Elesha Gayman of DFQC Named DFA Rising Star Elesha Gayman, a member of Democracy for the Quad Cities, has been named to the Democracy for America Rising Star list.
Elesha,
former Dean Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, is running
for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 84. Elesha's
dedication to her community inspired her to enter the non-profit sector
as a grant writer, fundraiser and volunteer. Now, she is running to
bring new energy to the Iowa State House.
Click here to read Blog for Iowa's in-depth profile of Elesha written by Caroline Vernon.
Click here to visit Elesha Gayman's campaign website.
The DFA Vote is Down to the Final 10, and Iowa Has TWO Great Candidates Still in the Running! Vote Now! Well, I
have to admit that I am very impressed by the Iowa progressive
community. In the initial round of voting to select a
Congressional candidate for DFA endorsement, two Iowa candidates, David
Loebsack from Iowa Congressional District 2 and Bruce Braley from Iowa
Congressional District 1, made it to the Top 10 as finalists. And
they did this by beating out many other Congressional candidates from
far more populous states than Iowa. Fifty candidates were eliminated in the first round.
Go vote now
for your choice. The voting ends Saturday. DFA is using an
Instant Runoff Voting system, which means you can vote for up to three
candidates and rank them in your order of preference.
Since
both Loebsack and Braley are on Blog for Iowa’s Candidate Watch list,
we’ve decided to have two passionate members of our blog team each
personally endorse a candidate. Hold onto your hats!
David Loebsack is The Man to Vote For!!!
by Molly Regan
David
Loebsack is a TRUE DEANER! And whom better should Democracy for
Iowa followers choose than one of their own?! Go to Blog for America to cast your vote now,
then pass the word to all you know. Anyone in the country can
vote. You only have until Saturday, September 24th, at 4pm Iowa
time. We have the power. Let’s make it so for this great
Dean supporter.
David
has been teaching political science at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon
for over 22 years. Now he has chosen to take on the task of
defeating Rep. Jim Leach in the 2nd Congressional District of Iowa.
David
helped Governor Dean on his many tours of Eastern Iowa and was a Dean
delegate to the Linn County, the state, and the national
conventions. He is a true progressive. He is one of
us. Go to Loebsackforcongress.org for more information about David.
I have known and admired David for nearly ten years and he truly is the best person to be DFA’s first candidate of choice.
Molly Regan / Scott County / DFQC
Bruce Braley Speaks For Me!
by Caroline Vernon
At a
time when the current administration is attempting to stack the Supreme
Court with right-wing ideologues rather than mainstream judges who will
remain fair and impartial on their interpretation of the law, it is
important that we have true representation of the people in our
Congress in order to balance the scales of justice. America needs
a new class of leadership who is not afraid to speak truth to power
even at the risk of being ostracized.
I
believe Bruce Braley is such a man. In Bruce's words, (paraphrasing)
"Saying what's popular is not always right and saying what's right is
not always popular."
America
needs leadership that will FINALLY stand up to the corporate special
interests and tell them that while it's great that they want to make
money for their shareholders, we have had enough of the rampant greed
and it is no longer acceptable to choose profits over people!
I
believe Bruce will have the courage of his convictions, represent the
best interest of "we the people" and reflect the many progressive
values that have truly made this country great.
Bruce is
strong on education, health care, and a woman's right to choose her own
destiny. Throughout his career, he has donated legal services to
many indigent Iowans through the Volunteer Lawyers Project. He also
feels that stewardship of our land, water and air needs to be a
national priority. Bruce is prepared to ask the tough questions
about the war and demand that our troops are sent home. Bruce is also
against the privatization of social security and supports continued
efforts to achieve energy independence through renewable fuels and
alternative energy sources.
A vote
for Bruce Braley is a vote for a brighter future for Iowa. Therefore, I
am hoping you will join me in voting for Bruce Braley (Iowa's 1st
Congressional district) as DFA's next Grassroots All-Star!
