jane

Fitz

Roots!

Jane Addams !
Jane Hamsher !
(me not Tarzan!)

Well, for the dick swingers in the audience, what would you have us say?

Do you think that taking a position that we should withdraw immediately from Iraq would get us those 20 million votes?

If this isn’t a zero sum game, which positions would add to the bottom line, rather than just drop support in one area while picking up support in another?

and don’t just talk to them. Get them to the polling station! Seriously. It’s not brain surgery. Working women with children leave their homes early in the a.m. and have to get their kids out of daycare by 6:00 p.m. Then everyone is tired and whiney and hungry, and the polls close at 7 or 8.

I’ve said this so many times, I feel like I’m in a Kafka novel, but I’ll say it again: If Karl Rove can get people to the polls on church buses leaving from the churches, then why can’t our side get these women to the polls directly from the child care centers? (And feed their kids along the way.)

Christ almighty. It’s fucking GOTV people!!!
Do you hear me??????????????

We’re just one more Supreme away from losing Roe, should be one good line to argue.

I’d settle for backbone. As for Iraq, at least the dems are willing to debate the merits of any scenario. So let’s have the debate rather than the rubber stamps.

People want something/someone to vote FOR rather than vote against.

John Edwards.

in addition to GOTV, absentee ballot working is damn important. Get those votes nailed down ahead of Election Day !

they don’t count the absentee ballots unless the election is close.

The Democrats need to hold massive voter registration campaigns for women as they did for blacks in the sixties, and as lina says, make sure they get to the polls on election day. Poor women, with or without children, probably feel hopeless about voting. This is a grass-roots project in which I would be very willing to take part. Getting them to the polls is all important. Kerry supposedly registered all kinds of new voters, but they didn’t turn up.

After 2000, Rove figured out that 3 to 4 million conservative christians who were eligible to vote did not vote. He found a way to get them out to vote for you-know-who. Guess what? GWB won the 2004 popular vote by 3.5 million votes.

lina: that’s not true! absentees are indeed counted in Indiana (at least) — and if the election is going to be that close, then we need all the absentee votes we can get!

I’m pretty sure absentees are counted in most all states… is your state different?

Women Voices, Women Votes
http://www.wvwv.org/

According to the U.S. Census, 46% of all voting-age women are unmarried, and 55% of all women not registered to vote are unmarried. Fifteen million unmarried women were not registered to vote in 2004, and nearly 20 million unmarried women did not cast ballots on Election Day.

This website has a lot of research information which could help candidates reach out and speak to THE largest voting group in America

OT – stopped in at the local sports bar for a beer and bite a little while ago… the NASCAR race was on the tv… guess who was out “enjoying” the race? None other than Shooter himself!

Somehow, he doesn’t strike me as a NASCAR fan…. I thought it rather odd he got about 7 minutes of face time (in the upper right hand corner), then I realized it was Fox Sports…

These guys ARE good at marketing!

This is but one pointed side effect of the thoughtless ‘let’s pretend to be more like Republicans so the voters will like us’ swill from democratic leaders (with their pandering lip service to paternalist claptrap…Honestly, did anyone with even the smallest progressive bone in their body think that we would still see the ‘battle of the sexes’ being refought in the 21st century with the losing side in charge, for f*ck’s sake?)…More women voices being seriously considered means more women votes.

Enough with the faux macho clown act… Or it’s Lysistrata time.

Well,

Some of us fellas are sorta tired of it too. I know it’s easy to assume, with overwhelming evidence, that an extra chromosome inhibits critical thought. I see these people for what they are–hucksters. These carney-barkers, Mid-South Wrassling announcers and used car pitch men have overtaken the halls of power. And the recent SCOTUS decision removes any doubt they lack skills of governance.

Of the 20 million single women who did not vote, I wonder what the economic conditions are they are coping with? Do they have kids? Struggling to pay a light bill or “put food on the family” leaves little time for the weary to worry about politics. It’s way down on the priority list. We won’t reach them any other way than neighborly talks. I know, it’s hokey, but it’s working in my neighborhood. These are the very people who deserve our help. Let’s reach out to them.

If absentee ballots are not counted, why are they always the first to be recorded on election night? (At least they are here in CA.)

OT – Cruisin’ over in freeperville when I came across this hit piece on Markos in today’s Sunday Times. (Sorry if already mentioned.)

A large segment can be reached with refundable targeted tax credits.

Lina: I’m a minority inspector of elections for my voting district, and I can tell you that’s untrue! In PA, all absentee ballots are counted, and the official tally sheet has to be turned in to the county election bureau, carrying the signatures of the district officials (judge, majority inspector and minority inspector.)

JWR: Same here in PA. Absentee ballots are tallied before we break the seal on the ballot box (or the machines).

