8th Legislative District Candidate Rick Dillender

Dear Friends and fellow lovers of Democracy,

I would like to tell you how heartfelt your encouragement and
support is. Eastern Washington is a very difficult area to campaign
in. The Progressives here often feel like cowboys circling the wagons
to fend off the conservatives, and it requires very bold steps to
take the offensive in this race. However difficult the struggle,
though, the efforts must be made. Washington is an important swing
state in this election and one of the main battle lines is here in
our district. The conservatives realize this as well. They are
concerned enough to send Dick Cheney to fundraise and stump speech
this past Monday for the Republican candidates here and in Yakima on
Friday. We organized a protest against his presence here in the Tri-
Cities, and there is one scheduled for Friday as well. I encourage
anyone who can attend to make the trip to Yakima and show Cheney and
his cronies that he won't get our State without a fight. Cheney's
wife was quoted as saying, "Washington is a very important state to
us", and that an exceptionally strong showing in conservative Central
Washington would be needed to win. We do not intend to let that
happen. Energized candidates have stepped up to remind people that a
progressive vote is a vote for Personal Liberty, and that the
Democratic Party is the Party of the People. Your gestures of support
have helped remind us that we are not in this alone. Progressive
people are part of a large family, and it is wonderful to have others
speak up on our behalf.
Keep in mind that this race is not just about the future of the
national elections. Our District fields 2 Legislative seats and 1
Senate seat in Olympia. In my race for Seat 1, my closest rival is
Monte Benham, a man who wants to have the 1892 Webster's dictionary
taught in schools again (the version that uses bible scripture to
demonstrate grammar and word usage). He is also for cutting more
funding out of the public education system and funneling it into
religiously oriented charter schools, as well as cutting taxes at the
expense of our already stretched social support programs. If this man
is elected, the effects will reverberate throughout the State, not
just in the 8th District. All of our communities are at risk. I ask
you to provide whatever assistance you can in this fight for the
future of Washington State. As with any campaign, funding is our most
dire need, as my opponents have almost $18,000 between them to spend
on their campaigns. However, funding is only the vehicle to reach the
voters. Many other types of support can make the difference as well.
Letters to the editor in the Seattle papers (which are distributed
here) would be great. If anyone would like to provide printing
services or would like to purchase a batch of yard signs, we need
them. If anyone has the means to donate goods, food, or wine for
fundraisers, make or purchase buttons, or even use their home
computers to print fliers and literature for us, it all makes a
difference. I would also encourage you to contact the people you know
at the State Party level and ask them to support us in our fight
against the conservative push for this area. The Republicans are
putting a lot of resources into trying to win Washington by taking
the East, and it will take a concerted effort on the part of all free-
thinking people in our state to fend them off. Thank you for all your
support and effort, and know that you have given us new energy and
enthusiasm to carry on the fight for our cause.

Sincerely,
Your Candidate
Rick Dillender
State Representative
8th LD - Seat 1
The Committee to Elect Rick Dillender
509-308-6129
509-308-5749
1900 Stevens Dr. #411
Richland, WA 99354

P.S. - Anyone interested in going to Yakima for the Protest Friday
should contact Margaret Munro at 509-946-0955 or just show up. The
rally will be a couple of blocks east of the high school, so I'm
told.

Latest Zogby poll!!

Wow, how about that turnaround thanks to bringing Edwards onto the ticket!

Zogby Polls: The Electoral College Race So Far:	7/12	6/20	6/6	5/23
President George W. Bush	205	285	242	218
MA Sen. John Kerry	322	253	296	320

I have the entire report in case you're interested. Let me know!

Get your Kerry Kits!

For those of you who aren't subscribed to the MoveOn.org mailing list, MoveOn has put together a "Kerry Kit" that they will send to you for $3 (only to cover shipping and handling), which contains a DVD and a number of useful tools to help promote the candidacy of John Kerry.

Let's spread these around and get the Democratic message out. This is a great idea for house parties!

http://www.kerrykits.com

Medicare proposes changes in Medicare

This shot across my bow came in yesterday. I survived cancer last year thanks to the availability of chemotherapy, but my insurance required me to travel 30 miles north instead of the cancer specialists office nearly across the street. Now Medicare wants to cut $530 million dollars from the payments they make to oncologists, forcing more and more patients to travel further, as well as forcing oncologists to plan cuts in their availability.

I'm not pulling punches. The Bush administration is contemplating murder of US citizens. If you know of anyone who has cancer, had cancer, or has a family member who has or had cancer, this President has aimed his tax cut guns directly at them.

Action item: Medicare is accepting comments on this policy change until September 24th. Write letters to everyone you know, and let's get people motivated on this issue!

Howard Dean's Speech!

Hey, what did everyone thing of Howard Dean's speech!! We gathered at the Coordinated Campaign office on Westlake, and watched through the dems2004.org website. We saw Lawrence, Jason and Shana on the TV broadcast! His speech was fantastic, and the conference call afterwards was great! Many questions came up on how we can motivate the grassroots, keep them involved, and what we're going to be doing after November. We're going to win, but our work is only just beginning.

