Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows

Sign-age of the political times. Tonight I had some errands in the Old Town section of Alexandria. I walked down Prince Street to see what is happening with some politically feuding neighbors.

It seems that at the corner of Prince Street and Columbus Street has a political sign war. There is a McCain/Palin and Gilmore fan and across the street is a law firm that are huge Obama fans. It’s made for some interesting walks.


The McCain/Palin fan placed a HUGE “This is McCain Country” sign on the wall of his yard (it looks like a very large -for old town- walled garden) as well as a smaller (about 3×5 feet) tasteful “Gilmore” sign in screaming bright red nailed/affixed to the top of his walled garden.

The law firm across the had a few Obama signs in their windows; I think they measured about 16×20 inches. At some point they added a sign in almost every window-but they were small signs.

So the McCain/Palin homeowner removed the Gilmore sign, placed a large “Gilmore, drill here, drill now” sign up. This sign is about 5×8 feet and another of the large McCain country signs (I guess just in case you missed the first one).

Tonight I realized the law firm struck back-they placed one of those life-size cardboard cutouts of Sen. Obama in their window and it’s staring at the entrance to the house across the street. How funny is that?

Shocking News. I noted today that CNN ran a story on Vice President Cheney. VP Cheney has fallen ill again and he was taken to George Washington Hospital in Washington DC for treatment. The Story that CNN ran stated the Vice President was experiencing irregular heartbeats again so it was back to the hospital for him.

I was pretty amazed. I believe this was the first credible reporting of the medical confirmation that Cheney DOES in fact have a heart…Will wonders ever cease?

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the presidential debates.

The Art of Political Satire

Agree with his politics or not, you have to admit that the group of energetic folks involved with the Obama-Biden campaign are amazing. One of my favorite videos from YouTube is the "Yes He Can" by Will.I.Am






This was almost immediately lampooned in the "John He Is" Video. I think the way they lampooned the first one is absolutely brilliant, then add the actor's reactions to what they are hearing or reading and it's pretty funny. Talk about being haunted by your own words.




This video is one of the funniest YouTube videos being circulated. This shows Senator McCain (allegedly) 'checking out' Gov. Palin while they were speaking together in Dayton OH. Oh dear. One wonder's what the bulldog's reaction to this was.





I plan on scoping out a few more and posting them here later this evening.
Here is a link to several Saturday Night Live skits spoofing different moments in the campaign as well. A link to the SNL Couric Palin interview Spoof

Super Tuesday

This post was written on February 7th about Super Tuesday (February 5, 2008 )

“Our Chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I spent Super Tuesday with a friend at a party where we watched the results of the primaries roll in. It was interesting being a former Republican (I’ve decided I am an independent) in a room full of Democrats.

There was a potluck, everyone brought a food dish from a state that had a primary or a caucus. I had to bring food from North Dakota, hooray. Since I was arriving from my office, I couldn’t make anything from scratch; so I brought cupcakes from Starbucks. Not very North Dakota-ish but my father was from North Dakota and he loved chocolate so I figured it wasn’t too far of a stretch.

The evening was interesting, there were a ton of folks young and old pigging out and really enjoying themselves. During the evening I talked with someone who is involved with the Democrats outreach efforts to the christian communities. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard some discussions about it, but it’s the first chance I had to really sit down and ask someone some questions and to share my concerns.

I told the lady I spoke with about what I’d seen happen in the republican party when they started courting the far right Christians (morale majority folks). Keep in mind that I am simply a voter so my opinions are not made as political commentary so much as what I saw happen in my party.

I believe that the decision to court this block of voters and welcome them into the Republican Party destroyed the party that I knew and joined in the 80s. Why do you ask? Well the Republicans, just like the democrats have a membership that runs the gamut from extremely liberal to extremely conservative. Sadly, I’ve watched the far right membership of the republican party become so dominant and have such an influence, that some like me who is extremely liberal in my outlook no longer has a voice within the my own party. I keep wondering, who let these people in and WHY are they still here?

To see what I am talking about take a look at the republican presidential candidates. The only way to get the support to be on the ticket is to be pro-life. Period. Look at Rudy Giuliani…he ran on a pro-choice ticket as mayor and now suddenly he’s pro-life? So when did that happen? If you looked at the CNN political ticker before the Iowa Caucus you would have read similar views on roe v wade by all the republican candidates. All of the statements were cookie cutter and you could tell they’d been wordsmithed to death.

I felt so disgusted with the republican candidates, that I went to the democratic side and looked at what their candidates were saying. After reading everything, I’d decided on Senator Joe Biden and volunteered to help his campaign accordingly. I guess that was the beginning of the end for me and the republican party. Since Senator Biden didn’t make it past Iowa I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching about where my loyalties now lie (as far as political parties).