I was pleased when Larry King had the Distaff Senate Dems on — all nine of them. Most did well; clearly, there’d been an agreement about camera and question time beforehand. Hillary was not allowed to be a hog.

Remember when Barbara Boxer was in the House during the Clarence Thomas hearings and led the charge across the way with other Distaff House Dems? I suggest we brainstorm another “stunt” like that. I’ll say it again: anything Frist calls a “stunt” is something TradMed pays attention to and makes the GOP look bad.

So, what should we ask our Distaff Dems to do? That is, while we’re out registering women, talking up war opposition, and blogging about Bush criminality.

Cool– I learned a new word: distaff

I was able to deduce from context that it probably referred to women, and I thought maybe it referred to the fact that women don’t have a “staff”.

OK, whatever. Anyway it does mean women’s concerns, or women considered as a group.

Jane,

I take the point of your post however, we do need strong voices for domestic policy. Schools, daycare, healthcare, it would let me hold up a specific light of hope to the ones I’m encouraging to vote.

JWR: if you mean the Brooks hit piece from last Sunday’s Times, believe me, we have thoroughly laughed it out of court — this squadron of rabid lambs dive-bombed him, it wasn’t with dripping venom, but with peals of laughter and sarcasm …

oh … that other Times from the other side of the pond … that proud mouthpiece of the British Conservative Party … whatta kerfuffle in a teapot! It went the same way as the English soccer team in Germany …

I’ve been musing about how to engage the 20-somethings in the 60’s way. Somehow, these days, it’s not ‘cool’ to do politics.

So there’s this huge pool of non-voters, kids, unmarried women, probably minorities. I’m sure they actually hold the political power in the coming elections if they would simply vote. So who has a plan to get them fired up?

I doubt that the problem is who they’d vote for – we’d get most of those votes. Republicans don’t have “rhythm.” The problem is in engaging them to vote, period.

Oilfieldguy — I see these people for what they are — hucksters. These carney-barkers, Mid-South Wrassling announcers and used car pitch men have overtaken the halls of power.

If there’s ever been a better description of Tom DeLay, I haven’t seen it.

We won’t reach them any other way than neighborly talks. I know, it’s hokey, but it’s working in my neighborhood. These are the very people who deserve our help. Let’s reach out to them.

Absolutely. Ana Marie Cox’s privileged, airhead bullshit notwithstanding (”I’ve got mine…what’s all the fuss about?”), poor women are in a real bind. I’ve thought a lot about the “neighborly talks” you told me about when we had coffee, that’s a very powerful model and I’d like to find a way to implement it (because it sure doesn’t look like anyone else is).

Question for all–do you know when is the deadline for registering people to vote in your state?

Monday morning, you can call and find out.

Take action. FIGHT BACK.

Personally, I have always favored web sites authored by women and i prefer working with women at work mainly because women “understand the heart”. And really, don’t people vote with their heart? My guess is that when it comes time to vote, people will remember most how it felt in the their hearts to see Cindy Sheehan talk about her lost son, they will remember how they felt when they saw the dead in a wheelchair at the Convention Center stuffed in a corner. Just the same as people felt after 9/11…

To me, it is really all about the heart. I hope the democrats can find a way to focus on our hearts and how we feel – what most women i know do as easily as breathing. If they do, I think they will win big. We all will win big.

… all this codpiece swinging is looking extremely suspect to the distaff side of the electorate.

As I’ve said before and I’m sure will have the occasion to say again, the Democrats need to get enough of a clue to break the Republican frame of toughness and make the elections about common sense versus irresponsibility. (I need to use this long weekend to write the epic post I’ve had in my head for ages about the Democratic “language of realignment.”)

That would only help with the message problem, though. What can be done about the GOTV problem — how do we reach those unmarried women and motivate them to show up on Election Day?

Are posters reminding them that their right to control their bodies currently rests on one 87-year-old Supreme Court justice enough?

actually the term distaff comes from a tool used in spinning, something that only chicks do … Jane must have put her spinning wheel in the trunk of her car …

Mickey,

I’m working my neighborhood, conducting a “voter participation drive.” I don’t register people or campaign for a party or candidate. I just point out the serious problems and my own concern and invite them to participate by voting. Real low key stuff. But, I’m a master at the soft sell.

TeddySF@22 — … anything Frist calls a “stunt” is something TradMed pays attention to and makes the GOP look bad.

This is so true. More stunts, please.

JWR – thanks for the London Times heads up – I’ll hit them up for a retraction later tonight on behalf of YKOS … I am so tired of this! If they would only check with YKOS they would know that it was *not* “Markos’s own blogger convention” … damn fools!

they do work in every possible foolishness … and little miss wonkette pisses me off!

