Bush II; Day Eighty-Eight: Get framing training, driven from the County Leadership down

So, in my posts on framing I expressed concern that all grassroots push, no Party Leadership push would reduce the effectiveness of creating new frames to discuss the issues from the Democratic Party perspective.

I don't claim they were listening to me, but there is an event you should know about, and attend if you're interested in this kind of strategy:

Here are the deets from County Chairman Steve Preminger:

The next Century Club luncheon, Friday, February 11, will make you even more politically persuasive! Kate Forrest, founder of the Commonweal Institute, will tell us "how to talk politics with people unlike ourselves"! Kate's
workshop, normally 3 hours but condensed for Century Club members to fit our
luncheon schedule, will help us "frame" issues, learn psychological techniques to be more persuasive, find out how to move fence sitters to action and figure out how to communicate successfully with people who differ in style, interests, party affiliation (even Republicans!) and level of political involvement. Kate, a physician, has extensive experience as a trainer and now has turned her considerable talents to direct political action. She gave this shortened workshop for the Call to Action meeting last year to great acclaim and has now agreed to share it with us. Please come and bring your friends so we can all become more effective Democratic advocates.

As usual, we will be at Lou's Village, 1465 W San Carlos Street, San Jose.
Cost: $20, payable at the door. Please RSVP for you and your best political
friends by replying to this email, to steve@atwork.org.

Out of town for two days: Keep watch for me?

I'm off to a conference, about blogging natch, and even worse than being out of town, I will be sans computer!

I'm not sure how I will make it. Seriously how much have our lives changed in the last decade?

I'm wishing I had bought that data service portion of my cell phone plan right about now.

Anyway, tomorrow is Day Eighty-Five and Thursday is Day Eighty-Six.

If you seem some new Bush atrocity occur that simply can't be ignored, you can always email me to make sure our Daily Watch picks right up from today.

Email me at blogger at sccdp dot org
!

If you send me an issue that I use for the Daily Watch, i'll give a great big plug to your own blog!

Bush II; Day Eighty-Four: Tell the DNC You're Still Out There

There are a couple of ways you can take action to help the DNC and the Democrats' Senatorial leader, Harry Reid, and to let them know you want them to do just abut anything except roll over and pander to the Republicans.

I think it's worth signing these petitions and writing our leaders and our papers to to show that...despite all reports to the contrary...reports of the death of the Democratic Party are premature (with regards to Mark Twain.)

The first thing to do is visit the DNC action page on Social Security.

The second thing to do is visit Harry Reid's page where he outlines the Agenda he wants to pursue in the Senate. There are some great bills here, and if the Republicans push back on these endeavors, framed as they are, they'll be against:
-Reducing abortions
-Supporting our troops and our veterans
-Going after the terrorists
-Fiscal responsiblity
-Democracy
and more.

I love it. And you can sign up to indicate you are all in favor of the Agenda here.

There are signs of life in the Party yet, and it's up to you to keep them on their toes!

Bush II; Day Eighty-Two: California is not a safe state

For those of you who think you are comfortably ensconced in a blue state, think again. California was red not so long ago, and if the Republicans have their way I will be again very soon.

And if California goes red, the Democrats are really in trouble.

Check out this analysis. Scary, huh?

So, let's recap shall we:

Now is NOT the time to give up.

Now is NOT the time to put your head in the sand.

Now is NOT the time to assume California is your last sane refuge from right-wing tyranny and oppression.

I know I considered doing all of that myself after the November election.

But now, is definitely NOT the time.

Bush II; Day Seventy-Four: Condoleeza Rice

So, our esteemed Senator, Dianne Feinstein, is set to give a lovely introduction of Secretary of State candidate Condoleeza Rice at the opening of the Senate hearings on the matter.

Barbara Boxer has a teeny, tiny issue with that. Oh, like the fact that Rice was a big, fat liar during all of the build-up and justification of the Iraq War, and that she continues to spout as many untruths and obfuscations as she can possibly get away with on any Sunday talk show that will have her.

If you agree with Ms. Boxer, sign her petition here. Let her know that you want her to be tough on Rice at the hearings.

If you want to remind yourself of Rice's first term as NSA, here is one helpful link:

Center for American Progress

More on Framing

Thanks to David Weinberger for linking to this essay by Frances Moore Lappe on framing.

She makes the case that Lakoff made a great start, but his view is too limited and plays a little too dangerously into stereotypes about liberal and progressives that already hamper us.

I have to say I like her idea of a "strong community" approach over a "nurturing parent" approach myself.

If you're a Lakoff fan, take a read and let us know what you think.

Bush II; Day Seventy: Is "Framing" the answer?

I went to my first MeetUp on Tuesday, a Democratic Party meetup held in Willow Glen. I was curious because the agenda included discussing the work of George Lakoff, and watching a video of his.

George Lakoff is an expert on language.He is becoming well-known in Democratic Party circles for his efforts to help liberals and progressives "frame" their positions to better appeal to voters.

In case you're wondering, the Republican Party has their own Lakoff: by the name of Frank Luntz. (You may remember a little scandal during the election season when MSNBC was going to use Luntz as their "objective" moderator for post-debate discussion panels...you can thank the blog community for raising such a stink about that that MSNBC dumped him.)

So, is this the answer for the Democratic Party? My thoughts are in the extended entry:

I do think language is important. And positioning. I'm a marketing person, so I believe in the value of distilling your value down to simple, clear messages that can reach your target. All that good marketing talk.

I'm wondering about the approach here, though.

The Republican Party does this work at the top and drives it down. It starts with all of the Party officials and politicians speaking the language, and then it'
s driven into the so-called-liberal-media, so that they're essentially speaking in Republican frames, without questioning those frames. Examples of Republican frames include:

Social Security "Privatization" (instead of "Phase-Out" or "Reduction")
Partial-Birth Abortion: a non-medical term that they basically made up.
Death Tax: instead of Estate Tax...which gives it the elitist frame it deserves.

I could go on.

Now, as much as people claim to distrust the media and distrust the politicians, I think when language filters down to the masses from those (however tarnished) "authority" figures, it has a mantle of official-ness (if that's a word) or credibility, I suppose.

Lakoff's work, however, is being spread at a grass roots level. True, it still is a tiny minority of Americans who have heard of the guy and are trying to think in his terms, buts the goal of this MeetUp (and I'm sure others across the country) is to talk the Lakoff talk and spread it widely from the bottom up.

