I am a Deaniac. I was an enthusiastic campaign volunteer for Dean in 2003/04 in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. My moniker on his DFA site was "Jake4Dean".

I made life-long friends on that campaign. There was something so exciting and heady to be in the campaign that first demonstrated the power of the internet and small individual donations. There were so many innovations. The blog was INCREDIBLE.

Dean for America is now Democracy for America, and I belong to that site as well. After Dr Dean became Chairman Dean, I put his name on a google alert so I could read every day his interviews across the country as he travelled for his 50-state strategy.

Dean was never popular with the press. They went as negative on him as they went negative on Hillary this election cycle. Even after the 50-state strategy was so successful in 2006, the pundits gave the credit to Rob Emmanuel. Now I like Emmanuel enough, but it was simply a lie that he was responsible for the Dem wins in congress in 2006.

Now in 2008, the successful local candidates supported by the 50 state strategy are able to step into statewide elections and Federal elections. It was a brilliant idea that Dean had.

Here's my confession: I was so disappointed when Dean lost the primaries, that I didn't vote for Kerry, who used most of Dean's talking points without ever giving him an ounce of praise or encouragement. Dean told us to work for Kerry, but I didn't. I moped. I bitched. I railed against the Universe. And the worst part of my confession follows: I didn't vote at all in the Presidential election of 2004. I sat it out, and the day after the election I had a talk with a good friend and started feeling really awful for not voting. I mean, I vote in EVERY election, even school board special elections. But I sat out 2004, depriving not only Kerry, but the down ticket candidates who could have benefited from my vote.   Read More »

To begin at the beginning, my #1 favorite friend at PartyBuilder is "Letitrip". She keeps me humble when needed and always is there with a shoulder to lean on when I'm down. I also admire her easy, fluent writing style. She knows she's my fave, I've told her many times.

Following are other favorites of mine. To me, these people are all true Party Builders, as they build the Democratic Party, not tear it down. My motto on my blog is "Democrats of all types, all stripes" I love and cherish the diversity of our Party.

Here goes:   Read More »

Consider these facts:

54 million Americans experience some form of disability; working age persons who live with disabilities are almost 3 times as likely to live below the poverty line than those with no disabilities; each state is responsible for it's own Disabilities Department or Department of Employment Rehabilitation--a few states, such as California, have progressive programs for people with disabilities; many states have substandard or no programs at all.

Individual states have failed their disabled communities. Isn't it time the Federal Government stepped in to make the lives of the disabled as full and rewarding as they can be in California?

Barack Obama has a detailed 9-page plan to resolve these problems. In this post I will give you a very brief overview of the plan and a link where you can read it for yourself.   Read More »

It's time for the LGBT community to unite behind Obama. He is out there for us, he did an exemplary job of advocating for us during Pride Month. Well, Pride Month may be over but Pride marches on! As Obama has stated:

"It's time to live up to our founding promise of equality by treating all our citizens with dignity and respect. Let's enact federal civil rights legislation to outlaw hate crimes and protect workers against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. Let's repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and demonstrate that the most effective and professional military in the world is open to all Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country. Let's treat the relationships and the families of LGBT Americans with full equality under the law."

But actions speak louder than words, and his commitment to our community goes beyond the rhetorical.   Read More »

You dropped me from friends list. what's up?

And you can say why.

My top 3:

1. Jimmy Carter. If he had been re-elected in 1980, we would no longer be dependent on foreign oil. He was really pushing solar research.

2. Robert F. Kennedy. I was in high school when he ran for President, and he was my absolute hero. When he was shot, I felt like I had been killed. it was my first experience with grief.

3. Hillary Clinton. I have admired her since the 1992 campaign. I've read all her books. I joined her Primary 2008 campaign after her first podcast, in January or February, I don't remember which month. I thought she was an excellent First Lady, And I think she is a great Senator. We have not heard the last of Hillary Clinton.   Read More »

If, like me, you are a Howard Dean fan, this is the group for you! Whether you started supporting him when he initiated the first state Domestic Partnership law in Vermont, as Governor. Dean; whether you worked on Dr. Dean's historic 2004 campaign for president in 2003/04 or if you have followed him as he devised the successful 50-state strategy as Chairman Dean, this is a place to opinionate, commensurate or celebrate your activism.

You can share campaign stories, comment on current events, strategize for the GE, learn the latest news from the Howard Dean google club and look to the future.

