will probably be my response to all of your questions of these kind of hypotheticals. Questions as to whether or not — can Congress pass a statute that is in tension with the President’s constitutional authority? Those are very, very difficult questions, and for me to answer those questions sort of off the cuff, I think would not be responsible.

UPDATE: More from the hearing. Senator Biden asks:

Can you assure us, General, you are fully, totally informed and confident that you know the absolute detail with which this program is being conducted? Can you assure us you personally can assure us no one is being eavesdropped upon in the United States other than -- other than someone who has a communication that is emanating from foreign soil by a suspected terrorist, al Qaeda, or otherwise?

The answer?

Attorney General Gonzales: "Sir, I can't give you absolute assurance."

To Tell the Truth

So, Attorney General Gonzales is testifying before the Judiciary Committee right now, and the hearings began with Republicans refusing to place him under oath during the Q&A. Think Progress has the video.

You might recall a similar situation a few months ago when an argument broke out on the floor of the Senate regarding the swearing in of oil executives. CNN:

Even before the remarks got started, Democrats and Republicans debated whether the executives should have to swear to tell the truth before the panel.

Alaska Republican Stevens, head of the Senate Commerce Committee, rejected calls by some Democrats to have the executives sworn in, saying the law already required them to tell the truth.

Hawaii's Inouye, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the CEOs should want to testify under oath.

And the aftermath? The Washington Post:

A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.

The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.

In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force.

It's Groundhog Day again.

OK-Gov: Rout

A KOTV in Oklahoma poll shows Democratic Governor Brad Henry crushing all potential Republican rivals.

Our latest Oklahoma Poll with the Tulsa World shows 7-term US congressman Ernest Istook leading the pack for the Republican nomination, with 44 percent of the vote.

As for the other candidates, Tulsa state senator James Williamson gets 7 percent, and oilman Bob Sullivan is right behind with 6 percent. Plenty of Republican voters have yet to commit to a candidate. 43 percent were undecided.

If the election were held today, and Congressman Istook were challenging Brad Henry for governor. Most voters, 58 percent, say they'd go with Governor Brad Henry. 31 percent of likely voters chose Istook and another 11 percent were undecided.

Henry is an extremely popular Governor in a state that went overwhelmingly for President Bush in 2004. The latest Survey USA Governor's Poll gives Henry an approval rating of 66 percent (to 27% disapproving) among Oklahomans. Almost even more impressive is the fact that 64% of self-described conservatives approve of Governor Henry as well.

GA-Lt. Gov: Casualty of Corruption

Looks like the rising star of Ralph Reed is beginning to fade. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

Twenty-one Republican state senators on Friday called for Ralph Reed to withdraw from the contest for lieutenant governor, declaring that his ties to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff could jeopardize the re-election of Gov. Sonny Perdue and the rest of the GOP ticket.

"For the good of the Republican Party, for the good of Georgia, we encourage Ralph Reed to withdraw from this race," stated the petition signed by the senators, all of whom support Reed's GOP rival, state Sen. Casey Cagle of Gainesville.

This isn't the first time Reed's fellow Republicans in Georgia asked him to step aside, its just the most public attempt at getting him to do so. CBS News:

All you have to do to understand the extent of the GOP's problems is to look at what is going on with one-time Golden Boy Ralph Reed, who is on the 2006 ballot in Georgia. He is going under fast and taking other Republicans with him, in magenta-red Georgia no less.

The founding executive director of the Christian Coalition, who ten years ago appeared on the cover of Time under the headline, "The Right Hand of God: Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition," has GOP leaders in Georgia so worried that some of them are asking him to withdraw, fearing he will kill their entire ticket.

It's not just Georgia legislators and political operatives disgusted with Ralph Reed either, the latest public poll numbers show Reed trailing an unnamed Democrat by several points, while Reed's Republican primary opponent, Casey Cagle, led in the hypothetical match-up.

February 5, 2006

Superbowl Champion Steelers Open Thread

Lo siento amigos. The battery on my computer literally exploded on Thursday night, so getting online was tough this weekend.

Domestic spying hearings in the Senate begin tomorrow.

It's 11:11 -- Make a wish; I got mine. Here's your thread.