And be it fair or not, I wonder if such language framing coming from the bottom up sounds as credible to the average American, if they haven't heard some "authority" figure spouting the frame?

Bear in mind: I don't have the answer to that question. I'm just apprehensive that if the grassroots of the Party are speaking a language (that IMHO sometimes sounds like conscious language manipulation) but our Party leaders are not, and no one in the media community is picking up that language...that is will not have the air of authenticity required to really change the nature of the debate at a national level.

I suppose the opposing view would be that people are tired of messages coming down from on high and that it's time for change from the ground level.

I'm not sure I see the evidence for that though.

Any thoughts?

Bush II; Day Fifty-Eight: Thought on the Unthinkable Tsunami Disaster

A right wing blogger out there is counting up tsunami-related posts in the political blogosphere and using the collected data to prove that lefty bloggers are all talk, no posting when it comes to compassion, meanwhile righty bloggers are linking up a storm. I don't even feel like linking to the guy, his post is so appalling, but it's on the Wizbang blog if you really feel like getting riled up. And Pandagon was the blog that alerted me to the whole debate.

I could talk about the shame of turning even personal disaster response into a partisan exercise, but instead I thought I would write about why I have, thus far, written only a single post about the disaster, in which I provided links to resources where you can donate, but also noted that our initial governmental response was considered 'stingy."

Read more about it in the extended entry:

First of all, I felt and continue to feel dwarfed by the disaster. And that discussion of it on a political blog seemed to trivialize it.

I had nothing to add; no original thoughts; no insights. And, as proven by the Wizbang post, posting anything about it on a political blog gets turned into a political statement.

And while I've been following the analysis of the US government response (even with the addition of $20M more) that shows that we could still be considered relatively stingy compared to other governments, I also didn't feel like using that either.

And I agree that Bush's silence for about 4 days after the disaster made us look callous. And his spokesman's Clinton slam made them all look horribly petty. But in the end the outpouring of response by individual Americans once again proves that America is more than our government of the moment.

And I believe that, as individuals, President Bush and his family and his advisers are all just as horrified by the scale of this disaster as I am.

They are an incompetent Administration, this disaster doesn't change that one bit.

And using the disaster to point it out also seem unappealing to me.

So, I pretty much have said nothing. Except that one post. I'm sorry if anyone feels like sinking so low as to use that as an example of liberal, left-wing hypocrisy or callousness.

On a final note: Mark Cuban posts an idea for Bush that I agree with and think is a great idea. It will never happen, but it's worth a read.

Bush II; Day Fifty-Five: The US Government won't be helping Asia much, but here's how you can

According to Atrios, the Bush Administration has pledged $15M toward relief in the wake of this weekend's horrific quake/tsunami disaster. That's about half the amount they intend to spend on Bush's Inauguration festivities, not including security expenses.

It prompted the guy who runs the UN's humanitarian programs to call the pledge "stingy." Ouch. (And say what you will about some of the crap going on at the UN, there are things they do for the world that no one else is doing as well or as comprehensively.

If you're interested in donating your million or so lying about to the cause, here is a link to a comprehensive list of resources.

Michael Moore is NOT the enemy

I will not be one of those who turns on the Michael Moore and the rest of the left-wing of the Party, whether members of the "Hollywood elite" or the Flint, MI elite.

A year ago I remember talking to my brother, and he basically told me to face the fact that there was "no chance" for any Democrat to beat Bush...that the guy was going to win re-election in a landslide.

Well, he won...at least that's the outcome we're stuck with...but it was down to the wire and "too close for comfort" as one right wing blogger I read called it. Bush can call it a mandate all he likes, but we know it wasn't.

My point is that Bush went from invincible to nearly beaten in one year. And if you think that was only due to Kerry's charisma, you've got to stop smoking crack. Nope, that liberal elite, notably Michael Moore and his Fahrenheit 911, made a positive difference for the Democrats.

For every uptight right winger he offended, there were people he galvanized and got involved who never had been before.

Michael Moore isn't the problem, people. It's a waste of time and breath blaming him.

And he often publishes essays that I find very thought-provoking...even when you might think they go too far...and yesterday was no exception.

Basically, it's an essay from a woman who volunteers at a domestic abuse support center, and she's comparing the Democrats with the abused spouse, and the Republicans with...you guessed it...the wife beater.

You may not agree with all of the comparisons she draws, but it will make you think, I guarantee.

Shopping Democratic

Thanks to Donkey Rising for this list of retailers and who they donated to this election season.

Keep shopping CostCo, not WalMart everyone.

VOTE

VOTE.

Vote if you're in a Blue State: we need a wide margin of victory, and we need to support Democratic candidates all the way down the line.

Vote if you're in a Red State...just look at the way the numbers have been trending...some "red" states are about as close to blue as the so-called liberal media can stand it without calling them a swing state.

Mostly, vote because you can't have been paying attention to this campaign without realizing that the cliche is true: this is the most important election of our lifetimes. our environment, our civil liberties, our choice, our children's pocketbooks, our health, our secutiry...they are all at stake.

how can you sit home and not do your part to make a difference?

You can't!

VOTE.

Join the Buffyverse for Kerry!

You may know I'm a Buffyverse fan.

And similar to my delight to discover that Stephen Sondheim is a Kerry supporter, I am equally heartened to find that Master of the Buffyverse, Joss Whedon, is also a Kerry supporter.

Last Sunday there were a series of fundraisers all across the country, and the highlight was a conference call with Whedon and several Buffy cast members.

Now I had already committed to helping my mom with her phone banking, so I could not attend in person.

But I can still listen to the conference call TODAY ONLY. Find out how in the extended entry:

----
For those who missed the High Stakes event on October 24th, or who want to be on the joy train again, a recording of the High Stakes 2004: Whedon Fans for John Kerry and John Edwards teleconference is now available. Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and upcoming feature film Serenity, takes a bite out of politics and shares details about his current doings.

Joss spent 40 minutes answering questions from attendees at house parties across the U.S, speaking passionately about the effect of politics on his writing, his desire for regime change, and how Spike is so hot. The recording includes shoutouts from visiting cast members such as Alyson Hannigan (Willow), Amy Acker (Fred), Nicholas Brendon (Xander), Alexis Denisov (Wesley), and Nathan Fillion (Mal).

You can listen to these folks in the comfort of your home as fast as Dawn can invite in Harmony (but it's much safer). You do, however, have to donate a minimum of $25 (or up to $2000). The more money you donate, the more stakes we can afford for fighting evil. Simply donate at http://volunteer.johnkerry.com/member/151748 and then send an email to Josscall@highstakes2004.com.

