Tim, take New York to the bank.

Governor Ted Kulongoski is a very good man who gave an excellent State Of The State speech this last Friday. He related how he climbed up from a boy who lived a a boys home and raised by nuns, who became a steelworker, rose to become Governor and will never forget his roots as a member of the working class.

He's gone to great lengths to continue to properly fund important state priority programs, not to raise taxes, despite a terrible collapse in a 25% reduction in state revenue loss after 9/11 and the Bush recession that is slowly improving.

Kulogoski promised a new program to supply health care including dental and mental health to all children under 19 with his only tax proposal so far, of a cigarette tax. Also a commitment to provide a college education to all who want one with a commitment of student aid and other proposals to continue to grow Oregon's economy out of the recession.

By comparison Kevin mannix is a perennial candidate for office after office, a former 1972 George McGovern delegate to the 1972 Democratic Convention turned into an archconconservative who has used sleazy fundraising practices in regressive ballot measure campaigns, defended public officials charged with public corruption as an attorney, weakened Oregon's ethic's laws as a legislator, and is a real posterboy for the much hated Republican "Culture Of Corruption".

For character reasons alone Oregon voters should re-elect Gov. Kulongoski. But his achievements also speak very well for an excellent Governor who represents the right kind of values for Oregon.

Kulongoski makes me proud to be a Democrat.

I was talking to someone that ran an Election Campaign for A democrat. When I ask the lady how she remained so postive even when her Candidate made mistakes or was at a low ebb? She said, I always talked about something postive that my Candidate had done or the Democrats were doing. Then when they ask me about the situation that was questionable, I could say, the Democrats have come up with a better plan and it is being placed in the Plateform.

I wish ALL our Democrats that wrote in here were as clever at speaking of the good and correcting the bad without SLASH AND BURN!

My current view of this administration is that they are being run by a bunch of neocons.
They wave the flag of democracy to gain power then trample it in the mud once they aproach the position of responsibility that comes with democratic power.

Don't count Indiana out yet to come back into the Democrat ranks. Republican Governor Mitch Daniels is trying to get legislation passed that will lease out Indiana toll roads to foreign countries for the next 75 years. Democrats should take back the majority of the Indiana House of Representatives this year and even gain a few Indiana Senate seats. If we don't there is something wrong with the democrat ranks of the Hoosier state.

I wrote this poem. Please use it in any way that will help people to understand the wrongness of torture and violations of human rights. Please pass it on to others to use.

A Child's
Pledged of Allegiance to the Flag

When I Was Just a Small Lad
I Looked up So Proud,
I Saw the Stars and Stripes
And I Recited out Loud!

I Pledge Allegiance
My Young Voice Cried,
To the United State of America
And to the Freedom for Which -
So Many Have Died!

I Pledged Allegiance
To the Republic for Which it Stands,
To the One Nation under God
I Folded My Hands!

As I Recited My Pledge
To the Indivisible Country,
I Whispered a Little Prayer
That Really Seemed -
Very Important to Me!

I Was Pledging to a Country
That Promised Liberty and Justice for All,
Not Just for a Few
No ! Really, Really -
They Meant it for All!

So Everyone Can Be Free
We Go to the Polls and Vote,
Everyone Has a Voice
We Proudly Gloat!

No One Is Supposed to Be Left out
We Should All Have a Say,
But I Find That Is Not Always True
I Just Found That out -
Just the Other Day!

I Found That Some of the Meanings
Of the Pledge Have Changed You See,
They No Longer Seem to Mean
The Same Things -
That they First Meant to Me

I Recently Read That an Iraqi
General Had Died,
Around His Face an American Sleeping -
Bag Had Been Tied!

An American Military Officer
Who Also Recited the Pledge Right Along,
Sat on the Generals Chest
Until All of His Air Was Gone!

I Don’t Think it Was
Was the Right Thing for Him to Do.
And I Find Myself Wondering
If He Thought He Was Doing it -
Doing it for Me and for You!

I Wonder Which Clause of the Pledge
He Thought the Generals Death Would Uphold,
Was it an Act under God
Or Was it Liberty and Justice -
For All to Behold!