What’s the point of this article? That the Democratic Party needs to incorporate more womens issues into its platform? Or that the Democratic Party needs to do a better job of conveying its issues to potential women voters? Or that the Democratic Party needs to focus on getting women to the polls?

Ghostman

Two thoughts about Cox, based on the TomT link Jane provided:

1. You know she’s made an appointment for the pinky-toe surgery.

2. Disparaging her own activism on behalf of Anita Hill (”something else I’d just as well forget, actually”) marks her as a cocktail-wienie-seeker extraordinaire.

*ilson – Yes, I should’ve specified the London Sunday Times. And I was here for all the fun with Bobo. (I may not comment often, but I’m always watchin’ y’all. ;-)

Jane,

Thank you. I can’t do much, and my contributions are limited to time and shoeleather. I’m doing pretty good, others–not so much so I throw in where I can.

Go, siun!

siun – You’re welcome! Bad as freeperville is, they do tend to stay on top of these things. Heck, I’ve even seen them beat Atrios a time or two in getting links up.

Ghostman @ 35 — Yes.

Teddy – we’re gotten both corrections we’ve demanded so far and I swear it really helps that they know the netroots would just love to make an issue of it if they don’t! We should be proud of that!

NYT
Salon
and now
Times of London …

What Swopa says at 6:52 pm –

It’s that simple.

Murtha is calling bullshit on the Codpiece Swingin’ GOoPers — why don’t the other Democrats follow his lead, instead of their monkey-see-monkey-swing-codpiece imitation of Bush?

don’t dis the staff

Swopa 30 — absolutely, the Republican “frame of toughness” looks silly to a lot of people, not just women. It’s just a lot of talk, with nothing actually tough or pragmatic about it at all. Loads of drama, big show, no results.

I think single moms and other women are not just interested in checkbook issues – they may not have time or energy leftover for politics per se but they know that their kids are in line for shipment to Iraq and that makes a big impression.

Ghostman — what Swopa said.

TeddySF@36 — Thanks for catching that “something else I’d just as well forget, actually” line.

I’d always thought that her current shtick was a symbolic plea for forgiveness for having been perceived as a liberal. Now I know that it’s not even symbolic.

siun! I’m shocked at you making the assertion that single moms aren’t interested in checkbook issues! Single moms are so damn hassled by precisely those issues: how to pay for daycare — how to deal with medical bills (insurance?) — finding decent housing with good schools — etc

I liked the line about drowning out the clinking cosmo glasses. Is it okay that I just don’t get her?

Jane,

Who speaks with that voice? Maybe Ted Kennedy? Maybe Ned Lamont in a much more middle-class suburban way. I know what you mean, but I don’t know who out there is likely to step up. Isn’t it just a message that people ae valued, children are valued, that jobs that pay well and schools that teach well are important. Isn’t the woman voter demographic (God how I hate the way that sounds) actually an old-fashioner progressive/populist group: job equity, physical security, good education and a better future for their kids.

Women don’t want to be beat either literally at home or figuratively at the job, they don’t want their daughters to be assaulted or harrassed, they don’t want their sons to be lured away by promises of money and drugs, and they don’t want anyone they know or love to die a meaningless death on behalf of someone else’s bad judgment.

But then again, who does?

Oh and Tom Tomorrow gets “line of the day” for this one:

Reading Ana Marie’s review of Katha Pollitt’s new book is more like reading Britney Spears’ thoughts on Noam Chomsky

I hear that TRex may have gotten his hands on the Ana Marie Cox Blackout Diaries, which include a first draft of the review. I expect we may hear more about this in the first of the week.

“…20 million unmarried women did not vote”. Now we’re getting down to it. Any woman who does not make a gazillion dollars a year, and casts her vote the Republican way; votes against herself. Same holds true for men. I think.

Hi there,

Just touching base with my gang befor eI try to sleep (somehow I never sleep on Saturday nights during work weekend). I couldn’t agree more; I talk sometimes with the women I work with and I get so frustrated at how “uncurious” and dissociated they seem from the reasons for the things they are always bitching about- gas prices, child care needs, health care costs rising, frustration at how little our patients’ health care dollar buys. How many times have you heard someone say “they” should change that or “they” shouldn’t be able to do that. Always the unidentified “they”. I want a banner that says,”Don’t vote? Don’t complain.” That’s how I registered to vote, when I was challenged one day when I was 20, moaning about something the mayor was up to. A friend said, ” Did you vote?” and I had to admit I hadn’t. He was right and I registered soon after that.

