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May 31, 2006

Sorry, Arnold's ego taking up just about every seat on the bus.

Wonder if he'll find room for his "taking it to the people" wardrobe and his shiny hair products -- or is that his "sticking it to the people" hair products and his shiny wardbrobe.

We need to kick Arnold's bus back to Hollywood -- one way ticket, please.

(Read this from Carla Marinucci's PoliticsBlog in the SF Chron)

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Post it here.

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May 30, 2006

Local college students recently joined area Democrats to protest the outrageous cost of gasoline, and to show support for Democrats' EDGE plan.

Here in California, college students are hit with a double whammy courtesy of the GOP -- high gas prices, thanks to Bush-Cheney, and ever-increasing college fees and tuition, thanks to Arnold.

And don't bet on Arnold lifting a finger to help ease the price Californians pay at the pump -- when you own seven Hummers, it's obvious you don't care too much about the price of gas.

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One week to the Primary. Post it here.

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May 28, 2006

I started out to write something on Memorial Day – sort of a what’s it all about, how it got started and what it means today, knowing of course that I wanted to make a point about the war in Iraq and the growing number of men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. During my research, I found this website on the historical background of the holiday, and I found myself listening to "Taps" and reading the words to that song, which really do capture so poignantly what Memorial Day should be about:

Day is done
Gone the sun
From the hills
From the lake
From the skies,
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh.
Go to sleep
Peaceful sleep
May the soldier or sailor
God keep.

On the land
Or the deep
Safe in sleep
Love, good night
Must thou go
When the day
And the night
Need thee so
All is well
Speedeth all
To their rest
Fades the light
And a far Goeth day
And the stars
Shineth bright
Fare thee well
Day has gone
Night is on
Thanks and praise
For our days
'Neath the sun
'Neath the stars
'Neath the sky
As we go
This we know
God is nigh.

So I decided to post the names of all the men and women from California who have died in the Iraq War, all 254 of them. It was easy enough to find – there’s an entire website that tracks this information – you can find lists by name, date of death, state, etc. I pulled up the California list of casualties, noticing that we have more than any other state in the nation, and did a copy and paste into Word where I could make it just be one long list for pasting into the website program.

It was a long list. And the list was full of names, and those names used to be real people.

As I worked formatting the list, scrolling down from page to page, I became increasingly sadder -- seeing the names of the cities they came from, like the ironically named "Freedom," and seeing someone from Sacramento with the same last name as mine -- because this wasn’t just a list of statistics, but a list of lives lost, families destroyed, futures forever altered.

And as odd as this might seem, it became so important to me that I make this list look as nice as I could – my own small way of making a memorial to these 254 dead.

I searched in my clipart collection and found a poppy – not because it’s our state flower, but because it’s a symbol of war inspired by the poem, "In Flanders’ Fields" written by John McCrae in 1915:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

We don’t really have a "Flanders Field" – these men and women are buried among the more than 150 towns and cities across California represented on this list. Along with the other 2,309 from other states, they make up the 2,463 American men and women who have died in the Iraq War – as of today, May 25, 2006.

We all know this list will get longer. And the number of families who will spend future Memorial Days visiting a gravesite, laying down a wreath, remembering a loved one – that list too will continue to grow as well.

During this Memorial Day weekend, take a moment to remember this list of 254 – you might know someone on it or see a name from your hometown, perhaps someone who could have grown up down the street from you, but died half a world away.

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May 26, 2006

Region 9 Director Barbara Graves sent some photos of the May 13 Neighbor-to-Neighbor Canvass to us that we wanted to share with you. If you have any photos or experiences you would like us to post to the blog, please email us at may13@cadem.org.

New Precinct Captain, 12-year-old Bert, got his dad out walking and talking to neighbors about the Democratic Vision on May 13. Bert wants to learn how to enter his neighbors' choices (from the 6 items on the doorhanger) into our Grassroots Champions Coalition statewide database himself, and has already attended a training session. If this face showed up at your door, would you have the courage to face him again if you hadn't voted on election day? Go Bert! And thank you Chairman Dean and the DNC!

(warning: lots of photos when you click more!)

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Post it here.

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May 25, 2006

Orange County Democratic Party Chair Frank Barbaro and other OC Dems held a press conference this morning in front of the county Registrar of Voter’s office in Santa Ana. Thanks to Todd Warden from our L.A. office, who was there for the press conference and took these pics.

Desiree Funsch, a Democrat from Anaheim who was a victim of the voter registration scam by Republican-paid "bounty hunters," joined Frank in calling on the County Registrar’s office make sure that any voter whose registration might have been changed is contacted.

Is the Republican Party so insecure about the job that Cunningham, Doolittle and the rest of the corruption rat pack is doing as their "welcoming committee" that they feel they need to trick people into joining up?