Include your full name, phone number, and email in the message. You will receive further instructions about how to access the recorded call. Due to U.S. campaign laws, only U.S. citizens and green-card holder residents in the U.S. are eligible. All proceeds go to the Kerry/Edwards campaign.

-You depend on luck, you end up on the drift -- no fuel, no prospects.... beggin' for Alliance make-work. And towed out to the scrap belt. That ain't us. Not ever. -- Mal, from Firefly

Don't depend on luck to win this election. Donate, then listen and enjoy. As Buffy said, Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?

Please DO pass this on to everyone you know who would be interested.

Best,
Alyson L Abramowitz
National Chair,
High Stakes: Whedon Fans for John Kerry and John Edwards

Message of the Week: Get Out The Vote

I don't think it's a big mystery.

Get out and vote.

Encourage those you know to vote.

Do your part. There are still phone banking events going on this weekend to encourage those in the swing states to get out and vote.

Go to one.

It's easy and fun. And effective.

Find out where they are at SiliconValleyForKerry.com.

Message of the Week: Your Vote Counts, Even in a Blue State

Every vote counts...even in a blue state. I'm sure you've heard your friends here in California, maybe even in Massachusetts or New York, say "I wish my vote counted, but we're already a blue state."

Well, every time you hear that, and every time you feel that, remind yourself that every vote does count...and here's why.

First Big Reason: We want this election to be a Kerry win, and to be not even close. First of all that will keep us from having to go through another 2000, when the Supreme Court elected our president. If it's a big enough win for Kerry, Bush will have to concede.

Second Big Reason: Every Democrat that gets out and votes is voting for more than a President. You're voting for Senators like Barbara Boxer, and Representatives and Assembly members. And you're voting to support Democratic principles on Propositions and Ballot Measures.

Third Big Reason: By getting out and voting Democratic: for President Kerry, and for our Congress people, and for our Proposition positions, we will send a strong message to Republican politicians all across this country...including our own Governor. That message is this: the extreme, neo-conservative, right-wing radicalism that this President and his Administration represent is NOT what this country thought it was getting. And it is NOT what we want or need. Send a message that Arnold will hear and Jeb will hear and Tom DeLay will hear and Bill Frist will hear and John McCain will hear and Rudy Giuliani will hear. Republicans have to know that letting the extremists take over their Party has been their undoing.

And we can only make it their undoing by voting in large numbers, across ALL states in this country.

Phone Banking @ My Mom's!

This is the year when so many people, like me, have been volunteering our time and our money and our energy to get Kerry into office.

My mom is one who has jumped into the volunteering fray for the very first time too.

Anyway, she is hosting phone banking for Silicon Valley for Kerry the next two Sundays from 1-5PM in Sunnyvale. Bring your cell phone and your charger.

If you are interested, please email me at blogger at sccdp dot org

Remember: It's all about getting out the vote now.

Here's one simple way you can still help.

We Get More Letters: And A Call to Action

You may have heard how the Sinclair Broadcasting Group is bent on showing an anti-Kerry propaganda piece on its stations in the week before the election.

The closest Sinclair station to here is in Sacramento, and there is a group organizing a protest at the station for THIS THURSDAY from 12-3PM.

Here is their primary grass roots call to action web site, which is good for easily sending a mass email to all of Sinclair's advertisers.

And here is a site dedicated to this Thursday's protest. The basic stats are in the extended entry.

And here is a good general site.

Basic protest info:

Sinclair's California HQ
2713 KOVR Drive
West Sacramento, CA 95605

12-3PM
Thursday the 21st.

If you're in the Sacto area...take part...let your voice be heard against this shameless (and possibly illegal) abuse of our airwaves.

Protecting Our Democratic Right to Vote

With all the stories I've been posting about potential voter suppression, you might be thinking there's nothing you can do to make sure the vote is fair.

Well, the California Democratic Party is doing everything it can to make our vote a fair vote.

Go here to see how you can participate in preventing voter fraud or voter suppression.

Get out the Message of the Week

Message of the Week:

Throughout the campaign the Republicans and their various right-wing surrogates, have tried to obscure the real issues of this election with a smoke screen of smear tactics and fear mongering. But the debates proved what they have dreaded all along to hear...people still care about real issues and real solutions, and when people focus on those, Kerry comes out on top every time.

As we get closer to the election we are seeing a lot of appalling and un-American shenanigans emerge from Republican strategy sessions. Here are some just from the last week alone!!:

An RNC-funded voter-registration company is destroying Democratic Party voter registration paperwork in Nevada.

A broadcaster who happens to be a Bush contributor forcing his affiliates to air an anti-Kerry propaganda piece in the week before the election. The FCC does nothing

The Cheneys are letting the right wing use Mary Cheney's sexual orientation as a weapon. When the religious right has specifically decried Mary, by name, and her "lifestyle", Dick and Lynne Cheney stayed silent, but when Kerry mentions her in a respectful and supportive way, all of sudden it's the worst, most insulting thing he could do? I ask you...who's the homophobe here?

Bush and Cheney uttered easily disproved lies in the debates, counting on the American people being too disengaged to care. The momentary zingers Cheney got in by lying that he had never met Edwards, or that Bush got in by denying he had ever said he "wasn't that concerned" about Osama Bin Laden, will be forgotten. The fact that they resorted to such cheap lies will not be forgotten.

These are the acts of a campaign seeing their power slipping away. John Kerry and John Edwards won their four debates, won them on the issues, won them with demeanors that conveyed leadership, intelligence, strength and compassion. And Bush made a strategic error in playing solely to his base. In each post-debate analysis, Kerry and Edwards played much better among independent and moderate voters.

We've got the Big Mo', and these desperate last-minute attacks won't stop it.

Still Time to Make a Difference

i have a neighbor who wrote 20 letters to unregistered women in swing states urging them to register, to vote, and to send George Bush home.

2 out of those 20 took the time to call her and thank her...telling her she had inspired them to do just that.

If you're in business you know that a 10% conversion is pretty damn good...and those are the ones who actually took the time to contact her back. I'm sure others just went ahead and registered without letting her know.

There's still time for you to make that kind of impact. And here's a site that will make it easy for you.

http://actforvictory.org/act.php/acthere/letters/

Sign up. Send some letters.

In November you will know you contributed to the victory we will be celebrating, in a tangible way.