Exporting the Culture of Corruption

Corruption here, corruption there, corruption everywhere on the Republicans' watch. Today, the New York Times reports that the rampant corruption and fraud in Iraq is expensive and deadly:

Ali Allawi, Iraq's finance minister, estimated that insurgents reap 40 percent to 50 percent of all oil-smuggling profits in the country. Offering an example of how illicit oil products are kept flowing on the black market, he said that the insurgency had infiltrated senior management positions at the major northern refinery in Baiji and routinely terrorized truck drivers there. This allows the insurgents and their confederates to tap the pipeline, empty the trucks and sell the oil or gas themselves.

"It's gone beyond Nigeria levels now where it really threatens national security," Mr. Allawi said of the oil industry. "The insurgents are involved at all levels."

American officials here echo that view. "It's clear that corruption funds the insurgency, so there you have a very real threat to the new state," said an American official who is involved in anticorruption efforts but refused to be identified to preserve his ability to work with Iraqi officials. "Corruption really has the potential of undercutting the growth potential here."

Will the administration do more to root out corruption there than it has been willing to do at home?

February 3, 2006

Deliberately Misled

Gallup:

A new Gallup Poll, conducted in late January, reveals that just 39% of Americans approve of the way President Bush is handling Iraq, with 58% disapproving.

Over half (53%) now say the administration "deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction," with 46% disagreeing. Gallup notes that this finding is "essentially reversed" from one year ago.

Further, some 51% say the U.S. "made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq." Yet, despite this, only 17% expect a significant reduction of U.S. troops in Iraq in the next year.

Without comment.

Friday Friday Friday Open Thread

Plot & Scheme.

February 2, 2006

Bob Ney's Campaign Kick-Off

Wish I was kidding. Click the picture for the full article:

For U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, the target of a bribery investigation, it was an unfortunate juxtaposition.

He made his re-election announcement Thursday at the Tuscarawas County Republican Party headquarters in Dover, which shares a building with Cash Land, a consumer loan business. Side-by-side on a pole outside the two buildings are two signs: "Republican Headquarters" and "Cash Land."

Good grief.

Thursday Night Open Thread

Have at it!

Meet Your New Majority Leader

This is sad (Bob Herbert - NY Times - 1996)

One day last summer Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, chairman of the House Republican Conference, decided to play Santa Claus. ... In any event, Mr. Boehner took it upon himself to begin handing out money from tobacco lobbyists to certain of his colleagues on the House floor.

Bloomberg reports as well.

In 1995, Boehner handed out campaign checks from the tobacco industry to members on the House floor at a time when lawmakers were considering eliminating a tobacco subsidy.

Happy Groundhog Day, Bill Murray would be proud.

Update: Political Money Line gives Boehner's 2005 fundraising statistics. It probably won't shock many observers to see the new Majority Leader raises considerably more money from political action committees than he does from individual contributors.

Update #2: Does the new Majority Leader find it acceptable that Tom DeLay (the former Leader) will assume Duke Cunningham's position on the powerful Appropriations Committee?

Update #3: Congressman John Sadegg, defeated earlier today, interviewed by Fox News during the leadership race:

Shadegg: I think my record, the level of taint is dramatically different than either of them.

Crooks & Liars has the video.

Update #4: The LA Times:

One of three Republicans vying to replace Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) as House majority leader offered rare public criticism Tuesday of House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), saying he disagreed with key elements of Hastert's plan to overhaul the chamber's ethics rules.

Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) questioned Hastert's call for a ban on travel by House members and their staffs paid for by private groups, indicating he considered such a proposal "childish."

Update #5: Republican Congressman Jeff Flake:

Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, said concerns that the two men are too close to Washington's K Street lobbying corridor may encourage a dark-horse candidate to run against them.

From the same Bloomberg article:

Boehner, 56, who has been in Congress since 1991, has said he and DeLay have had conflicts in the past, and other lawmakers say they are not close. Even so, Boehner has strong connections to lobbyists: He met weekly with leading lobbyists to enlist their support and discuss strategy during his four years as House Republican Conference chairman, from 1995 to 1998.

