Poll Watch: A Kerry/Dean Ticket Would Save The Day
Well, this is the best news I've had in a long while. Almost makes me giddy, although it could just still be the afterglow of the Veenstra defeat. But, I doubt it, because the ONE thing that could actually make me think kindly of Kerry would be for him to choose our Howard Dean as his VP. The brilliant glow shining off of Gov. Dean would actually make Kerry seem, in the words of Demetrius at People-powered Graphics, slightly less evil. That being said, here's the news!
From: National Draft Dean for VP Committee
We're having an impact! Communication with someone who prefers to remain anonymous inside the Kerry campaign tells us that Dean is under consideration -- because Nader is polling double digits in some battleground states. Recent Fox and Zogby polls showed a Kerry/Dean ticket taking votes away from both Nader AND Bush. Momentum is building, but we can't stop now.
In recent history, VP selections have been announced prior to the Democratic National Convention commencement. This gives us a very small window of time to make our statement! We're moving into the final push.
Sign the Draft Dean petition here:
http://www.draftdeanforvp.org/petition.html
Michael Faulkner, co-chair, National Draft Dean Committee
Dean: It's Common Sense, Stupid!
A historical perspective by Draft Dean for VP committee member Melinda LaChance
John Adams called it "the most insignificant office ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." And until 1804, the vice presidency was little more than a consolation prize. The Constitution's original provision for presidential elections dictated that the candidate with the second most number of electoral votes assumed the position of vice president. The ratification of the 12th Amendment required the Electoral College to cast separate ballots in voting for president and vice president. It was after the passage of the 12th Amendment that presidential candidates and political parties began to ticket balance by nominating VP candidates who could attract voters not initially drawn by the top of the ticket. Some notable instances of successful ticket balancing throughout history:
· The Whig Party selected former Democrat John Tyler to run on the same ticket as presidential candidate William Henry Harrison in the 1840 election. Tyler's cross-party appeal ensured Harrison's victory.
· The 1980 Republican presidential primary had been especially contentious, with George Bush attacking Ronald Reagan's tax-cut plan as "voodoo economics." Reagan's conservative rhetoric delivered him the Republican nomination, and he subsequently named former rival Bush as his running mate. Bush's background as U.N. Ambassador, U.S. Envoy to China and director of the C.I.A. helped compensate for Reagan's lack of foreign policy experience. As a moderate Republican, Bush drew independents and even conservative Democrats to the Reagan/Bush ticket.
Balancing a presidential ticket is not an exact science, but examining recent successes reveals a pattern of legislative and executive pairings. Although four out of the last five presidents have been state governors, the position of governor affords little foreign policy experience. Federal legislators tend to acquire experience in foreign policy, but they also develop extensive voting records, which become liabilities in a presidential campaign. Only two presidents in the history of the United States won their races as incumbent senators: Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy. It's difficult enough to get one senator elected president; putting two senators on a ticket (or worse, a senator and a congressman) has not historically spelled election success.
If you haven't already, sign the Draft Dean petition here.
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Tuesday, June 15
Poll Watch: A Kerry/Dean Ticket Would Save The Day
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 15 Jun 2004 05:16 PM CDT
Bush/Cheney '04 Ad Fraud: $78 Million and Counting . . .
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 15 Jun 2004 01:31 PM CDT
Bush/Cheney '04 Ad Fraud:
$78 Million and Counting . . . America Coming Together The Bush/Cheney campaign has spent more than $78 million on television advertising that is explicitly fraudulent. We have a national crisis right now, and the people have the right to the facts. Newsweek says the Bush campaign’s “word is no longer good”. The Detroit Free Press called the same ad “wrong”. George Bush’s ad says Kerry supports a $900 billion dollar tax hike. This is completely false, but the average voter has no way of knowing it—and every reason to trust that the FCC would have the right to keep false political ads off the air. Bush’s ad also shows Kerry supporting a 50 cent gas tax—a powerfully damaging, and untrue, claim. This is fraud. ACT is taking the Boston Globe’s advice to “flag these ads and call the foul.” Join them. Sign the petition to demand truth and accountability in political ads on our airwaves. Go here to sign the petition.
