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Thursday, November 4
The Day the Enlightenment Went Out
by
Cliff Day
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 11:28 PM CST
New York Times
Op-Ed Contributor: The Day the Enlightenment Went Out
November 4, 2004
By GARRY WILLS
Evanston, Ill.
This election confirms the brilliance of Karl Rove as a political
strategist. He calculated that the religious conservatives, if they
could be turned out, would be the deciding factor. The success of the
plan was registered not only in the presidential results but also in
all 11 of the state votes to ban same-sex marriage. Mr. Rove
understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe
in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.
This might be called Bryan's revenge for the Scopes trial of 1925,
in which William Jennings Bryan's fundamentalist assault on the concept
of evolution was discredited. Disillusionment with that decision led
many evangelicals to withdraw from direct engagement in politics. But
they came roaring back into the arena out of anger at other court
decisions - on prayer in school, abortion, protection of the flag and,
now, gay marriage. Mr. Rove felt that the appeal to this large bloc was
worth getting Bush to endorse a constitutional amendment banning
gay marriage (though he had opposed it earlier).
Click here to read the rest of this article.
"I Promise You" - A Message from Andrew Smith
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 05:32 PM CST
 "I Promise You" - A Message from Andrew Smith
A Candidate Inspired by Howard Dean Does Us All Proud
My
campaign has come to an end, and unfortunately I lost to Rep. Lance
Horbach by a healthy margin at the polls. His incumbent advantage is
unreal, and on Election Day, there were twice as many registered
Republicans in District 40 than registered Democrats, a margin that was
just impossible to overcome.
My
opponent also raised money during the course of the campaign, from
Special Interests tied to casino, insurance, and utility companies,
nearly six times the amount I managed to raise. Despite the overwelming
odds, I got into this race with courage, and I ran my campaign with
courage. I knocked on thousands of doors and placed nearly a thousand
yard signs in Tama County alone, and blanketed the District with
flyers, mailings, and plywood signs. I may not have won the war at the
polls, but I won the war on the ground. I also simultaneously worked
for the Kerry and Boswell campaigns, and proudly placed their signs
next to mine.
In areas
of the state where "Democrat" is considered a swear word, I stood up
and proudly proclaimed that I was a Democrat. I never yielded, never
compromised my positions and fought to the end. I ran a clean campaign,
and had available over the internet and in my flyers specific and
detailed plans to improve the state of Iowa.
Before I
started this race, I was not a State Representative. After this race, I
still am not a State Representative. I had nothing to lose by running
this race, and I have lost nothing in the end but a little time and a
little money. But what I have gained cannot be quantified by numbers. I
gained countless friendships, and gave hope to thousands of people in
Tama and Grundy Counties. In 2002 there was no Democrat on the ballot
against Horbach. In 2004, there was a strong voice of opposition, and
an alternative to his policies.
During
this fall, I have missed too many of my law school classes and missed
too many hours of work. But I did it, because I believed in my heart,
that this was one of the greatest elections in our nation's history,
and I wanted to be a part of it, and help make a difference. I'm very
worried about the direction of our nation, and I'm concerned that the
Democratic Party has lost its focus. I believe that this is going to be
a difficult period for the Democratic Party as a whole, but regardless,
I want you to know that I will never give up, and I will never put
profits over people, and I will always fight for you. This election
didn't go our way. But there will be other fights and battles to wage,
and I will be there fighting them.
Finally,
I want to thank all those who donated to my campaign, and who believed
in me. I also want to thank all those who helped place yard signs, and
those who showed up at my events, and who helped me in the parades.
Your help and belief in a better Iowa was inspirational.
Chances
are that I will not be running for office again in the foreseeable
future. But I promise you, that I'll be behind the scenes helping other
candidates who share my vision and hope for a better Iowa. I also
promise you that someday when the time is right, I'll be on the ballot
again as a strong voice for the people.
Andrew Smith
 Thank
you so much for all your hard work, Andrew. As the youngest
Democrat running for office in Iowa, you have done us all proud.
This, THIS, is exactly what Howard Dean was talking about when he said
we need to run progressive candidates in overwhelmingly Republican
districts. We need to get the message out. We needed to
start with this election, and then keep at it. Good luck with law
school. You have already made a huge difference and been such an
inspiration, and we all know that you have a bright future ahead of you.
Iowa Statehouse Control
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 03:09 PM CST
 Iowa Statehouse Control
Des Moines Register (in part)
Republicans
and Democrats will have to share power in the Iowa Senate because each
party will have 25 seats in 2005. Republicans will continue to control
the Iowa House, but with no votes to spare.
SENATE: Republicans
went from a 29-21 advantage to a 25-25 tie with Democrats. The net gain
for Democrats was four seats. [Plus, one Republican senator,
Chuck Larson of Cedar Rapids, is on Army Reserve duty in Iraq and not
expected to return until February. The shared control ought to
improve the Iowa legislative situation considerably since a major
stumbling block to progress in the past session was the right-wing
senate leadership. And, as you will recall, one right-wing senate
leader, Ken Veenstra, lost his own primary, having been ousted by the
more moderate Dave Mulder, so that is one less extreme right-winger on the Republican side to boot.]