The top donor to Boehner's leadership PAC in 2003-2004 was SLM Corp., the Reston, Virginia-based student-loan company better known as Sallie Mae. SLM contributed $65,170 to Boehner's Freedom Project, more than twice as much as the second-biggest donor, New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The money came as the House Education and Workforce Committee, which Boehner chairs, prepared to write new legislation governing student loans.

Update #6: Wall Street Journal:

The smooth Ohioan defends his own ties to the lobbying community. "I mean what I say, I say what I mean. I follow through on things that I believe in," Boehner says of his connections to K Street. "They [lobbyists] appreciate dealing with someone who they know who they are. There's nothing improper or unethical about my relationship with those who lobby."

But Boehner says that some proposals to toughen ethics rules are "childish," and cites the ban on all private-paid travel as an example. "I just don't agree with it…These are serious educational trips," he says.

Update #7: More Wall Street Journal:

Boehner, known for his tan and 4.8 golf handicap, appears cool to bolstering ethics rules. "Adding more new rules isn't the answer," the Ohio Republican Boehner tells Fox News minutes after announcing his candidacy for majority leader. But Blunt of Missouri, who's been serving as acting leader, identifies with Speaker Hastert's push for tighter disclosure requirements in letter to House colleagues.

Update #8: As if the Republican Party has ever hid their disdain for students struggling with college loans before today... Washington Post:

Two controversial industries -- for-profit colleges and trade schools, and private student lenders -- have been the major sources of financing for Rep. John A. Boehner's bid to become House majority leader. Boehner has been an outspoken advocate for each interest, and has used his chairmanship to push legislation that would boost profits by millions of dollars. [...]

Boehner has sponsored legislation strongly supported by private student lenders to restrict the ability of the U.S. Department of Education to make government student loans less expensive by cutting fees. Student loans constitute a multibillion-dollar market in which the nonprofit government and for-profit private lenders compete.

During the current congressional session, Boehner's committee endorsed his legislation to allow the for-profit colleges and trade schools to gain millions of dollars in federal subsidies.

The measure would eliminate 1992 regulations designed to prevent the for-profits from signing up unqualified students and collecting student loans for tuition. Boehner would bar traditional colleges from denying credits earned at for-profits on the grounds that the for-profits are not accredited.

The Boehner proposals to deregulate the for-profit schools was strongly opposed by a coalition including the United States Student Association, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the National Association for College Admission Counseling and the American Federation of Teachers. They cited a series of recent controversies and investigations involving the for-profit colleges.

State of the Union Watch Party Recap

As the bright lights from network television cameras focused on President Bush during the State of the Union Address, Governor Howard Dean spent the evening in Durham, North Carolina with hundreds of average Americans infront of a packed house at Satisfaction restaurant. The Governor laid out a sound vision for the future of the Democratic Party -- a future that can be summed up as the marriage between the Democracy Bonds community and a fifty state strategy built upon local participation from the grassroots.

The Venue
Within several hours of selecting Satisfaction as the venue to host Governor Dean on the night of the State of the Union, hundreds of individuals signed up to attend the event. The rush prompted local supporters/Democracy Bond holders/DNC staff to set up an overflow location across the street. When the overflow location reached capacity, many just lingered in the street between the two restaurants soaking up the enthusiasm pouring from the doors of each location.

Photo: 5:30 P.M.

Photo: 6:15 P.M.

Photo: 7:00 P.M.

Photo: 7:15

Local Participation / Democracy Bonds / 50 State Strategy
The rapidly growing Democracy Bonds community is the core of a new Democratic Party -- a permanent operation dedicated to building our capacity to win elections not just this year but for a generation. We are building from the grassroots up, organizing in every state, and asking Americans from Main Street, and not K Street, to sustain the party via the Democracy Bonds program.

The Democratic Party is committed to winning elections at every level in every region of the country, and we're getting started right now with a massive effort to fund organizers on the ground in every state. The ultimate goal? An active, effective group of Democrats organized in every single precinct in the country.

Both caught on in North Carolina, as local supporters took the iniative necessary to successfully create tools promoting the ideas:

Photo: Democracy Bonds Water Bottles

Photo: Local Involvement Bulletin Board (click to enlarge)

Governor Dean Takes the Stage
Around 7:55, the moment finally arrived, Governor Dean hopped onto the stage after an introduction by North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman, Jerry Meek, and the Durham County Democratic Party Chairman.