Candidate Watch: Elesha Gayman - Iowa House District 84 by Caroline Vernon
Elesha Gayman is an outstanding candidate for Iowa House District 84. She is a breath of fresh air, and exemplifies the kind of down home values that will help to promote and preserve what it means to be an Iowan. Elesha will ensure that Iowa is a better place to live, work, and raise a family. What else could we ask for? [Click here for a map of Iowa House District 84 in Scott County.]
Elesha Gayman was born in Davenport, Iowa. Her great, great grandparents were one of the original 13 families that settled in Davenport during the mid 1840's before Iowa became a state in 1846. In fact, the Gayman homestead is still in the family and their name can be found on the monument at the Scott County museum and pioneer village.
Initially inspired by former Republican State Representative, Neil Harrison, Elesha first became involved in politics at the age of thirteen when she became a member of the Davenport Youth City Council. Feeling a little rebellious at the time, Elesha advocated against youth curfews. Although she shared she was unsuccessful in changing anyone’s mind, the experience with the DYCC did much to enhance her confidence levels.
During her senior year in high school, Elesha helped to plan voter registration drives and engaged many of her peers in the process. Upon graduating in 1997, she recalls that Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America” was in full swing. It was at that time that she started paying closer attention to the different platform issues and became more selective of who she would support and why. Although she was previously involved with the Republican Party throughout the 90's, their message at that time discouraged women from becoming involved in the political process as well as the workforce. As a result, Elesha said the last thing she wanted to hear was someone telling her what she couldn’t do. This got her more fired up than ever.
Click here to visit Elesha Gayman's website. After attending one year at St. Ambrose University, Elesha attended the first semester of her sophomore year in Rome, Italy, majoring in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations. Elesha shared with me that this experience imparted a deep sense of history. Many of the cobblestone roads still bore the deep grooves made by the wheels of ancient chariots. In addition to her political science classes, she also took advantage of taking classes in Catholicism, Art, and Philosophy.
Elesha arrived in Rome just two days after the embassy bombings in Africa and the Kosovo situation was also exploding over there at the time. These issues prompted her interest in law and military affairs, so she took as many military classes as she could in college. It was at that time that she became very interested in the career of General Wesley Clark. She later became part of the Draft Clark campaign for President although she ultimately went to the Democratic National Convention as a Howard Dean delegate. more»
DFQC Makes Appearance in St. Patrick’s Day Parade by Caroline Vernon
In spite
of freezing temperatures, on Saturday, March 12th, some of our local
DFQC members made our presence known by marching in the Quad Cities
annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Davenport.
Molly
Regan and Alta Price organized the event and made signs to carry on
behalf of DFQC and Blog for Iowa. Due to the loss of a loved one, Molly
was unable to participate Saturday - our prayers go out to Molly and
her family. Five other members participated, just enough to carry the
most important signs: Democracy for the Quad Cities was created
in colors reflective of the Irish flag with two Shamrocks on either end
advertising BlogforIowa.com.
DFQC Members in St. Patrick’s Day Parade Chuck, Eric, Tom, Elesha and Alta
The
participants included Alta Price, Chuck Galer (Scott County
Coordinator), Elesha Gayman (one of the two Iowa Dean delegates, who
will be running for Iowa State Rep), her brother, Eric, and Tom
Frischie.
Alta
indicated how much fun they had even though it would have been better
if it weren’t so cold. She also said, “I'm not sure anyone had a clue
what we're about, but murmurs of ‘Blog for Iowa?’ could be heard from
the crowd.”
The next time we’re in a parade, we hope to have enough people to carry more signs with specific messages such as: Fight for Fiscally Responsible Progressive Candidates & Issues.
Thank you to all those who participated in the parade and for braving the elements on behalf of DFQC and Blog for Iowa!
