Democracy for New Mexico

All With a Grain of Salt

Lots of rumors and guesswork on the blog circuit about the candidates for DNC Chair and their behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Someone on Daily Kos claimed their wife heard Dean say at some event that he had decided not to run, but this was quickly nixed by someone else who heard differently. Well.

Meanwhile, it's becoming increasingly evident that Kerry may be the primary obstacle to Dean. And he has lots of money to use in the process that's left over from donations from the grassroots -- the same grassroots that he apparently wants to freeze out of the process and Party power.  Ugly, isn't it?

DNC update by Jerome Armstrong on MyDD:

. . . Kerry is not behind Shaheen right now, he's behind Vilsack (not that he wouldn't turn to her if Vilsack dropped out). As I stated earlier, it's mostly a "Stop Dean" movement that Kerry is leading the charge on from behind the scenes. And yes, Kerry does have that $45M left over from the campaign that he's not ready to hand over to the DNC at this time-- why not?

From everyone I've talked to inside the Dean campaign, he's ready to take the chair at the DNC. He's just got to get the votes. It's obvious that the "anyone but Dean" movement has no vision of it's own, other than stopping the grassroots from actually taking control of the party. We need to re-invigorate the local level with power that has a say, and take away power from the vested interests (mostly their own) inside DC.

MyDD quotes Karen Timulty in the 11/22 issue of Time Magazine saying:

Howard Dean is "being urged to run by liberal activists convinced he is the best chance for channeling the bas'es ire into a national message," but the more centrist group believes Dean "is the last person the party needs." Vilsack was calling labor leaders and others last week, "asking them to hold off backing Dean ... as Vilsack decides whether to make a bid."

Seems funny that the "centrist" pushers believe Dean would be a mistake, resulting in a Dem "disaster." How much worse can things go than the losses Dems have experienced since the heyday of the early Clinton administration?

In my view, if the Dem "centrists" -- read Republicans-lite -- prevail, the Dem Party and its national candidate can kiss goodbye the bulk of grassroots donations in terms of time and money. Unfortunately, Kerry seems to believe that all that cash via small donations and all those hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours were the result of Dems being heavily supportive of him, rather than being so down on Bush.  What do you think?

Falluja

ABC News has a description of the horrors of Falluja provided by Bilal Hussein, an AP photographer who was on the scene in his home town. Excerpt:

"Destruction was everywhere. I saw people lying dead in the streets, wounded were bleeding and there was no one to come and help them. Even the civilians who stayed in Fallujah were too afraid to go out," he said.

"There was no medicine, water, no electricity nor food for days."

By Tuesday afternoon, as U.S. forces and Iraqi rebels engaged in fierce clashes in the heart of his neighborhood, Hussein snapped.

"U.S. soldiers began to open fire on the houses, so I decided that it was very dangerous to stay in my house," he said.

Hussein said he panicked, seizing on a plan to escape across the Euphrates River, which flows on the western side of the city

"I wasn't really thinking," he said. "Suddenly, I just had to get out. I didn't think there was any other choice."

In the rush, Hussein left behind his camera lens and a satellite telephone for transmitting his images. His lens, marked with the distinctive AP logo, was discovered two days later by U.S. Marines next to a dead man's body in a house in Jolan.

AP colleagues in the Baghdad bureau, who by then had not heard from Hussein in 48 hours, became even more worried.

Hussein moved from house to house dodging gunfire and reached the river.

"I decided to swim … but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river."

He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."

And if you've got a strong stomach, the Falluja in Pictures blog provides a more realistic picture of our "victory" than the one we're getting via the mainstream media.

Lastest on Race for DNC Chair

From MyDD: Back to Dean, into the DNC by Jerome Armstrong

This is from a DC source on how the vote for the DNC Chair is breaking down right now. This will give you give you a sense of who is on the inside, and who is on right side. But before that, about 3 months ago, I was told by someone close to Dean that Nancy Pelosi was backing Howard Dean for the DNC chair. I found it rather odd, but apparently, Pelosi reached out to Dean, perhaps thinking he would be the best alternative if Kerry were defeated. That would seem clear thinking to me. Remember the standing ovation that Dean received during the Convention in Boston from the Democratic congregation? Apparently, those in DC have forgotten.