Please enter your comments on the speech, and add your own comments and questions about what we're going to do for the Democratic Grassroots in Washington State!

You have the power!

Chad Lupkes
chad@democracyforwashington.com

Virtually There: The 2004 DNC Journal

Virtually There (The 2004 Democratic National Conv's Journal

I'm live in Boston, and Ellen Meserow and I are posting to the VirtuallyThere2004 blog. Come read what we've got to say, and all the quirky little observations we've got about Boston. Red Sox, the rain, the party atmosphere, the Party atmosphere, security, "free speech zones" - we've got an opinion about everything. As a special treat, I've been upgraded from alternate to delegate (for the last two days, at least) and many of my posts are written live on the floor of the convention (tho' they may be posted later - the WiFi in the Fleet sucks so far). Come check us out!

DFA-Snohomish Old Fashioned Grassroots Picnic

   On Saturday, July 24th, a small group of inspired Howard Dean Democrats will be launching what we hope will become a major force for Progressive reform in Snohomish County. At McCollum Park in Everett, DFA-Snohomish (PAC) will be playing host to an old fashioned Grassroots Picnic from Noon til 4. There will be music (headlining will be Jim Page) and speakers (including former gubernatorial candidate Phil Talmadge) and, hopefully, much outreach and Progressive conversation.
   Everyone is invited. It is "brown bag" and, while the event is free, $5 county parking fees apply. Hope to see many of you there.

McCollum Park is about a mile east of the 128th Street exit off I-5. We will be at a sheltered area just inside the park entrance.

 
Chad Shue

National Platform Committee: Washington State Made A Difference

(continued from prior post)

We were working in conjunction with the Progressive Caucus (mostly Kucinich folks, really) whom we knew were going to violate the Kerry campaign mandate that nobody amend the Iraq portion of the platform. As that was the case, we focused on making the platform goal-oriented on domestic policy issues.

Well, I don't know what the Kerry folks were thinking, as they had anticipated only around 50 amendments; at the end of Friday by the 6pm deadline they had 230. It was looking like we were in for a long day on Saturday.

Through some smart whip action and negotiation, tho', the Kerry team managed to incorporate a great many amendments into the manager's amendments - eliminating the need for lengthy (televised) debate on some contentious issues. Apparently they were up all night, calling folks and striking deals.

Through virtue of the fact that we were staying offsite, and Hue turning off his cell phone, we didn't have to negotiate until Saturday morning. This meant that most of our amendments actually did get raised on Saturday, and despite some setbacks on energy independence (we were informed that goal lanuage on CAFE standards was specifically to be avoided on the platform--read: we don't want to piss off Michigan), we managed to get stronger language regarding the Patriot Act, civil liberties, global warming, and gender equity into the platform.

Additionally, we were able to introduce debate as to voter-verified paper ballots and instant runoff voting into the record. Finally, the Kucinich folks were extremely happy that they were able to get language regarding troop reduction in Iraq into the platform as well. Major props to them for defying the instructions and sticking to their guns (ahem!).

Overall it was a great experience, and a fascinating process to see behind-the-scenes. I'd say that we took a platform that was a C term paper and turned it into a solid B+ document. It's not as specific as I'd like, but I understand that it has to be all things to all Democrats, regardless of region. Plus, I've got to give it props for addressing issues I thought it would ignore: gay marriage, biodiesel, energy independence, native lands, etc...

"Strong at Home, Respected in the World"...get ready to campaign on this theme, folks...I think it can be a winner...

(update: today I'm seeing that the theme is now "Stronger at Home, Respected in the World". Leave it to some wonk to worry that people would think Democrats were dissing the strength of the US...)

Smith fumbles the ball!

Tonight (7-12-2004) Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA 9th CD) made a failed attempt to explain his vote to defeat Bernie Sanders "Freedom of Reading" Amendment in the US House. While I commend Rep. Smith for reaching out with a conference call to a number of concerned citizens, in the end it appeared to me that the congressman is so sold on showing courage in the face of the terroist threat that selling out some of our civil liberties is a small price to pay.
Basically what he told us was that, A): he had been informed by the Congressional Reporting Service that there was a "probable cause" statute that would protect us from abuse. This claim was promptly rebuked by the representative of the ACLU who was in on the call; B): Jane Harman (ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee) told him it was ok to buck the entire Democratic Caucus (191 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment) because the entire Patriot Act would be back before the congress next year anyway; and C): if it weren't for the fact that John Ashcroft is Attorney General, this probably wouldn't be such a bad law. (This sentiment seems to run through the thinking of John Kerry as well, as the only negative comments I could find about the PA on his website had to do with how bad Ashcroft is).
There were many voices rising up in opposition to Rep. Smith. Many from the membership of this very group. Each one took the congressman to task for failing to understand the purpose of the amendment as well as the Patriot Act as a whole. In the end, we are left with how we got here. "What I want to know is................."