Volunteer Efforts Work!

Last week at De Anza Democratic Party volunteers had a voter registration table.

The registered over 100 new voters, including over 60 Democrats and 4 Republicans...but get this, two of those said they were voting for Kerry! The rest must have been Decline to States.

Thanks for the update Cheryl.

And they're doing it again next week, so email Ariel at arielim at earthlink dot net if you can help.

Info:
Three hour shifts, either 9-12 or 12-3
De Anza College

Here's Your Job for After the Debate

Got this great email from a dedicated Democrat. he sent it to his list. So should you. And better yet, follow his advice. As for me? You know how I feel about the Democrats being prone to eat our own young...don't do it!

OK Friends, tomorrow is the big debate.  However, the debate is less important than after the debate.  The pundits and pollsters will decide who won.  We are at a disadvantage.  The Republicans have a great echo chamber.  It goes like this:

Trust me, the Bush people and their echo chamber are going to support theirs.    

More Letters to the Editor

I felt compelled to write another Letter to the Editor today.

The letter that got me annoyed was:

"I can only assume that your editorial blasting President Bush for being two weeks late in calling for an end to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad (Opinion, Aug. 24) is the first of two editorials. I trust that soon you will point out that it took 11 months for John Kerry to label one ad ``inappropriate'' -- an ad that called to question President Bush's National Guard Service. During those 11 months, John Kerry stood idly by (at best) and watched as a barrage of ads from MoveOn.org and others labeled President Bush as a ``coward,'' ``liar,'' ``idiot'' and ``the Adolf Hitler of our time.''

Rand Collins
El Granada"

See the response I submitted this morning in the extended entry:

And go here to find an easy way to submit your own Letters to the Editor.

The Letter I submitted was as follows:

Rand Collins (Letters 8/26/04) is being misleading in his hope to equate the Swift Boat ads with MoveOn.org ads. First of all there was no MoveOn ad ever aired that equated Bush with Hitler. This was an ad someone submitted to MoveOn for a contest. They pulled it and did not allow it to be entered in the contest. It is only on George Bush's web site that you can see clips of it. Second, one cannot ignore the basic fact that the Swift boat ads are being widely discredited as making untrue statements about recorded fact. No one has yet been able to discredit MoveOn ads in the same way. Sometimes they are stating a subjective opinion with which Mr. Collins may disagree, but they are not lying about the facts they use as the basis for those opinions.

Let's see if the pick it up.

What's Going On With Comments

You may have noticed light posting from me over the last several days.

That's because I spend most of my time deleting comment spam and rebuilding entries after doing said deleting.

Dealing with these spammers is taking away valuable time from actually bringing you the information (and opinion) that I'd like to bring you.

And it's terribly frustrating (although having the slowest DSL in town is part of that frustration...thank you SBC.)

So, for now, I am turning off comments on new posts, and I continue to close down comments on individual past posts when they get spammed.

This is sad because occasionally we have some really good little exchanges here. I encourage you to use the link to email me at blogger@sccdp.org, and if yo have a comment you'd like to have posted I will manually post each and every one.

That couldn't possibly be more time consuming than dealing with the comment spam. And it will be a hell of a lot less annoying!

My apologies, and my sincere hopes that you WILL email me your comments, so we can keep a conversation going.

Never Jump to Conclusions; Never Make Assumptions

I'm sure you've heard that old chestnut: "when you 'assume' you make an 'ass' of etc. etc" right?

Well, yesterday I got a lesson in that. I was driving along Winchester Blvd and saw this big ol' Jag driving along with a 'W04' sticker on it. I got into my normal grumbling thought process about selfish Bush supporters. (Actually, it's kind of hypocritical of me, as I, my sister, my mother, my brother...we all drive nice cars ourselves, but, I rationalized, not a big ol' Jag!)

My mood hadn't been helped by having heard an interview on AirAmerica that morning where Al Franken got a business owner in Kentucky to admit that while he might be doing better over the last 4 years, most of the country wasn't, but he was voting for Bush because HE was doing better.

Grumble, grumble, stereotyping, stereotyping.

Then I got on 280 heading North. I drove up along a big, beautiful Mercedes. Not the C-class that I might be able to afford, no, this was the high end...I forget E-class or S-class?

Anyway, there was a Kerry/Edwards sticker proudly on its bumper. And as I drove by the car, I saw the driver was a well-fed, white guy in his middle years.

That'll teach me to stereotype. I should have known better. I'm always finding Kerry supporters in the most surprising places.

Administrative Note on Comments

Just wanted to alert you to a change in the Commenting functions of this blog.

We are getting slammed by comment spam. They tend to go after older posts.

We have to delete these spams one by one, and to try to limit its propagation, we are closing off posts that are more than 30 days old to commenting.

If you have a comment you feel strongly about posting to an older post, email me at blogger@sccdp.org with the comment, and I will post it.

Sorry about the inconvenience. It's unfortunate how a few rotten apples can spoil things for the rest of us.

One of my Letters to the Merc Gets Published

The other day I submitted retorts to two letters to the editor in the mercury. One was picked up for publication today.

Here's the original letter to which I responded.

Here's my letter in today's paper.

Here's how we make it easy for YOU to write letters to the editor.

You Can Do It Too! Another Fundraiser.

I helped my mother host a DNC fundraiser yesterday afternoon. It's past the deadline to donate to Kerry directly, but that's OK. The DNC will put the funds to good use.

This was thrown together rather hastily, with invites only going out in the last week or so. And not to mention it's August, vacation-time for lots of folks, especially those with kids.

Nonetheless between my mom, me and another friend, we had a pretty good turnout of a 20 people or so and raised about $1500. (This on top of the $2500 I raised at my June fundraiser.)

I was in charge of content. I prepared three PowerPoint presentations (yes, I AM in Marketing.) The point was to give people Talking Points to take away and share with others they meet.

I describe each presentation in the extended entry:

Here were the presentations I gave to the group:

1. Critical Differences between Bush & Kerry
This one was designed to address those people who buy the Nader line that the parties are so close. This presentation should remind people that there are vast differences between the parties in many areas that people in the Nader camp care about a lot.

2. Bush: Flip-flopper-in-chief
Taking the Republicans favorite charge and turning it against them...outlining just some of the many flip-flops Bush has made. If Bush's big claim to fame is that he is "resolute" and "stays the course", there are plenty of facts that say the opposite is true.

