Merrick Press Conference, Spitzer in Fort Edward, More
Hello Everyone;

In This Update:

1. Merrick Press Conference Wednesday
2. Spitzer In Fort Edward Wednesday Night
3. DFA Candidates Win And Show The Way
4. Beltway Kleptocrats Wrecking Democratic Party?
5. What A Real Winning Ad Looks Like
6. Keith Olbermann: "Is Bush trying to cover his ass on war crimes?"
7. Tabling and Canvassing Saturday: Gillibrand may attend
8. Rockhill & DFA Together On Robert Greenwald's new Iraq For Sale Film
9. Friday Progressive Film Fest

1. Merrick Press Conference Wednesday

This Wednesday, September 20th at 11:15am, Democratic State Senate Tim Merrick will be holding the second in a weekly series of press conferences in downtown Glens Falls at the historic bandstand in City Park in front of the Queensbury Hotel.

This bandstand was the site of Attorney General Robert Kennedy's legendary first (and second) visit to Glens Falls during his run for the United States Senate seat for New York. That visit, at about this time in September, was one of the biggest events Glens Falls has ever seen.

We're asking everyone to please come and show our support for Tim! We hardly expect the crowd RFK got, but if you have an hour in the morning to come, it would be a great help to Tim.

In Glens Falls we got our school taxes this week, and people are talking. At last week's conference Tim unveiled an innovative program to reduce property taxes, by having the state assume all medicaid costs, the way 48 other states do, and fund education with income, not property taxes. It was worth the trip!

For directions or to RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=13087

Again, that's Wednesday, September 20 at 11:15am.

2. Spitzer In Fort Edward Wednesday Night

Our Washington County Democratic Chair Sheila Comar is very pleased to invite all interested Democrats and voters to join Eliot Spitzer, NY Attorney General and Gubernatorial Candidate, on Wednesday, September 20th, at the Washington County Democratic Headquarters at 143 Broadway in Ft. Edward from 7 PM until 9 PM.

Sheila says, "Congratulate Eliot on his recent Primary victory. Spitzer wants to hear from you, share your ideas about Jobs, Reform, Education, Property Taxes, Health Care and more."

Refreshments will be served. For more information, please call 747-9310 or 642-9566.

3. DFA Candidates Win And Show The Way

(There was a bit of a cut and paste error in a few of my last message-- that was meant for this update, and here is the full version. Your indulgence is respectfully requested!)

DFA endorsed candidates across the country did really well on Primary Day.

To the south of us, in the 19th Congressional District, John Hall (you may remember him as the rocker/songwriter) had a smashing victory over a three person field:

Hall Aydelott Shuldiner Rigger

10141 5627 3327 1851

which gave Hall about 49% of this mixed field.

So Hats Off to our DFA colleagues in Westchester, Dutchess and Rockland Counties, especiallyDemocracy For Westchester, who worked very closely with Hall and his campaign to make this happen: Hall and DFA were a real team.

Also, in New Hampshire, DFA member Carol Shea-Porter went up against a DCCC endorsed candidate and won 54-36, despite being outspent 5-1. Her victory proves it isn't about money, and I quote from an update on dKos:

"In the eyes of the establishment politicians, Carol Shea-Porter was not supposed to win. That is why folks in Washington never returned the campaign's calls. The DCCC selected her opponent, shipped up campaign talent and had incumbent Congress members stump on Jim Craig's behalf--IN A PRIMARY.
But it was obvious by the results of the primary that the DCCC picked the wrong horse and they should recognize that there is something special in the grass roots campaign that just beat them silly in the NH 1st

Carol Shea-Porter can defeat Republican Jeb Bradley. She is a long-time activist that has closely followed Bradley and understands not only his record, but his psyche.


4. Beltway Kleptocrats Wrecking Democratic Party?

Drew sent me this, and it dovetails nicely with Carol Shea-Porter's experience above. This comes from www.mydd.com and its about the growing anger at the kleptocracy of connected inside the Beltway consultants who go out, profit greatly off the contributions of average Democrats, and fly one campaign after another right into the side of a cliff, including campaings we should and could, and would've easy won.

The wreckage we see is not a pretty sight.

As a Party and a movement we have got to find a way to rein in these corrupt, self-serving and self-dealing consultants. I suppose you could argue that does not matter if they win. The problem is, they don't, because as we have see again and again, they are incompetent. Sure-- they can get Hillary Clinton elected. Like that's a big challenge!

Read it and weep.


"New 527 Ripoff Schemes from 'Top Democratic Strategists'

by Matt Stoller, Thu Sep 14, 2006 at 07:34:09 PM EST

Ok, so Harold Ickes is trying to raise $25 million for a new 527 to focus on field and advertising. Rahm Emanuel is hiring the Bob Shrum of field operations, Michael Whouley, to run his DCCC field plan. And another 527 with a presumed budget of $8-10 million is being run by former DNC bigwigs Martin Frost, Tony Coehlo, Joe Andrew, and Don Fowler.

Ok, let's look at what's going on here.

Ickes is tied into the Hillary Clinton axis and the Glover Park Group, which was busted today lobbying for the Dubai Ports deal. Ickes is behind the disastrous Datamart voterfile project, which is project managed by Laura Quinn, the person who screwed up Demzilla in 2004 under Terry McAuliffe and was somehow hired again to screw up another voterfile.

Whouley has a massive telecom contract through his firm Dewey Square, which is tasked with passing the Stevens bill eviscerating net neutrality. He's been all over losing Presidential campaigns, most recently Kerry's in 2004. And he's not only in charge of the DCCC field plan, but he's also managed to convince donors to give him $3 million to map out yet another losing Presidential field strategy in 2008.

