(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)
One of the main purposes of my writing DemNotes has been to open the curtains of the Democratic Party at all levels: local, state, and national. I’ve wanted to bring people in Colorado a little closer to the way things work within the DNC and CDP, as well as to share how things are working in counties all across Colorado. This concept of opening this Party up and breaking down fictitious walls has been very important to me.
That’s why I’m so excited at a couple of new developments over the past two days that have really shown that the leadership of this Party — and of our presumptive nominee — are in tune to the same kind of thinking.
When Governor Dean announced that the national convention would be coming to Denver, he also made it clear that he wanted this convention to be rather un-conventional. The DNC’s announcement yesterday that the final night of the Convention would be at Invesco Field at Mile High certainly fits that mold. As opposed to another night in the Pepsi Center — which would have been a fantastic night itself — Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President in front of a crowd of over 75,000 just across I-25. What is even more fantastic is that that acceptance will come in front of thousands upon thousands from the Colorado community.
We’ve spent the last year trying to tamp down expectations of the ability to access the national convention. Even most volunteers, we said, wouldn’t see the inside of the Pepsi Center. The average Democratic activist in Colorado would have to be satisfied with watching from one of the community watch parties that are being set up around Denver.
This changes everything. This allows the average Democratic activist — whether in Durango or Sterling; whether veteran or getting involved for the first time — this allows the average activist to watch history live and in person. Here’s some of the DNCC’s press release from yesterday:
“The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention,” said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). “Senator Obama’s candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama’s positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way.”
“Barack Obama’s campaign for change has inspired millions of Americans and brought people into the political process who might never have been involved,” said Convention Co-Chair Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. “This change in the Convention program will allow thousands of first-time participants a chance to take part. I can’t think of a better Convention finale for our nominee who has made reaching out to voters a hallmark of his campaign.”
“When we said we wanted to ‘bring down the walls,’ open up this Convention like never before and truly speak to the American people, we meant it,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “On August 28, we will offer grassroots Democrats, who have turned out in record numbers this year, the opportunity to witness history shoulder to shoulder with thousands of Americans standing up for the change our country desperately needs.”
“Senator Obama and the DNCC have truly brought the community into the Convention,” said Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr. “This decision will enable thousands of residents from Colorado, the Rocky Mountain West and across the nation to witness history first hand. What a way to fire up our grassroots activists as we head into the fall campaign.”
Wow. What a night that will be. We still don’t know all the details on how you will be able to get credentials — that will come soon enough. Just with the other nights, though, it will continue to be a credentialed event — with credentials available to the public called “Community Credentials”. The Colorado Democratic Party has already put a page on our website for those interested in credentials for this historic evening — fill out the form and you will get information when it becomes available:
http://coloradodems.org/content/view/725
I have one last point on this topic: with this new opportunity for Colorado Democrats also comes great responsibility. People will be coming to Denver from all across the nation to attend the Convention, and this announcement means even more people are coming. We must be good hosts to our Democratic friends from across the country. We must also expect a pretty significant spike in visitors that week — even more than previously thought. As an example, in 1992, several dozen friends of mine at the University of Oklahoma scooted off to New York City for convention week, even though none of them had any hope of credentials to Madison Square Garden when they left Norman. Now multiply that by some unknown variable to account for the real possibility that they might get in on Thursday night!
It is going to be one heck of a time to be a Colorado Democrat!
Opening up the Convention on Thursday night is not the only wall being broken down by the DNC this week. This morning, the DNC announced that they were opening up the Platform process, as well. The announcement this morning encourages folks to host their own Platform Meeting in their community. You read that right: you can host your own Platform meeting right here in Colorado. The DNC will try to send as many of its Platform people as possible to these meetings, and the reports from these meetings will go straight to the Platform Drafting Committee.
Here’s some of the DNC’s release on this ground-breaking moment:
Members of the public will be invited to host and attend Platform Meetings in their communities as an opportunity to exchange ideas and share perspectives on the challenges we face. To facilitate the process, the Obama campaign and the DNC will send policy experts and DNC Platform Committee members to as many meetings as possible to serve as facilitators. Each Platform Meeting will produce a written summary that will be reviewed and considered by the Platform Committee.
