The last three months with Driving Votes, organizing trips, coordinating activists and working with other progressive, activists organizations has all come down to these last 5 days. From the looks of the polls and the movement over the past weeks.....we have all done our job well.

Now comes the most critical part, and all our past efforts no longer matter. I have heard many times over the last few weeks "voting is not enough". We have too much at stake and each and everyone of us has to find a way to help bring about the defeat of the most despictable administration that our country has seen since Harding. We can allow no further erosion of the values and rights that make us all so very proud to be Americans.

Here's to a great progressive and Democratic Victory on Tuesday!

Today we find out that 380 tons of explosives are now missing in Iraq. Explosives that the UN had monitored until the U.S. invaded Iraq. How do you lose 380 freakin’ tons of explosives! Wasn’t there any effort to coordinate with the UN in regards to known explosives locations? This is just another example of horrendous planning and execution on the Administration’s part. But the Administration’s response is merely to blow it off…..there are tons of this stuff available across the globe and its not even nuclear material. What kind of convoluted response is that? I’m paraphrasing, but read it for yourself online at the New York Times .

Anybody who still thinks we are safer under W is simply ignoring the evidence that suggests his blunders have now put our troops, Americans overseas and American’s at home in more jeopardy.

By the way, I understand that the Oil Ministry in Baghdad is still safe and secure….maybe more attention should be paid elsewhere.

How ridiculous was this bill? Well leasing businesses of aircraft and vessels received $995 million, NASCAR received $101 million and a special provision was provided for General Electric (owner of NBC). You can read about some of the other blatant gifts to Corporate America at Taxpayers for Common Sense

Two thoughts come to mind when I read about this kowtowing to artificial entities (corporations) as we continue to burden the middle class in America:

1. We need campaign finance reform more than ever in this country. Corporations should no longer control the political agenda that affects the working people of this great nation.

2. Under Bush, our country now appears to be further down the road to economic fascism,a merging of political and corporate power and interests, than ever. In the article "Economic Fascism", Thomas J. DiLorenzo wrote: “One of the most outspoken American fascists was economist Lawrence Dennis. In his 1936 book, The Coming American Fascism, Dennis declared that defenders of "18th-century Americanism" were sure to become "the laughing stock of their own countrymen" and that the adoption of economic fascism would intensify "national spirit" and put it behind "the enterprises of public welfare and social control." The big stumbling block to the development of economic fascism, Dennis bemoaned, was "liberal norms of law or constitutional guarantees of private rights."

Those of us who so fervently believe in the liberal norms of law and our constitutional guarantees must work harder than ever to ensure we impede the progress of a corporate fascist state. The work begins on November 2nd and must continue from there!

Despite a few vehicle problems, we arrived in Orlando after 23 hours, caught two hours of sleep and were ready to hit the streets. Like most campaign trips I’ve made, accommodations require volunteers to be quite flexible. In our house, we numbered 16 people, 7 beds, 1 sofa sleeper, plenty of floor space and two bathrooms….one with a clogged shower drain. These conditions result generally help enhance the memories as well as future stories to be told.

On both Saturday and Sunday we all worked two shifts canvassing selected neighborhoods in the suburban area southeast of Orlando. We received some quick training, a rundown on important issues in Florida, our walk list, map, script and literature.

The area that I worked on Saturday was adjacent to Disney World (I’ll refrain from any negative remarks concerning this media giant that seems intent on the re-election of W) called Celebration. It is a “Pleasantville” type of community developed by Disney. In the “strange but true” category, we were told that at one point Disney hired people to walk the streets to help reflect its image as a small town Americana village. It was an eerie experience for canvassing.

On Sunday, I walked a lower middle class area in a small town called St. Cloud. Some of the damage to the homes and trees was still very evident there. Despite demographics that would point to a good Democratic area, we were quite surprised to find support for W in the area. We concluded that these are the NASCAR types to which W appeals.

Perhaps my most unusual contact was an undecided woman who has a son returning to Iraq for a second time. Her son serves in the Special Forces and supports W as a result of pay increases and other benefits he’s received under Bush. The woman’s quandary was voting her heart or voting to support her son’s feelings. I spent a few minutes discussing my own concerns as the father of 18 and 16 year old sons with a son-in-law who may be deployed to Iraq as well. I hope she decides to vote her heart in this case.