I Read That Yet More
Of Our Soldiers Across the Sea,
Were Fighting in Afganastan
They Claimed They Were Fighting -
Fighting for You and for Me!

But I Never Recall
Casting a Vote to Tell,
Those Soldiers That They Could Murder
A Prisoner in a Jail Cell!

They Went into His Cell
To Question Him You See,
And While They Were There
They Beat Him -
Unmercifully!

When They Came Back
Some Time Later That Day,
The Found That the Man Was Dead
They Really Felt -
Like They Had Earned Their Pay!

When Their Commander Was Asked
If These Murderers Would Go to Jail,
The Prisoner Could Have Died of Natural Causes
That Was His Tale!

So All of this Makes Me
Makes Me Wonder Some How,
How Did Our Pledge Change
Why Are We the Way -
The Way We Are Now!

Didn’t Enough of Us Go
Go to the Polls and Vote,
Maybe Too Many of Us Just Sat
Just Sat at Home and Gloat!

Or Did We All Decided
That Our Pledge Should Permanently Change,
The Whole Constitution
We Should Conveniently Rearrange!

If We Are Truthfully a Noble Nation
A Nation under God,
Can We Really Give These Murders
An Approving Nod!

If Our Pledge Does Mean
Mean Anything to Us,
Openly These Murders
Our Country Should Discuss!

If We Don't Believe in Liberty and Justice for All
As the Pledge Does Say,
Then Lets Start Teaching Our Children
The New Words Today!

Liberty and Justice
the New Words Might Be
God Lets Us Kill
If Public Homage -
They Don't Pay to Me!

I Write this Anonymous Poem
Anonymously You See,
For I Now Fear That My Government
Might Do the Same Thing -
to Me!

Do you mean the teacher in Aurora who got the pink slip for truthfully telling his students that there are some people who compare Bush with Hitler?
There ARE people who compare Bush with Hitler, so he is getting fired for being truthful. That's a violation of his rights.
Actually I never compare Bush to Hitler. Bush is systematically trying to destroy all poor, aged, and disabled people regardless of race, he is an equal opportunity oligarch.
Bush is more like Porfierio Diaz, the Mexican dictator whose 30 year dictatorship, known as the Porfieriato, is responsible for the Mexican Revolution. Diaz started out being an elected president, who set about destroying their constitution,too. Think about it.
END THE BUSHIATO!!! IMPEACH BUSH!!!

We could pick up a lot more support if our Washington Democrats would make a stand on the key issues. Setting on the fence won't get it done and that is what they have been doing.

So I'm wondering, after looking at this website, maybe somebody can answer my question. Is critical thinking a democratic value? Or did we loose that with the passing of the patriot act?

http://www.physics.byu.edu/research/energy/htm7.html

If critical thinking is not a part of our dem. leadership we are lost. If such thinking is not part of all members we are lost. I would hope that the diversity of our thinking and our actions is our only hope against sheeplike following, which is the repubs. m.o. We must use this thinking process to put our values and programs forward. We can't fall into their tactic of divide and conquer. Please try to convince local primary candidates to not destror any dem. as this may be the most important elections of our time. As a 64 year old vet. and longtime labor liberal I have lost some of my zeal because of my own partys seeming inability to take a stand and show backbone in a time when that is the only value that can save us. We should finally run on sunshine, honesty and integrity, and the belief that all americans deserve enough of the pie to subsist and prosper in this ere when it seems that Ikes warnings should be heeded and brought into the light.

If critical thinking is not a part of our dem. leadership we are lost. If such thinking is not part of all members we are lost. I would hope that the diversity of our thinking and our actions is our only hope against sheeplike following, which is the repubs. m.o. We must use this thinking process to put our values and programs forward. We can't fall into their tactic of divide and conquer. Please try to convince local primary candidates to not destroy any dem., as this may be the most important elections of our time. As a 64 year old vet. and longtime labor liberal I have lost some of my zeal because of my own party,and its seeming inability to take a stand and show backbone in a time when that is the only value that can save us. We should finally run on sunshine, honesty and integrity, and the belief that all americans deserve enough of the pie to subsist and prosper in this ere when it seems that Ikes warnings should be heeded and brought into the light.

