There is a lot of talk about “conventional” wisdom these days. In the days running up to the Republican's show in the Big Apple, talking heads use the term to pun the highly scripted nature prime time party conventions. Analysts use the term to benchmark trends. The one thing we know is there is nothing at all conventional about politics these days. Everywhere we turn ordinary people are becoming as influential to the process as any journalist or pol. Blogs are broadening thought leadership and developing a new generation of wonks and pundits. Meetups still fuel nascent organizations, and the progressive grassroots is redefining the political landscape.
In the spirit of American ingenuity, the progressive grassroots is creating new tools and delivery systems to help non-traditional organizers (a.k.a. real people) get the word out. Check out the Tool Shed to discover a new web audio service to help you GOTV in your community
In the last issue, we talked a bit about Republican imitation of our own Rapid Response Network. Democracy for America must be feeling especially flattered for a leading progressive organization, Human Rights Campaign, just launched its own version of the “Dean Dozen” called E-Quality Candidates. Most of the endorsees have made a career out of public service –but in the very best way. They are leading figures in the fight for equality, justice and the protection of human rights. Check them out below.
The expanding universe of progressive grassroots activities as well as our expanding readership demands a larger body of regular contributors. We've had a lot of interest in this e-news magazine, and are very appreciative of ever submission. Please keep them coming. From the ranks of our readers some truly excellent writers have joined our staff. Beginning with this issue, you will regularly see the bylines of Bert Caradine, Max Gordon, Nicole Johns and Bill Thomasson. Welcome aboard!
A quick note about E-mail addresses in Taking Root - to keep spammers automated spiders that crawl the Web looking for e-mail addresses to add to their spam lists from finding those appearing here, when you click on an e-mail link the address in the new message that opens up will be missing the @ sign. Please replace ' at ' with @ in the address before trying to send the e-mail. Thanks!
As always, subscriptions to Taking Root come spam-free to your email box.
If you like what you see here and would like to lend a hand, please drop us a note at volunteer-at-grassrootsforamerica.us or make a contribution to support all of our grassroots efforts.
| -- The Newsletter Team at Grassroots for America |
Glimpse What's Inside!
Click on a title to jump to the story below.
NEWS FROM THE ROOTS
The HRC Half-Dozen: Introducing E-Quality Candidates
The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest gay and lesbian organization and works in a bipartisan manner to advance equality based on sexual orientation and gender expression and identity, to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. With an estimated 600,000 members, HRC has a powerful center of influence. Recently the organization took a cue from Democracy for America and launched a program to promote a slate of congressional candidates aligned with their principles.
Derived from HRC's central mission, equality, the slate is dubbed the “E-Quality Candidates”. Some names on the list are easily recognizable: Russ Feingold (D-WI), Christopher Shays (R-Connecticut), others are rising stars like Barak Obama of Illinois. Based on their strong principled stands against far-right forces trying to codify discrimination into the U.S. Constitution, HRC asks progressives around the nation to support their e-Quality Candidates and ensure their (re)-election.
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MMOB Update
Adopt-A-Swing-State Letter-writing Tops 125,000
We introduced you to Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush (MMOB) and their Adopt-A-Swing-State campaign to register and mobilize single women in key battleground states in our very first newsletter back in late March. Well, we're ecstatic to report that their 2000+ members have written over 125,000 letters to single women urging them to get registered and vote!
Here's what one recipient, a single mom in FL, had to say: "I wanted to thank you. I actually am a firm believer in the vote, but was just too lazy to physically get out and register - your letter & form helped me to register & I am voting Democrat... I will vote & continue to vote, & I wanted to thank you again."
The polls may show the race for President too close to call, but the polls don't reflect the success of efforts like the MMOB's - newly registered voters aren't included in the numbers. Finding and registering voters likely to pull the lever for progressive candidates AND getting them to the polls America.
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Grassroots Theatre Network
Commercial Theatres Open Doors to Documentaries
Even the greatest of documentaries used to have a hard time breaking out of the film festival venue. Commercial theatres simply weren't interested in films that they assumed wouldn't draw huge audiences.
But the world of the big screen is changing.
Frustrated viewers, fed up with sound-bite news, are turning to the in-depth coverage provided by social and political documentaries. And, at the moment, the place to find these documentaries is in DVD format – and in the growing number of theatres aligned with the Grassroots Theatre Network.