I originally chose the Republicans when I was in the military. I am a fiscal conservative and I believe in a strong military and strong industrial base. But I feel that in the last 10 or so years that the Republicans have pillaged this country, between NAFTA (yes I know President Clinton did that one) shipping jobs overseas, the current administration allowing our natural resources to be pillaged (timber harvesting in the Northwest is an example), and the morass of Iraq.
I think the best hope for our country is a Democrat. I’ve also decided that the best place for me (for now at least) is as an independent, although I believe the day is coming when I will rejoin the dems.

The Iowa Caucus

Note-This post is imported from my art blog. This post was originally written to explain why I flew to Des Moines Iowa to help with the Biden Campaign and will hopefully help anyone who decides to volunteer at a presidential election in Iowa.



I recently volunteered for Senator Joe Biden’s Presidential Campaign in Des Moines Iowa. I wanted to see the caucus process first hand and more importantly, I wanted to help this wonderful man in his bid for the White House.


I should also say here that I am an extremely liberal republican (actually I will probably be switching and declaring myself independent because I can no longer stomach the machinations of the far right in my own party, but that is another blog entry); I felt that Joe was the only qualified candidate who could navigate the United States out of Iraq in a way that ensure the stability of the Iraqi government and provide safety for the Iraqi people.
What caused a liberal republican to travel to Iowa to support a democratic candidate? I’d read Christine Pelosi’s book, Campaign Boot Camp: Basic Training for Future Leaders. This book urges us to get involved within our communities on issues that concern us. I figured since I was very worried about pro-choice and even more concerned about a sane pullout or reduction in forces in Iraq I should actually support a candidate who supported the issues I cared about. So I put my money where my mouth was by donating to Senator Biden’s campaign; but more importantly I flew out to Iowa to help.


New Year’s day 1 January 2008



I flew out to Des Moines, IA on at 0640 and hit the ground running. Joe’s campaign was a grassroots campaign. Its focus was about people connecting with other people and I was lucky enough to witness and to be a part of this process.


I spent the first day doing ID calls. That means I called about 300-400 registered voters and asked them if they were definitely for Joe, leaning towards supporting him, undecided, leaning towards another candidate or definitely voting for another person. Once identified, this information was coded into a database and then used to make a list for another volunteer to contact the undecided voters to discuss Joe’s position on various issues, to identify Joe supporters (a follow up call let them know their precinct caucus location) or to remove folks from a call back list.


2 January 2008



They volunteer coordinator handed me a stack of papers and asked me to make ‘persuasion’ calls to those who were still undecided. I was really nervous about this because the voters in Iowa are extremely well informed. I think they are better informed than some political analysts and campaign workers I saw on TV. Several folks explained (patiently I might add) that they liked Joe but were concerned about the viability of his numbers. They want their vote to count and want to support “THE” candidate who would win not only the primary and the democratic nomination, but also be able to beat who ever the republicans chose as their candidate. These people knew the issues inside and out and are passionate about politics.


I stated with the script and a 3-page position paper which was provided to all of the precinct captains (i.e., those who said they would support Joe during the actual caucus process). I was able to talk to many different people about Senator Biden’s record, experience, position on various issues and several signed on to support him.


The volunteer coordinators for the campaign decided to send all of the out-of-state volunteers to different caucuses. We would act/serve as Precinct Captains for the Biden Campaign. At 7pm we attended a conference call where the strategy for the caucus was laid out. We had several major goals and everyone had to understand them. Afterwards, we all headed to Caribou Coffee at Ingersoll and 32nd for a meeting of the Des Moines Precinct Captains. The information came fast and furious; I started to really get nervous.


3 January 2008 , Caucus Day

I made calls persuasion calls or calls reminding Biden supporters that it was caucus day and also telling them to location of their caucus. I did this until late afternoon. In one instance I got a man to commit to supporting Joe through at least the first round to help make Joe viable. When the man I called asked me to pass on a message to Joe I was able to do even better…I had Joe’s daughter, Ashley, call him and talk to him about his concerns. At the end of the call he’d committed to supporting and voting for Joe the entire way. That made my day.


I talked to Ashley about my nervousness in identifying the fact that I was a republican, she was wonderful. She explained that telling folks I was one and giving my personal reasons for supporting her father was a hugely compelling argument for voting for her father. I had told several folks on the phones that I was a republican and had travelled to Iowa to support Senator Biden but only a few people at the Biden For President Headquarters knew about this.


I believe with all my heart that Senator Biden would have pulled the independent block of voters as well as the man liberal republicans like myself. In fact, Henry a volunteer from Baltimore is an independent who traveled on his own dime like many of us did to help with the campaign.
Initially I was asked by three college students to go with them to a town about 40 miles west of Des Moines, IA. I cleared it with the coordinators and was almost ready to leave when I was asked to go to another precinct with Dan and Tom from New York. There were 11 delegates at stake and no precinct captain to help the Biden supportors so we headed to Carlisle, IA.