Polls at this time are meaningless. At this point people report their party identifications not the way they intend to vote. The Demo candidates are not gaining converts. Their fear of being seen as soft on terrorists leads to acting as active enablers of this criminal administration.. Why is it that no one and I mean no one has stood up and reviled this administration for the continued willful degradion of the people of La. & Miss? Are we and our leaders so weak and frightened that we are willing to accept continued abuse of our rights and our laws and our constitution in the hope that voters will prefer cowrds to criminals.

If my thinking gets any more critical, I'll be down right grouchy.
I see, I question, I speak up. That's critical thinking. That is my Constitutional right. That is the basis for Democracy.
Democrats need to campaign like a D12 CAT (very large bulldozer)at full throttle. We need to come out on the issues we choose, and don't let the Republicans stop us or shunt our issues to a side track.
We need a "Give 'em hell, Harry" campaigner who will run a give-a-shit campaign.
We need some life in the Democrat party.
We need as a candidate someone who comes off as giving a damn; about the poor, about the rural populations, about the true base of the Democrat Party, the working people.
We need to be loud, positive, and let people know that not all Democrats are wimpy out-of-touch urban liberals.
Hoooah!!!

In order for our party to make the gains everybody wants, they have to make some things clear and then candidates will have something to run on, not just run against the other guy. Very simply, (these are the things that are wrong, this is what we propose to do about it.) It's not complicated, just be truthful and America is ready to throw out this bunch that have been draining our wealth for themselves. If our leaders won't do this, they are not our leaders and don't deserve to be there. People will not vote for you just because the wheels are coming off the other guy's wagon. Haven't they learned that by now or are they playing us for suckers just like the Republicans are? Nader said there is no difference between the two, is he right?

I see that Congress (both houses) are considering legislation to codify the warrantless spying by the government. Democrats may not have the votes on the floor of congress to defeat this issue, but they have the ability (if they dare) to speak out in public, rally support among the voters and generate some real information on what this administration is trying to accomplish. Be brave people this is probably your last chance to demonstrate that this country is important to you. In the House Rep. Conyers cannot get 30 members to sign on to his bill. From the grass roots to the top we all need to work to awaken people that loss of freedom is permanent.

PLEASE urge Democrats to vote with absentee ballots this year. In Oregon we have mail-in ballots for every election and there is always a paper trail. No problem with fraud either. It's the only way to ensure your vote will count. Do not trust the electronic voting machines. To save our democracy, we must go back to paper ballots!

At a time when I thought that we were being so bullied by the right, I was about to give up for a while. I was about to give up till the Right's plan backfired, but I give people credit that may have voted for Bush, but now wonder about him. His approval rating is at 34% and obviously, the projected results show that Americans are re-thinking things. Good signs!

REPUBLICAN DIEBOLD VOTING MACHINE FRAUD MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN.

Remember Clint Curtis, the whistle blower of Yang Enterprises, Inc., Oviedo, FL who was involved in the REPUBLICAN and DLC deception of the public when he created a software voting program for Tom Feeney, a Republican Registered Government Lobbyist, that could be used to manipulate the public's voting.

Clint Curtis stated that Tom Feeney asked Yang Enterprises, Inc. to build a vote rigging software that could manipulate the vote, so that one could select the winner, however one wants and that is exactly what Clint Curtis did. Programmer, Clint Curtis, actually built a prototype for Tom Feeney and the Republican Party for the 2000 Election, a software vote rigging prototype that could be used to manipulate the vote and the REPUBLICANS have won ever since; because with the Clint Curtis'programmed Diebold Voting Machine a winner need only be selected. That is why the REPUBLICANS can win without having the real vote of the public.

Clint Curtis also stated that Republican Lobbyist, Tom Feeney, had three (3) specific requirements that MUST be adhered to for the vote rigging software prototype. First, the prototype had to have touch screen capability. Second, the prototype had to be able to be manipulated without any third party intervention; example, like someone across the street flipping the numbers. And, third, the prototype must have the Source Code hidden. [This prototype has been and is used in the Diebold Voting Machines since the 2000 Election.]

