All Texas Democrats--Please remember that we have to turn out the vote for our local races too. We have had a Republican Legislature ramming all sorts of deregulation and other garbage through and face redistricting in 2010 as a result of that new Census.

My state rep. for District 32 is Juan Garcia still in his first term,but heavily targeted by Republicans to try to keep a majority. This is the url for his latest really cute commercial starring yours truly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e00aTsBP5ag&eurl=http://www.electjuangarcia.com/
How do you create a link anyway?
Also we need to elect Rick Noriega as US Senator to help change the balance in the Senate.

We need some information here in South Texas from those of you who may have experience to share. A group of us are trying to collect money to buy some Obama or Obama/Biden signs to put along roadsides and on fences at strategic locations. Most of what I have been able to find are the small yard signs and we want to get 48" x 48" signs to put up.

Our high winds tend to tear up anything less sturdy than the corrugated plastic type. The National party has us either at the bottom of the list or off the list for such signs, but we still plan to turn the state blue again. We feel that Obama can turn out enough voters to counter the Republican majority in my area if we get everyone out to vote. We are also putting up signs for Rick Noriega for US Senate and Juan Garcia for our State Rep. We have plenty of signs for those candidates.

Can anyone tell me a good printshop that makes or has made OBAMA 2008 signs and hopefully is also union? We want to buy union if we can. We are currently putting together the nickels, dimes and dollars that will be necessary.

If you can send me to someone, or better yet know someone with an excess of signs I would appreciate it. Most emphasis from the campaign is to our south in the Rio Grande valley because there are a million votes down there. We need to get this area going too. Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Portland, Aransas Pass, Rockport, Sinton, Ingleside, Victoria and many more cities and towns are positioned to turn our state lesislature blue and change the US Senate as well.

I would live your feedback because there is no need to re-invent the wheel if someone else already has a good supplier with print ready graphics.

Thanks,

Bob

With regard to Palin I respect her right to her beliefs, but American women (less the fringe which believe the same as her) should see this as what it is. An insult to all Americans and especially to Hillary R. Clinton.

As if to say that the same reproductive parts make her equal to the task. You all know I supported Hillary way back before I started studying Obama's positions. I hope this is the opportunity for Hillary to once again prove her metal by politely putting this woman in her place.

We know that Obama and Biden as men must be very careful not to say or do anything to appear to be picking on the little lady. Maybe that is the plan, make everyone feel sorry for her and Mr. old man.   Read More »

Even though the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution was inevitable at the time, certain Loyalists (Tories) remained faithful to King George. They did their best to disrupt in any way they could, the movement for a free America.   Read More »

Democrats, unite under our inclusive party. Republicans, like my neighbors that are tired of the same old crap are welcome too.

One of my wife's clients is a retired military officer and has come out in his support for the Democratic party and Obama. He talked with his elderly dad in Louisiana last week, a man who freely used the "N" word 10 years ago when talking about blacks, has now decided Obama and the Democrats are our only chance for the future. go figure! It is not just the young, the progressives, the workers, and liberals that realize our nation is on the wrong path. The party of the people must prevail and clean up washington.

I am treating myself to another round of Party Builder. I have been away since the Texas Convention. My hopes are that this site is now as united as out Texas Democratic Party. Our State Convention win Austin was inspiring. Almost as many people were disappointed in the way Texas went as were happy with the results.

Our delegation of 123 people was at full strength and 2/3 in support of Hillary even though we had all discussed the inevitable result. Party unity was not immediate, and as Hillary made her speech on Saturday morning tears were shed on both sides. Her call for support of the party had almost all of the Hillary supporters applauding along with all the Obama supporters.

From our group I was only ashamed of one person's public reaction to the news Hillary gave us. I will not discuss that here because one out of more than 100 people is not worth dwelling on. Now I am really only interested in hearing from everyone else how we can continue grow our party and keep the reigns of government out of the hands of John McSame and his party which has almost stricken our democracy a death blow over the past 7 1/2 years.

Friday is the day where the Democrats of Texas come together at our convention to support the candidates. All the talk I have been hearing from other delegates is that we all agree to back the nominee. Hillary is 70% in my district and Obama leads in many others. The good news is that we are all planning to be cordial to each other and act like adults, whatever the outcome.

Hey site administrators! We can see it if you can't. Isn't anyone monitoring this NATIONAL Democratic Party forum? Can we not afford to monitor this and take out the Trolls?

I suggest that all legit Democrats would be willing to pitch in a few bucks toward the national party to help fund the proper software or personnel intelligent or motivated enough to stop the misuse of our site by Republican operatives. Nothing against administrators, but they need to administer.   Read More »

Can we talk about chickenhawks like Bush and Cheney who avoided serving honorably, yet enthusiastically started a war where they and their friend's children would not have to fight? That should still fall within our truce.