The Grassroots Theatre Network is assembling a group of approximately 100 commercial theatres throughout the U.S. where important new social and political documentaries will be shown on a regular and continuing basis. Audiences can purchase their tickets on-line through Grassroots for America, the sponsor of the theatre project.
The first major round of screenings for the new Network will feature the world premier of “Unconstitutional,” the new Robert Greenwald film on the USA Patriot Act.
The production of “Unconstitutional” was sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union. The film shows, in frightening detail, the personal stories of ordinary citizens who have been caught in the web of the hastily enacted Patriot Act.
Premier screenings of “Unconstitutional” will be featured by the Grassroots Theatre Network during the month of September in Bethel, CT, Philadelphia, PA, West Springfield, MA, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Salt Lake City, UT, and Larkspur, CA.
Go to http://www.GrassrootsForAmerica.US/gfa-store/buy-tickets.shtml to see the trailer for the film and event details.
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Teacher Tosses Back The NCLB Bad Apple
By DeAnn Deason
Susan Ohanian, a longtime teacher and education writer, runs a web site challenging No Child Left Behind and high stakes testing. http://www.susanohanian.org
"If you cannot find Osama, test the kids" is part of a refrain of one protest song on a CD designed to bring attention to the damage caused by data-driven, test-obsessed schools and to remind people schools shouldn't harm children. No Child Left Behind? Bring Back the Joy features ten original songs performed by musicians ranging from 12 year-old Lillie Kryzanek to Tom Chapin and David Drake.
The idea for this CD was born in March 2003, when Advocates for Children and Teachers National Organizing Workshop (ACT-NOW), an advocacy group of parents and educators, traveled from all parts of the country to Birmingham, Alabama to bear witness to the havoc caused by high-stakes testing and to present the World of Opportunity (WOO) with the Courage in Education award.
In America's civil rights city, music emerged as a natural expression of a commitment to children and to the restoration of schools as places of nurture.
Proceeds from this CD go to WOO, established in Birmingham in 2000 when Steve Orel, an adult literacy instructor, discovered that 522 students had been pushed out of the public schools right before the administration of the state test. Local schools were in danger of being taken over by the state if their scores did not improve. The official withdrawal papers handed to students were identical: withdrawn for “lack of interest.” Students had so much lack of interest they enrolled in Orel's adult Ed class, a program terminated by the Board of Education after Orel's revelations.
Students continue to be pushed out, and the WOO is there for them.
Nationwide, the WOO represents just a small part of students hurt by NCLB and high-stakes testing. The CD challenges the system, inviting people to sing out loud for kindergartners who have lost nap-time, second graders who have lost recess, third graders terrified of not advancing to fourth grade, five graders who have lost science and social studies, eighth graders declared failures because they haven't mastered algebra, and high schoolers denied a diploma on the basis of a single test. The CD No Child Left Behind: Bring Back the Joy brings attention to the national outrage and asks people who care about kids to fight back.
The CD sings loudly and clearly for students of the WOO and for students across America whose lives are devastated by data-driven, test-obsessed schools.
The CD is $15. E-mail Susan Ohanian for ordering information.
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1 + 1 = at least 2!
Two great organizations, Progressive Vote (PV) and Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) recently announced that they are joining forces to work together as one to take back the Democratic Party and America.
The merged organization, working under the banner of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), will pursue a two fold strategy of working inside the beltway (itb) while simultaneously building a strong federation of state and congressional district based local progressive democratic caucuses and chapters. In fusing the distributed grassroots organizing capabilities of PV and the itb expertise of PDA the new organization provides an enhanced infrastructure able to push the progressive agenda from the outside in and the inside out simultaneously. These two organizations working as one are building an unstoppable democratic coalition fostering a movement to be reckoned with.
"Watch out stagnant Democratic Party because here we come, progressives, people of color, working men and women. This is our country, not Exxon's, not Bush's, not the DLC's, and not any corporate Board's. America belongs to the people, American citizens, progressives, democrats. The highest office in a democracy is that of citizen. And the citizens long for and demand justice and peace. PDA is here to help. Believe. There is hope."