3. Overcoming Objections: don't just be anti-Bush; be pro-Kerry
I examined the top 6 or so Objections to Kerry you might hear, from the "liberal" label, to the "flip-flopper" label to the "we shouldn't change horses mid-stream" position. The point was to be proud of our candidate, and to give people ammunition to help "Make the Best Man Win!"

I tried to go both for the facts, but also appeal to the gut...how people feel about this time in America vs. how they would like to feel.

One of the great outcomes was that at least two people said they were inspired to host a fundraiser. And they asked if they could get copies of my presentations, or if I would even come and speak to their group.

And I said "absolutely!"

And the same goes for anyone out there.

Offer #1: The presentations

If you would like a soft copy of any or all of the presentations described above, you can email me (email link provided toward the bottom of the right side bar of this blog.)

Two requirements:
1. You must provide your contact information, mostly so I know who I am emailing to.
2. You must keep attribution on the presentation, meaning keep my name and the URL of this blog on every page of the presentation.

Offer #2: Guest Speaker at a Fundraiser

I am also open to coming to a fundraiser and giving these presentations. Again, contact me via my blogger@sccdp.org email address.

Are You Writing Letters to the editor?

Well, I have to admit I don't do it nearly enough, but today two letters got my pet goat, so I wrote two separate Letters to the Editor of the Mercury.

Read the offending letters, and my response in the extended entry:

I haven't printed the writers' names, although you can certainly go online or read the paper and find them yourselves.

Letter #1:

John Kerry proved his promises are easy to make. Providing details on how to carry them out appears to be too difficult. When are we going to be told his specific plans? Or doesn't he have any?

R.B.
San Jose

My response:

If Ray Bowdle [letters 8/7/04] would like to see the plans behind Kerry's proposals, I would ask he just do the little bit of homework every citizen should do and READ them. Kerry has quite specific plans posted at his web site [www.johnkerry.com]. Because one hasn't bothered to read them, doesn't mean plans don't exist, Mr. Bowdle.

Letter #2:

Since the beginning of the Democratic primaries, most of the presidential want-to-bes have cried that President Bush had no plan to convert Iraq from Saddam Hussein's brutal reign to a democracy.

All of these Bush-bashing Democrats remind me of a choir, all singing from the same page.

E.E.
San Jose

My response:

Edward Elliott claims in his 8/7/04 letter that the Bush Administration had tentative exit plans for Iraq, but had to be ready to change them to fit the reality of the situation.

The problem is that the exact opposite took place. They had no real plan, having ignored the recommendations from most military commanders to execute the war in a manner that they thought would play better on the nightly news. And when the situation changed and, most would say, worsened, the Bush Administration tried to "stay the course", no matter how non-existent.

Now, let's see if either of them get published.

The Kerry Rapid Response Team

This is a great section on the Kerry/Edwards site, the Rapid Response page.

You can really help by making sure to check back there every time you hear a Bush claim, or Bush ad, or some right-wing pundit rant, and getting the real scoop.

Kerry's team is doing a great job of answering back on every trumped up charge, misleading statement and unfair characterization that the Bush team is throwing at them.

Use it!

How You Can Help: Nevada Is a Swing State

Below find an appeal from a group that would like to mobilize folks from California to go into Nevada and help the Kerry campaign there.

It's hard to argue with the idea that your activism in nevada may actually have more impact on the electon than here in California, which is looking fairly solid in the Kerry column.
----------
Dear Fellow Democrats,

Do you want to have an impact on the swing states? 

Well, guess what, California (fortunately) isn't one of them. 

However, Nevada ("NV") is one of them (also AZ, OR, and WA), and NV is only four hours away.  A growing number of Northern California Democrats are committing themselves to campaigning in Reno, because that can really make a difference in this election.  So, bring your cowboy hat and come to Reno. 

The statewide coordinator of Californians in Reno is Susan Gold in Incline Village, and local coordinators are in place in the Counties of Alameda, Marin, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Sacramento, etc., and now Santa Cruz and perhaps Santa Clara.  The time for action is now.

I am the Santa Cruz (& perhaps Santa Clara) County coordinator for the Nevada Action Volunteers (NAV). 

This is important.  NAV is searching for volunteers to campaign in Reno.  Canvassing, registering voters, calling voters, the usual stuff.  We hope to find enough volunteers to charter a bus to Reno several times, or, heck, even two or three buses to Reno several times (or, heck, even ten buses to Reno several times, or, heck, ...).   Generally, the idea is to go to Reno and arrive at maybe noon, then canvass for four hours, then have a volunteer party, then crash on the floors of good Nevada Democrats, then register voters on Sunday, and then take the bus back home.  Particular weekends may vary from this basic idea.

Per Susan Gold, the next three target dates for Californians to campaign in Nevada are:  July 31, Aug. 14, and Aug. 28.  More dates are sure to follow.  However, those who cannot make those dates can always help on the phone, or go to Reno at another time, either solo or small group, or send mail, or whatever.  So don't let the particular dates keep you back.

NAV volunteers please contact me NOW! 

As I write, July 28 is just 12 days away.  So pick up the phone (or better, send email)!  Thank you. 

My name and contact info are:
Jeffrey T. Killeen
tel:  (408) 353-1975
cell:  (831) 334-1970
email: jtk155@earthlink.net

Forty years ago, Freedom Riders took buses from New York to Mississippi to right America's wrongs and save America from its own dark side.  America needs to be saved again.  With that much at risk, we can be grateful we only have to go to Reno, and not, for example, Chicago!  The times are no less urgent now than they were then.  Please help us meet the profound peril the present administration represents to the core American values we hold dear. 

Volunteer for NAV today!  Pick up the phone!!

How You Can Help: A Party for Republicans?

Remember how I said I thought "Fahrenheit 911" might galvanize some folks to get involved and get active.

Well, one of the friends I saw the movie with, a typical Silicon Valley engineer, has become so galvanized and wants to co-host a party with me.

Unlike my last fundraiser, he wants this to be a party where we invite Republicans and others who are on the fence or leaning slightly Bush. He wants to try to bring up issues from the movie and elsewhere, and make a persuasive case for the Kerry/Edwards team.

My problem? I don't hang with too many Republicans!

So, we're considering how to make sure we get a rational, reasonable, interested attendance.

How about you folks out there? Do you know people who just need a little fact-based conversation and are open to such an idea?

How You Can Help: Reach Out to College Students

You really think so?