Geez -- how'd you like to show up to vote on election day and be handed a Republican ballot? Uh, no thanks.

Frank Barbaro wrote an excellent commentary for the OC Metro called “Mutiny for the Bounty.” Aptly named, I think.

Additional reading

April 4, 2006
As New Allegations Of Republican Voter Registration Fraud Comes To Light, CDP Vows To Closely Monitor Investigation

March 16, 2006
CDP Requests AG To Begin Formal Investigation Into Republican VR
Practices In Three Counties

March 1, 2006
Chairman Art Torres on Investigation Into GOP Voter Registration Tactics In Orange County

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Post it here.

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May 24, 2006

Press release from our friends at the Orange County Democratic Party:

Victims of Republican Voter Registration fraud must be contacted before the June 6, 2006 Primary election.

Contact Susan Freeze (714) 835-2122

SANTA ANA, CA Frank Barbaro, Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County will conduct a press conference at 8am on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at the Orange County Registrar of Voters 1300 S. Grand Avenue in front of Building C to address the probable disenfranchisement of hundreds and possibly thousands of Orange County voters who were tricked, bullied or fraudulently registered by bounty hunters hired by the Republican Party of Orange County and the Republican Party of California between the months of September, 2005 and February, 2006.

"From an estimated 3,500 questionable affidavits, the Orange County Register contacted 134 of them and found that 112 of the 134 (83%) were fraudulently switched to Republican between December 2005 and February 2006 without their knowledge. I do not know why the Orange County Registrar of Voters cannot contact these voters and repair the damage", said Frank Barbaro, Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.

"This is a potential disaster on election day. I am particularly concerned with the 34th Senate, 69th Assembly and 40th Congressional races."

"I believe the Orange County Registrar of Voters needs to act immediately to locate and rectify these fraudulent changes. They have known about this for 8 weeks and have done nothing. We are forwarding about 10 complaints a day to the Registrar and Secretary of State that we have found in our registration effort."

What's that term? By hook or by crook?

If you are in the 34th SD, 69th AD or 40th CD, drop by tomorrow and show your support.

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Just read part two from Jim Hightower on Bush's drive for limitless power for him and his cronies. If you weren't paranoid to begin with . . .

Now that I think about it, wearing tin foil in my hat doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

The only way out of this mess is to vote out the whole creepy team and all of their future would be "kings" because this isn't going to stop with Bush -- he's only the beginning.

When people vote they need to look beyond that happy face candidate with the perfect Republican hair and think long and hard about the darkness that lurks behind them.

"While claiming that they must 'secure' America for a post-9/11 world, the BushCheney zealots are taking us back to a pre-1776 world.” (Inside Donnie Rumsfeld's Orwellian Pentagon )

Also read part one – Bush’s Imperial Presidency.

Powdered wigs anyone?

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Post it here.

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May 23, 2006

Post it here. [Welcome back Vanna!}

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May 22, 2006

Post it here.

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May 18, 2006

Post it here.

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May 17, 2006

Post it here.

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May 16, 2006

This past Saturday, the California Democratic Party held a "Neighbor to-Neighbor Day of Action." Deputy Political Outreach Director JB Tengco helped to organized nearly 20 staging areas for canvassing around the North and Central Coast, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area.

Here is his report:

Our walks were an amazing combination of experienced precinct captains, new precinct captains, and activists who answered the call to action. Together, we spread the word to our neighbors in English and Spanish in the counties of Solano, Lake, Sonoma, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.

We reached big cities and small town, rural regions and coastal areas. Neighbor to neighbor participants ranged from a ten-year old precinct captain in Santa Cruz, to college kids reaching out to their friends, to mountain cyclists literally biking across acres to go house to house.

In Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, established precinct captain operations reached out to their neighbors to once again talk about our Democratic values. In San Mateo, we kicked off a new precinct captain operation with 55 new Captains taking charge of their precincts.

In Alameda and San Francisco, participants joined with our elected officials to promote a democratic agenda for change. And in counties like Solano, Lake and Sonoma, concerned individuals decided to take it upon themselves to spread the word to their neighbors.

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This past Saturday, Deputy Political Outreach Director Crystal Strait helped to organize staging areas for canvassing around the Central Valley as part of the "Neighbor to-Neighbor Day of Action."

Here is her report:

From the Gold Country of Yuba-Sutter to the mountains of Calaveras County to the farms of Fresno, local Democrats hit the road on Saturday, May 13 to talk with neighbors about what it means to be a Democrat in some of the “reddest” parts of the state.