-- Tim Carpenter, Director, Progressive Democrats of America
-- Kevin Spidel, Field Director, Progressive Democrats of America, former Executive Director, Progressive Vote
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EDITORIAL CARTOON
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NEW GROUPS TAKE ROOT
Grassroots for Grandmas
By Nicole Johns, contributing writer
Grannyvoter.org is a 'non-partisan effort to help grandparents share their voices, pool their power, and use their vote to give their grandchildren the gift of a lifetime - a safe, sane, thriving America.'
The group encourages grandparents to register and vote, and make sure friends and family vote. Grandparents are encouraged to contact candidates to find out their long term plans for the future- ten and twenty years down the line. Special action is being organized for Grandparents Day - September 12th - with picnics and parties.
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Operation Truth
By Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and Executive Director, Operation Truth
One week ago, we launched Operation Truth -- the first non-partisan organization for Iraq and Afghanistan Vets, by Iraq and Afghanistan Vets. Your response was nothing short of amazing! We now have thousands of people signed up to the site, ready to support our troops and create positive change on the issues that most impact them.
We are at a critical phase, and cannot succeed in our effort without your help. We will very soon launch issue-based campaigns to press our lawmakers to address the critical matters facing our troops, but first we need to grow our base of individuals committed to supporting our men and women in uniform.
If there is nothing else you do today to support our troops, please get two of your friends to sign up at Operation Truth at www.optruth.org.
If everyone we are e-mailing sends this to two friends, and follows up with them to make sure they not only visited the site, but signed up for email dispatches too, we will have tripled our membership in a matter of hours, making our voice that more powerful.
So, help us fight for those who are fighting for you, and get two friends to sign up to Operation Truth right now at www.optruth.org.
Together, we can get politicians to worry less about pork-barrel projects for their special interest contributors, and more about troops facing Stop Loss or lack of care when they come home from battle. But we need you to be an active part of this movement.
Those who served our nation patriotically are relying on you. Together, we will win.
Thanks for all of your support.
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GET INVOLVED
Signs of the times: Bush Must Go!
By Max Gordon
Last fall, I traveled to Trumansburg, NY, just up the hill from Ithaca and Cornell University, to my brother's farmhouse. It's beautiful there: rolling farmland and vineyards, spectacular fall foliage, the cobalt shards of the Finger Lakes. But what really caught my eye was a series of signs screaming BUSH MUST GO. Each had a different, equally cogent subtitle: "Read Between the Pipelines," "Healthcare For All," "No Billionaire Left Behind" and so on. Later, I tried unsuccessfully to locate these signs locally, for Bush Must Go! is indeed located in tiny Trumansburg. Fortunately, they reside at two places on-line: http://bushmustgo.net, and on Yahoo! at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BushMustGo/
While no bigger than your standard yard signs, the Bush Must Go! signs have already made big news. Carmen and Jenny Chicone of Columbia, MO, had never had a political sign in their yard before, but they liked this one since each could write a separate subtitle: Carmen's was "Save The Environment," and Jenny's was: "Support Stem Cell Research." Imagine the couple's surprise when two days later someone burned the sign to the ground. http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2004/jul/20040729feat001.asp
BMG! groups have started up across the country. Start one in your state—or in your neighborhood. It's a great way to draw out those progressives out who can't quite bring themselves to put a Kerry-Edwards sign on the lawn. The BMG! web site offers starter packs of signs, buttons and bumper stickers.
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For the Youngest Grassroots Volunteers
By Max Gordon
Based on the premise that it's never too early to learn about civic duty, a number of groups that target the pre-voting age population have put together some great resources and web sites to school American electoral process. Getting kids involved can help energize your grassroots efforts—not to mention provide a refresher course for you on some of the finer points of the electoral process. And we all know how important high school volunteers have been. Here are just a few resources to pass on to your kids, as well as to local schools, church and community groups, and other associations:
Democracy at Work provides a gateway to a storehouse of current and historical information, interactive activities, and suggestions on how to get involved. The PBS Kids Democracy Project explains in easy-to-follow terms just how a seemingly remote government and its officials can have en effect on everyday life. Kids Voting USA combines dynamic, hands-on civic activities with an authentic voting experience. Declare Yourself is a nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to energize and empower the people who will vote for the first time in November, with info on registering, voting, candidates, issues and getting involved.