After our long day Sunday, we met at a local TGIF with about 20 staff and volunteers from the LCV. We had the patio to ourselves, all 70 of us, except for a small table of Bush supporters who for the most part fell a bit out of their environment. I say for the most part because one of them was a bit inebriated and periodically yelled out anti-Kerry and pro-Bush remarks. We found it rather humorous and ignored it for the most part, but his wife was very embarrassed and actually left at one point. We did manage to provide a round of applause when he finally left with a chorus of Kerry chants.

As we enjoyed our dinner, the LCV number crunchers quickly compile some numbers for us. Here were the results:
- over 9,000 doors knocked
- over 1,200 new strong Kerry supporters identified

An unbelievable result for two days of hard work by a wonderful crew of motivated Texans. Some of the volunteers were so motivated, they stayed behind….we had 5 additional empty seats on the way home as a result!

All in all, another tremendous experience in our efforts to make a difference in an important swing state in the upcoming election. For those who have not gone on such a trip, it is very difficult to explain the sense of fulfillment that comes with such a trip and the comradery you develop with your fellow volunteers. We have already exchanged emails and many of us are getting together to watch the final debate tomorrow. In addition, a number of the volunteers will be checking out Driving Votes to take part in trips scheduled over the next few weeks.

FLORIDA WILL BE BLUE ON NOVEMBER TWO!

Take a look at this article from MSNBC

Think about it….oil at a record high….and gasoline not?

Maybe we can thank the Bush/Cheney big oil relationships for the temporary respite in gasoline prices despite the highest oil prices ever. After all, hitting the pockets of consumers with the highest gas prices ever would certainly be detrimental to the re-election efforts of Bush/Cheney given the state of affairs in Iraq and Bush’s recently fumbling in the first debate.

Perhaps I should not be so skeptical and enjoy this temporary gift to the American people from Big Oil and the Saudis. Time will tell if my presumptions are correct. The third quarter results of Big Oil, to be released over the next few days, may foretell us what to expect. If we don’t see significant increases in revenues and profits compared to the second quarter and the third quarter last year, start saving for the large increase in gasoline coming after November 2nd!

The renewed energy and invigoration provided by last night debate is just what we needed as 7 of us start our journey to Albuquerque for the Driving Votes Action Weekend. Thank you W for making our job this weekend much easier!

In case you missed it, by the way. Just minutes before the start of the debate, the GOP controlled House issued an admonishment of Tom Delay for attempting to trade his endorsement of a candidate for a vote on the Medicare Bill passed last year. More sneaky dirty tricks from a despicable human being.

The bottom line is let’s stay determined and work as hard as ever. This election is like a marathon, each candidate’s lead will ebb and flow, but we have to keep our energy up for the rest of the race...which is only 40 more days.

Lately, I’m beginning to believe there may really be coordination occurring by the media and interested corporations to protect the Bush Administration. However, I’m not quite sure what the driving force or interest might be.

If you are like me and had a difficult time understanding how Bush’s lead has been growing in the last few Gallup Polls, take a look at this post. Make sure you take a look at the comments from Zogby at the link to his web site. Sure makes you wonder why Gallup is taking such an unorthodox approach than other pollsters.

The infuriating thing is that people read these skewed polls and let it affect their enthusiasm for the Kerry campaign and upcoming election. I’ve seen it the last few days as I’ve canvassed and spoke to people. WE ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT LET THAT HAPPEN.

On the one hand, we have John Kerry, a product of a privileged life with a Yale education, who chose to enlist and volunteer for Vietnam. You can debate whether this was part of his grand plan to resume build for public service, but the bottom line is he put his life on the line. Resume building means nothing if you’re killed in action. In my book, he was and is a very courageous man.

On the other hand, we have George Bush, also a product of privileged life with a Yale education, who chose to use the influence of his congressman father to preclude being drafted. Truly a “Fortunate Son” as profiled by John Fogerty in the old CCR tune. It’s unfortunate that in our great country money, power and influence mean something, but George Bush did not stop there. Instead, he had to push the envelope. He stopped showing up, he refused to take his physical (I won’t even begin to surmise why) and “transferred out” to work on a political campaign never to be seen again and then…..honorably discharged. Part of the irony is that he was reported to be AWOL from the political campaign he was working on as well!

So why does this matter when it all happened 35 years ago? Well in my view it matters for several reasons:

1. How can a President send our young men and women to Iraq, in an illegally conjured up and poorly planned war, when our Commander in Chief did not even complete his own

2. What gives a President the right to bring heartbreak to the loved ones of over 1,000 slain troops when he himself sought to avoid defending his country when he was called upon?