College Students Favor Kerry, but Apathy Grows

By Charles Babington
Saturday, June 12, 2004; Page A04

There's good news from college campuses for Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.): Students clearly prefer him over President Bush in this fall's election. The bad news? College students express a declining belief in the importance of voting and the relevance of politics to their lives.

These are among the findings of a recent nationwide poll of college students conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

Although both presidential campaigns are courting the campus vote, Kerry seems to have the most to lose from students' growing indifference. The poll found 42 percent of college students backing Kerry, with 30 percent for Bush and 4 percent for Ralph Nader. Kerry's challenge will be getting them to the polls Nov. 2.

"There is a downward trend in the perception that voting is a way to change society," the Hart analysis says. "In March 2001, almost half [47 percent] of students felt that voting in elections for president was a way to bring about a lot of change in society." Only 35 percent now feel that way. "Few American college students believe that politics is very relevant in their life," the survey found.

Maybe Kerry should target the Shakespeare students and leave the computer nerds to Bush. More than 70 percent of humanities majors said politics was relevant to their daily lives, compared with 36 percent of computer science students.

Next event: eating our young

Alternate Title: With friends like these...

OK, I'm just going to link you to this article that features multiple Democrats carping that Kerry doesn't do this or do that, and let you draw your own conclusions.

I guess it's not enough that he has raised record amounts of funds, is doing well enough in polls that, when paired with Bush's approval rating numbers, historically it would nearly guarantee victory, and has big exciting things to look forward like bumps from his VP choice, his convention and smoking Bush in the debates (if Bush lets there be one.)

I just finished reading James Carville's latest book, "Had Enough?" and one of his 'Ten Rules to Live By' is: "Be Positive."

I'm willing to start...how about you?

How You Can Help: Voter Registration Tabling, Day Two

I worked my second day up at Foothill college, and Mr. Preacher Man from day one was nowhere in sight. Actually I heard they ran him off campus earlier in the week because he was following students around and harassing them.

I met some great people, and I had a couple of "interesting" conversations with non-Democrats. read about it in the extended entry:

First the good news: we registered some folks and found a couple of folks who wanted to volunteer. Since there's another Call to Action meeting coming up a week from Saturday, I could point them to that.

But I also met a young, I guess I'd have to call him a Libertarian. He objected to paying taxes. I tried to point out to him that neither Bush nor Kerry was going to get rid of taxes altogether, but Bush was shifting the burden from corporations and the wealthy to the middle class and poor. Having no retort that could even be relevant in the real world, he simply said that all taxes, all of them, are "stealing." And he blamed FDR. And then quickly walked away before I could say anything else that flummoxed his set-in-stone beliefs.

And I met the elderly Republican gentleman, who typified a particular kind of Republican to me. He was nice, friendly, but so subtly patronizing. First he asked me if I was being paid to sit there. I said, "No the Democratic Party can get people to do this for free...because we feel so strongly."

Then he asked me why I didn't have a job. I said I did have a job, but also felt very strongly about donating my time for this cause.

Then, he said that he liked to see people being involved, but he was sure I knew how the election would go...lots of support for Bush out there. I said I wasn't sure exactly where he was talking about, certainly not here.

Remember you too can have these fun interactions with people by volunteering, particularly for the Volunteer Committee, who run voter registration and precinct walking programs.

Working Voter Registration at Foothill, Day One

I am working three shifts at a voter registration on the Foothill campus this week.

Today was a little slow, and a surprising number of student said they were already registered.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to happen was my encounter with a wacky religious extremist.

Read all about it in the extended entry:

So there we were, minding our own business, when a gentleman walked up to our table. I asked if he was registered to vote, and he didn't really answer, but said I had inspired him

I'm like, "okay...."

He's like, "you've inspired me to preach."

I'm like, "uh oh" (to myself anyway.)

Luckily for him there was a nice commemorative plaque to Cesar Chavez right there that he could step up on and start his spiel. As it happens this is Pride Week, and we were set up by a makeshift memorial to victims of gay bashing.

So, now he had his inspiration...Kerry, homosexuals, Clinton...you know the usual jumble. We're all damned is about all I really gleaned from it.

I don't mind being in the company of Clinton & Kerry though, so i wasn't too bothered.

My table companion, however, was horrified and I think he wanted to start a debate. I told him to simply sit back and smile. The guy would bury himself, and it would only satisfy him to respond.

In a coincidence that must have irked him no end, we had a little rush of business as he preached. One woman registering, another guy getting a button. We were a happy, little patriotic crew.

So, I really didn't hear most of what he said.

Finally once those two folks walked away, he decided to wrap up. And shot a "Take that!" to me as he walked away.

So, I smiled and said "have a nice day" to him. I seriously tried to be as non-ironic as I could be...I mean if I'm for free speech, it has to include his preaching too, right?

He simply said "you're a hypocrite" and kept walking.

Damn fine Christian there.

I had a couple different guys assure me that his brand of hateful, angry, brimstone & fire talk didn't reflect their Christian values.

I didn't think so.

But I DO think it reflects Bush's values.

Just another piece of data to file away in the mental file cabinet.

How You Can Help: My Kerry Fundraiser

Last night I hosted a fundraising party for John Kerry in my home.

I invited about 40 people, and 25 people showed up.

It was fun & easy, and you all should try it!

First of all, I held it at 7pm and just served easy appetizer foods. You know - the old cheese & crackers, chips & salsa, olives & other antipasti, crudite route. (And I purchased pre-cut-up veggies, so it was even easier.)

As for entertainment, I had the awesome Al Gore speech on Iraq playing on my computer. And I extracted my favorite 25 ads from the MoveOn.org 'Bush in 30 Seconds' contest and showed them, as well as a slide presentation I created highlighting the critical differences between Bush & Kerry.

I was pretty much preaching to the choir. I had one Republican who has pretty much decided to vote for Kerry because he doesn't like Bush's slavish relationship with the "Moral Majority folks" as he calls them.

And I had a couple of folks who probably like what Nader has to say, but are being pragmatic.

But mostly, I had good hard-core Democrats.

But, here's the bottom line...by organizing this little soiree, getting folks revved up and excited, talking to other great Democrats, I brought in over $2500 for John Kerry's campaign.

Now maybe some of those folks would have contributed at some point anyway, but maybe they wouldn't, or maybe they wouldn't have contributed as much without so much camaraderie in the group setting.

This afternoon I am going to a benefit featuring Ms. Teresa Heinz Kerry.

I will let you know all about it when I return.