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¡Juntos Sí Podemos! - Together We Can! - Campaign Training
Latinos for America and Democracy for America have combined their considerable resources of knowledge and energy to co-host more of the ¡Juntos Sí Podemos! / Together We Can! Campaign Management Training seminars that have been so successful around the country this summer. These one and two-day weekend seminars, conducted in English unless otherwise noted, are fantastic opportunities to learn how to manage a local campaign, increase your skills as a volunteer leader, connect with candidates who need your help, and develop GOTV plans to support your campaign outreach efforts. Upcoming seminars have been confirmed in the following cities:
For information on dates, times and venues, visit the Latinos for America web site at http://www.latinosforamerica.com/
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CANDIDATES
What Are Their Chances?
Will Dean-Endorsed House & Senate Candidates Win in November?
By Bill Thomasson
Although most attention has focused on the presidential race, it is almost equally important for Democrats to take back the Senate and House of Representatives this fall. Most observers expect little movement, however, with incumbents being strongly favored – especially when their districts have been specifically tailored to them. Democrats' difficulties are further compounded by the redistricting in Texas, which was openly intended to increase the number of Republican Congressmen from that state, and by the fact that five Democratic Senators in Southern sates are retiring and creating open seats that may be vulnerable to Republican takeover.
As grassroots supporters of Democracy for America, we want to turn these odds around. DFA has so far endorsed three US Senate candidates and 15 candidates for the House of Representatives (of whom two lost in the Democratic primary). In this article Taking Root uses information from candidate's Web sites, newspaper articles, and other public sources to evaluate each candidate's chances of contributing to a Democratic majority in the next Congress.
Senate
Barak Obama, running for the Illinois seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, appears to be a sure winner. He already had a more-than-double-digit lead in the polls when his original opponent, Jack Ryan, dropped out after recently unsealed divorce records revealed lurid allegations. It then took weeks for the Republicans to find a replacement – an ultraconservative out-of-state talk show host (no, Alan Keyes, not Rush Limbaugh). Definitely too little, too late, though: An August 16 Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows Obama with 65% of the vote compared to just 24% for Keyes; ironically, the poll suggests that Ryan would have done a bit better.
In Missouri, Nancy Farmer, currently the State Treasurer, is running against incumbent Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond. Farmer considers the race “very tight” even though a poll by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (conducted prior to the August 4 primary in which both Farmer and Bond crushed minor opponents) showed Bond leading 51% to 39%. However, Farmer's name recognition is likely to improve as the race goes on, especially with the support of such national Democratic luminaries as Howard Dean and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Farmer believes that Bond will also be hurt by his close association with President Bush. This may be why national Democratic Party officials told The Washington Post that they consider Missouri one of their two best chances to upset a Republican incumbent.
Betty Castor, formerly Florida's Commissioner of Education, leads a three-way race in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Senator Bob Graham. According to a July 25 Mason-Dixon poll, Castor would get 37% of the primary vote, compared to 21% for Congressman Peter Deutsch and 10% for Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas. Once past the primary, the race against the Republican nominee is expected to be very close. The poll found that Castor leads former Congressman Bill McCollum, the current Republican front-runner, by 44% to 39%. However, she would be in a dead heat with former HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, who could still be the eventual Republican nominee.
House of Representatives
Samara Barend, a 26-year-old graduate student and former intern with Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, is running for the open seat in New York's 29th district. Although the district typically goes Republican by about 65,000 votes, many of those may be siphoned off by a Conservative Party candidate on the November ballot. Furthermore, Barend, who is expected to win the Democratic primary easily, currently has more cash on hand than any of the Republican candidates. Her candidacy also benefits from the active support of former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine, who represented the district in Congress for 11 years.
The race between Paul Babbit and Rep. Rick Renzi in Arizona's 1st district is drawing national attention, with Kerry, Edwards, and Pelosi all visiting a district that the Arizona Republic says is considered one of the most competitive in the nation. Renzi's initial victory in 2002 is viewed as something of a fluke, with a less than ideal candidate emerging from the Democratic primary. This year, although Renzi has the advantage of incumbency, the Democrats have a candidate who is well known in the region – both in his own right and as the brother of former governor Bruce Babbit. With each candidate having about the same amount of cash on hand heading into the fall campaign season, the race should be tight down to the wire.