Or what about our war hero McSame who no doubt served his country well in Nam, but has since become the lapdog of the Bush administration? Can we smear them for a while and leave Democrats out of it?

Have you ever been to a VA Hospital? Warning, not for the weak of heart or stomach.

The VA is funded from the military budget. Every penny to take care of our injured warriors from the current or past wars is a penny we can't give to Haliburton or other defense contractors. As a consequence, the dead are remembered more than the living. We honor the dead on memorial day as we should. However, what about the half dead, the better off dead, the suffering and the permanently handicapped.

My father-in-law is a double amputee and spends time counseling boys who just lost their legs. Many of them just want to eat their gun, but many times they prefer to go on living. Many have had their genitals blown off along with legs and other serious injuries.

we ask them to sacrifice for us, but we forget them. My sister works with returning vets and is depressed by what she sees. She tries to help the families and the vets, but many just get warehoused in a VA hospital.

Worse than forgotten, some deserving vets can't make it to a VA hospital for help. Especially our Korean and WWII vets. I know Texas looks small on a map, but look at Laredo, Harlingen and Corpus Christi. then imagine that you are a disabled vet in need of medical care at the VA. NOW LooK at SAN Antonio. See how many hundred miles some vets need to go just to get the care we PROMISED THEM. That's right no VA facility in the coastal bend or south Texas.

I cry for the dead, but I also mourn the living. What kind of government turns their back on promises to the heroes who helped keep us free?

We are Democrats and must unite to get rid of these jerks. I don't care who you support, we all have to work together. If it is Hillary or Obama, we must finally honor these servicemen by keeping our government's promise. DO NOT start quibbling over who should be the nominee. Respect our fallen and injured and stand together this Memorial Day and in November.

We owe it to them.

I am no longer living in Northern Arizona and have not been living there for almost 30 years. Likewise I am not enough Native American in bloodline to count for much.

Nonetheless, I stand in support of our Dine' and Hopi brothers and sisters of those great nations and all other Native Americans and our joint quest to return the United States to the rule of true democracy under a government that will truly represent the people. May your Hogans, sweat lodges, Kivas, and Prayer Tipis always be allowed to contain your various beliefs. To me your religions are as sacred as any other whether you follow the Native American Church, Christianity or the Navajo Way, or any other belief system.

You are our steadfast brothers and sisters and will help us to hold the line against the type of government that wishes to jam their preferred religion down our throats. True Democracy must prevail.

Hooray for Native American Democrats!!!!

I haven't been around for a week or so due to work, but I have something for everyone. Rather than beat on each other and spew venom at the candidates, lets just send some to the super delegates. I am sure they would love to hear everyone's latest barbs and accusations.

Toward that end I am posting a partial list of uncommitted delegates below. Hillary and Obama people get to work.
Peace - Love and beat McCain:   Read More »

April 12, 2008

Carl Bernstein's View: A Hillary Clinton presidency

What will a Hillary Clinton presidency look like?

The answer by now seems obvious: It will look like her presidential campaign, which in turn looks increasingly like the first Clinton presidency.   Read More »

A while ago I looked at the new people supporting Obama. I copied the response of 12 most recent people On Why I Support Barack Obama... Their responses are interesting even if some can't spell any better than Republicans.   Read More »

I will tell you what is really killing the Republicans and those few Dems who are bigots. The real problem is they can't say the N word. They would just love to call Obama Ni_ _er and be done with it. It is ripping them apart. They can call Hillary Bit_h and anything else with no ill effect. That is because there are plenty of Hillary haters who would agree and other people would just let it pass without comment. But the world has changed and racism is not so PC even among Republicans. The fact that Obama is black is killing the repubs. They have to tread very lightly.

To them a b_ _ch is easy to dismiss and to slander. Hillary has made it easier for the opposition by dissembling in public so they can apply the word to her without fear. But, how can they appeal to the racist side of their most enthusiastic supporters, those who used to be the southern democrats, but became Republicans after LBJ sacrificed the south to get Civil rights laws past.

As a young southerner I was taught not to be racist by my parents when others used the N word freely. I also learned not to be sexist. Sadly many of our common folk have not overcome the 1950's and early 60's. They still make racist and sexist comments among themselves. Willie Horton type adds did not have to say any racist words, just unleash racial fear.

Obama is altogether different. He is more educated than the upper 1% of white folks. He is also more intelligent and more caring for all the underclasses than the average American. How easy it would be to dismiss him if we could just use the N word. Luckily we have become more civilized than that.

That still does not stop people dogpiling on any blog to make a positive statement about him. I am begining to learn their names because it is so predictable. Say something nice about Obama and ____, _____, ______, and ______ will all throw in some poorly thought out negative comments. It seems to be a reflex for them and does not have to relate to the issue at all. I am sorry that Hillary lies without provocation and I feel bad that Obama speaking the truth causes so many distress. It is what it is and people will be people.