Clint Curtis of Yang Enterprises, Inc. said the program was simple requiring less than 24 hours for him to write. In October of 2000, Clint Curtis made the prototype that could be manipulated without 3rd Party intervention, provided documentation for hiding the Source Code and set touch points on the screen for manipulation of the vote as required by Tom Feeney for vote manipulation of the public. Clint Curtis stated that Mrs. Yang told him that the software program he had just built had been made to be used to manipulate the vote in South Florida.

Based on the GAO Report and Clint Curtis' statements before the Congress, elections have been fradulent since the the Diebold Voting Machines have been used. Here are some links for verification.

http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showConnection.php?id1=2328&id2=2331

http://www.bradblog.com/ClintCurtisSummary.htm

http://fcn.state.fl.us/st_contracts/973561042/03_order/order-Yang%20Enterprises.htm

If any public election is going to have any semblance of honesty, this blatant voter fraud must be weeded out of society.

Martha has a truly important point. If the elections are rigged, then why vote? The robbing of the 2000 presidential election was obvious to all the world. The robbing of the 2004 presidential election was whitewashed by Kerry and the Democrat right, who shrugged oh-well instead of investigating the Ohio and Florida returns, an act shamefully inexplicable in the face of highly reliable exit polls showing a Demo victory.
There are alternatives to voting, of course. General Washington and his shoeless, starving, freezing soldiers at Valley Forge knew very well what not having the vote was all about. They held out, though, and won in the end.
Will we, the Americans who value democracy over corporate campaign contributions, be insistent in demanding the hard-won right to continue to vote for our own government?
The citizens of many countries invite international observers to verify the integrity of their elections. Shouldn't we consider this? If our elections are already honest, what do we have to lose?
Actually, I'd signed in to question Demo timidity in filing impeachment charges against Bush the traitor (anybody remember Clinton and what we did when he got caught lying about his sex life?) but feel that Martha's comment is even more fundamental to the survival of democracy in this most powerful nation on earth. Please read the following linked article on grounds for impeachment, especially if you think the popular vote might make a difference in the actions Democratic candidates take between now and November:
http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03072006.html

voterDouglas:

Good site. Let me see if I can get that link in so that the site will be easier to check:

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03072006.html

I understand that the Republican legislature has ordained that the Diebold Voting Machines must be used, if so, each voter MUST have a paper ballot that can be checked to ascertain each vote registered properly; otherwise, if the Democrats win, it will for certain be one of the selected DLC Republican-Lite Democrats, like Hillary Clinton, who say what you want to hear and do what they want to do; instead of a democratic Dean "Democracy For America" Democrat. We the people have DEMOCRACY when there is an above board honorable vote ONLY. Voting since 2000 has been fraudulent and dishonorable. We the people MUST make certain that there are paper ballots in all those Diebold Voting Machines, otherwise it IS useless to vote. I, for one, want DEMOCRACY back, because all the polls mean nothing if the vote doesn't register correctly. Democracy means each vote counts.

Check out this Democracy NOW website http://www.democracynow.org

Satellite's Amy Goodman and Satellite's INN Report are the best when it comes to getting democracy back. We the people MUST break the CORPORATE MEDIA control so that truth can be a virtue and be able to be told in the media. Democracy can not exist with the people being force fed lies and distortions of the truth as is happening NOW in ALL the media except two or three satellite channels that most people do not receive.

The Diebold Selection Machines must be neutralized.

Honest voting will bring honest media and democracy. We the people need to be able to expect an honest vote. Without an honest vote, polls mean nothing. Remember, Gore actually won the presidential election. Polls said Gore -- Did it matter? It must matter for DEMOCRACY to exist.

Some kind of a paper trail should be the law but Republicans don't want it. That should tell anybody what is really going on. You would think our Democrats in Washington would he constantly preaching this point but they just mention the need for better voting regulations. They must not care if our votes get counted or not. Even if they did care, what can be done about it while Republicans dominate us. Who will catch the crooks when they are policing themselves?

Well the Rs showed again that things are not as rosie as true believers here would like to think. DeLay scores a victory in Texas, the Administration scores a victory in the Senate and the Intelligence Committee, the "Patriot" act passes the house by two votes. Where are all the victories the Ds are going to score to change the make-up of the discussion? Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld and Bolton have made it clear that the attack on Iran is days away not months. Nothing but silence from the enablers on the left. There was an essay by John Corey in Truthout.org which everyone should read and forward to their elected representatives but I fear that it is too late for this once great nation. The American people appear to have lost all interest in the honesty and honour of their governmentt.

