"NRSC Ad Is An Affront to Hispanics In Rhode Island"

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Wednesday August 30, 2006 · 7:59 PM PDT

2006/08/30 · 19:59

LULAC, the League of United Latin American Citizens, doesn't much care for the Republican TV ads that associate Mexican immigrants with the 9/11 bombers, on behalf of Linc Chafee's floundering reelection campaign.

They've sent a powerful, emotional letter to Liddy Dole and the NRSC demanding that the ad be pulled. If this issue gets national attention in the Latino community, it could backfire on the Republicans not only in Rhode Island but across the country. I quote the letter in its entirety, below the fold.

Meanwhile, Linc Chafee continues his cowardly refusal to disavow the ad. This may help him survive his primary challenge (though I doubt it - the wingnuts will vote for Laffey anyway)... but is that really worth losing the votes of Rhode Island's 35000 Latino citizens (compare: 70000 registered Republicans), not to mention his reputation for integrity?
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Echo Chamber of the Left: a Success Story in Progress [UPDATED 9/2]

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Tuesday August 29, 2006 · 7:50 AM PDT

2006/08/29 · 07:50

A great example of the power of dailykos and the netroots is building right now in the Rhode Island Senate race.

The issue at hand is Senator Lincoln Chafee's refusal, twice, to disavow a patently racist attack ad that the National Republican Senatorial Committee is running on his behalf. The ad links Mayor Laffey's acceptance of Mexican ID cards for city services in Cranston, RI to terrorism and 9/11. The ad's visuals show brown-skinned people and the Mexican flag, then shadowy figures entering government buildings and boarding airplanes. The words "Risk to Our Security!" are superimposed.

The larger issue is the power of the blogosphere to help keep an issue like this alive, when before, the pro-Chafee mainstream media would have simply let the issue die out. We have an echo chamber now. It doesn't have nearly the reach of the Limbaugh/Fox/CNN Wurlitzer, but it's something.

Follow the whole timeline below the fold.... Read More

RI-Sen: Sheldon Whitehouse should go negative against Chafee and racism NOW

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Friday August 25, 2006 · 7:48 AM PDT

2006/08/25 · 07:48

Linc Chafee has given Whitehouse a huge opening by failing to denounce the despicable, racist attack ad that the NRSC is running on his behalf. That ad might play well to the tiny slice of Republican primary voters -- though I doubt even that -- but I guarantee it won't play well to the average Rhode Islander. We're proud of our tolerance here, going back to Roger Williams, and we're proud of our many immigrant communities.

To Sheldon, or the DSCC: go on TV now--before the September 12 primary--and denounce that Chafee ad as racist. "I'm Sheldon Whitehouse, and I approved this message because singling people out based on their skin color is wrong."

Why? Details below the fold.
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Election 2006 Theme Song? +poll

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Thursday August 03, 2006 · 7:44 PM PDT

2006/08/03 · 19:44

Presidential campaigns always have theme songs, like Clinton's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," and Kerry's - what the hell was his anyway? Hmm.

But what about midterm elections? We need a campaign anthem, something to put the wind at our backs as we're out there working to reclaim our government from the neocons and theocrats.

Here are some possibilities:

(1) Carly Simon - "Turn of the Tide"
(2) Tom Petty - "I Won't Back Down"
(3) Barry Manilow - "I Made It Through the Rain"
(4) Stevie Wonder - "You Haven't Done Nothing"
(5) Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.

I've included lyric excerpts under the fold... vote for your favorite! Read More

Taking Back Congress - Which Group to Donate To? ($100 poll)

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Wednesday November 09, 2005 · 7:47 PM PST

2005/11/09 · 19:47

With the possibility of taking back Congress and putting a nail in the coffin of the whole putrid Contract-On-America era, I'm ready to pull out my checkbook earlier than usual for the 2006 election season. But which organization will use the cash most effectively? Is it better to give to the party, the individual campaigns I care most about, or to independent groups? Are these groups coordinated well enough so their election efforts won't overlap?

The poll below lists 10 worthy recipients culled from the directory at ActBlue.com.
I hereby commit $100 to whichever option is leading the poll below on Thursday 11/10 at 3pm EST. Please explain your vote in the comments. Vote early, vote often!

This Weekend's Canvassing

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Sunday October 17, 2004 · 4:12 AM PDT

2004/10/17 · 04:12

I want to hear more about your experiences with GOTV efforts this weekend - particularly, canvassing in swing states.

Yesterday a friend and I drove 100+ miles to New Hampshire - my 16-month-old toddler in tow - to help canvass. Over 200 volunteers showed up at the Salem, NH KE04 office!

I was given a list of addresses in a scary suburban "private community" in Derry, NH. This was Bush territory, a little slice of white Alabama in New England. Bush signs outnumbering Kerry signs 10 to 1, NRA bumper stickers, "God Bless Our Freedom," etc. We quickly learned that the presence of 3 or 4 vehicles parked in the driveway did not necessarily indicate that anyone would be home.

(more below the fold) Read More

It Ain't Necessarily So.... (Song Lyrics)

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Thursday October 07, 2004 · 6:42 AM PDT

2004/10/07 · 06:42

I'm working on a song for my Mom's birthday party this weekend. Can anyone suggest any improvements or additional verses? Feel free to distribute (but not to my Mom - it's a surprise party!).