The Left Shue

National Platform Committee Report: Hooray for Hollywood! (Florida)

At the last minute I was drafted by the Backbone Campaign to fly to Hollywood, Florida with Jason Sawatzki (7th CD Dean Delegate) and Hue Beattie (WA State Dean Platform Committee Member). Having never been involved in national platform creation, I had no idea what to expect.

After arriving with no sleep on a red-eye, we made our way to the Westin Diplomat Hotel - a five-star monstrosity right on the beach. We arrived Friday morning, and had until 6pm to submit our amendments to the platform - which had only been released days before. The platform, by the the way, is themed "Strong at Home, Respected in the World". Expect to hear that meme a lot in the next months.

After hours of feverishly force-ranking and crafting our issues, we had 17 amendments to submit - from energy independence goals, to civil right protections, to corporate personhood issues. We also had two amendments regarding voting issues near and dear to us in WA - voter-verified paper ballot on electronic voting machines, and the introduction of instant runoff voting.

I'll let you know what happened next in my next post!

4th CD Candidate Forum

Hi everyone,

This post was originally a comment on the 8th CD Forum post, but we thought it deserved it's own thread. Please, if you're in the 4th District and you attended the event on July 7th, post your comments here! We want to hear from everyone all over the state.

TRI-CITIES -- Democracy for America is certaily alive and well in Eastern Washington! One of our most spirited Democracy for America sponsored events took place July 7th with our 4th CD Candidate Forum. Over 75 people turned out to listen and watch our three Democratic candidates go head-to-head vying for the opportunity to defeat the Republican incumbent congressman Doc 'rubber stamp republican' Hastings from the 4th CD.

We turned out not only DFAers but many interested Democrats who've never come to a DFA sponsored activity before! Our format required the early submittal of written questions and we invited a recognized local TV news anchor to moderate the event. In sequence each candidate was given a randomly selected question and 3 minutes for a response, the audience was allowed one follow up question with the candidate allowed 2 minutes for a response.

The moderator then followed with a new question to the next candidate. Each question was selected at random, and each candidate had random chance to pull the same question previously answered by another candidate or a new one. It worked very well; though some of the follow-up questions strayed off-topic of the initial question/response. We avoided some of the drawbacks of 'debates' and the kind of animus that can occasonally develop between candidates. I think the Forum showcased the best qualities of each candidate and allowed the audience a good sense of what each was all about.

There was such interest in the event that we may just do it again, later in the year! I'd enjoy reading about what some of the other DAFers did for their Forums, as in the 8th CD.

--> Originally posted by Paragon @ 1:38 PM

John Kerry chooses John Edwards as his VP

Dear {Democracy for Washington},

In just a few minutes, I will announce that Senator John Edwards will
join me as my running-mate on the Democratic ticket as a candidate for
vice president of the United States. Teresa and I could not be more
excited that John and Elizabeth Edwards will be our partners in our
journey to make America stronger at home and respected in the world.

You are the heart and soul of our campaign. You've shattered records
and expectations every step of the way. Every time someone said you
couldn't do it, you proved them wrong. Because of your incredible
grassroots energy and commitment, I wanted to make the first official
announcement of my decision to you -- more than one million online
supporters at johnkerry.com.

I want you to know why I'm excited about running for president with
John Edwards by my side. John understands and defends the values of
America. He has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle
class Americans and those struggling to reach the middle class. In the
Senate, he worked to reform our intelligence, to combat bioterrorism,
and keep our military strong. John reaches across party lines and
speaks to the heart of America -- hope and optimism. Throughout his
own campaign for President, John spoke about the great divide in this
country -- the "Two Americas" -- that exists between those who are
doing well today and those who are struggling to make it from day to
day. And I am so proud that we're going to build one America together.

In the next 120 days and in the administration that follows, John
Edwards and I will be fighting for the America we love. We'll be
fighting to give the middle class a voice by providing good paying
jobs and affordable health care. We'll be fighting to make America
energy independent. We'll be fighting to build a strong military and
lead strong alliances, so young Americans are never put in harm's way
because we insisted on going it alone.

I can't tell you how proud I am to have John Edwards on my team, or
how eager I am for the day this fall when he stands up for our vision
and goes toe-to-toe with Dick Cheney.

This is the most important election of our lifetime, and a defining
moment in our history. With you by our side every day of this
campaign, John and I will lead the most spirited presidential campaign
America has ever seen, and fight to lead our nation in a new and
better direction.

Thank you,

John Kerry

-----

Please comment on this decision by John Kerry here on our Blog!

July 13th: Nationwide "Computer Ate My Vote" Day of Action

DFA and Verified Voting are coordinating this event to bring attention to the problems with paperless, electronic voting.

The Nationwide "Computer Ate My Vote" Day of Action rally in Washington State will be held in Everett, Washington. It will be at Matthew Parsons Park on the corner of Wall St. and Rockefeller Ave, across the street from the Snohomish county administration buildings. The rally will begin at 11:00am and end at approximately Noon.

More information will be posted at Verified Voting's Washington page as it becomes available.

You are invited to attend and participate. If you have questions or would like to help, please email Julie or Carol