HOUSE: Republicans went from a 54-46 advantage to a 51-49 edge. Democrats gained three seats but will remain in the minority.
GOVERNOR: Democratic incumbent Tom Vilsack has two years left of his second term.
Possible Evidence of Voter Fraud in Ohio
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 11:19 AM CST
 Possible Evidence of Voter Fraud in Ohio
by John in DC, AMERICAblog
11/3/2004 02:56:47 AM
I just
received a photo a Cincinnati poll manager took this evening, and it
seems to be proof of some fishy actions with ballots in Ohio. Bottom line:
Note the already-voted-with ballots in the back of the truck with the
Bush-Cheney sticker in the back window. Does this prove fraud? Well, it
certainly doesn't look good in a state that's already had lots of
problems this election.
In a
nutshell, Stefan Skirtz is a poll manager for the Kerry campaign in
Cincinnati. His precinct is heavily made up of minorities and students
(i.e., leans Kerry). One of the duties of the poll managers, Stefan
told me in a phone call minutes ago, is to follow the poll workers to
election headquarters as they drop off the ballots and ballot boxes.
Stefan followed the poll workers who didn't go directly to the election
headquarters. Instead, they went to a local public school where workers
put the ballot machines into a semi trailer, and then the poll workers
handed off the sealed bags containing the ballots to someone Stefan
assumed was with the county board of elections.
The
first problem he noticed was that there was no sign off of the transfer
of the ballots. Nothing was written down and given to the poll worker
as proof that the ballots were passed off to the county employee.
What's
worse, Stefan noticed the pick-up truck of the supposed county board of
elections - the truck the ballots for 40 precincts were loaded into -
had a big Bush-Cheney 2004 sticker in the back window. Stefan did say
that he followed the truck to the election headquarters, though he
didn't see what transpired after the truck pulled into the election HQ
parking lot.
As
Stefan explains it, the poll managers had such an extensive list of
voters rights and regulations that they had to follow, including it
being illegal to have any partisan buttons, etc., in the polling place,
yet the ballots for voters in over 40 precincts were put in the hands
of Bush-Cheney partisans.
I don't
know whether the Bush partisans did or didn't play any games with the
ballots they received, but it sure doesn't look good, and I wonder
whether it's even legal. And let's not forget, this is a state that was
already well on its way to becoming the new Florida of GOP election
fraud.
Stefan
says he has 6 or 7 witnesses who also saw the sticker on the truck. I
have Stefan's contact info for members of the media.
Thanks
to Ellen Ballas of Rapid Response - Iowa for putting me onto this
post. Ellen and Trish Nelson, the Co-coordinators of Iowa Rapid
Response have done a stellar job, and deserve a great big THANK YOU!
Bettendorf Passes Sexual Orientation Ordinance
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 06:02 AM CST
 Bettendorf Passes Sexual Orientation Ordinance
Des Moines Register
The
Bettendorf City Council has voted to add sexual orientation to its
civil rights ordinance, becoming the sixth Iowa city to extend
protection from discrimination to gays and lesbians.
The
ordinance passed 6-2 Tuesday night, the same margin it received on two
previous readings. Aldermen Tim Stecker and Norm Voelliger voted
against the ordinance.
...Five
other Iowa cities have included sexual orientation in their ordinances
- Ames, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines and Iowa City.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
Hey, and NICE WORK on your first post, Mr. Cliff Day! Woo-hoo!
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to our good friend and Iowa Deaniac, Mr. Cliff Day!
Living Poor, Voting Rich
by
Cliff Day
on Thu 04 Nov 2004 01:23 AM CST
The following article was recommended by Gov. Howard Dean in his phone conference during the November 3 MEETUP.
Cliff Day - Davenport, Iowa (The Quad Cities)
New York Times
Op-Ed Columnist: Living Poor, Voting Rich
November 3, 2004
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
In
the aftermath of this civil war that our nation has just fought, one
result is clear: the Democratic Party's first priority should be to
reconnect with the American heartland.
I'm writing this on
tenterhooks on Tuesday, without knowing the election results. But
whether John Kerry's supporters are now celebrating or seeking asylum
abroad, they should be feeling wretched about the millions of farmers,
factory workers and waitresses who ended up voting - utterly against
their own interests - for Republican candidates.
One of the
Republican Party's major successes over the last few decades has been
to persuade many of the working poor to vote for tax breaks for
billionaires. Democrats are still effective on bread-and-butter issues
like health care, but they come across in much of America as arrogant
and out of touch the moment the discussion shifts to values.
"On
values, they are really noncompetitive in the heartland," noted Mike
Johanns, a Republican who is governor of Nebraska. "This kind of
elitist, Eastern approach to the party is just devastating in the
Midwest and Western states. It's very difficult for senatorial,
Congressional and even local candidates to survive."
Click here to read the rest of this article.
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