FOR GROUP GUIDELINES, SEE EXTENDED POST   Read More »

I can't send you a PM because the PM function is down. Do you know if/when it will be restored?

I can't write letters to my local papers or to Congress, because the "letters" function is non-functional. Do you know if/when it will be fixed?



Anybody know of any other problems on PartyBuilder? (concerning the software only, please)

There are thousands and thousands of Katrina victims who now find themselves homeless, stranded in distant cities or unable to recover property that was in their families for generations.

This problem was created by Bushco. Real Estate developers are already looking to New Orleans as a place to build upscale condos etc. Guess who won't be living in those condos?

We must put a stop to this outrage. It is high time for Congress to give these displaced refugees a Marshall plan for survival and renewal. It can only happen through Congress, as the State apparatus in Louisiana seems unable to fully cope.   Read More »

For those who missed this morning's posts, here's a new group, check it out!

It's not 2012 or 2016 yet. Let's join together for Obama in 2008 and take back the White House.
I am a former campaign volunteer for Hillary. I did a lot of work for that campaign, hosted house parties, hosted LGBT Happy Hours 4 Hillary at a local gay bar; and made a lot of calls with the excellent tools provided at hillaryclinton.com.

Won't you join with other like minded folks to Unite for Change in November?   Read More »

C'mon back to PartyBuilder, Hillary fans! Each of you has your own unique story to tell about being a Clinton supporter and now for Obama. Share your stories with us.

Be wary of bloggers who claim to be Hillary supporters but who have only recently arrived on this site. The last thing the RNC wants is for Hillary to be the Veep candidate of a dream team. These self-proclaimed "hillary supporters" do nothing but incite controversy and consequently make Hillary look bad through their behavior.

We were told months ago about the RNC's "operation chaos" which is an attempt to forestall Democratic unity.

John McCain was one of the "Keating Five" who were cozy with Lincoln Savings and Loan and in 1989 were roundly condemned for the S&L scandal. He is as corrupt as they come.

This post is mostly just gentle riffs on Faith. I am in a searching mood today. So think of it as contemplation, random and hopefully stimulating.

The Moslem, Jews and Christians celebrate Sabbath on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively. These three days of Faith are integrated into the flow of the week. An earlier, excellent post about the Serenity Prayer got me thinking about issues of faith.

Marianne Williamson, the writer and founder of Project Angelfood (delivers hot meals to AIDS sufferers in the advanced stages of the disease in Los Angeles) spoke at a Church I attended in 1999. I will never forget her sermon. The main point of it was that after the 60's the boomers split into two groups: one spiritual; the other political. Both have co-existed in an uneasy disdain for the other.

She spoke about the need to reconcile the spiritual and political groups in the 21st Century. She noted that spiritual people sometimes shy away from civic duty while political activists sometimes shy away from even discussing God.   Read More »

Steve apparently didn't get the scholarship to Netroots nation. I'd like to find out what the tuition costs, maybe some of us can contribute to his cause. He really deserved to be selected and he has zero funds at this point.

Anybody besides me go to an event?

It's 11:22 am here on the Left Coast. I'm on my way out the door for a Unity event in downtown Seattle. Happy Unity Day! Ciao!

I'm catching up on LGBT news from this past week, as I returned yesterday from Las Vegas. Following are some items of interest:

The most significant news of the past week occurred yesterday in the House of Reps. According to Stonewall Democrats email I received, ". . . the national staff of Stonewall Democrats [joined] the National Center for Transgender Equality, The Task Force, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the ACLU and other organizations for the first-ever congressional hearing on employment protections based on gender identity."

"Turnout for the hearing was so large that an overflow room needed to be added," reported Babs Casbar, New Jersey Stonewall Democrats President. "The testimony was, at times, heartbreaking. Several Democratic lawmakers noted that addressing gender identity discrimination doesn't center on the quantity of people being discriminated against, but the depth of discrimination based on gender identity against individuals in the workplace."   Read More »

June 21, the first day of summer, has been proclaimed Unity Day by our friends at DFA. It is going to be an awesome day focused on registering new Democrats! For local and national campaigns, we CAN win, with the unprecedented registration of a million new voters. Heck, let's go for two million voters!

So go over to the DFA site, click on EVENTS and find the Unity Day event near you. Volunteer, get involved, give that 1 hour that Paul talks about: give it to your party and the future of Mother Earth!   Read More »