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Thursday, October 28
Election Night at Blog for Iowa
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 28 Oct 2004 04:22 AM CDT
 Election Night at Blog for Iowa
by Linda Thieman
I know a
lot of our dear activist readers will be getting home late on November 2, Election Day.
Some of you will be in the trenches, turning in the final vote tallies
for your precincts. Others will have had a long day of driving
Dems to the polls. You’ll need to relax and unwind as you watch
the returns come in.
So, why
not come to a friendly forum - Blog for Iowa? Carry on a
conversation in the comments section, if you are so inclined. I
plan to stay up most of Election night, following the returns for the
candidates DFIA supports. I’ll post frequent updates, so all
you’ll have to do to get the updates is to reload the blog. I’ve
already checked with the Secretary of State’s office and there is no
way for me to hook up an automatic feed, so I’ll be doing it all by
hand.
Mind
you, the election results will not be official until November 29,
according to Iowa law, but we can at least watch the November chaos
begin.
Election
Night will be my swan song. Blog for Iowa will likely hit 200,000
page views
today – not bad for just under 7 months old. I’ve spent the last
several weeks weaning Blog for Iowa, and am pleased to report that BFIA
is now eating solid foods. I am also in negotiations with Blog
for Iowa’s new daddy, a devoted Iowa Dean Dem, to take over some time
soon. (And by negotiations, I mean I'm begging and he's
considering saying yes.) Yes, dear readers, Blog for Iowa’s mommy
is skipping town, metaphorically-speaking. I may be gone
for a couple of months or I may be gone forever. I haven’t quite
made up my mind. Like everyone else, I’m completely burnt out.
In one
form or another, Blog for Iowa will exist after the November
Election. Keep tuning in for coverage of the post-election
national nightmare.
Monday, October 4
A New Kind of Democrat
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 04 Oct 2004 04:03 PM CDT
 A NEW KIND OF DEMOCRAT
by Darrell Lewis
Much has
been said of the Howard Dean-inspired movement inside the Democratic
Party all across America. Last night, I had an opportunity to
talk to dozens of young people who are newly registered and will be
voting in their first election on Nov. 2. Their excitement,
optimism and youthful energy are inspiring and gave me cause to ponder
just what is going on within our party.
The best
I can conclude is that there is a new kind of Democrat emerging.
We don't play by the same old rules and we dare to believe that by our
involvement we can make a difference.
We have
watched over the last two decades as the Republican Party has been
dragged to the right by its most radical religious elements. We
listen to our moderate Republican friends talk about how their party
has been hijacked and how they now have to rely on the votes of the
radical right to win elections. Many conservative Republicans
have found themselves forced to abandon their traditional values of
"states rights" and balanced budgets. Democrats, frustrated with
the success of the emerging ultra-conservative Republican Party,
somewhere along the line came to the conclusion that they, too, had to
abandon many of their core principles and also pander to the radical
right. Democratic insiders like to point to the election of Bill
Clinton as evidence that this move to the right was necessary and
successful; yet we all know the real truth about Clinton's success and
his name was Ross Perot.
Howard
Dean was the first voice who loudly cried foul almost two years ago and
asked where the real Democrats are. His bold challenge of the
inside party establishment rallied hundreds of thousands of us to
action. Our sense of higher purpose created a bond and community
that still mystifies the traditional Democratic Party insider and
scares to death politically-savvy Republicans.
This new
kind of Democrat is both a throwback to traditional Democratic values
and at the same time embraces some of the traditional aspects of
conservative Republicans. Yes, it’s a bit of an odd mix and your
politico types still don't understand it. Yes, we truly do
believe fiscal responsibility is necessary. We are firmly
committed to a balanced budget and only spending the resources we
have. However, we do believe that given the choice of eliminating
corporate tax breaks or cutting a needed program, we will choose to
keep the needed program and not cut corporate taxes. We come very
much from a "libertarian" perspective, that the government simply has
no business in our personal lives and we value highly our personal
liberties.
Yes, in
many ways we are Boy Scouts. We believe in helping the little old
lady cross the street. We believe in doing a good turn
daily. We believe that it is NOT a crime to be poor and YES, we
believe government has a responsibility to make sure everyone's boat
rises.
So, what
are we? We are a new kind of Democrat and as Howard Dean loves to
say, we do have the power - the power to change America for the better.
Darrell Lewis is a DFIA Founding Member. He runs the Drury for Iowa Senate blog.
Sunday, October 3
News and Notes: DNC Compiles Clips of Bush's Facial Expressions
by
Linda Thieman
on Sun 03 Oct 2004 10:29 AM CDT
 DNC Compiles Clips of Bush's Facial Expressions
They say
the sigh killed Al Gore in the presidential debate 4 years ago.
This year, we are making much of Bush's seeming irritability,
frustration, and ticked off facial expressions during last week's
debate. And rightly so! LOL
I know I would hate to stand
there and be criticized for destroying the world for an hour and a half
on national TV. But, hey, no one's perfect. Stay the
course! Stay the course!
Click here to see the clips that the DNC put together for our maximum enjoyment.
[Thanks to Matthew for alerting Blog for Iowa to this delicious delight!]
Blog for Iowa is Six Months Old!
October 1st was Blog for Iowa's six-month anniversary.
We had our heaviest traffic ever
during the month of September, with almost 23,000 distinct hosts served
and over 44,500 page views. That's an average of over 760
visitors per day and almost 1,500 page views per day. No wonder I
have to keep upgrading our bandwidth every month. Had to upgrade
it 3 times in September.
So, as of Oct. 1, our page views for the six months we've been up total just over 156,000.
Democracy for Illinois: Sunday in the Park Without George!
Eric Davis in Illinois sent this our way
Democracy for Illinois is leading a
coalition of progressive groups across Illinois to hold “Sunday in the
Park Without George.” Modeled after similar events in New York (see www.democracyinthepark.org),
on October 10th and again on the 24th, citizens will be taking
advantage of the free weekend minutes on their cell phones to place
personal calls to undecided voters in so-called “swing states,”
primarily Wisconsin [and perhaps Iowa and/or Missouri].
Volunteer coordinators will be on-site in parks in Chicago, in the
suburbs and collar counties and in other Illinois communities such as
Rockford, Peoria and Champaign to train and help interested citizens
make their voices heard in these crucial battleground states. This is
one of several identical events planned for Illinois on this day, so
make sure this is the one closest to you!
Click here for more information or to sign up to attend.
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