And if you want to host a party, here's the link:

John Kerry House Parties

The next date for an en masse House Party Day is June 26th.

Go for it. It was fun and very rewarding to know you are helping combat Bush's huge war chest.

Helpful Link: Paul Krugman Does It Again...on the Press & the Truth

Well, you know Krugman is my favorite guy (except for this week, when Al Gore gets to hold the title.)

This week's column talks about the press since 9/11: intimidated, bending over backwards to avoid appearing liberal, to avoid appearing its equivalent in right-wing-speak...anti-American.

But we, the People, have a role here too. We can demand more truth. We can send our messages of support to those who speak out. We can question.

Every journalist, every politician has an email address. And you're reading this, so I would imagine you do too.

Use it to praise, to damn, to demand. But communicate.

We have less than 6 mnths until the election. Make them count.

The full column text is in the extended entry:

To Tell the Truth
By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: May 28, 2004

Some news organizations, including The New York Times, are currently engaged in self-criticism over the run-up to the Iraq war. They are asking, as they should, why poorly documented claims of a dire threat received prominent, uncritical coverage, while contrary evidence was either ignored or played down.

But it's not just Iraq, and it's not just The Times. Many journalists seem to be having regrets about the broader context in which Iraq coverage was embedded: a climate in which the press wasn't willing to report negative information about George Bush.

People who get their news by skimming the front page, or by watching TV, must be feeling confused by the sudden change in Mr. Bush's character. For more than two years after 9/11, he was a straight shooter, all moral clarity and righteousness.

But now those people hear about a president who won't tell a straight story about why he took us to war in Iraq or how that war is going, who can't admit to and learn from mistakes, and who won't hold himself or anyone else accountable. What happened?

The answer, of course, is that the straight shooter never existed. He was a fictitious character that the press, for various reasons, presented as reality.

The truth is that the character flaws that currently have even conservative pundits fuming have been visible all along. Mr. Bush's problems with the truth have long been apparent to anyone willing to check his budget arithmetic. His inability to admit mistakes has also been obvious for a long time. I first wrote about Mr. Bush's "infallibility complex" more than two years ago, and I wasn't being original.

So why did the press credit Mr. Bush with virtues that reporters knew he didn't possess? One answer is misplaced patriotism. After 9/11 much of the press seemed to reach a collective decision that it was necessary, in the interests of national unity, to suppress criticism of the commander in chief.

Another answer is the tyranny of evenhandedness. Moderate and liberal journalists, both reporters and commentators, often bend over backward to say nice things about conservatives. Not long ago, many commentators who are now caustic Bush critics seemed desperate to differentiate themselves from "irrational Bush haters" who were neither haters nor irrational — and whose critiques look pretty mild in the light of recent revelations.

And some journalists just couldn't bring themselves to believe that the president of the United States was being dishonest about such grave matters.

Finally, let's not overlook the role of intimidation. After 9/11, if you were thinking of saying anything negative about the president, you had to be prepared for an avalanche of hate mail. You had to expect right-wing pundits and publications to do all they could to ruin your reputation, and you had to worry about being denied access to the sort of insider information that is the basis of many journalistic careers.

The Bush administration, knowing all this, played the press like a fiddle. But has that era come to an end?

A new Pew survey finds 55 percent of journalists in the national media believing that the press has not been critical enough of Mr. Bush, compared with only 8 percent who believe that it has been too critical. More important, journalists seem to be acting on that belief.

Amazing things have been happening lately. The usual suspects have tried to silence reporting about prison abuses by accusing critics of undermining the troops — but the reports keep coming. The attorney general has called yet another terror alert — but the press raised questions about why. (At a White House morning briefing, Terry Moran of ABC News actually said what many thought during other conveniently timed alerts: "There is a disturbing possibility that you are manipulating the American public in order to get a message out.")

It may not last. In July 2002, according to Dana Milbank of The Washington Post — who has tried, at great risk to his career, to offer a realistic picture of the Bush presidency — "the White House press corps showed its teeth" for the first time since 9/11. It didn't last: the administration beat the drums of war, and most of the press relapsed into docility.

But this time may be different. And if it is, Mr. Bush — who has always depended on that docility — may be in even more trouble than the latest polls suggest.  

E-mail: krugman@nytimes.com

How You Can Help: Carry Around Voter Registration Forms!

Yesterday, while at the SCC DP Call to Action meeting, I picked up some voter registration cards. Later that day I went to a party up in the City and found two, fine left-leaning people who needed my forms!

You can pick up forms from a library, from a post office, from a political offices, I think even at the DMV.

If you're willing to speak up and ask if everyone is registered where ever you go, you can help find those disenfranchised non-voters, and get them started on the path to taking positive action!

How You Can Help: Don't Let Bush Turn Us Into a Monarchy!

I think I've figured out why Bush still has supporters despite the complete mess he has gotten us into, both domestically and internationally: His attitude is one of benevolent dictatorship. He wants full rein to do what he wants, when he wants, for however much money he wants. And he wants to do all of this with very little disclosure and certainly very little oversight.

In return, citizens can not "worry their pretty little heads" about big, bad problems. We can avoid having to educate ourselves about issues, particularly complicated ones. And we can close our eyes to the rest of the world and its relationship with our country, because they are "them", and we are "us", and Bush the Dissembler will take care of us.

You know that Bush is asking for $25 BILLION more for the Iraq War effort, but what you may not know is that he wants it given to him to spend at his SOLE DISCRETION. This despite the fact that Congress is currently investigating whether he misappropriated funds earmarked for Afghanistan and used it to prepare for war in Iraq...a Violation of LAW.

It is just more evidence that Bush operates as though he were a monarch or a dictator, above and beyond democratic law.

And I hope this time Congress takes a stand and turns him down.

You can use the SCC DP Letter Writing page to help you send a message to your congressperson here. The text I sent my Congresspeople is in the extended entry:

Source: CNN.com 5/13/04

My Email to my Congresspeople:

This is not a monarchy, nor a dictatorship, benevolent or otherwise.

I am appalled that Bush is not only asking for $25 Billion MORE for the Iraq War, but that he is also asking for sole discretion to spend it without Congressional oversight.

Whether you think we need to allocate that money to fully support our troops or not, I surely hope you do NOT trust Bush to spend it properly. Just look at how he misappropriated funds allocated to Afghanistan and routed those funds to prepare for the War in Iraq.

Hold firm. Take a stand.