I packed
up my truck and left early on Wednesday morning, July 21st, on my
adventure to experience...well, I guess I wasn't too sure what I was
going to experience when I left. I arrived in the early evening
on Thursday at Pittsfield, MA - the site of DemocracyFest. The
1,250-mile drive went faster and easier than expected. In the
early evening hours of dusk, I unpacked and began setting up my
campsite, which drew into darkness while attempting to set up my new
tent. Dang, I should have done a practice set up before leaving
like the directions said...and maybe it really did need two people like
the directions said; but, alas, 10,000 mosquito bites, later it was all
set up. Woke up
early Friday morning and finished setting up camp, drove around
Pittsfield a bit sightseeing and then to the hotel where the festival
was to be held. I wandered into the planning meeting between
event organizers, the hotel staff and other service providers.
Mostly I just listened, but also participated when the topic of the
Bloggers’ Breakfast and its needs found its way to the agenda.
The initially-cool hotel staff turned out to not only be very
cooperative but some of the nicest folks I met my entire trip. It
rained for much of the day and on several occasions I got soaking wet
running around without a raincoat. Late
Friday afternoon, Alta Price and her son found their way to the
campground. I had set up tents for them earlier so it was only
their personal gear that remained for them to unpack and, fortunately,
by then the rain showers were mostly intermittent. Our dinner
that evening consisted of some fruit, crackers and cheeses I had picked
up at a local store earlier that day. We sat around a small
campfire and had a great time chatting about a little bit of everything. As it
turned out, much of the Festival was work for me rather then being a
participant. I had brought my t-shirt press and political buttons
stuff and was to sell the official festival shirt and political
buttons. There was a rather healthy financial gap that needed to
be filled in the festival budget and I offered to help. Alex
Price helped me the entire weekend and I would have never been able to
get it all done without his help. Even
while occupied with the tasks at hand, I had opportunities to meet new
people, become re-acquainted with people I previously met during the
Iowa Storm and also to meet online friends I had yet to meet face to
face. Of course all this good chatting was the highlight of the
weekend. The only disappointment for me was that I was unable to
participate in any of the training. I
invited a few folks to our campsite that evening to sit around the fire
and talk politics. Well, my few invites turned into more and more
until the word was being passed around the festival about the
"bloggers’ bonfire". While about 20 people ended up at the
bonfire, many others did not because the owner of the campgrounds
proved to be a real *ss and even called the police at one point, as he
stood guard at the entrance and told people, "you types aren't welcome
on my land". Of
course, Sunday was the "big" day. I got up at 5:00 am and headed
to the hotel to ready things for the Bloggers’ Breakfast. The
event went well and was attended by about 125 people. And
although everyone enjoyed themselves, it lacked the electricity of the
first one in Des Moines. No surprise guests this time and even
some of those who said they would be there (Zephyr, for one) did not
make it. All in
all, the festival was a great hit. It was truly grassroots but,
to be honest, I was disappointed that Democracy for America had not
taken a greater interest in helping with it and participating in
it. But I've had these same experiences with DFA in the past and
it should not have surprised me. I've got
a theory on this, however. DFA, unlike, say IDP, has an
appreciation of the power of the grassroots and most importantly is
able to empower the grassroots to do "their own thing" and not attempt
to control them. What they have failed to yet figure out is how
to work with the "grassroots". There are still too many staffers
whose experience has come from top down political organizations and
they don't know any other paradigms. It’s our challenge in
organizations like Democracy for Iowa to keep alive the power of the
grassroots and to work with the traditional top down
organizations. We too have a learning curve to follow and realize
we are not always going to be welcomed and assisted by those
traditional groups. But if we remain on a steady course (allowing
for occasional bursts of irreverence) will can prove the power of the
grassroots and change their paradigm. The
grassroots of the future is not the old "fall in line" and dutifully do
what you are told by the party pros; although I must admit I am not
sure exactly where it will end up. In some states the traditional
party organization is enthusiastically welcoming the new grassroots and
in some states they are outright rejecting them and demanding the "get
over it" and "toe the line". I am not yet sure where Iowa falls
in this spectrum. I guess we will have to see how it all plays out.