Video: Governor Dean Takes the Stage

Video: Governor Dean Talks About Democracy Bonds

Video: Governor Dean Talks About Reforming Rampant Republican Corruption

Getting it Done Locally
But again, this was a local event that just happened to have a bit of national attention. Much like the fundraising Governor Dean does for local parties across the state in his travels, this event too, had a tremendous local flavor. Take a look at the huge banner behind Governor Dean in the videos above... That was the backdrop for the Democrats who have invested their blood, sweat, and tears over the past 15 months, never stopping after election day. This event was about those North Carolina Democrats, thanking them for their hard work in 2004, 2005, and the long road we have ahead of us in 2006 and 2008.

Here are a few videos of North Carolina Democrats talking about their plans to rebuild, organize, and turn the state from Wolfpack red to Carolina (or Duke) blue.

Video: Precint Chair Troy McLean

Video: Liz Talks About Local Participation

Video: Lanya Talks About the Road Ahead

Reaction From Participants
Here's a sample of quotes from people who attended the event.

Katy
"Well, Howard Dean stopping by our Watch Party last night certainly stirred up Durham, N.C.-- and pulled in a whole lot of new volunteers for our county party. We could not be happier here. A lot of us have been working nonstop since the 2004 elections and we needed this boost and reminder of why we are putting so many hours into grassroots organizing and voter education."

Kegray
"The evening really was a resounding success, and the coordinators worked there tush's off putting it together! We also had people come from Lee County and Vance County!"

Steve B
"I saw Dean last night, too at Satisfactions in Durham. He didn't need to scream. Everybody else did. He counseled patience---change takes time."

Harper
"Saw and heard Dean last night in Durham, NC.First time I've had chill bumps since Obama's magnificent speech. Dean inspires and energizes.He made me feel hopeful, too. We are lucky to have this guy on our side... Dean stressed Patience, Involvement, and the fact that our successes will take Time."

Local Press Reports
A compilation of media accounts from the State of the Union events.

Associated Press Photo

Durham Herald Sun
"He didn't scream, but everyone else did. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, whose enthusiastic yell at the Iowa caucuses became a symbol of his 2004 presidential campaign's demise, landed in Durham on Tuesday to rally the party faithful before President Bush's State of the Union speech.

Dean spoke to boisterous supporters gathered at Satisfaction and Devine's, two restaurants in the Brightleaf Square area of downtown, before watching the president's speech at the home of a local family. The trip was designed to build Democratic support for this year's midterm elections and the next presidential campaign in 2008."

The News Observer
"Dean, who tried unsuccessfully two years ago to win the party's presidential nomination, roused a crowd of nearly 300 people at Satisfaction, a restaurant and bar in Brightleaf Square. He marshaled enthusiasm from a smaller, but just as vocal crowd at Devine's, a saloon across the street.

Amid pleas for party money -- small checks, and lots of them -- Dean and the crowd got their licks in when they could on everything Republican that they dislike.

Dean, who took over as chairman of the National Democratic Party in February 2005, criticized the Bush administration's plans for health care, Social Security reform and the continuing war in Iraq. He urged Democrats to unite to reclaim the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate this election year."

Where Honest Elections Go to Die

Roll Call reports on the race for House Majority Leader (subscription req.)

Election Update: Do-Over on First Ballot

By Ben Pershing
Roll Call Staff

Thursday, Feb. 2

House Republicans are taking a mulligan on the first ballot for Majority Leader. The first count showed more votes cast than Republicans present at the Conference meeting.

RedState.com (An unofficial Republican blog) has the vote totals from the first ballot: "First ballot: Shadegg took roughly 40 on the first ballot, Blunt 110, Boehner 75."

UPDATE: CNN reports that Congressman John Boehner comes out the winner on the second ballot.

The Hotline Reports: "Rep. John Boehner (OH) wins the House majority leader's race on a second ballot. Boehner took 122; Rep. Roy Blunt (MO) received 109 votes."

Jesse Lee at the Stakeholder points to the following article:

Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), a likely candidate for a position in the House Republican leadership if former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) does not return, has assembled a loyal and effective network of lobbyists.