Steve Brozak's race against incumbent Mike Ferguson in New Jersey's 7th district is hard to call. New Jersey newspapers describe Ferguson as the most vulnerable Congressman in the state even though he won re-election by 17 percentage points two years ago. Ferguson also has a campaign kitty in excess of $1 million, but Brozak, buoyed by his appearance before the Democratic National Convention, expects to come close to matching that. Brozak, a former Lt. Colonel who served in Iraq, bitterly criticizes Bush's handling of the war, while Ferguson strongly supports it and is highly conservative on many other issues as well. The race could turn into a referendum on Bush's Iraq policy and go as the presidential campaign goes.
Taking Root found little evidence on the competitive status of Dr. Herb Conway, running again Rep. Jim sexton in New Jersey's 3rd district, Amy Vasquez, running against Rep. Chris Smith in the 4th district, or Anne Wolfe, running against Rep. Scott Garrett in the 5th district. Wolfe appears to be mounting a vigorous campaign and, with contributions exceeding $100,000, has the money to do so. Conway – who is currently Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly – has on the other hand not yet posted position papers on his Web site and has raised only about $15,000 (mostly from Political Action Committees), while Vassquez's campaign finance statement reveals that she has raised less than $10,000. Unless there are factors not visible from outside the districts, Conway and Vasquez do not appear to be viable candidates.
Christine Cegelis is running against Rep. Henry Hyde in Illinois' 6th district, where the 2002 Democratic candidate got only 35% of the vote. That candidate, however, mounted no campaign at all. Cegelis, on the other hand, has already raised more than $100,000 in campaign contributions and has the enthusiastic support of an army of grassroots volunteers and of many state party leaders. Cegelis will also benefit from the Illinois GOP's mishandling of its senatorial candidate selection, with fully 10% of Republicans and 32% of independents saying they are less likely to vote for other Republican candidates as a result. Consequently, area newspapers consider the district to be in play.
Melina Fox clearly has her work cut out for her challenging incumbent Mike Pence in Indiana's 6th district: Two years ago she gained only 34% of the vote against Pence. With greater name recognition this time she is likely to make a stronger showing but still appears unlikely to win.
“Lois [Herr] has a very tough uphill fight [against Rep. Joe Pitts in Pennsylvania's 11th district] - there is no sugarcoating this," in-district pollster and political analyst G. Terry Madonna told the Philadelphia Inquirer after noting that the district was tailor-made for a conservative Republican. The same article QUOTES Lancaster County Democratic Party chairman as saying that Herr is, “running a vigorous campaign, raising a lot of money, and exciting everyone in the county.” Nevertheless, in the second quarter she raised only $28,696 while Pitts had a quarter million in on-hand cash. It appears that Herr and the Democrats must hope that Pitts's decision not to actively campaign comes back to bite him.
Patsy Keever has consistently raised more money than her opponent, Rep. Charles Taylor, in North Carolina's 11th district. In the quarter ending June 30, for example, she raised $177,133 compared to Taylor's $115,094. The practical significance of this remains unclear, however, since Taylor is one of the wealthiest people in Congress and could easily self-finance his campaign at any level he chooses. Furthermore, 47% of the voters in the district are registered Republican while only 28% are registered Democrat. Nevertheless, Keever's “Kitchen Table” campaign is clearly attracting attention from newspapers in the region and there is a good chance the race will be close.
Richard Morrison, running against incumbent (and current House Speaker) Tom DeLay in the 22nd district of Texas, appears to have a surprisingly strong chance. A recent poll by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee shows DeLay with 49% of the vote, Morrison with 39%, and independent Michael Fjetland with 7%. Although Morrison's fundraising, currently approaching $200,000, is small compared to the $1.5 million that DeLay routinely spends, it's more than adequate to get his name and positions out in front of the voters. The race should continue to tighten as time goes on, with the eventual outcome uncertain.
The wild card in Jim Stork's race against Rep. Clay Shaw in Florida's 22nd district is that Stork is openly gay. This is a district where the Democratic candidate got 39% of the vote in 2002 but where, thanks to support from MoveOn.org as well as Democracy for America, Stork has raised almost at much money as Shaw. If voters view Stork's sexual orientation in a positive rather than a negative light, the race could be quite competitive. And if not this year, then in 2006 or 2008.