These poll numbers look pretty good right now. But it's important that we do not get to cocky. We need more forceful of campaigns than ever to oust the Republicans. Like in my home state of Michigan, we already have a democratic governor. Except i can see her going very easily if she does not pick up the pace. The Republican challenger has already started an ad campaign and is slowly but surely gaining ground. Republicans are trying to paint all of Michigan's economic problems as Governor Granholm's doing. Michigan is a blue state pretty much because of Detroit, Flint, and other cities in its southeast. My fellow Michigan Democrats and I really need to step it up if we want to keep Granholm in office and get rid of the radical conservatives in out legislature. We can't let the Republicans have a major victory in Michigan, nor can we let them have one in other states. There are so many things that the Democrats could do if they gained the majority in U.S. Congress. Let's not pass up the opportunity.

I think that it's all well and good that cracks are starting to show in the neo-con power structure, and that Democrats may be able to show some wins. It worries me that the Democrats have not shown the party discipline and organization that the Republicans have shown repeatedly over the last several decades, which helped get them to their current position of power.

Just as important as attention is to individual campaigns for any individual candidates, we the Democrats have to put at least the same amount of attention on overcoming the the ununited, fractious, and confusing stance the swing voters perceive in the Democratic party, especially when dealing with issues like terrorism and national security.

PK Plaskett

PKPlasket:

I haven't given up hope of getting Democracy back so that I will not have to be a SWING VOTER for either the New Democrat Professional Class or the Republican Elite Capitalist Class. I live in hope that some day my vote will do more for me than put in the Professional NEW CLASS of the Democrats or the Elite Capitalist Class of the Republicans. With this NEW CLASS of DEMOCRAT, what we the majority of the people have IS full fledged TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION for the WORKING and POOR CLASS like me that are used by both parties as SWING VOTERS without any actual representation in the government of the United States at all from either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Just because I or anyone like me place their vote with one of the parties doesn't give me or them any representation for any kind of benefit for myself or any of my WORKING and POOR CLASS friends. The only representation I or any member of the WORKING and POOR CLASS have is the representation we get from the Democracy For America Movement that Governor Dean originated and that is now being Chaired by his brother, Jim Dean. And, I am looking forward to Governor Dean restoring the Democratic Party where it is representative of me and all my working friends as well as the poor and down trodden from Republican and DLC-Democrat tyranny and oppression.

We, the WORKING and POOR CLASS majority SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN MADE "SWING VOTERS". Any working or poor person who thinks they have representation in the United States government is being sorely deceived whether they are Republican or Democrat and whether they vote or not.

GOD BLESS GOVERNOR DEAN, KEEP HIM SAFE AND GIVE HIM STRENGTH TO GET THE JOB OF RESTORING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY DONE, SO THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS ONCE MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF WE THE PEOPLE IN THE MAJORITY IN THE UNITED STATES, IN THE NAME OF JESUS.

Oh, and a lot of the single-issue-voter issues should be ignored by the working people? These issues strike at the core values of the majority of Americans.
Especially when all the Republican spin is telling them that the left-wing liberals don't give a rat's patootie about them, and the left-wing liberals are only reinforcing the spin by not acting like they even care.
The Democrats have brought a lot of this grief upon themselves, by turning their backs on their true base and kissing up to pie-in-the-sky urban liberal elitists and to the Republi-lites(aka DINOs).
Both political parties have attacked the Bill of Rights. Granted that the Democrats have only attacked the Second Amendment for the most part, but if one Amendment in the Bill of Rights falls that leaves a precedent for the other nine to go down too, which is playing into Republican and mega-corporation hands.
Voting a split ticket means you get enough of the other party into the legislature to keep the government from getting too stupid.
For prime example of "too stupid", look at the rubber-stamp Congress of the last five years, it's about as stupid as they can get.
The lost-in-the-clouds liberals in the Democrat party don't seem to value working class values to the point of coming off as disrespecting those values, which allows the Republicans to walk away with single-issue-voter issues. The Republi-lites in the party aren't looking out for anything but mega-corporations false economics.
I hope to goodness that Howard Dean can turn this party around and get it back to it's true base, and infuse it with a spine in the process, but the jury's still out.