3. What gives a President a right to tell terrorists and insurgents to “bring it on” and to fly in full flight suit regala and declare “Mission Accomplished” when he lacked the courage to take on America’s enemies firsthand when he had his opportunity.

4. And what kind of President with this background, would brazenly declare that he had served honorably and allow and most likely encourage his “pork barreled” cronies to attack the military record of someone who indeed had served his country with courage and honor.

Character and honor is not something that comes to an individual suddenly at age 40 when he finds God and gives up his substance abused ways. Character is displayed throughout one’s life beginning at an early age.

The farewell party for my daughter went very well, I am so very proud of her and what she is willing to sacrifice for those who are not as fortunate as she. She will be in charge of developing a health care program for a small Tanzanian village and coordinating the construction of a health care facility for the village. A very noble cause indeed….but forgive me for noticing, I’ll think she’ll miss good old American beer!

Phase one of the St. Louis voter registration took place at a Native American Pow Wow with volunteers from the St. Louis Driving Votes chapter. Before I left for the event, I had an opportunity for a little research on modern Native American life in America. I was surprised to find out that the first female soldier killed in Iraq was a Native American, a fatality in the same group as Jessica Lynch. Not surprisingly, education levels among Native Americans are the lowest among minority groups while poverty and unemployment rates are the highest. I think its very fitting that perhaps many Native American tribes are finally getting a bit of payback with the financially successful casinos they run across the country. White man’s greed took away most of what they had…and now white man’s greed is providing a nice source of revenue for fortunate tribes.

The business portion of the trip has taken me to southern Ohio and central Indiana over the past two days. Both are havens for a number of religious right Republicans. While searching for the local NPR station on my ride from Columbus to Cincinnati, I found four religious broadcasts, three Rush Limbaugh broadcasts and two Bill O’Reilly broadcasts. Man, do I wish I had my “Nobody Died when Clinton Lied” sticker on my rental car!

Personal thanks to Bush, Cheney and Zell Miller, arguably the angriest and meanest man alive, for all the fine future posting material! When I saw Killer Miller speak, his face and demeanor sure looked familiar http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/04/09/ana04017.html Wow…he really is the persona of evil!!

Despite the plentiful material to discuss, I want to use this post to discuss a report issued by the Census Bureau last week while the GOP and Bush Administration trumpeted its economic success over the past four years.

The report stated that the number of Americans living in poverty jumped to 35.9 million in 2003, up by 1.3 million, while the number of Americans without health care insurance rose to 45 million, up from 43.6 million in 2002. The Census Bureau also reported that the share of aggregate income for the lowest 20 percent of Americans fell to 3.4 percent from 3.5 percent. (Refer to my earlier post about the Fragmenting of America)

Not surprisingly, children and racial minorities are doing worse than the overall population:

-The rate of child poverty rose to 17.6 percent from 16.7 percent in 2002 increasing the number of poor children to 12.9 million.

-The poverty rate of African Americans remains nearly twice the national rate, with 24.4 percent of blacks living below the poverty line in 2003, slightly higher from 24.1 percent a year earlier.

-Households with Hispanics reported a decline in median income of 2.6 percent.

-Women saw a decline in their earnings for the first time since 1995, falling 0.6 percent to $30,724, decreasing the female-to-male earnings ratio to 76 cents on the dollar.

The report also indicated that health care coverage also dropped last year with the number of Americans living without insurance jumped 1.4 million last year.

I am not at all surprised that the Bush speech writers would have ignored this report in preparing Bush’s acceptance speech. But if you were as unfortunate as me to have heard his speech, you understand how utterly despicable I find this President when he smirkily claims progress on the economy and healthcare. Luckily for Bush and his advisors we do have a separation of church and state in the US…..most pious church goers do not take likely to such grievous mistruths!

After a very late dinner to check out the New Mexico version of Mexican food (as compared to Tex/Mex) we headed over to the home of our wonderful host from the local ACT office. The welcoming entourage included four cats, three chickens, two dogs, fish, turtles and of course our wonderful hosts Richard and Jessica. Despite the rigors of a long and tiring day, we seem to have plenty of energy to discuss the state of politics and a number of liberal and progressive issues to the wee hours of the morning.