Al Weed's race against incumbent Virgil Goode in Virginia's 5th district is another one that is difficult to handicap from available information. Weed – a career soldier who has since become both a successful vineyard owner and temporary president of the World Bank – is an attractive candidate. Furthermore, the $200,000 he has raised is a sizable fraction of Goode's half million. One local newspaper columnist, however, suggested that Weed might be “too good for the district.” Still, the campaign should at least be interesting and, so far as an outsider can judge, Weed appears to have a good chance of victory.
In summary, the Senate list includes one clear winner, one candidate with a narrow lead, and one with a strong chance at an upset. In the house, one race is extremely close. Other candidates may upset entrenched incumbents or, at least, keep them too busy in their own districts to help out elsewhere. Still others appear to be “showing the flag” with little chance of victory. Still, as Howard Dean reminds us, showing the flag is vitally important because it keeps debate alive and builds the Party base needed to win next time. Visit Democracy for America to learn more about and contribute to the candidates' campaigns.
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INSPIRATION POINT
The Democracy for Texas Voter Registration Contest!
Democracy for Texas is not rebuilding the party, they are creating it. Here is their newest announcement:
WIN A TRIP TO DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA HQ IN BURLINGTON, VERMONT!
We're coming up on crunch time -- only 34 days left to register voters for the November election!
DFT supporters have been registering people by the hundreds, and as an extra incentive to get you to hit the streets and sign up as many voters as possible, we're offering a trip to the place it all started -- Burlington, Vermont.
The trip includes airfare, three nights' lodging, and best of all -- a chance to work at DFA headquarters!
Rules of the contest are posted at http://www.democracyfortexas.org/contestrules
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Weblogs Of Note
By Bert Caradine, contributing writer
Editor's note: Bert Caradine authors “ThatColoredFellasWeblog”. He is an excellent example of how members of the grassroots are defying convention and becoming some of our nation's new crop of thought leaders. We invited Caradine to join the Taking Root staff as a contributing writer. For this issue, we also asked him to share a bit of news about his blog.
Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn recently recognized my weblog as a part of his ‘Weblogs Of Note'. This past March, he asked his merry band of webloggers to handicap the Illinois Primary Election. We were asked to guess-timate the voting percentage won by each candidate, in both the Republican and Democratic U.S. Senate Primary races. And yes, you guessed it - your humble writer was the runaway winner.
Of course, it was the historical election that catapulted my candidate Barack Obama, to previously unimaginable national attention. His campaign's late surge had him as a 10%-12% percent favorite by Election Day. However, my gut told me that Obama's support was vastly under counted in local polls; in fact, I believed the discrepancy to be in the 10%-15% point range. Most polling had him in the high thirties, I hedged at 46%, and he won with 53% percent of the vote.
In every Democratic Primary before John Kerry wrapped up the nomination, there were marked increases in voter turnout and party registrants. I've heard many an arrogant Republican dismiss the small increments, as a comparative group of Andre 3000s', born-again Nader-ites and Bush-haters. Well, here is an interesting fact from Barack Obama's Primary win in March: His winning tally came within a couple of thousand votes, of equaling the vote tally of all the Republican Senate candidates, combined.
If you Google ‘voter registration', you will find many more projects, organizations and drives (such as P. Diddy's Citizen Change), that are associated with the Democrats, or are anti-Bush driven. Whether it's union groups, or other causes funded by George Soros, for example, the enormous impact they will have in November has gone largely unnoticed, and not incorporated in any polling data. This powerful aspect alone gives me great confidence as to our chances in November, proving the declaration of pollster John Zogby, quoted as saying the election, “…is Kerry's to lose”.
While I'm still very much a pessimist, it is a result of my unwillingness to take anyone on his or her word. My homework done, you'll just have to trust me.
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SITE SEEING
This section was compiled by Nicole Johns, contributing writer
"One Vote" Video
This 6 minute non-partisan video is about women and voting. Women from all walks of life talk about why voting is important to them. The video can be watched, downloaded, and purchased on VHS or DVD from the OneVote.com web site. You can also watch and download the video as well as a couple of 30 second audio clips from our Multi-media Fertilizer page. It is intended to be used as a tool for voter registration, education and mobilization.