Boehner formed his alliances on K Street when he served as chairman of the GOP conference from 1995 to 1998, when his portfolio included working with lobbyists on K Street.

“He was a policy traffic cop for the business community,” one of Boehner’s allies said. “When [former Rep. J.C.] Watts [Okla.] won [the election for conference chairman], DeLay, in the whip position, vacuumed in the policy and business outreach. He added staff and translated business outreach into votes, which is something [Missouri Rep.] Roy [Blunt] is doing now.”

Many GOP sources say Boehner would receive strong support from his so-called K Street Cabinet if he decides to run for another leadership post. He is considered a strong contender to become majority leader or speaker if DeLay, who is under indictment on charges of conspiracy and money laundering in Texas, does not return to his post or if Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) retires in 2008.

Happy Groundhog Day -- sorry to those who thought today would be a new day in the Republican Party.

Just Kidding...

I wonder what else the president didn't "mean literally" during the State of the Union Address. The Philadelphia Inquirer:

What the President said in his State in the Union speech is not quite what he meant, two aides said.

WASHINGTON - One day after President Bush vowed to reduce America's dependence on Middle East oil by cutting imports from there 75 percent by 2025, his energy secretary and national economic adviser said the President did not mean it literally.

What the President meant, they said in a conference call with reporters, was that alternative fuels could displace an amount of oil imports equivalent to most of what America is expected to import from the Middle East in 2025.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Energy Secretary meant literally that the United States would do everything necessary to displace Middle East oil for alternative fuels. The New York Times reports:

The Energy Department will begin laying off researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the next week or two because of cuts to its budget.

A veteran researcher said the staff had been told that the cuts would be concentrated among researchers in wind and biomass, which includes ethanol. Those are two of the technologies that Mr. Bush cited on Tuesday night as holding the promise to replace part of the nation's oil imports.

Had I have known we didn't have to take the president at his word Tuesday evening, I would have just watched a movie instead.

February 1, 2006

Late Night Open Thread

Hopefully this will quench your thirst for discussion.

More From North Carolina

I had an occassion to speak with a few of the people doing the dirty work in Durham last night, and wanted to share the video with you:

Video: Liz Talks About Local Participation

Video: Lanya Let's Us Know The Road Is Long, But Worth It

More coming soon, including video of Dr. Dean. I'll have a wrap-up of the whole trip tomorrow.

She Wasn't Kidding

In the entry below this one, Katy mentioned a "large display of materials" they created to help recruit new volunteers.

One thing that helped us in getting our message out last night: we created a large display of materials based on the DNC 50-State Strategy presentation used in last November's national Kick-Off events. We pulled out the heart of the presentation, made a flow chart out of the bottom-up grassroots organizing concept and highlighted some major points. We added in some photos of our volunteers, and some local volunteering needs and highlighted precinct organizing especially since we have our annual precinct meetings coming up. It was a great way to get the word out. We also had volunteers circulating through the crowds all night with clipboards holding either volunter sign-up sheets or voter registration forms. Finally, we hit the idea of Democracy Bonds hard and had plenty of sign-up sheets for them, not to mention lots of tee shirts and water bottles prnmoting the bonds as well.

I happened to snap a few photos of those materials -- take a look. Click to enlarge:

Photo: State Partnership Project

Photo: An Active Precinct Member

Photo: What's at Stake

It was beautiful.

In Their Own Words

A few individuals attending the event yesterday evening at Satisfaction restaurant in Durham, North Carolina stopped by our blog to share their stories.

Katy (who I met and was fantastic):

Well, Howard Dean stopping by our Watch Party last night certainly stirred up Durham, N.C.-- and pulled in a whole lot of new volunteers for our county party. We could not be happier here. A lot of us have been working nonstop since the 2004 elections and we needed this boost and reminder of why we are putting so many hours into grassroots organizing and voter education.

The support from the DNC was outstanding -- their people worked like dogs, stayed all day and night and went out of their way to make sure our local volunteers felt appreciated. It was great to see so much excitement, touch base with other county parties and sign up new volunteers. But most of all, it was fantastic to hear someone speak so plainly and directly about what is wrong with the direction our country is taking right now.