And of course, Tony Coehlo really takes the cake. Coehlo more than any individual is responsible for the decline of the Democratic Party - he literally has his fingerprints all over every moral and political debacle of the last twenty five years, from the introduction of rivers of business PAC money into the party in 1982 to the Congressional loss of 1994 to Gore's snatching of defeat from the jaws of victory in 2000. In the process, Coehlo had to leave Congress under a cloud of scandal, and became a millionaire almost instantly after he left. Hmm.

Seriously, donors need to be retrained. Why are they giving money to the people responsible for putting the party in the awful shape it is in? These people are not as famous as Bob Shrum, but they should be. These are the people that are anonymous senior strategists leaking to the New York Times about how worried they are about Democrats taking a stand on this issue or that one (often with undisclosed financial conflicts of interest), or getting Adam Nagourney to write process pieces about Howard Dean's questionable stewardship of the DNC. These are the people that buy broadcast and waste buckets of cash paying off their media buyer and pollster friends/business partners. This is the all white mostly male circuit that is alienating minority Democratic influentials through their insular arrogance.

This is the establishment. And they are not winners, unless you consider getting Bob Shrum a new boat a victory for the Democratic Party.

Just so you know."

5. What A Real Winning Ad Looks Like

Check out the Vote Vets ad on this page. It's an example of the creativity that's possible when you break outside the Beltway kleptocracy. This is widely regarded as the best ad of the season. So it is no surprise it's makers have been blown off by the DCCC and the rest of the beltway boys.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/15/121916/583

6. Keith Olbermann: "Is Bush trying to cover his ass on war crimes?"

MSNBC reporter and commentator Keith Olbermann is turning into a national treasure. In this video he asks the big question-- is Bush pushing his new torture legislation to protect himself from future war crimes charges?

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Video_Bush_rants_at_reporters_in_0916.html

7. Tabling and Canvassing Saturday: Gillibrand may attend

We will again be tabling at the Farmer's Market on South Street in downtown Glens Falls this Saturday, September 23rd from at least 9am (and possibly 8am) until about 11am. This is a great way to inform everyone about our candidates: there's nothing better than personally connecting with voters.

We may have a special guest at the Farmer's Market: our Congressional candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand, is scheduled to join us! So-- Bring a friend to meet Kirsten! For more info and to RSVP go to: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=11212

Last week a group of us went canvassing door to door in Glens Falls' Fifth Ward after the tabling. Visiting voters at their door is the best thing we can do to build our party and advance our candidates. Come and join us at 11am at the Farmer's Market as we organize the canvass; we need all your help!

8. Rockhill & DFA Together On Robert Greenwald's new Iraq For Sale Film

Many of us will remember Robert Greenwald's previous work like Outfoxed and Walmart: The High Price Of The Low Price, which we showed last year.

This year DFA National is sponsoring Greenwald's newest and possibly most timely video-- Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. Iraq For Sale takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. The film uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who let it happen. Halliburton, Dick Cheney and Republican leaders everywhere don't want you to see this movie.

We initially needed 15 people to RSVP to get our own free copy of Iraq For Sale. However, Matt Funiciello has already purchased copies for the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Night Progressive Film Festival! So we don't need to get our own copies, instead we can join with the Matt and the Cafe by endorsing its showing Iraq For Sale.

The showing dates will be in October 13 and 20. To RSVP or get more info: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132
and for the 20th: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=12132

So-- Three Cheers for Matt and the Cafe!

There is a great post today on Tom Paine.com on the issue of Iraq profiteering, if you want to get a head start-- it's a pretty exhaustive review: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/09/18/exposing_the_war_profiteers.php

9. Friday Progressive Film Fest

This week the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe's Friday Progressive Film Fest begins a three week special festival of films from India. All programs begin at 8pm.

Sept 22 CHORDS ON THE RICHTER SCALE (2004) Documentary
Gujrati-Hindi (EST) Director - Shyam Rajankar 47 min.
Imagine India at the beginning of the 21st century. The ruling government is a coalition led by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), which is a right-wing political alliance reviving/exacerbating communal (inter-religious/inter-ethnic) conflict. The Western state of Gujrat is hit by a massive earthquake (9.7 on the Richter scale), centered in the Kutch region. The film documents the manner by which discrimination, oppression and disparity operate in the provision of relief and rehabilitation through the work of the BJP government and the organizations of the higher caste
Hindus. Specifically the focus is on housing, food, clothing plus other daily necessities denied to the lower castes, dalits and minorities (read Muslim). Often humanitarian aid is turned around to become a means of oppression of the disadvantaged. More recently such oppression is illustrated in the case of the victims of the Tsunami and the earthquake in Kashmir.

RADIATING LIES (2005) Documentary
Hindi (EST & English Commentary) Director Jujhar Singh 45 min.
Energy crisis is a prominent media item – gasoline prices hovering around $3.00/gallon, so-called shortages of supply, global instability (especially in major crude oil producing areas), rising energy demand and continuing wars in several regions of the globe. These conditions have revived an interest in nuclear energy – military and peaceful. India, since the 1970’s, has been a nuclear power. In the past decade the government of India has increased its activity to develop nuclear resources. An important component of the nuclear revival is mining operations to access/recover uranium. The media only marginally covers human consequences of the nuclear industry. ‘Radiating Lies’ is an important contribution covering the consequences in one region
of East Central India – Jharkand, Orissa and West Bengal. The consequences being environmental pollution, deadly exposure to radiation and displacement of the rural population. Through candid interviews, hard-hitting commentary expert witness depositions the film shows the devastation wrought among the people of this region of India.


Thanks everyone! Don't forget Hudson Fall's Democratic Mayor David Carter is running for the 112th Assembly District seat and has also created a candidate's page on DFA-Link: http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1979

See you soon!

Larry
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 6:44 PM