22 million single women didn't vote in 2000. If they voted in the same numbers as married women that would mean 6 million more votes. As we all know, Florida was decide by 527 votes, so every vote really does count, especially in an election as close as this one will be. In fact, when you sit down to write your MMOB letters (see MMOB Update above) you might want to include a mention of the One Vote video, or if you're up to the technical challenge, burn a data CD of the video (to watch on a computer as opposed to a DVD player) and send it along. Visit GFA's Burn-4-Votes page for where to go for help with the technical stuff.
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VOTEsters.org
Adopt a Friend to Drag to the Polls!
According to Molly Cling, one of its founders,VOTEsters.org is a social network, like Friendster or MySpace, that allows people to "adopt" their friends and pledge responsibility for making sure they vote for John Kerry on November 2nd because George W. Bush is wrong for America. Along the way, VOTEsters.org provides voter registration information, polling place advisories, and helpful information on issues. VOTEsters is a modern grassroots approach to the old Election Day GOTV phone bank, but it starts well before any ballots are cast, is capable of growing exponentially, is perpetuated entirely through on-line mechanisms, and depends entirely on peer influence.
Peer-to-peer influence is often cited as the number one determinant of an individual's political socialization. VOTEsters.org is an excellent way to get people interested in politics, some for the first time in their lives.
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THE TOOL SHED
FairVote2020
Maps To Canvass By
Check out FairVote2020 for precision maps of voting patterns in the 2000 election - GREAT stuff for targeting your voter registration and GOTV (get-out-the-vote) efforts.
Our suggestion - find low-turnout precincts in otherwise Democratic areas and crank up the turn-out!
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Introducing Audio GOTV
Flash videos that offer sometimes poignant and sometimes humorous takes on an issue have become the rage and fly around the web through email on a daily basis. Now a new group of audio producers are offering Mp3 files to promote voting. And the best news is they are offering these files FREE of charge to the progressive community.
Check out http://www.customwebaudio.com/vote.html. These professional productions are unique ten second clips about 70kbps in size that are sound designed with a voice over message, music and effects aimed to enhance the decision on right to vote. There are samples of these on the demo page on the web site. Although not yet on the site producers have also completed some in a hip-hop style for the much needed younger voter. Just contact us for the Mp3's
These audio clips can be used in email campaigns and web site announcements and more. They have just finished a visual ad for this audio on our site and are also offering this in a free download.
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Grassroots Calendar
Sept 4 | Raleigh-Durham, NC -- DFA/Latinos for America Training |
Sep 10 - 12 | San Francisco, CA -- DFA/21st Century Democrats Training |
Sep 14 | Atlanta, GA, Bethel, CT, Larkspur, CA, Philadelphia, PA -- Premier screenings of Robert Greenwald's new film, Unconstitutional send a blank e-mail to theatretickets-at-grassrootsforamerica.us for ticket information. |
Sept 18 | Los Angeles, CA -- DFA/Latinos for America Training |
Sept 18 | |
Sept 19 | Next GenerAsian Leaders 2004 - Nationwide House Party/Conference Call Celebration with call at 8:30 PM EST/5:30 PM PST |
Sept 22 | |
Sep 26 | Chicago, IL -- Premier screening of Robert Greenwald's new film, Unconstitutional send a blank e-mail to theatretickets-at-grassrootsforamerica.us for ticket information. |
Sep 30 | West Springfield, MA -- Premier screening of Robert Greenwald's new film, Unconstitutional send a blank e-mail to theatretickets-at-grassrootsforamerica.us for ticket information. |
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About Our Newsletter
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Grassroots for America is a resource for progressive grassroots organizations across the nation, connecting groups and providing services, infrastructure and consulting to:
- Energize their ideas and bring them to life
- Connect with like-minded teams across the country
- Mobilize bodies of voters for active citizen engagement
- Publicize their projects utilizing a professional PR and Media team
- Multiply the impact of every grassroots initiative.
Grassroots for AmericaSM is a not-for-profit corporation operating as an IRS chapter 501(c)4 organization.
 Your contribution will help us help the progressive grassroots grow. |
Special Thanks to BRAINCHILD MEDIA GROUP for their design work and consulting.
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