Our venue, a local restaurant and bar called Satisfaction was filled to capacity and the fire marshall made us start directing people across the street to another bar and restaurant called Devine's. Dean showed up right on time, and there were four networks and a local station there to cover his speech. They didn't just film him, but also interviewed people in the crowd as well: which was great for our party and great for our state. It was a very diversified crowd: young, old, middle-aged... black, white and in-between. Lots and lots of just regular, hard-working Americans -- and they were cheering and clapping and most definitely getting behind Dean.

Dean -- who was preceded by North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek and introduced by our Durham County Party Chair Floyd McKissick -- spoke very straightforwardly about all the important things: taking the goverment back for the people though campaign finance reform and honesty in government, healthcare, the war, special interests controlling government policy, civil rights, you name it: he addressed it. He spoke quite a long time and the crowd was respectful yet extremely enthusiastic. He was on a small, low stage right in the thick of things, surrounded by people and only inches from the front rows. He ended up with a very powerful statement: at least within the Democratic Party, we *are* our brother's keeper.

After about half an hour (longer then we expected), Dean headed across the street to the overflow venue to speak. Along the way, he stopped to greet a group of North Carolina Central student volunteers -- a good move on Dean's party. We have been working hard to get younger people into our local party to serve a future leaders and Dean's visit to Durham finally did the trick. We touched base with more new Central students last night than in the entire year before.

There were lots of Dems from surrounding counties as well: Wake, Orange, Chatham and Person that I know of. We got quite a few new volunteers to sign up and I notice our website has had a lot of traffic since last night -- but give it a few days, as we have a newly refurbished site not open to the public yet. Maybe today or tomorrow, we'll open it up to the public. We do have some great sections on What's At Stake in 2006 from an election standpoint and some other areas people may find find helpful. We'll be using this data to follow up on all the new volunteers we snagged last night.

One thing that helped us in getting our message out last night: we created a large display of materials based on the DNC 50-State Strategy presentation used in last November's national Kick-Off events. We pulled out the heart of the presentation, made a flow chart out of the bottom-up grassroots organizing concept and highlighted some major points. We added in some photos of our volunteers, and some local volunteering needs and highlighted precinct organizing especially since we have our annual precinct meetings coming up. It was a great way to get the word out. We also had volunteers circulating through the crowds all night with clipboards holding either volunter sign-up sheets or voter registration forms. Finally, we hit the idea of Democracy Bonds hard and had plenty of sign-up sheets for them, not to mention lots of tee shirts and water bottles prnmoting the bonds as well.

Lastly, I just want to say that this whole thing started because two precincts in Durham, Precincts 8 and 9, decided to throw a Watch party. they had no special in to the DNC or anywhere else. it's just that their organizers, Troy McLean, Milo Pyne and Noni Simmons, went for it. And it sure paid off for us here in Durham! Thanks, guys!

Oh, yeah, when Howard Dean was done, most people left but quite a few stayed to play lingo bingo during the state of the union address (which failed to address the state of the union) and to engage in additional discussions.

- Katy

Kegray:

The evening really was a resounding success, and the coordinators worked there tush's off putting it together! We also had people come from Lee County and Vance County!

Afterwards, a few hardy souls met until about midnight to discuss faith and values issues and how the "Religious Left" (there was actually a tee-shirt somewhere in the room with that written on it) can best express those values and start taking back mainstream America from the Religious Right. This is an ecumenical process that acknowledges that ALL Americans (except maybe the neocons) come from pretty much the same place -- think "The Golden Rule" -- and we need to stress that there's a lot more to the moral values issue than abortion and gay marriage. There's not one major (or minor, for that matter) faith tradition that has ever talked about "The Deserving Poor".

Open Thread

For the day...

Photos: Dean in North Carolina

You've been reading Tim's posts all night -- here are some more photos from the packed house in Durham tonight, where Governor Dean spoke with ordinary Americans at an event hosted by a local Democracy Bonds holder:

AP Photo

Keep reading "Photos: Dean in North Carolina"

Message from Governor Dean on the State of the Union

Governor Dean sent the following message to Democrats across the country following the president's speech tonight.

Dear Fellow Democrat,

Remember this? "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

Those are George Bush's famous 16 words from his 2003 State of the Union address, delivered less than two months before he sent troops into war in Iraq.