What activists found in Yuba, Fresno, San Andreas, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield and other Central Valley communities was that they are not alone. These areas are ripe with Democrats, some a little shyer than others, but all are ready to fight back against the Republican Culture of Corruption that has consumed Congress.

While some say this is “tough” terrain for Democrats, our activists were welcome in their communities.

An activist in Sacramento, upon talking to the husband of a registered Democrat found out the man was actually a Republican, but upon hearing from his neighbor about the values of the Democratic Party he decided to re-register as a Democrat.

In Fresno, a woman greeted the walkers and proudly announced she had just registered to be a Democrat because she realized that it was the Democratic Party that had a clear vision for America.

Bottom line: Democrats are fighting for honest government, real security, jobs, health care, energy independence, and retirement reform—values that are important to ALL Californians.

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Jack Song and Ken Maxey, Deputy Political Outreach Directors in Southern California, helped to put together more than a dozen staging areas for canvassing around the Southland as part of the May 13 Neighbor-to-Neighbor Day of Action.

Here is their report:

The May 13 canvass event in Southern California was truly a success! We had a presence in every county, from Los Angeles to Riverside, reaching different ethnic minority groups as well.

Our event had a great press hit from World Journal, a Chinese/Ethnic publication widely read in the Chinese Community. The article discusses the June 6 primary and the Democrats grassroots efforts at voter contact -- and they included a front-page photo of Phil Angelides from the Day of Action event in West Los Angeles.

[Click here to read more from Jack on the Speak.AsianAmerican blog)

In San Bernardino County, we worked with the Foothill Community Democrats, the San Gabriel Valley Democratic Center, La Canada Flintridge Democratic Club and Democrats of the Claremont Colleges, as well as folks from SoCal Grassroots, DFA, and MoveOn. Big thanks go to the staff and volunteers at the Russ Warner for Congress campaign -- the CDP's endorsed candidate in the June 6 primary who will face Republican challenger David Dreier in November. They did a lot of the coordinating and organizing and we ended up with a great turnout.

Thanks also to the Monrovia Firefighters who allowed us to speak at the Saturday morning pancake breakfast about our 50-state strategy and the Neighbor-to-Neighbor event.

In Claremont, we joined about 15 volunteers from the local clubs in the area, and in Rancho Cucamonga more than two dozen volunteers at the Russ Warner campaign headquarters helped to make sure the canvassers always had a good supply of doorhangers.

In San Gabriel Valley’s AD-49, we partnered up with Local Union 300. Councilmember and AD-49 candidate Mike Eng and Congressmember Hilda Solis were on hand and more than 60 activists showed up to distribute doorhangers in both English and Spanish in this ethnically diverse community.

In West Los Angeles, Treasurer Phil Angelides and Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas joined more than 30 volunteers to offer their support of the doorhanger project as a way to reach out to our neighbors about our Party’s message. Thanks to Anne Smith for organizing this canvass event.

Kurt Burie, Palm Springs Stonewall Democratic Club President, took the lead on organizing in the Palm Springs area along with Desert Hot Springs Mayor Pro Term Gary Bosworth. They put together a "Rally, Walk & Drop" at Ruth Hardy Park, where 75 activists took part along with Palm Springs Mayor Pro Tem Ginny Foat, Palm Springs City Councilman Steve Pougnet, and Cathedral City Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis.

From Kurt: ‘I am excited about the future of the party, I believe the door hanger project represents where we need to be as a party; working to spread the word about hard working Americans and our shared future in the United States.’

Thanks for all your hard work Kurt!

In Orange County, Regional Director Jim Moreno and County Chair Frank Barbaro helped to organize other OC activists. Mela Hat from the “Brandt Brigade” campaign and Sharon Toji each served as the coordinators for their regions. The Brandt campaign had close to 40 walkers and ended the day with a small rally on the Huntington Beach Pier.

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Thanks to local Democratic activist Suzanne Savage for this report on the May 13 Neighbor-to-Neighbor Day of Action from the Hollywood area:

Turnout for my event was light (I had two intrepid volunteers show from the six who RSVP'd) but both had great stories. Volunteer #1 was Nancy, and May 13th was her birthday. She was determined to do something meaningful and decided to come canvass for the DNC. An avid CSPAN watcher, Nancy decided to "get local" and ended up hanging about 75 doorhangers around Hollywood.

Volunteer #2, Armand, is a former teacher and MoveOn.org supporter, but because MoveOn.org doesn't do many things "off-line" he signed up for the canvass and came in from Glendale to help out. He also hung about 75 doorhangers in Hollywood.

We plastered my neighborhood and were met with some surprised looks but most were glad to see us out there - they were getting the picture that the Party is really trying to turn things around. It was a good event and one that was very worthwhile in executing.

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Post it here.