It ain't necessarily so
It ain't necessarily so
The things dat de right-wing
`ll say, sure be fright'ning
But ain't necessarily so.

Li'l Dubya talks tough, but oh my
Li'l Dubya talks tough, but oh my
He caught no Osama
So fought dat Saddam-a
How many will die for his lie?

Dick Cheney says he'll keep us strong
Debating, his nose grew so long
His war is quite certain
To aid Halliburton
But everyone knows that it's wrong.

More after the fold.... Read More

"Let's destroy this young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader"

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Sunday October 03, 2004 · 8:45 AM PDT

2004/10/03 · 08:45

Five of us went to see Going Upriver last night. Absolutely astounding footage. All of us came out with newfound admiration for our candidate.

Every Democrat should see it. Every flag-waving chickenhawk wingnut should see it. And anytime anyone suggests to you that Kerry's war service was less than heroic, or that his significant role in bringing the war to an end was less than equally heroic: all you need to do is ask whether they've seen this movie. If they haven't, they're missing the context and the facts.

Of particular note: (1) a very funny quote from the Nixon White House, "let's destroy this young demagogue before he becomes another Ralph Nader"; (2) seeing Kerry humiliate John O'Neill in a TV debate in the early 1970s, thereby providing context for his Swift Boat attacks this year; (3) many striking parallels between the futility of Vietnam and the futility of Iraq.

Throughout this long election season, my friends and I have all tended to mock Kerry and roll our eyes every time he brings up his Vietnam service. No more. This man is someone special, someone with a particular courage and strength and life experience that our nation needs desperately right now.

Bad news: the theater was practically empty. This was the 9:30 show on a Saturday night in a suburb of Providence, RI (the main downtown multiplex had been scheduled to show it, but then didn't). Unless the marketing is going better in other places, I fear this film won't have nearly the impact it deserves.

Nader Off FL Ballot Again

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Wednesday September 15, 2004 · 8:20 PM PDT

2004/09/15 · 20:20

AP reporting:

Ralph Nader is again off Florida's presidential ballot, at least for now. Circuit Judge P. Kevin Davey on Wednesday ordered that Nader's name be removed from the November ballot, finding that the Reform Party -- which nominated Nader -- isn't a legitimate party under state law. Davey also ordered that four counties that have already mailed absentee ballots listing Nader send out amended ballots without his name....

Isn't this all bizarrely reminiscent of November 2000? The FL Supreme Court will no doubt side with Judge Davey... will W and Jeb then go to the Supremes for succor again?

Meanwhile, has anyone been tracking the Bush-Kerry spread with and without Nader? Could Nader be right, this time, that he is drawing equally from both candidates?

"By their deeds shall you know them" (new website)

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Sunday September 12, 2004 · 7:52 PM PDT

2004/09/12 · 19:52

I came across an excellent new website, www.howbushoperates.info, that documents the ethical misdeeds, secrecy, conflicts of interest, and outright lies of the Bush administration.

I've included a short excerpt below. Please spread this URL around!

I am concerned with the administration's:

1. Lack of honesty, which has brought about lack of trust.
2. Manipulation of information to further its goals.
3. Secrecy, which has kept the American public and Congress from making sound judgements.
4. Conflict of interest.
5. Lack of respect for others.
6. Lack of reasoning and compromise --the administration's way of responding to differing views seems to be to ridicule rather than reason.
7. Belligerent and arrogant attitude and mode of operation, which has cost our country the respect and compassion of the rest of the world.

I do want an administration that is forceful and strong. But that strong administration has to be:

1. Honest, trustworthy, ethical.
2. Respectful of all people and all nations.
3. Able to engage in dialogue and make decisions based on reason.
4. Without conflict of interest.
5. A Uniting force, rather than one that divides.

Everyone -- Democrat, Republican, Green, independent, etc. -- should be alarmed at what this administration has done and what it may do in the future, if re-elected. A resounding defeat in November is the only way to let the world know that the United States people do not tolerate such an administration.

hilarious Internet pop-up ad from DNC

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Wednesday September 01, 2004 · 6:25 PM PDT

2004/09/01 · 18:25

For some reason my browser was allowing pop-ups this evening, so I was treated to this DNC ad while surfing at washingtonpost.com:

It was so good I had to cough up yet another donation for them....

Ron Reagan's Esquire piece

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Thursday August 12, 2004 · 7:21 AM PDT

2004/08/12 · 07:21

Ron Reagan's article in the current Esquire makes a very effective, eloquent case against Bush. In fact, I plan to print many copies and hand them out to undecided voters; I suggest you do the same!

Excerpt:

This was not what the American electorate opted for when, in 2000, by a slim but decisive margin of more than half a million votes, they chose . . . the other guy. Bush has never had a mandate. Surveys indicate broad public dissatisfaction with his domestic priorities. How many people would have voted for Mr. Bush in the first place had they understood his eagerness to pass on crushing debt to our children or seen his true colors regarding global warming and the environment? Even after 9/11, were people really looking to be dragged into an optional war under false pretenses?
If ever there was a time for uniting and not dividing, this is it. Instead, Mr. Bush governs as if by divine right, seeming to actually believe that a wise God wants him in the White House and that by constantly evoking the horrible memory of September 11, 2001, he can keep public anxiety stirred up enough to carry him to another term.

Apologies if this has been diaried before; I hadn't seen it.

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