They were false. Three years later Americans are still demanding answers on the manipulation of intelligence by an administration eager to start a war.

Americans have a lot of questions that went unanswered tonight. When George Bush delivered his State of the Union address, he had a big megaphone and the world's attention. He had the opportunity to regain some degree of credibility with the American people -- more than half of whom disapprove of his performance as president. But he failed to answer the real questions ordinary Americans have about the state of our union:

When will we have a new strategy in Iraq that protects American lives? Violence is increasing, not decreasing there and the mismanagement of this war has cost the lives of Americans and billions of dollars in fraud. And when will we secure our ports and chemical and nuclear plants, which remain vulnerable?

When will the Republican Party put its responsibility to the people before its greed and thirst for power? The Republican culture of corruption in the executive and legislative branches has violated the law and cost taxpayers billions.

When will President Bush and the Republican Congress wake up to the economic crisis tens of millions of Americans face? Good jobs are leaving this country, and many of the jobs that remain exploit working families by denying them adequate benefits. Millionaires and corporations receive tax breaks while Americans can't afford to save, and the gap between rich and poor continues to widen to levels unseen since the 19th century.

When will we finally do something for the 46 million Americans who lack health insurance? Many have had their lives ruined financially when the worst happened, and many more no longer seek the care they need because they cannot afford it.

When will we make serious strides towards energy independence? We get a greater percentage of our oil from cartels and dictatorships now than we did in 2000.

When will he take steps to further ensure retirement security for every American? Growing old with dignity is a right, not a privilege, and dismantling Social Security in favor of private accounts is the wrong direction for our society.

If Bush and the Republicans would bother to answer these questions, the answers would be simple. But they won't answer.

That's because the answer to each and every one is "Never." Never as long as they control our government, never as long as they can execute the same incompetent, dishonest and destructive government without paying a price at the ballot box. The answer will be "never" until we grow the operation and build the infrastructure to beat them.

Part of that means telling people clearly and unambiguously what we stand for -- and I'll tell you right now:

Real security -- we will protect Americans at home by getting serious about homeland security, and address the real threats abroad by capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and focusing on actual (not imagined) nuclear proliferation. We will be prepared for the threats of tomorrow, and we will always tell the truth to our troops and the American people.

Honest leadership and open government -- we will end the criminal Republican culture of corruption and restore a sense of responsibility to elected office, and we will pass fundamental reforms that make government more honest, open, and accountable to the American people than ever before.

Economic prosperity and educational excellence -- we will keep good jobs from leaving and ensure that every job in America is a fair deal. We will balance the budget, ensure that the tax code is simple and fair, and invest in education to ensure that every American has an equal opportunity to succeed.

A health care system that works for everyone -- we will join every other industrialized country by making sure everyone has access to affordable health care. We will change a corrupt, inefficient system into one that makes sure the world's wealthiest country is also the healthiest.

Energy independence -- we will reduce our reliance on foreign oil by investing in cleaner and more efficient technology. We will treat energy independence as what it is -- not only a conservation issue, but an economic and national security issue.

Retirement security -- we will strengthen Social Security and make sure that a retirement with dignity is the right and expectation of every single American.

Tonight and tomorrow, Republicans will be out in full force, spinning, distracting, distorting and dividing. But don't be fooled. You know what you heard in Bush's speech -- and you know the reality.

When Republicans hurl insults and lies, we must be ready to stand up and speak the truth in response -- and to make sure our friends and neighbors are not afraid to do the same.

Please take the time to write a letter to the editor about what's wrong with the Republican priorities -- and what we'll do to put America on the right track:

www.democrats.org/sotu/rapidresponse

We cannot sit back and let them attack us. And we cannot sit back and let them attack the values and ideals we hold dear.

That's why we are investing millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours to build the Democratic Party everywhere. We're building a year-round, 50-state party capable of winning elections for every level of office.

Building our party everywhere isn't only about electing more Democrats. It's about bringing people back into the political process and ensuring that we have at least one political party representative of, and responsible to, the people.

These are not short-term investments, and we are not there yet. But we will only create lasting change if every single one of us takes responsibility for speaking out and organizing in our local community.

Over the next ten months, that's exactly what we're going to do.

Thank you.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

Posted by Joe Rospars on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (117)