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May 15, 2006

Bush takes to the airwaves at 5pm this evening to fan the flames on immigration and present another of his brilliant "plans."

Since I'm sure Bush's carefully scripted speech won't include any real truths -- let's take a look at how "well" Bush and the Republicans in Congress are doing on immigration and border security:

The 9/11 Commission gave the Bush administration and Congressional Republicans failing grades on homeland security, including a "D" on border security. In addition, the Commission points out that there has been no systematic diplomatic effort to work with other countries on shared terrorist watch lists - to ensure terrorists can't get across our borders.

There are 1,000 fewer additional Border Patrol Agents than were promised in the 9/11 Act.

The Republican-controlled Congress has broken the promises it made on funding additional Border Patrol Agents, immigration enforcement agents and detention beds.

In 2004, Congress enacted the Intelligence Reforms Act (or the "9/11 Act"), which mandated an additional 2,000 Border Patrol agents being hired over each of the next five years, but the President's subsequent budgets have included few resources to implement the Act.

For FY 2006, the Republican controlled Congress only funded 1,000 additional Border Patrol agents.

The 9/11 Act also mandated an additional 800 immigration enforcement agents over each of the next five years. And yet, for FY 2006, the Congress funded only 350 additional agents.

Source: DNC

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Post it here.

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The GOP Senate pushed through Bush’s extension for his tax cuts to the rich. While this plays nice for the cameras as we seem destined for the mid-$3.00 range for gas prices, it is really just another irresponsible Bush move.

What fiscal sense does Mr. Bush have left in him? NONE! His tax cuts ultimately help the rich, which is the only plan Bush seems to come up with. The rich spend a much smaller proportion of their wages than middle and low-income people. Tax cuts are supposed to encourage spending, so Bush’s plan is counterproductive. Plus, why do the rich need such huge tax cuts anyway? The gap between the rich and the poor is already huge, thanks to Bush.

And has he closely examined the deficit lately? Or had staff write a summary memo for him? It hasn’t been talked about much, but the deficit is still way out there. Tax cuts would only increase it, so what kind of a plan is this?

Just another bad Bush plan. Definitely, one that will fail the nation.

[Written by CDP Intern Alex Wan]

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May 10, 2006

In her column, "The Best Little Whorehouse in Washington," Molly talks about what will someday be either a TV-movie or an expose on "American Justice."

I don't care what anyone smoked 20 years ago, I approve of those who boogie till they puke, and I don't care who anyone in politics is screwing in private, as long as they're not screwing the public. On other hand, if you expect me to pass up a scandal involving poker, hookers and the Watergate building with crooked defense contractors and the No. 3 guy at the CIA, named Dusty Foggo (Dusty Foggo?! Be still my heart), you expect too much.

I can't decide what name I like best -- "Hookergate" or "Pokergate."

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So Bush thinks the crowning achievement of his presidency was bagging a big 'ol perch.

By George, I think he's right!

Click here to reminisce on other Bush highlights.

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The debate is sponsored by the Commonwealth Club, San Francisco Chronicle, CBS 5, KCBS 740 AM, KQED-TV, KQED-FM and KDTV Univision 14.

The debate will be broadcast from the CBS 5 studios in San Francisco beginning at 7 p.m. and will feature questions from the studio audience.

There are several ways to watch / listen:

-- Live broadcast from San Francisco Bay Area CBS channel 5

-- Live streaming video at www.cbs5.com.

-- Live radio broadcast on KCBS 740 AM

-- Taped broadcast: May 13 @ 10:00 a.m. KDTV Univision 14 (with simultaneous Spanish translation)

We want to hear from you - post your debate reactions on the Party Line Blog!

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May 08, 2006

Post it here . . .

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May 03, 2006

From Jack Song, Deputy Political and Outreach Director for the California Democratic Party:

You are invited to join the California Democratic Party and local activists for a special screening of "CONVENTIONEERS" at the 2006 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

The film screening will be followed by a Meet & Greet with your Southern California Deputy Political Outreach Directors, local Democratic Party activists and film director Mora Mi-Ok Stephens.

We will be discussing the May 13th Democratic Party Neighbor-to-Neighbor Outreach event.

Saturday, May 6 @ 2:30 pm - Directors Guild of America, Theater 2, located at 7920 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood

RSVP to Jack@cadem.org.

Spread the word - tell a friend!

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The California League of Conservation Voters hosts a debate tonight between Angelides and Westly. Click here for details watching it via live streaming video.

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May 02, 2006

Thanks for the link to the Steven Colbert speech -- lots of "truthiness" in what he said.

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May 01, 2006

Post-convention, post away . . .

I'll catch up on convention posts tomorrow, today I spend time with my son. At last count, he had won the last five games of 'Clue.'