Washington State Caucuses
Wed Feb 06, 2008 at 12:03:35 AM PDT
Now that "Super" Tuesday is over it's time to look to the next large race, the Washington State Precinct Caucuses on Saturday February 9th. I'm writing the diary to be informative about how the process will got down in Washington State, and not as a front for any type of agenda (other than getting people excited about the Washington State Caucus). Take your agendas elsewhere.
All of the information that I'm expanding below can be found in the Washington State Delegate Selection Plan. If you have any questions look there first. It's the authoritative source.
Okay, on with the fun.
WA-05 Follow the Money
Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 09:51:00 AM PDT
I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and she mentioned that there was a letter to the editor in the Spokesman about Goldmark getting most of his donations from the westside of Washington. So, I decided to do a little digging myself to see what I could find.
Something important to keep in mind is that if an individual contributor's total contributions are less than $250 they don't have to be itemized to the FEC. So, when the above letter is talking about "McMorris' donations coming from the district" they are talking about the "Big Money".
I've put together a nice chart below to illustrate where each candidate is getting their money.
WA-05 Goldmark Outraises McMorris Again
Mon Oct 16, 2006 at 10:12:30 AM PDT
The latest FEC reports are filtering in and McMorris's report for the most recent period is up. The most recent reporting period was 8/31 to 9/30, a scant month, because of the late Washington primary (which is moving to August starting next year).
While Peter Goldmark's report for this period is not yet up, people around here have been reporting about what the Goldmark campaign will report to the FEC for the past month.
Join me below as I pull apart the numbers.
WA-05 Regarding St. John WA
Sun Oct 15, 2006 at 09:24:33 AM PDT
Finding weather vanes for Democratic fortunes in Washington's 5th Congressional District has been difficult. With out any independent polling and only spotty coverage from the District's largest newspaper the local Democrats are left only anecdotes. I've been knocking on doors and going to parades and picnics since the middle of June, and the string of anecdotes I have point in one direction: people are fed up and looking for a change.
This isn't a story about our Congressional race directly, but it is a story of what you have to do to win in places like eastern Washington. As an additional preface to this story I should mention that I'm running for County Auditor in Whitman County and I was door knocking with Nathan Weller who is running for County Commissioner.
WA-05 New Goldmark TV Ad
Tue Oct 10, 2006 at 03:08:06 PM PDT
I was checking
Peter's website and saw that he as a new TV ad up. In his new ad he takes a swipe at Rep. McMorris for taking a pay raise while cutting military benefits.
The ad is in quick-time format and is about 3 MB:
The Pledge
Remember to Contribute to Peter Goldmark to get this ad on the air and keep it on the air. There is only about a week and a half until the ballots will be in people's hands around the district. All of Washington's 5th District is vote by mail and ballots will be in people's hands around the 21st or 23rd of October.
Sacrifice
Fri Sep 29, 2006 at 10:13:06 AM PDT
This diary is not about Congress sacrificing our American ideals. There are already too many diaries here about that. It is not about Democrats in Congress sacrificing their principals. There are also too many of those diaries.
Today, I am writing about you. The person sitting in front of a monitor and keyboard. And I am not making an accusation. I am making a request.
Our nation was not forged from ideological purity, or from polite sitting room discussions. Our forbearers created a new nation, a new idea for what a nation should be, by risking their time, their wealth, and their very lives. In the struggle we are in right now, the struggle for the soul of our nation, I am only asking of you the first and the second. I hope never to see a day where I must ask of you the third.
WA-05, Local: Palouse Empire Fair, Colfax, WA
Tue Sep 12, 2006 at 09:28:12 AM PDT
The Palouse Empire Fair a once a year event bringing together the rural communities in
Whitman County. At 4 days the fair is a marathon to table. The crowds aren't huge and not a lot of people stop at the Democrats booth. But it is just as important as the
National Lentil Festival in Pullman.
At the Democrats booth we may not have talked with over a hundred people during the course of the fair, but I made some important observations about Peter Goldmark's race, the issues that the local Republican candidates are focusing on, and some glimmers of a bright new future.
Why Undervotes Matter: WA-Gov 2004
Wed Sep 06, 2006 at 10:57:23 AM PDT
I've been meaning to put something together on this for a while and I finally compiled the numbers. For those who are not familiar with the Governors Race in Washington State in 2004 I'll give a little history (others should feel free to offer more background since I'm not going to spend long on it).
Our previous Governor, Democrat Gary Locke, had served for 2 terms and was ready to move on. The Democratic candidate that emerged to replace him was then Attorney General Christine Gregoire. The Republicans put up State Senator Dino Rossi. There was also a libertarian candidate Ruth Bennett.
After the dust settled we had the closest governors race in US history and Gregoire was our governor by 129 votes. Below I discuss the importance of the undervotes in this race and why I think they are so important.
WA-05, Local: Peter Goldmark Amber Waves Tour: Pullman
Thu Aug 31, 2006 at 09:30:12 AM PDT
Peter Goldmark is currently on a district wide tour visiting small communities throughout Washington's 5th congressional district. He is traveling in his bio-diesel fueled pickup truck starting in Liberty Lake August 25th, traveling across the northern part of the district and then moving into the southern part ending in Walla Walla on September 2nd.
Yesterday, Peter made his stop in Pullman, visiting with many people and speaking with the press. I was with Peter most of the day and here are some of the observations that I found most interesting.