Easy Action: Email Senator Inhofe and tell him how you feel

Yesterday Senator Inhofe, (R) Oklahoma, made the following statement from his seat on the Committee investigating the prison abuses in Iraq:

"...I have to say and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment.

The idea that these prisoners, they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cell block 1A or 1B, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents, and many of them probably have American blood probably on their hands and here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals."

I think it's rather heartening that, until now, people have been consistently decrying the abuses, regardless of their political affiliation. Here we have a guy who is going to step up and defend what is, let's face it, torture???

I couldn't let it pass. I know I'm not a constituent of his, but I went to his web site and sent him an email telling him that I was appalled at his laissez-faire attitude toward the abuse and torture we are seeing evidence of.

Here's the link if you'd like to tell him what you think too:

Senator Inhofe's Contact Page

You can see what I wrote to him in the extended entry:

I read the quote attributed to you today, and I am shocked. Has the bar for American behavior been set so low? Do we no longer ask ourselves to abide by both international and our own military law?

You should be pleased that in the toughest of times, the American people are still guided by ethics that include fairness and humanity.

If we are to continue to maintain (or perhaps at this point regain) our standing as a nation who sets an example for the world...which I fervently believe we can be...then we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, not the lowest.

I urge you to re-think your position and perhaps clarify it.

Respectfully,

Elisa Camahort
San Jose, CA

Helpful Links: Writing Letters to the Editor or Elected Officials

I hope you all know that this web site has an excellent tool for facilitating writing letters to the editor and/or elected officials.

If you go to the following link, you can check off which people/publications you'd like to write to, compose your message and have it sent off via email. You can also have your message converted into a printable document if you prefer.

SCC DP's Letter Writing Page

I also found a page on Wes Clark's PAC web site that gives excellent advice on HOW to write such a letter and have the best chance of having it published:

Go to his site:

Wes Clark's PAC site

And click on the right-hand side bar that says "letters to editors"

The election is November 2nd, but you can make sure your voice is heard NOW!

Arianna Huffington's Message: Urge Kerry to Think Big

I have said before that I want Kerry to have two things in this Presidential campaign: cojones and vision.

Well, I saw Arianna Huffington, another conservative turned liberal, speak in Menlo Park Friday night. And at least I know she's with me on the vision thing.

Huffington is an impressive, articulate speaker. But intellectualism doesn't preclude passion, and Huffington has that in spades as well. her primary message is that we need to reach out to the nearly 50% of eligible voters that simply don't vote. And she believes that the only way to do this is to think big and to appeal to the hope in us, not the fear in us.

If you agree, there's a way to send Kerry the message en masse: sign Huffington's petition asking Kerry to "Go Big."

Check the petition out at her new web site: Fanatics and Fools

Great Ammunition: The Daily Misleader

For those of you who are not familiar, this is an off-shoot from moveon.org.

Go to the following web site:

Misleader.org

Here you can sign up to receive a daily email outlining some new deception, mis-direction or mis-statement from the Bush administration.

These are short, succinct emails, and best of all, they come complete with thorough citations of the source for every charge leveled.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel, and there's no need to duplicate efforts. If you're looking for ammunition, sign up for this email and make sure everyone you know knows about it as well.

Online Activism: How to use this Blog

6858 ok you can play online poker at this address : http://www.play-online-poker.greatnow.com

The immediacy of a blog
Unlike a web site, which requires one to have an internet service provider, a web hosting provider, and some plan for web navigation and design, a blog can be created using a variety of free, online tools. It can be updated on the fly and is generally a chronological record of the information being recorded.

This means that a blog could be operated from an Internet cafe, if necessary. Blogs can even now be updated via cell phone text messaging. Blogs first came to prominence, in fact, when an Iraqi youth kept a blog during the recent American invasion, giving readers worldwide a different perspective on what was going on behind the lines in that country.

The interactivity of a blog
Each blog entry in our blog features a 'Comments' section, which allows anyone to record their response to a blog entry. This section can effectively become a conversation, as the comments are recorded, just like the blog itself, in chronological order.

Howard Dean's use of the Internet to build a movement has been praised and emulated in the last year. His use of blog was key. His web site featured not only an official campaign blog, where access to posts was controlled, but he, and subsequently Wes Clark and then John Edwards, enabled followers to create and maintain their own blogs on the site.

The blogs, therefore, created a sense of community, sense of investment in the candidate, and encouraged people to spend a lot of time on the candidate's site.

It's an old Internet saw that the longer someone lingers at your site, the more likely they are to buy what you're selling. Well, in politics, we're selling ideas and principles, and we're happy to have people spend more time getting to know ours.

How can you use this blog?
The blog is a single URL where you can find great ammunition to support your positions. It's also where people can come talk about lots of issues that matter right now.

The trick is to pass it along. So here are 3 easy ways to pass it along, without spamming your friends:

#1: Customize your email signature
Almost every one of us has a personal email account, and almost every email client out there allows you to customize the signature that comes at the bottom of every email you send, reply to or forward.

Simply add a blurb at the bottom of your signature, something to the effect of:

Get informed! Get involved! Make Your Voice Heard at the Santa Clara County Democratic Party Blog!
http://sccdp.org/blog.php

#2: Cross-pollinate to other sites/groups
Do you have your own web site or blog already? Make sure the link to this blog is in your 'Other Links' or 'Blog Roll' section.

Do you belong to other politically-oriented online groups or communities? Yahoo Groups, Tribe.net, Orkut and other such sites have special interest groups revolving around politics. Most such groups or communities allow you to post related links in a particular location.

Also make sure if you're posting to those groups that you customize that signature too. It might not be as automatic as in your email client, but you can certainly create a text signature that you paste in with every post.

#3: Build your personal email database
Now instead of clogging your like-minded (or better yet, on-the-fence) contacts' Inbox with huge, long emails, you can send a brief blurb, but direct them to the blog to hear more.

There is one things you must do when you send any such political email (or frankly any mass email, even humor.)

You must give people the option to 'Opt Out.'

I add this to the bottom of every political email I send:

REMEMBER: IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO RECEIVE POLITICAL EMAIL FROM ME, PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EMAIL AND LET ME KNOW. I WILL REMOVE YOU FROM MY LIST IMMEDIATELY.

We don't want to spam our friends and colleagues. We don't want to alienate. We want to inspire.

Hopefully, these three suggestions may spur you to think of other creative ways to spread the message. If you do, please use the interactive 'Comments' section to let the rest of us know.