“From the beginning, we said we were going bring down the traditional walls of the Democratic Convention and make this event more accessible and include as many people as possible,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean. “This process will empower Americans in all 50 states to make their voices heard as they help write the document that embodies our Party’s values and vision for the future. Barack Obama will bring real change to Washington, and as we write the Democratic Platform, there will be a clear choice between more of the same failed policies of the Bush Administration with John McCain or real change with Barack Obama who will make the American people, not the special interests, the priority again.”
“Barack Obama believes that every American should be able to contribute to the Democratic Platform, just as record numbers have participated in this campaign,” said Steve Hildebrand of Obama for America. “It’s not the lawmakers in Washington who live the day-to-day reality of our policies–it’s workers, teachers, parents and first responders–everyday Americans who just want to the best for their families. What better way than to incorporate their voices into the process than to have them help shape the Democratic Platform, the statement of our ideals, values, and proposal for change.”
Registration is available at http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/listening/ , starting today through July 15th. The Platform Meetings will occur across the country from July 19th through July 27th.
Sign up soon! Never before has your voice as an individual activist meant so much to the Democratic Party as it does today!
Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention. We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.
I wanted you to be the first to hear the news.
At the Democratic National Convention next month, we're going to kick off the general election with an event that opens up the political process the same way we've opened it up throughout this campaign.
Barack has made it clear that this is your convention, not his.
On Thursday, August 28th, he's scheduled to formally accept the Democratic nomination in a speech at the convention hall in front of the assembled delegates.
Instead, Barack will leave the convention hall and join more than 75,000 people for a huge, free, open-air event where he will deliver his acceptance speech to the American people.
It's going to be an amazing event, and Barack would like you to join him. Free tickets will become available as the date approaches, but we've reserved a special place for a few of the people who brought us this far and who continue to drive this campaign.
If you make a donation of $5 or more between now and midnight on July 31st, you could be one of 10 supporters chosen to fly to Denver and spend two days and nights at the convention, meet Barack backstage, and watch his acceptance speech in person. Each of the ten supporters who are selected will be able to bring one guest to join them. Make a donation now and you could have a front row seat to history.
We'll follow up with more details on this and other convention activities as we get closer, but please take a moment and pass this note to someone you know who might like to be there.
It will be an event you'll never forget.
Thank you,
David
David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
Obama is soon to be attacked on many fronts by the likely chop shops. We need to tune up talking!
The NRA:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/nra-gathering-ammo-agains_n_110106.html
Black Republicans:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/black-republicans-launch_n_110042.html
Swiftboaters:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/30/mccain-uses-swift-boat-ve_n_110003.html
I have created a group for people like myself who would like to be proactive in attempting to stop an a conflict with Iran. I am hoping we could exchange ideas on things we can do to stop this confict including making people aware that the battlefields are being readied for this war now.
We will also be exchanging news and developments.
No moderation in this group. All are welcome.
Let's do something before it's too late!
http://www.democrats.org/page/group/StopaWarWithIran
Barack Needs Your Support!
Please Read the Following which is 100% true. - McCain's Advantage-
David Plouffe did a video about it the other day.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/briefing1?source=20080627_DPV_D1
Sat Jun 28, 2:06 PM Pacific
The Myth of John McCain's Fundraising Disadvantage
A few days ago, I showed that despite John McCain's widely praised decision to accept public funding, about half of his general election budget will be funded privately with donations funneled through the Republican National Committee.
Even though the public finance system nominally limits McCain's post-convention spending to the $84 million he'll receive in public funds, those limits are relatively meaningless thanks to loopholes that allow him to spend RNC money as if it were his own.
When I wrote about this, I thought I was flagging something that the McCain campaign would have wanted to keep under wraps to avoid charges of hypocrisy. After all, individuals can give up to $28,500 to the RNC, more than twelve times as much as the $2,300 an individual is allowed to give to Obama's general election campaign.
It turns out that I was completely wrong -- for weeks now the McCain campaign has been publicly boasting that McCain-RNC fundraising activities are joint operations to raise money for McCain's general election campaign.
In fact, when McCain campaign manager Rick Davis gave a strategy briefing to supporters earlier this month, he explicitly noted that as far as the general election is concerned, there is no meaningful distinction between McCain campaign fundraising and RNC fundraising.
Davis argued -- correctly -- that to get a true understanding of who is leading the fundraising battle, one must look at the combined totals of each candidate and their party.
In other words, it's not the John McCain 2008 committee versus the Obama for America committee, it's McCain+RNC versus Obama+DNC.
