Tricounty DFA Update: Saratoga For Keehn, Take the Pledge, more
Hello Everyone!

In this update:

1. Saratoga DFA-Linkup endorses Val Keehn
2. Take The Pledge
3. Gore Will Not Run
4. Washington Demonstration Pictures
5. Bernie Sanders Wants Us To Send a Message To Sweeney
6. Cooking With The Candidate
7. Call On Bush Daughters To Enlist
8. Bill McKibben
9. Electric Cars
10. On The Lighter Side


The Saratoga group had a successful meeting last Tuesday night and endorsed Valerie Keehn For Mayor. Val attended the DFA training weekend in Syracuse last July and her primary victory really showed its value! Here is the release:

SARATOGA SPRINGS DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA
UNANIMOUSLY ENDORSES VAL KEEHN FOR MAYOR

Wednesday, October 11 – Valerie Keehn, Democratic candidate for Mayor of Saratoga Springs, was unanimously endorsed last night by the Saratoga Springs Democracy for America Link-Up (formerly Meet-Up). With a broad base of grassroots support, Valerie Keehn has built an innovative and creative campaign that is drawing both Republicans and Democrats to her side. She believes that effective local government must be open, inclusive and transparent and that the people of the city, utilizing the knowledge of experts, must participate in the solution of city problems.

Affordable and workforce housing and fair and equitable assessments are among Valerie Keehn’s top campaign issues. She also vows to fight over-development by revising and tightening development standards. She wants new construction to maintain the character of the city’s historic downtown, maintain the green-belt around the city and encourage small local businesses. She supports using Saratoga Lake as an additional water source while at the same time keeping its recreational uses intact. She wants the City to have a voice in all the larger issues that concern its residents, e.g. the racing franchise, sales tax and others.

Valerie Keehn is a DFA –trained candidate who exemplifies all of those values that Howard Dean has tried to bring to American politics. Although a newcomer to politics, she won the Democratic primary with a sizeable margin. She has received the endorsements of Eliot Spitzer, Senator Charles Schumer, Congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand, MS Magazine (Gloria Steinam) and numerous local leaders.

Valerie Keehn chooses concensus-building as the way of finding solutions to all of the many problems of our City. Her issues are those that concern the people of the City and her goal is to create a City in which the residents have a voice and can afford to live.

2. Take The Pledge

Most of the people who came into this movement, which started as the Howard Dean campaign, but also eventually included supporters of other anti-war candidates like Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark, came into it out of our anger over the War in Iraq.

DFA in Burlington has put a major new initiative online: they are asking not just candidates but everyone to "take the pledge" on Iraq, that: 1. Acknowledge that the U.S. was misled into the war in Iraq
2. Advocate for a responsible exit plan with a timeline
3. Support our troops at home and abroad

If you haven't signed, you should pledge tonight: http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/petition/iraqpledge/
There is also a great interactive map where you can see where and the first name of who has signed: http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/local/

3. Gore Will Not Run

Poignant news comes tonight that President-Elected Al Gore has ruled out another run for the Presidency, at least for 2008. However, President-Elected Gore tore into Bush with uncommon fury, laying out how America would have been a different and entirely better country if Justice had been done. When you read these words it's almost heartbreaking to think what might have been:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-main-6-l2&flok=FF-APO-1131&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20051012%2F1332671703.htm&sc=1131

4. Washington Demonstration Picture

Pictures of the big demonstration against the war in Washington on Sept. 24 are coming in. Check out this one on our blog:
http://townmeetingday.blogspot.com/2005/10/washington-demonstration-pics.html

On the subject of demonstrations, Kimberly noted at the last meeting that there will be a another big demonstration in Boston on 10/29. She is going. For more info: http://www.oct29.org/wst_page8.html

5. Bernie Sanders Wants Us To Send a Message To Sweeney

Our neighbor and future Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is asking us to send a message to John Sweeney protesting the Patriot Act and its provisions to secretly search library and bookstore records. There is no conceivable national security need for these police state powers. Let Sweeney hear about it! http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/patriotact

6. Cooking With The Candidate

This in from Pell:

WHAT: Cooking With The Candidate
FOR: Event for Joanne Yepsen, running for Supervisor
WHERE: Cameleon on the Lake
WHEN: Sunday, October 16th, 12:00-2:00PM

DOES YOUR CHILD LIKE TO COOK?!

Kids 4 years and up will help prepare the food and raise money for a local charity of their choice! The kids will take a cooking class with owners Richard and Ann Marie of Chameleon on the Lake, and then prepare and serve lunch to their parents. The kids will decide how much of their tips go to a local charity.

While enjoying the meal, meet and hear from Joanne Yepsen, candidate for City Supervisor on the County Board who will outline her A-B-C approach to preserving our quality of life.

$10.00 per adult; children are free. If you and your children would like to participate:
RSVP to Carrie Hansen at (518) 469-6515 by Oct. 14th

7. Call On Bush Daughters To Enlist

This in tonight: call on the Bush daughters to enlist! Buzzflash.com has put up a petition for the many Bush siblings and cousins to enlist to fight the Bushco War. It's only fair, isn't it? http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/08/edi05061.html

8. Bill McKibben

Harvey sends this really interesting piece by famous environmental author Bill McKibben, who lives nearby in Ripton, Vermont, on how hollow and inauthentic the religious right's claims are that America is a "Christian Nation". If anything at all, we worship the Golden Calf and the money changers are in charge of the temple. http://www.harpers.org/ExcerptTheChristianParadox.html

McKibben will be speaking on environmental issues at the Crandall Library in downtown Glens Falls on Oct. 26th, which is something to look forward to.

9. Electric Cars

McKibben I am sure would endorse this exhaustive dKos post on electric cars. The technology is obviously far more along than we might believe; non-polluting, cheap to run and energy independent electric cars are a real alternative. I could go on but it is better to simply dig in -- I found it revelatory: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/11/63745/864

10. On The Lighter Side

Finally, Linda sends this along, and it is great: http://www.wimp.com/presidential/

For more on the same check this Washington Post account:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101577.html

Maybe it's because of this! The majority would want Bush Impeached? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/11/171040/56

That should make us all feel better,

Thanks everyone,

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:47 PM