Last week John Kerry met with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Kerry convinced the two Democratic leaders to go with backing Tom Vilsack for the DNC. Now, that's some pretty strong sway up in the Hill, de facto? Not quite.

Dean's got some backing too. Both Jesse Jackson Sr. and Jr. are backing Dean, as is Gov Bill Richardson of NM, Donna Brazille as well.

I've read of much post-election despair among the comments here and elsewhere, but listen, put that aside, join this effort. We've lost and lost and lost; it's time to win. There's 440 DNC members around the nation in every state. These people align with the partisan backbone of the Party. Our wing. Let the ones nearest you hear your asking them to vote Dean for DNC. They are waiting, willing, and just need to hear our collective voice for the new Democratic Party to begin.

According to the , the DNC members from New Mexico are:

George "Jeep" Gilliland – Albuquerque
Mary Gail Gwaltney – Las Cruces
Patricia Madrid – Albuquerque
Gloria Nieto – Santa Fe
Bill Richardson – Santa Fe
Annadelle Sanchez – Espanola
John Wertheim - Albuquerque

Update: Many of the 440 current DNC members will face re-election as their respective state Democratic organizations reorganize this winter, before the DNC meeting in DC the first week of February '05, when the Chair will be selected. And many of the state committee persons who will vote for the re-election or new member will first face re-election within their local county Democratic organizations.

DFA and DFNM have begun to gather information on Democratic Party rules, structures, requirements and personnel, from the precinct level to County Chair to national reps. We can't change our Party if we don't understand how it works and who is currently running it, locally and nationally. As information is amassed, it will also provide us with a clear picture of where precinct, ward and other positions are vacant, and how more of us can get involved.

To Avoid Divorce, Move to Massachusetts

Since we're being inundated with testimonials these days about how "moral" Bush voters are, and in contrast, how nasty, nasty, nasty Democrats are, I thought it might be useful to actual ponder some FACTS about the Red Staters. This New York Times article provides some:

If blue states care less about moral values, why are divorce rates so low in the bluest of the blue states? It's a question that intrigues conservatives, as much as it emboldens liberals. As researchers have noted, the areas of the country where divorce rates are highest are also frequently the areas where many conservative Christians live.

Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas, for example, voted overwhelmingly for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. But they had three of the highest divorce rates in 2003, based on figures from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.

The lowest divorce rates are largely in the blue states: the Northeast and the upper Midwest. And the state with the lowest divorce rate was Massachusetts, home to John Kerry, the Kennedys and same-sex marriage.

In 2003, the rate in Massachusetts was 5.7 divorces per 1,000 married people, compared with 10.8 in Kentucky, 11.1 in Mississippi and 12.7 in Arkansas.

"Some people are saying, 'The Bible Belt is so pro-marriage, but gee, they have the highest divorce rates in the country,' " said Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. "And there's a lot of worry in the red states about the high rate of divorce."

To read more, click here.

How Democrats Won in Red, Red Montana

There's a good read in the December issue of The Washington Monthly that offers Democrats some ideas for crafting a winning strategy. The newly elected Governor, Brian Schweitzer, employed a three-pronged strategy to win that included presenting himself as a reformer and economic populist, gaining heavy support from small business and capturing the votes of hunting and fishing crowd:

How a Montana Democrat bagged the hunting and fishing vote, and won the governor's mansion

There aren't too many states in the union redder than Montana. George Bush won the state by more than 20 points in November. The state legislature and governorship in the capital, Helena, have been in GOP hands for 16 years. Sparsely-populated Montana is represented by only one congressman, the far-right Rep. Denny Rehberg, and by two senators, an ultra-conservative Republican (Conrad Burns) and a conservative Democrat (Max Baucus) who often votes with the Republicans. The state's electoral votes are conceded so automatically to the GOP that neither party's candidate campaigns there. Culturally, with the exception of a few rich Hollywood types who weekend in places like Big Sky, the state could hardly be further from the metro-cosmopolitan culture of the coasts. To give but one example, Montana has the highest percentage of hunters of any state in the union.