WA-Sen, WA-05, Local: National Lentil Festival Report - Pullman, WA
Sun Aug 20, 2006 at 02:20:14 PM PDT
The
National Lentil Festival took place in Pullman, WA this past Friday and Saturday. The street fair took place Friday night and the Parade and Lentil Cook-off took place Saturday.
The Whitman County Democrats were happy to have Peter Goldmark, Democratic candidate for Washington's 5th Congressional District, in town both Friday and Saturday, and Senator Maria Cantwell, Democratic Senator for Washington seeking re-election, made a special trip from Vancouver, WA to Pullman to be in the parade.
(I apologize for the lack of photos, there should be some on the way to my email inbox)
International Law Concerning Sales of Arms
Sat Jul 22, 2006 at 12:02:47 PM PDT
After reading
The U.S. is now a legitimate military target and reading through the comments the main question in my mind was: Has the United States violated international law by
recently transferring arms to Israel during the present conflict?
In this diary I'm not going to consider the question of if there has been a violation of international law does that violation legitimize military action against the United States.
Below is what I could find with a quick scour of the Internet:
Who is standing up for you?
Sun Apr 16, 2006 at 06:43:19 PM PDT
First let me say this diary is about
messaging, not
framing. It comes from some ideas that were put out there in a
recent diary about the "Democratic Message"™. There are many similar diaries posted here everyday. Many advocate that the "Democratic Message"™ should be one thing or the other. Many are excellent ideas worthy of discussion, but I would argue it is not so much what we say as how we say it (more in a messaging way than a framing way).
Tip O'Neill said, "All politics is local." You may have heard that saying extended into: "All politics is personal." I take that to mean that if you want to effectively communicate with someone about a political issue (or any issue), you need to connect it to your audience through their daily lives.
An example from the comments in the above mentioned diary:
Why Challenging Every Republican is Important
Tue Jan 10, 2006 at 01:17:06 PM PDT
It's been said many times here that we (progressive Democrats) must challenge every Republican running for office this year. Often that assertion is backed up by vague (but often good) reasoning: it makes Republicans spend money on "safe" races, it's a matter of principal, and my own reasoning: you can't win if you don't play. But today I'd like to show you a real example that comes from where I live.
Our Democracy
Sat Dec 03, 2005 at 07:50:54 PM PDT
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
From Indiana University School of Law
224 years ago the assembled representatives of 13 colonies approved the above statement to be sent to their government. They continue:
Infinite Energy Economy
Tue Nov 22, 2005 at 03:18:23 AM PDT
What is the Infinite Energy Economy? It is fundamentally different from our present finite extraction based economy. It is infinite both in it's energy production and in it's growth. And it starts right in your back yard.
There are three fundamental parts to the Infinite Energy Economy:
- Distributed Renewable Energy Generation
- A public electrical distribution grid connecting all generators and consumers
- A parallel information network connecting everyone in America (and the World)
From these three basic ingredients the enumerable variation of this new economy sprouts. Each is so necessary to this new economy that once we have them they will be like automobiles and cheap petro-chemicals today, ubiquitous to the point of being barely noticed.
What's the matter with Rhode Island
Tue Nov 01, 2005 at 09:20:36 AM PDT
First let me say this has nothing to do specifically with Rhode Island. I could have picked Minnesota just as easily, but there are a few important traits of Rhode Island that make it important in the following discussion: it's on the coast, it's metropolitan/suburban, it's fairly culturally homogeneous, and it's voted for a Democrat in 7 of the last 9 presidential elections. Also, I've never been to Rhode Island. I'm going to get stuff wrong, sorry.
Now with all of that on the table here is a hypothetical statement:
What is the matter with Rhode Island? Why is this state so far behind the times religiously and socially? I've not heard of one instance of a Rhode Island school considering teaching Intelligent Design. They don't even have the death penalty in Rhode Island! How can this backward state be a part of our Union?
100% America
Tue Oct 18, 2005 at 01:25:29 PM PDT
There has been much discussion about "polarization" and "partisan divides". These discussions eventually lead to talk of having the Democrats focus on talking to a hard left constituency in order to regain a dominate status. However, this strategy of "splitting the difference" will ultimately lead to failure. Focusing on ever shrinking interest groups while hoping that the remaining diversity of citizens finds the issues and views of the left part of the spectrum palatable enough to vote for the "Reformed Democrats" may placate the base, but won't build a long lasting coalition of Americans.
I call this strategy of intense focus the "21% strategy": appeal to just over half of the 40% of people who still turn out to vote. A good friend of mine called this playing a losers game. Focus hard on not screwing up so that when the other guy does screw up, you win.
Find our what "100% America" is below:
From the Bottom Up Not the Top Down
Fri Oct 14, 2005 at 01:10:49 PM PDT
When it comes to building a new Democratic majority there are two ways to go about it: from the bottom up and the top down. We can look at many policy decisions and directions and see a top down model: our leadership (be it the president or our party leadership) listening to a few people who "know best" about an issue. A bottom up model is harder to find, but I would define as: a diverse group of people held together by a common bond deciding an issue together.
The Democratic Party already has the infrastructure to move to a strongly "Bottom Up" decision making process: the precinct. More specifically the precinct committee officer (PCO). Some definitions: a precinct is the smallest political division in the United States and it represented to a political party (Democrat, Republican or Libertarian) by a Precinct Committee Officer. A Precinct Committee Officer is the closest representative any citizen has.
With the Precinct Committee Officer we have the start of the Precinct Committee and an open forum for every citizen to voice their ideas, concerns and questions directly to the party.
