Florida Progressive Coalition Blog

Winners & Losers

Kenneth Quinnell — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:23:57 EDT

Winner: Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia & Alan Grayson - All three were big hits at Netroots Nation.

Winner: The progressive blogosphere - Learning and networking combined with growing access and influence makes us a bigger and bigger force in American politics.

Winner: State and local bloggers - The fertile new ground in the Netroots revolution.

Loser: Conservative bloggers - Their "convention" in Austin had 1/5th the attendance of the liberal convention.

Loser: Bob Barr - He's grasping for a last few minutes of fame, but he's an unimportant man.

Loser: Harold Ford - Combative, heckled and just plain wrong at Netroots Nation.

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:20:30 EDT

This is our regular feature where every day I do a post with the top 10 blog posts that I think people should read from the previous day. Posts are included here and ranked based on a combination of originality, focus on Florida, length (longer, more thorough analysis is better), quality of writing and impact of the story.

Action Alerts

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:47:45 EDT

The latest action alerts from Florida and around the country.

Netroots Nation Coverage

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:33:42 EDT

Here is a complete round-up of our coverage of Netroots Nation and the coverage done by other Floridians (or about topics relevant to Floridians)...

180 Small Donors to Go

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:53:12 EDT

In our fundraising efforts to attend the Democratic Convention in August, we've decided to focus on a small donor campaign. We figured out that it'll take us 240 people contributing $25 each for us to reach what we need to go to Denver and provide you with the best convention coverage in America. So far, we have the equivalent of 60 ($1500), leaving us 180 to go. Anyone reading this should be able to donate $25 to help us get there.

(BTW, if you want a preview of our Denver coverage, check out our Netroots Nation 2008 Coverage).

198 Small Donors to Go

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:36:36 EDT

In our fundraising efforts to attend the Democratic Convention in August, we've decided to focus on a small donor campaign. We figured out that it'll take us 240 people contributing $25 each for us to reach what we need to go to Denver and provide you with the best convention coverage in America. So far, we have the equivalent of 42 ($1050), leaving us 198 to go. Anyone reading this should be able to donate $25 to help us get there.

Go to PayPal and donate through our Florida Progressive Coalition account (quinnelk@gmail.com), or you can write a check to Florida Progressive Coalition and send it to me:

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:24:18 EDT

Story of the Day

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:18:50 EDT

The most talked about story on the Florida blogs yesterday was the "satirical" Obama New Yorker cover. Here's what people said...

Action Alerts

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:44:39 EDT

Donate Money - To Stop Irresponsible Drilling. (LCV)

Donate Money - To help Auriel fight for Florida and keep kids tobacco-free (CFTFK)

Donate Money - To fight the "silent tsunami" of rising food prices. (Oxfam)

Review of Robert Wexler's "Fire-Breathing Liberal"

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:31:21 EDT

For most Americans (and Floridians), members of Congress are these distant things that aren't human and don't connect to regular human beings. They don't have lives and they don't have emotions. Sometimes these feelings are true.

And then you have the Robert Wexler's of the world.

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:51:39 EDT

Action Alerts

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:35:17 EDT

Join the Fairness for All Families Campaign

Send an e-mail - Keep Medicare Fair (AARP)

Sign the petition - FOX must stop injecting racism, prejudice, and fear into our political dialogue (MoveOn)

Donate Money - Triple Your Support to Protect Ocelots! (ED)

Send an e-mail - Another farm worker just died from heat stroke (UFW)

Send an e-mail - Stop the Polar Bear Whitewash (DoW)

Sign the petition - Thank Congress for Funding Humanitarian Efforts in West Africa (Project Hope)

Sign the petition - Non-Profit Downpayment Assistance Programs in Jeopardy! (TNP)

Sign the petition - BLM: Don't Kill Our Wild Horses (Care2)

Sign the petition - Object to Privacy-Invading FISA Law (ACLU)

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:48:01 EDT

Story of the Day

Kenneth Quinnell — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:13:20 EDT

The most talked about story on the Florida blogs yesterday was the passage of the FISA bill. Here's what people said...

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:36:19 EDT

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:41:46 EDT

10 Stories to Read

Kenneth Quinnell — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:44:07 EDT

Jay McGovern (FL-4) Strong Challenger in a Red District

Kenneth Quinnell — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:11:58 EDT

One of the key things that we should start to do as activists is expand our playing field when it comes to thinking of elections. Howard Dean's 50-state strategy and Barack Obama's commitment to fighting in every state and territory have produced results that show us this approach is one that can lead to positive change. It can give candidates a chance to win who might not otherwise do so, it can send a message to Republicans that places they have assumed are theirs by birthright must be earned and it can sap Republican resources and make them spread their spending and activity to places they usually wouldn't bother to worry about.

A first step we can take down this road is to support good candidates in supposedly red districts. Frequently this will mean spending money outside your own congressional district. If we only focus on our own districts, we'll never be in the majority, we need to work together to change the state, not just our own backyard. And the more candidates we help and the more candidates we help win, the more our congressional delegation will owe progressives when it comes time for them to vote on things like the recent FISA/telco immunity fiasco. Like it or not, politics works on the you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours level a lot of the time. If we scratch their backs with our votes, our voices and our checkbooks, they'll have to scratch ours.

At the recent Jefferson-Jackson fundraiser in Hollywood, I met a candidate in this exact situation.

Joe Garcia -- The Perfect House Candidate?

Kenneth Quinnell — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 00:51:50 EDT

Obviously, nobody is perfect. But if I were going to design a perfect candidate, he or she would be a whole lot like Joe Garcia.

George Carlin is dead.

Kenneth Quinnell — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:36:06 EDT

I say it that way, because that's the way he'd say it.

For those who don't know me on a personal level very well, George Carlin (along with Richard Pryor) was as close to an idol as I had. I don't idolize anyone, as Carlin said, I admire them.

If you want to figure out why I think the way I do and why I do what I do, there's no easier way to do that than to listen to a few of Carlin's routines.

As a tribute, my oldest son's name is Carlin Richard Smith Quinnell. And even my kids were into Carlin as well, as he was the voice (for a while) of Thomas the Tank Engine and Fillmore from Cars.

A couple of others have said what I would've said if I had thought of it first...