But in November, a Democrat, Brian Schweitzer, won the state's race for governor. Schweitzer not only won, but he also won decisively, beating his opponent Bob Brown, the Republican secretary of state and a two-decade fixture in Montana politics, by a solid four points. His victory was so resounding and provided down-ballot party members such strong coattails that Montana Democrats took the state senate and four of five statewide offices. 

How did Schweitzer pull off such a dramatic victory in an election year when Democrats seemed to have lost their capacity to win red states? The answer should give Democrats everywhere some hope and Republicans reason to worry.

Continue reading by clicking here.

Psalm: The 23rd Sigh

Just to be in vogue, here's a little something that's biblical in nature, to start us off on the right foot as we begin the week:

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.

He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.

He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.

He restoreth my fears.

He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war,

I will find no exit, for thou art in office.

Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.

Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.

Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.

My health insurance runneth out.

Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of Thy term,

And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

(Anonymous -- I'm eager to attribute this to the author should one come forward. Thanks to John McAndrew for passing this along.)

Enter Vilsack?

With all the talk swirling about Dean's chances to chair the DNC, it's good to remember that Kerry has alot of sway, and money from us, to push his guy. You may remember the bland but loyal Gov. Vilsack, who did oh so much to help Kerry beat Dean in Iowa. He's Kerry's guy. And if he gets the DNC post, we can expect to once again have the Iowa Caucuses be first in the nation to help us pick our presidential candidate in 2006. Iowa, a Red State, an overwhelmingly white state with few minorities, with caucuses that can be manipulated if you know how. Think how much help Gov. Vilsack could be to Kerry's plan to run again in 2006.

From the MyDD blog: John Kerry's next mission: 2008 by Jerome Armstrong

Or, I could label this, "How the DNC Chair is bought." And not only bought, but made secure in such a way that Iowa remains as the fist in the nation caucus in 2008. See, that's a big priority for someone with $50M left over in campaign funds; someone who mostly secured the Democratic nomination in Iowa; someone who wants a second chance at being President. Yep, that someone is John Kerry.

$45 million (minus whatever the DNC gets paid out), will be the lead that we gave John Kerry toward 2008. The money leftover from the campaign was to be used for a recount and transition. But given that Kerry lost by over 3 million votes, there's no real need to bother with that fight-- though I'm glad we are at least getting some questions.
[. . .]
Anyway, when you see someone writeoff Kerry's chances for 2008, scoff at them. It's palatable among the Dems in DC. Kerry's already got Iowa's Gov Tom Vilsack ready and willing to be bolt his incumbancy to be placed at the chair of the DNC, with one mission in mind-- preserving the Iowa caucuses. Such vision!

Hmmmmmm . . .

When I got an email last week from the Kerry people saying the votes had been counted here, and implying that this was the end, I believed them. But look at this from the Secretary of State's website:

NM Presidential Race Results as of: 11/14/2004 9:54:01 AM

Kerry: 347,065 - 49.1%

Bush: 352,396 - 49.8%

Vote margin for Bush: 5,331 or .7%

Makes me really uncomfortable about all those provisional and other ballots Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera tossed out because she couldn't determine that Jane Marie Jones and Jane M. Jones were the same person. She rejected about half of the provisional ballots and also many ballots from first-time voters whose driver's licenses didn't exactly, and I mean exactly, match the names they signed in with. I guess it doesn't help that Dem Herrera and Dem Vigil-Giron reportedly are in a cat fight. I recall that Vigil-Giron said Herrera's standards for matching names and IDs were incorrect, being too stringent.

According to the Albuquerque Tribune,

Herrera disqualified 5,796 provisional and in-lieu-of ballots, out of 11,966 such ballots cast  . . . .