And when you look at the numbers that way, the world turns upside down: John McCain is leading the fundraising battle, and it's not even close.
As you can see from this chart, John McCain and the RNC not only outraised Barack Obama and the DNC by more than 50% in May -- $45.9 million to $28.1 million -- they are also sitting on nearly twice as much cash-on-hand, $85.1 million to $47.1 million.
The bottom-line here is that the media have spun up a David and Goliath narrative about fundraising this campaign. They are partially right -- it is a David and Goliath battle, but they've got the roles reversed.
No matter what happened in the primary season, so far in the general election, it's John McCain whose got the fundraising advantage now.
And it's Barack Obama who is the underdog.
100% true. David Plouffe did a video about it the other day.
https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/briefing1?source=20080627_DPV_D1
If you haven't signed up for an event yet, there's still time to find one near you:
http://my.barackobama.com/uniteforchange
The goal of Unite for Change is to bring together people who supported all of the Democratic candidates, as well as Independents and even some Republicans. Obama supporters like you are reaching out to anyone who is tired of the politics of the past and looking for new solutions to the challenges we're facing.
People have signed up to host more than 4,000 events tomorrow -- and they need your help to bring change to their communities.
Read More »
nice to see the Obama campaign is posting on our DNC PB blog and becoming part of the Blog!
Welcome!!!
Obama '08, '12
Obama Campaign post:
http://www.democrats.org/page/community/post/barackobama/CRGR/commentary#comments
I become so frustrated reading posts and comments that appear to me to belong on a social networking site.
I see real issue posts that don't seem to be read for the lack of comments oft times.
Then there are the racial slurs, lies, personal attacks...... that really makes me sad. These create a feeding frenzy and receive tons of comments.
I encourage you to ask yourself this. Am I here to promote myself or the issues I care about?
Can't we all agree to post issues and ways to build our Party as this site was intended to do? As Democrats we have a lot of work to do. Pick an issue or a lower level candidate to support. We have common ground. Let's concentrate on that.
To build our party we need people from every precinct to work for Democratic candidates from the bottom up. Did you know that only 37% of precints have a Democrat working the precinct? In many states and counties all that needs to be done is collecting 10 signatures and you are on the ballot and usually run unopposed. Since the primaries are over, your local township or County can appoint you until the next elections. Rules vary from township to county to state.
We will also be training on registering voters and raising money for the Democratic Party or local Dems running for office.
Most of the information provided in the training will be from Camp Wellstone. Here's the link to see what Camp Wellstone is:
http://www.wellstone.org/our-programs
Canvassing, working the phones, raising money, or running for a precinct position, it's up to you. Please join us and see where your busy schedule fits in.
Training will be conducted via gotomeetting.com and a toll free phone number. Power points and literature can be downloaded prior to training.
PM me if you are interested or have questions or just post your questions or comments here.
Looks like HRC will be campaigning with Obama. One of the sticking points is paying HRC's campaign debt which is now 30 million. No agreement has been reached so far. The campaigns are begining to work together.
HRC is said to be able to raise 100 million in the GE for Obama. IMHO, Obama and the DNC need to work to retire this debt. If not HRC will be on the trail speaking to pay it off. The time would be better utilized if she was campaigning for Obama.
I believe more then half of the debt is either the Clinton's loan to the campaign and owed to Mark Penn (over 10 million owed to him).
http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2008/06/hillarys-debt-and-how-shell-pay-it-off.html
http://www.memos2mom.com/2008/06/hillarys-debt-could-burden-her-for.html
In the past, we were the envy of the world…for the infrastructure we have built. We corralled the great Mississippi and built levy’s to make it easier to live, work and play on the river. We built bridges and roads that were the envy of the world.
America’s infrastructure is becoming a national priority. Obama proposes spending millions on infrastructure.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/16/candidates.economy/
Will we ‘get it right’ this time? Will we learn that Mother Nature will not yield indefinitely as we now see with the flooding in the Midwest? Will we learn from building in areas that are in the threat of Mother’s nature’s wrath?
Rebuilding will be costly. But, if we get it right this time, the cost of damages from our mistakes will be less. Human lives can be saved this despair.
Ok, you wanted to watch the comments...here is the link:
http://www.gop.com/Blog/Read.aspx?GUID=840b5c75-5abc-4aa3-9bd6-13aabe2c9455
I had to give my phone number when I set up a profile. I would hate to be the person calling me from the GOP.