I am glad to have a black man speaking out for my whiteness and defending my constitution. It also helps that he understands my right to keep and bear arms. If you can't handle that, too bad for you.

I love Hillary, I love Bill.

Barack is even better still.

If Hill could do it, I'd be there

or Bill again I wouldn't care.

They're loyal to our country, true

with best of hopes for me and you.

The debt I owe them can't be paid

but their time has past, I am afraid.

Our hopes were answered with Barack

New voters stretching down the block

Barack must be our nominee

Only he can beat the G O P

His time is here we all can see

I still feel sad for Hillary

How true it is that during times of crisis and stress, we cling to our most fundamental beliefs. Texans, Louisianans, Georgians, Pennsylvanians, all Americans turn to their core beliefs when our lives are disrupted. Remember 9-11? Remember the sudden reawakening of our core beliefs in patriotism and fellowship among our fellow citizens. The impulse to display the American flag and feel our patriotism was close to universal.
Why is it so hard to believe that people whose local economy has been destroyed would feel any less like they are under siege by an uncaring government.

Bitter, Hell yes? Cling to our core beliefs for comfort and protection from the kind of negative change we have been seeing for years? Absolutely! Mistrustful   Read More »

This comes from Sara Robinson.

I have attached a link for those interested, but Sara points the fallacy of thought where a group begins to split as one sub group begins to think of themselves as separate. The article is probably too long for some people, but if you bear with it, she really hits the nail on the head. The Republicans have been working at this and right now I see danger of our own party thinking this way too.

"Whenever a society devolves to Us Versus Them, the common good is the first and worst casualty of the ensuing war. The conservatives worked overtime through the 1970s and 80s to convince us that the common good was nothing more than a mass delusion that weakened society, and was probably a Communist plot. By 1987, Margaret Thatcher was publicly admitting that "there is no such thing as society;" and conservative intellectuals were insisting in peer-reviewed journals that "communalism" -- that is, the notion that we have any obligations to each other at all -- was a dangerous and backward superstition that needed to be extinguished.

This is what over-the-top Us Versus Them sounds like in its metastasized stages.

Putting it back together
The illusion that there are two kinds of people in the world -- our kind, and that other kind -- has been hard to maintain lately in the face of some shattering realities. 9/11 divided us further -- but only for a while, until the middle and lower classes began to notice who was paying the price for the ensuing wars, and who was collecting the profits. On the heels of that came Katrina, and the shock of our falling bridges, and the undeniable collapse of our health care system. When most of Us can't trust the roads we commute on every day, or count on the government to keep our homes above water, or afford a doctor when we need one, all that conservative cant about Rugged Individualism and Taking Care of Ourselves rings damned hollow.

We're starting to remember, at long last, that there is no Us, and no Them -- there's just We, the People, struggling to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. And the life, liberty, and happiness of every one of us depends on having a government that works. Us Versus Them is a self-serving conservative indulgence that we can no longer afford -- and those who continue to promote it in the face of all we've been through the past seven years are declaring their implacable hostility toward both their fellow citizens and the nation's founding ideals."


http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/two-kinds-americans-us-versus-them-part-i

Doug Davenport, a founder and the current chief lobbyist for the DCI Group, is joining the McCain campaign as a regional campaign manager. The current count of lobbyist managers and bundlers is 66. It is interesting that so many whose bread is buttered on one side by various industries and corporations have found a prominent home in the campaign of the man who "don't mess wiff no lobbyist SOB's", to paraphrase an illiterate Republican I work with.

Mr. McClean will have trouble staying that way if he is surrounded by the wolves. Look at who W surrounded himself with and what it has led to for us.

Volunteer today to help the Democratic party regardless of who becomes the nominee. Even if you don't like him/her that much, just think about 4 more years of Bush policies. As Democrats we have much more in common with each other than any Republican. Voter turnout will make or break us in November.

Our party is poised to almost certainly bring the executive and legislative branches of government fully under our control. That is unless, something out of the ordinary happens to derail our candidate. That something could be an outside force or come from within the party. The name of this site attracted me when I saw it; Partybuilder. My wish is to strengthen our party at the federal, state and local levels.

In the one or two days I have been here on Partybuilders I have been very disappointed, even disgusted. There is more hate being spread around this national Democratic site than what I would expect from a bunch of fundamentalists forced to attend a gay wedding.

Who are we anyway? You like candidate x best and I prefer candidate y. Big deal, we are both Democrats and both should have the welfare of the party at heart. Would you support a candidate that did not want the best for our party and country? I am a Democrat not because I like donkeys or hate elephants, I am a Democrat because our party is for the people.

As far as Partybuilders the network, I am thinking of leaving if I don't see a little less hating. We have much more in common with each other than with any Republican. Come on Democrats, lets shape it up and bring it on home.