The next morning we found our way over to the ACT office, with an obligatory stop at Starbucks for some java and an email check. The office brought back memories of campaigns past for me and filled me with energy and excitement as we prepared to canvass selected precincts. The ACT office was really together and perhaps the most surprising thing for me was that voter records for each precinct were downloaded into Palm Pilots, which we then used as we canvassed. How things change in just 15 years!

Cindy and Ezra teamed up to cover the larger of the two precincts. Cindy is truly an amazing woman….at 63 years old she has been an activist for many years including active as a WTO and NAFTA protester. Ezra on the other hand is simply a marvelous young man and relatively new to politics, being one of those prompted to activism via the policies of the Bush Administration. I teamed up with a local volunteer to tackle a smaller precinct since I would be on my own for the second half of the day.

The precincts we covered were adjacent to each other with very similar demographic profiles…middle class with a mix of Democrats and Republicans. We spent over 7 hours out in the field and had several stories to exchange at the end of the day. There were several occasions when we would canvas a Democrat who seemed a bit discouraged by the prospects of the election. However, when we told them we had come all the way from Austin Texas and gave a bit of a pep talk, it seemed to have an uplifting effect. At the same time, we ran across several voters who bluntly indicated they were tired of all the calls and canvassing. In those cases, we would politely apologize and move on…. c'est la vie.

After we completed our canvassing we ran over to the University of New Mexico to hear Ralph Nader. It was the first time that Ezra and I had the pleasure of hearing him speak but Cindy has heard him several times. It was a very interesting meeting with a number of Green Party members and other supporters. There was some debate about his being in the race and the effect on the chances of the Kerry/Edwards ticket….but one thing was clear to me, even with a Kerry/Edwards victory, progressive Democrats need to keep pushing to wrestle our political system back from the Corporations and big money interests to retake the national political agenda in our country. Real campaign finance, term limits and changes to our antiquated Electoral Voting system may be just a few of the measures needed to accomplish that objective.

On Sunday we got a bit later start and were joined by Lisa, a young lady from Dallas that had been visiting Santa Fe. We had a shorter day since we needed to leave Albuquerque by 4:00 for the long ride home, but still made some great contacts in the precincts we worked that day. The areas we worked on Sunday were more Democratic and we were pleased to find some grassroots work being undertaken by some of the residents there.

During our two days of work, there were several occasions when we had to bite our tongues and simply walk away from Bush supporters who we happened to canvass. My two favorite examples:

- A young man told me he was supporting Bush because he liked more money in his paycheck….my response was to smile and walk away, but what I wanted to do was thank him for taking on more of the income tax burden for the large tax cuts that individuals in my tax bracket received from the Bush administration.

- An elderly lady told me that she and her husband, a WWII veteran, would be supporting Bush because of his support of the military veterans…again my response was to smile and walk away, but I wanted to inquire whether she was one of the millions of elderly losing Medicare eligibility and paying higher prescription co pays or how her husband was effected by fewer veteran benefits and VA hospital closings.

Perhaps the most shocking event of the weekend came right before we left the ACT office for our return back to Texas. We found a back office wall where the ACT staff had posted some of the return and hate mail it had received from recipients of some of the direct mail pieces. The comments, which included references to hanging the staff from the nearest tree or loping heads off, were despicable. I am so proud that we as Democrats seldom take to such outrageous threats and despicable thoughts.

Our trip back home seemed a bit longer than the trip there; we were tired at that point, but now full of hope and excitement from the wonderful weekend. The trip did include a stop in Roswell….no aliens to be found….and an unfortunate speeding ticket foe me in Tom Green County. Who on earth would name their county after some geeky Canadian comedian??

A big thanks to the ACT office in Albuquerque….Richard, Terry, Jessica, Jed, Jordan and Monica….you guys are awesome. We all hope to be back again before Election Day!

This Democratic Core Value training will feature only one muscle, the Heart, and will also feature the Eyes, Ears and Brain. Of course it would not feature the body part that most Republicans like to use the most, the Mouth. By the way, clinical testing done by Bush scientists over the past four years has proven that there is no direct correlation between the thinking part of the brain in a right-winged person and his or her mouth. Just a few minutes with Fox News is all the proof I needed.

The Democratic Core Training will involve what is referred to as compound exercises. Those are exercises which affect multiple targeted areas at the same time. One good exercise would be to send someone, President Bush for example, to the family of a young man or woman who has just been killed in Iraq to inform them of their loved one’s death. As he heard, saw and comprehended their unbelievable grief, one would hope his Heart would be rendered more feeling and compassionate and his brain more thoughtful before he ever invades another country under false pretenses again.