And, according to Herrera, hundreds of those ballots were disqualified for errors like nonmatching signatures between voter registration forms and ballots. While Herrera said she was following the lead of the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, she listened anew to complaints from two Democrat lawyers who had monitored the vote-counting process.

"If somebody failed to put their middle initial down, it was rejected," said Ellen Leitzer, a lawyer. "That is a violation of due process. All of those voters have been denied their right to vote, and that is a travesty."

Bernalillo County Commission Chairman Alan Armijo acknowledged the criticism of the new provisional ballot counting process.

"It was well-intentioned when it was done," Armijo said. "Certainly it's put us in a situation that's a little rough for everybody involved."

Where is the Gov. Richardson on all this? Not a peep. But it is more than a little disconcerting to ponder a situation where Dem votes may have been rejected because of a power struggle between two Dem officials. If this isn't a case of "I've got mine, I want more, and to hell with the voters," I don't know what is.

Please, somebody tell me I'm wrong about all this.

Creativity is an American Value

For weekend pondering: Since there is so much talk about "values" and "morals" these days, and how Republicans allegedly have cornered the market on them, I think it's satisfying to remember that creativity is also a value, and that "our side" has alot of that. Here's one example.

In Book of Qualities, artist J. Ruth Gendler describes many qualities as if they were people, some of whom know each other. A few of them:

Patience: Patience wears my grandmother's filigree earrings. She bakes marvelous dark bread. She has beautiful hands. She carries great sacks of peace and purses filled with small treasures. You don't notice Patience right away in a crowd, but suddenly you see her all at once, and then she is so beautiful you wonder why you never saw her before.

Courage: Courage has roots. She sleeps on a futon on the floor and lives close to the ground. Courage looks you straight in the eye. She is not impressed with powertrippers, and she knows first aid. Courage is not afraid to weep and she is not afraid to pray, even when she is not sure who she is praying to. When Courage walks, it is clear that she has made the journey from loneliness to solitude. The people who told me she is stern were not lying; they just forgot to mention that she is kind.

Greed: Greed is lonely and impulsive. He eats his food quickly and can't remember what it tastes like. He wants to make things stand still so he can understand, but he is always running somewhere himself. He was very cold as a child, and he still fears that he will never be warm enough.

Greed is a tyrannical boss. He needs a reason for everything. He used to disguise his temper with a thin layer of politeness. Since he has become rich and famous, he doesn't bother with amenities. He masks his fear of women with contempt. He exports nightmares on the international commodities market, an advertising executive turned pornographer of the soul.

Honesty: Honesty is the most vulnerable man I have ever met. He is simple and loving. He lives in a small town on a cliff near the beach. I had forgotten how many stars there are in the midnight sky until I spent a week with him at his house by the sea. (Thanks to Atrios' Eschaton blog.)

A few more from Gendler's website:

Stillness will meet you for tea or a walk by the ocean. She is more sensitive than we can even imagine and she does not explain herself much. Her favorite time is dawn. (Image above is "Stillness" by J. Ruth Gendler.)

Excitement wears orange socks. Despair papered her bathroom walls with newspaper articles about acid rain. Joy drinks pure water.

Race for DNC Chair to Include Dean?

This ABC News article has the latest news about the many Democrats who are vying to be the new DNC Chair. As I'm sure you've heard, Howard Dean is considering running for the post but has not yet made a decision on it. If selected for the post, he would reportedly have to forego another run for president in 2008.

According to the ABC article,

Two party conferences in early December will influence the chairmanship race: a meeting of Democratic governors in Washington in early December, and an annual gathering of state party chairs on Dec. 12 in Orlando, Fla. Democratic Party of Michigan executive Mark Brewer, who heads the association of state Democratic Party chairs, has asked his colleagues to hold off endorsing candidates until that meeting.

On a conference call today with Democracy for America's Political Director, Tom Hughes, and Meetup Director, Chris Warshaw, our DFNM group members were urged to email their views about Dean's possible run for the top DNC post to Dr. Dean at howarddean@democracyforamerica.com.