Controlled Chaos.

The Iowa caucus is a study in controlled chaos. All non-voting caucus folks are observers and the rules governing their activities and behaviours during the actual caucus are at the disgression of the Precinct Chairperson. Although it might sound like its based on whim this system actually allows the Precinct Chair significant flexibility. Our Chairperson Mark was responsible for both precincts. He was a great guy but a little overwhelmed since they had no way of identifying the 10+ observers. He asked us once things got underway to sit on the stage.

Mark told me that they weren’t expecting anyone from the Biden campaign, he sent us to the first two rows in the auditorium. Precinct 1 was on my right and Precinct 2 was on my left. The rows were split down the middle by the flag. They allowed anyone inside the building by 7pm to register to vote. In fact, as long as you qualified, you could register to vote on the day of the caucus and you could also elect/chose to change your party affiliation etc. It was amazing. Add even more confusion with the fact that the republican caucus was in the school’s media center and there was also a wrestling match scheduled too. Amazing!


The actual caucus got underway around 7:30 when they announced the numbers for Precinct 1 and 2. The numbers are important because they are used to determine the number of voters needed to make a candidate viable (i.e., give him a delegate). In this case the magic number was 15% of those present. The Chair in charge of Precinct 1 seemed unable to count and he gave the incorrect number of 26. Later this number was changed to 24 which I was told should never happen, and the Edwards, Clinton, and Obama camps could have protested in order to get another delegate. In precinct 1 there were only two Biden supporters. I explained our strategy to them, both ended up moving into another candidate’s groupings fairly quickly.


For the Second Precinct we had more but still not enough for viability (we needed 28 in this one). Again we asked them to stand fast until the last moment (there are 30 minutes between counts and there is a LOT of horse trading on numbers during this time) and then eventually sent most of them to the Obama camp. This was done in this district because we didn’t have viability and were unable to coordinate an uncommitted candidate. So, I looked at the numbers and decided that the Clinton camp and the Edwards camp had the largest numbers so they were sent to Obama to even things out.


The only thing that disappointed me was having another candidate’s precinct co-captain lie to me about the some information on CNN. He claimed the Senator provided guidance on CNN about what to do if he was non-viable. I looked at him like he’d lost his mind, what would he know about our campaign’s strategy, why would we put it on CNN and more importantly, why would he resort to lying just to get a few bodies for his candidate?


Frankly it was a total turn off. In the event that that candidate wins the democratic nomination I would ensure I voted against them. Why? Because when I spoke with that candidate’s out of town volunteers they’d told me that only the precinct captains knew their particular strategies. I have to assume that the co-captain had been told to do this. I know all is fair in love and war or in this case, politics but why lie on something that was so easy to verify? It was stupid.


What did I learn about the Iowa Caucus?

Well besides the fact that its a once in a life time experience (unless you live there) it’s all about horse trading and putting your candidate out there during the actual caucus. Precinct Captains are expected to be able to get up and discuss their candidate and why he/she is the best choice. And the audience is more informed than almost any you will see.


At a caucus there are a huge group of folks that will mill between candidates, a great deal of non-committed folks as well as folks who just want to be in the largest mob. So anything is possible; as evidenced by Kerry’s win in 2004. In 2004 Kerry was trailing at the polls, yet he won the primary. Also, in both 92 and 96 there were more uncommitted delegates than delegates for specific candidates. Even in this primary, uncommitted delegates came ahead of at least one candidate.


The Aftermath



Senator Biden needed to beat Governor Richardson to make it into the New Hampshire debates. He’s such a fine debater that I assumed he would come off extremely well. Unfortunately our efforts weren’t enough and he came in 5th place.

There was a party scheduled to begin at 9pm at the Science Center in Des Monies. We drove from Carlise, IA made a brief stop to visit a friend of mine at the media center and then headed to the party. I knew the initial results at the 70% point due to another friend’s call, when we arrived someone mentioned that the Senator was going to head to New Hampshire anyways, so that made me one happy camper.


Sadly, halfway through his speech (I was literally standing right in front of his podium) when I realized his wife Jill was trying hard not to cry that was when I understood it was a concession speech. I felt pretty sad. The Senator thanked us for the help, love and support. He then walked through the packed hall to shake hands, sign posters and convey his personal thanks in a wonderfully personal way.

When he got to me, I hugged him and then he signed my poster. I told him at that point that I was a “Republican for Biden”, he smiled and said, “I love you!” imagine that! Senator Joe Biden is a great man and the fact that he is no longer running for President is a loss for our country. I hope that who ever wins the election considers him on their short list for Secretary of State since he’d be phenomenal.