Another would be to spend a week in a local homeless shelter. Not just a photo op feeding some holiday meal but actually working with the dedicated volunteers who sacrifice so much for those that have so little hope and so much despair. He of course would be provided the same clothing, food and facilities as everyone else. No silver spoons available at that place!

The last exercise I’ll offer up is taking away all the assets from a typical Republican and turn him into a person of color, let’s say Attorney General Ashcroft for example. We would place him in the middle of the inner city, without food, healthcare, or shelter and see how long it would take him as a person of color to work his way out of that situation. Of course he would always have No Child Left Behind to provide all the opportunity he needed. I would bet his brain and heart would change very quickly.

These are all I’ll offer for now….I’m sure you can think of many others. As Democrats let us never forget our most important exercise…walking a mile in the other guys shoes!

The thrill of the weekend of course was a visit and speech by Governor Howard Dean, who established Democracy for America after dropping out of the race for the Democratic nomination. I was not unlike so many others that attended the training and many more that came yesterday afternoon to listen to Governor Dean. It was Howard Dean that inspired my reengagement with politics and the Democratic Party. His willingness to stand up and speak openly and frankly about progressive ideals and values at a time when the Democratic Party needed it most (i.e. when other Democratic politicians were kowtowing to Bush) touched many of us who still were willing to hold true to our liberal roots. Unfortunately, holding true to one’s liberal principles and ideals is seldom a trait that is truly admired by the general public and one which wins few votes in elections recently.

As I heard Governor Dean speak yesterday, I was truly moved by his words….to the point of being near tears (my wife will tell you that I can certainly be too emotional at times). As he spoke, I realized more than ever that we need to take our country back

…back from those who would brand all that disagree with their policies as unpatriotic

…back from those who are all too eager to join state with church, but forget how Jesus admired and blessed the poor while he admonished the rich

...back from those who are so quick to abandon the Bill of Rights but want to infuse the constitution with provisions banning matters of choice and lifestyle

Governor Dean put it very succinctly; Republicans like to run on the three G’s….. god, guns, and gays, while Democrats seek to run on important issues…..Jobs, Healthcare, and Education.

We now have less than 2 ½ months remaining before Election Day and we’ve seen that Bush is up to his old tricks and keeping the focus off of issues. We can’t let that happen. We all have to find the energy and time to get the message out….and of course that message takes on added urgency in the key swing states on which Driving Votes is focusing. If you haven’t taken a trip, sign up for one, plan one or get active locally. As we all learned in typing class (am I showing my age again?) “Now is the time for all good men (and women) to come to the aid of their country”.

First, over the past 30 years the share of wealth for the richest 20% has increased from 44% to 50%, and those statistics are prior to the effects of the huge tax cut for that same group by Bush and the Republicans last year. The poorest 20%, on the other hand, have seen their wealth decrease from 4% over that same time period. The gap between the richest “haves” and poorest “have nots” continues to grow. And that gap disproportionately reflects a difference in ethnicity.

Second, the large increase of wealth for the richest comes primarily at the expense of the middle 60%, the working middle class. In addition, this segment takes on a larger portion of the tax burden with the substantial tax reductions provided to the richest 20% as well as the substantial reduction in the corporate tax burden over the past 30 years. Since I assume that this middle 60% includes a majority of the “NASCAR Dads”, I just don’t get their solid support for the Bush Administration and the Republicans. Do they like taking on a larger share of the tax burden from the rich…..or are they just in the dark?

Third, I am a member of that richest 20%, and unlike the majority of them, a proud liberal and Democrat. What makes me different? Why am I willing to give up my tax breaks from Bush over the last few years in order to make sure we provide the same opportunity for the less fortunate in our great country? Why do I recall my own working class roots and appreciate the federal loans and grants that helped make college a reality for me? Why am I bothered more by the Corporate welfare granted to defense contractors, tobacco farmers, and energy and logging companies than by expenditures to feed the hungry, house the homeless, provide health benefits to the uninsured and educate the less fortunate? Why am I willing to share my good fortune and be aware of the needs of the less fortunate and others decry taxation of any sort and are caught up in their own little world?

Those, my friends, are the $64,000 questions for me. I don’t know the answers but they are what brought me here to Driving Votes and fuel my need and desire to be a difference in the upcoming election.