Our thanks to DFIA Founding Member Darrell Lewis for turning in this report.
News & Notes from DFIA & Deanland Media Trounces Dean for Speaking Truth...Again!
I don't
know how you could have possibly missed Howard Dean being the top story
everywhere for speaking the truth about the junta's media manipulation,
but just in case, here's an article about it. Now, this article
is from the International Herald Tribune. Seems like the
international papers see the story as the junta manipulating the terror
alerts, but the American media see the story as "What Howard Dean Said
This Time!" Go figure.
"There
have been cracks in the Democratic restraint. The former
presidential candidate Howard Dean said plainly that the administration
might be manipulating terror warnings for political gain, and to steal
the Democrats' thunder."
What? Just because they waited 4 years to release the information?
OK, I'm taking this directly off the BFA site, which has improved in quality lately thanks to some fresh blood.
Governor Dean Guest Hosts Topic A
See Howard Dean as the guest host of "Topic [A] with Tina Brown" this weekend:
Sunday, August 8th Airing at 7:00 p.m. CDT and 10:00 p.m. CDT on CNBC
The
upcoming election, the electronic voting system and the potential for
lost votes and computer hacking are of great concern to many Americans.
Joining Governor Dean to discuss the E-voting issue are Author/Digital
Activist Bev Harris and California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley.
Harris will also demonstrate how easy it is to access and hack into a
computer and the ominous implications of the E-voting system.
Dean will also be joined by Jon Stewart
from "The Daily Show" for a one-on-one discussion about the success of
his Comedy Central program with the 25 and under set; the approach his
show takes to the news, their spin on the media at large, and of
course, Stewart's jabs at Dean on the campaign trail.
In a
roundtable discussion about the issue of race in this country will be
Tavis Smiley, NPR radio host and syndicated radio host Tom Leykis
discussing recent comments about the black family made by actor Bill
Cosby at a Rainbow Coalition event.
In addition, outspoken Actor/Comedian Margaret Cho will talk to Dean about her widely anticipated stand up tour, "State of Emergency," which launches next month.
"I am
delighted to be stepping in for Tina this week. This is an opportunity
to speak about issues that can change this country," said Dean. "I am
glad to have this opportunity to discuss topics that are of relevance
to all Americans."
DFIA Delegate Makes New England Paper
Check
out this story in Bay Windows: New England's Largest Gay & Lesbian
Newspaper. It's called "GLBT Presence High at DNC," and there is
absolutely the cutest photo of Christina Butts right at the top of the
article! She's even got a Dean button on her...um, would you call
that a hat? Antlers? Bunny ears?
DFIA
delegate Darrell Lewis of Clear Lake reports that the Iowa delegation
was expecting a visit from Elizabeth Edwards and Cam Kerry this
morning, when who should walk in with them but Howard Dean.
Dean
praised Gordon Fischer and the Iowa Democratic Party and was
particularly impressed with the fine slate of Democratic candidates
Iowa is running this year.
According
to Darrell, Dean also "talked about how the Democratic Party needed to
not only support the Kerry ticket, but that electing local candidates
and working for them would help Kerry. He mentioned that Iowa has
their first Dean Dozen candidate (then he blushed and said 'Oh my gosh,
I forgot his name.' Of course, I shouted it out...and got a good
laugh.)" For the uninitiated, that would be John Drury, Democratic candidate for Iowa Senate in District 6, North Iowa - whose campaign Darrell manages!
Towards
the end of the Dean visit, some of the Iowa delegates jumped up and ran
to the front to shake hands and get their picture taken with Gov.
Dean. As you can see above, Darrell was successful in that effort!
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
Elesha Gayman of DFQC Named DFA Rising Star
The DFA Vote is Down to the Final 10, and Iowa Has 
DFQC Makes Appearance in St. Patrick’s Day Parade