Republicans Behind Effort to Censor Farenheit 9/11
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 15 Jun 2004 07:29 AM CDT
Republicans Behind Effort to Censor Farenheit 9/11
ProgressiveTrail.org So desperate are Bush Republicans to kill Michael Moore's latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11, they have hired a public relations firm to set up a web site attacking Moore. The site, MoveAmericaForward.com, claims to be "non-partisan," but a glance at the "About" page of the site reveals the director and staff of Move America Forward are all diehard Republicans, anti-tax activists, and former legislative staffers. The PR firm is Russo Marsh & Rogers. Russo Marsh & Rogers is a GOP consultation firm. In 2002, Ron Rogers teamed up with Reagan heavyweight Lyn Nofziger and Ed Rollins to work on the gubernatorial campaign of Bill Simon (see Campaign movements -- People & Organizations.) Thanks to the detective work of WhatReallyHappened.com, it was revealed that Move America Forward's web site was registered in the name of Russo Marsh & Rogers. In other words, Move America Forward is about as partisan as it gets without putting the GOP seal of approval on the web site. In short, Move America Forward's campaign is a Republican dirty trick designed to smear Moore and pressure move theater owners not to run his film. (moore) Moore seeks PG-13 rating on new film Mlive.com LOS ANGELES (AP) — Distributors of Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" are appealing to get a PG-13 rating, instead of R. A screening by the Motion Picture Association of America's appeals board has been set for June 22, just three days before "Fahrenheit 9/11" hits theaters. But the film's distributors are trying to move that screening up to this week to expedite a decision, said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films, one of the companies releasing the film. An R rating means those younger than 17 can't see the movie unless accompanied by an adult. The MPAA ratings board gave "Fahrenheit 9/11" an R rating for "violent and disturbing images and for language." "I think the message of the movie is so important that it should be available to be seen by as wide an audience as possible," Ortenberg said Monday. "Frankly, I don't consider any of the images in the film any more disturbing than what we have all seen on the cable news networks and the gratuitous violence that fills the screen of so many PG-13-rated action pictures." (moore) Michael Moore Wins Top Prize at Cannes for Anti-Bush Film Muslim American Society CANNES, France, May 25 (MASNET & News Agencies) - U.S. filmmaker Michael Moore marched triumphantly up the red carpet at the Cannes film festival for a black-tie repeat screening of his documentary criticizing President George W. Bush, "Fahrenheit 9/11", one day after it won the event's coveted Palme d'Or. Accompanied by his wife and daughter, he spent several minutes posing for photos while brandishing his trophy, and told a French television reporter: "I'm very thankful to this festival and to this country." He said he believed the attention bestowed by the award could change the world, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Although he did not elaborate, many took that as a possible reference to his previously stated hopes that his movie would help U.S. voters oust Bush from office in November elections. "Perhaps this film will have a tremendous impact. I hope it will," said Moore who said he would be shocked if the documentary did not find a U.S. distributor after being awarded the Palme d'Or. (moore) The Mouse Censors Moore AlterNet.org The Disney corporation is forbidding its subsidiary, Miramax Films, to distribute Michael Moore's new documentary, the New York Times reported today. The film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," explores the Bush family's close personal and financial ties to the Saudi royal family, and describes how the current Bush administration helped evacuate relatives of Osama bin Laden from the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. A Disney executive told the New York Times that it was blocking the distribution of the film in the United States and Canada because, in the paper's words, "Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr. Moore's film ... could alienate many." The executive is quoted: "It's not in the interest of any major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle." Given that corporations like Disney control much of the public discussion in the U.S., this avowed unwillingness to air controversial viewpoints that might challenge the views of some customers is chilling enough. But Moore's agent, Ari Emanuel, charges that Disney has an even more disturbing reason for blocking the film. According to Emanuel, he had a conversation last spring with Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who asked him to cancel his deal with Miramax and "expressed particular concern that it would endanger tax breaks Disney receives for its theme park, hotels and other ventures in Florida, where Mr. Bush's brother, Jeb, is governor." (moore) |
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