Butte:

Swinging voters have no representation in the House of Representatives or in the Senate. When one is swinging one has no ties to representation. The only people in the Democratic Party that get any true representation are the NEW Professional Class -- the NEW Democrat Class -- the NEW CLASS -- and the only people in the Republican Party that get any true representation are the Elite Capitalists Class. All working people who are not educated professionals are of the Working and Poor Class and receive no representation at all, except through Governor Howard Dean's Movement. If one is educated and professional, they can consider themself to have representation, but for how long?

FASCISM knows no loyalty not even to the United States, since the Port of Long Beach, California has been sold to China. Is selling U.S. ports loyalty to the United States? I don't think so. China operating our ports is not loyalty to the security of the United States. Since corporate governance got away with the sale of the Port of Long Beach, CA to China, apparently corporate leadership (Karl Rove) decided corporate control could get away with selling another 6 to 21 U.S. ports to another country, this time the ARABS of the United Arab Emirates.

Republicans fly the U.S. flag and wear the U.S. flag and present the U.S. flag, and pretty much wrap themselves in the U.S. flag; but their loyalty is all theatre, because these EXTREME Republicans are controlling the United States and have not got a speck of loyalty to the United States, or the flag of the United States; or China would not be in control of the Port of Long Beach, California, U.S.A.

Can the educated professionals of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) of the Democratic Party believe these EXTREME Republicans will be loyal to them after they have been used to destroy democracy? The answer is NO. These EXTREME Republicans are using the oldest trick in the book to gain control of the Political Left, DIVIDE and CONQUER. The Democratic Leadership Council(DLC) is the Republican division of the Democratic Party. Governor Howard Dean, M.D. is holding the fort for democracy and the people had better wake up, pay attention and help Governor Dean before it is too late.

If you think that swing voters don't count, then why do you think they have elections? In a close race swing voters most definitely DO count.
There are individual candidates who do not represent the interests of their proposed constituency, and they should never be voted into office no matter what party they belong to.
The "New Professional Class" , whatever that is supposed to mean, has no place in the Democrat party. Every time someone talks about a "Professional class" they are talking about greedy mindless Yuppies, who are out to destroy this country in the name of greed and self-service.
The Democrat party does not need them because they are the out-of-touch urban snobs who have lost the workers and the rural vote and keep the Democrats loosing.
The Democrats need to fire the DLC and reform the DNC so that the working people and rural people have a voice in their government. Only them will the Democrats gather back the voters who are their true base.

Unbelievably bad ad....

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/09.html#a7458

Let's start fighting the Republicans on culture issues. We must stress individual freedom as the core to our national freedom. Someone must say there is no room for politics of regiligous hate and "I'm better than you" feelings. Someone must say that gay rights are good for the country. That gay civil marriage is good and thay any reglgious marriage should be left up to the churches involved. Someone must say that supporting our troops is a good thing, especially when we are talking about pay and veterns rights and that Republicans only care at times of elections for veterans benefits. Someone must say how can we use gays as cannon fodder during wars and yet maintain a ban again'st gays in the military. It's un-Amercian to have it both ways.

Ou Democratic leaders must stop yelling and raving and begin to look like serious statesmen/women. We must appeal to the common sense of the American people. Use "Does it make sense to...."

Let's start fighting the Republicans on culture issues. We must stress individual freedom as the core to our national freedom. Someone must say there is no room for politics of regiligous hate and "I'm better than you" feelings. Someone must say that gay rights are good for the country. That gay civil marriage is good and thay any reglgious marriage should be left up to the churches involved. Someone must say that supporting our troops is a good thing, especially when we are talking about pay and veterns rights and that Republicans only care at times of elections for veterans benefits. Someone must say how can we use gays as cannon fodder during wars and yet maintain a ban again'st gays in the military. It's un-Amercian to have it both ways.

Our Democratic leaders must stop yelling and raving and begin to look like serious statesmen/women. We must appeal to the common sense of the American people. Use "Does it make sense to...."

Phrase Mongering:
Whenever it is said "Cutting Taxes" add "Increasing Debt"