I like Oilfield Guy’s notion of just talking to people, it opens up the discussion of whether they did or didn’t vote. But sometimes when I move a conversation into politics, people just move away or change the subject effectively. It’s incredibly frustrating to have all this knowledge and understanding without being able to use it to motivate others. I suspect it is partly scandal fatigue, or conditioning that makes some people unwilling to dive into the pool of politics right now. I truly think they’d feel better if they could express their concerns and get some answere, but part of it is that they feel powerless and insignificant in the face of the DC machine. And I think this is particularly true for women in many ways; so many women are still socialized not to make noise and to keep everyone happy. Can’t do that and be a political animal; I think they see it as all or nothing. I know I did before I worked in AIDS and learned that with a little knowledge, there is a LOT of power.

But I try to be an example, in spite of my personal frustration at my own limits, because if I can get one person to just think about getting active, it’s worth the energy.

A little rant, scuse me.

Well, ok.
1. issues: the only thing I’ve learned about issues/women is to promote child care for working moms. The Democratic Party seems to be fine on other womens issues?
2. communication: hell, I don’t know. Send people down to the Women’s Hair Salon? Maybe ads should be focused on women’s TV….Oprah, that one channel….Oxygen?….TV places where women hang out watching.
3. Polls: hmmm. I suspect that working women will be scattered geographically and have varying shift/work schedules. Just lining up buses may not get it done. I’ll go for…absentee voting. Working women can do that more easily, and the Democrats ought to show them how.

Ghostman

“We’re just one more Supreme away from losing Roe, should be one good line to argue.”

I think we’re one Supreme away from losing the whole cockadoodie Constitution. I want to drive to DC and ask Robert Byrd what he thinks about Mrs A-Lee-ToZe tears now. But back on topic…

…I agree with what Jane says about a Dem get out the vote effort. There’s been a lot of blogging lately about the Dems’ lack of GOTV, of grass roots contact-building, of local networking. Part of it is, I think, the GOoPers huge money advantage–just look at the College Republicans vs College Dems; it’s like a Fortune 500 corporation compared to a national softball league. But I do think Dems have to copy the Repubs more explicitly. If they build a better organization, and get more votes, i think more cash will follow, and hopefully spark a positive upward spiral. I know I’d support such an effort, especially if they stop acting so tribal and defensive around certain candidates….

I think I’m going to change the photo to make the title reference more explicit.

*ilson, I think siun means “just” checkbook issues, FWIW

zennurse: you are probably right coz Siun is usually so good politically. The old Bread and Roses argument !

Jane @ 57 — I kinda liked the female_yawn.jpg myself.

Actually — and please forgive me for being too lazy to scroll upthread to see who first brought this up — but with busy working moms, the prospect of venturing out in the cold and dark of November probably with kids in tow, is not appealing.

Helping working moms request to vote by absentee ballot might get women who would otherwise not vote, to cast their ballots.

Here is information for those who live in Washington State from the Secretary of State’s Office:
**********************************

Voting by Absentee Ballot

Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot. You do not need to be ill or “absent” to be an absentee voter.

You may request an absentee ballot as early as 90 days before an election. (No absentee ballots are issued on election day except to a voter who is a resident of a health care facility). The request for an absentee ballot must be made to your county auditor or elections department (not to the Secretary of State).

NOTE: Absentee ballots must be signed and postmarked or delivered to the county election officer on or before election day.
Requesting an Absentee Ballot

One-time absentee ballot requests may be made either in person, by phone, fax, electronically or by mail. Contact your County Auditor to request an absentee ballot.

Please keep in mind that absentee ballots must be signed and postmarked or delivered to the county election officer on or before election day.

Washington Secretary of State
520 Union Ave SE
PO BOX 40229, OLYMPIA WA 98504-0229
(360) 902-4180
***********************************

So, in Washington, it looks like the first week in August is the cut-off to arrange voting by abentee ballot.

Oklahoma kiddo,

Lot’s of folks vote against their economic self-interest. They are known as “value voters.” Corporate conservatives use christian conservatives to get votes to further their agenda, much like we use a station wagon to get groceries from the store. They preach protection from the assault on the family by the homosexual agenda (which usually begins at Starbucks around nine-ish)but actually deliver deregulation, union busting and job exportation.

“Send people down to the Women’s Hair Salon? “

Ghostman, this is actually a great model, although I wonder if you will be accused of stereotyping. It is a model I used as a health educator around signing uninsured women up for free mammograms and pap smears through my program. One neat thing about it is that in non-English speaking populations, lots of the hairdressers are younger and bilingual, so they help with translation if needed. It is also a place where women talk to strangers and neighbors they may not see that often about whatever conversations are going on. Hairdressers are very aware of many of the things that concern women they work for, right down to a particular neighborhood.

I just saw a bit of Brian Setzer entertaining the Bushies and the Japanese PM on C-Span. Its almost enough for me to take Stray Cats off my playlist.

Over the past 20 years I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a lot of working class women that I think we’re talking about. For 10 years I managed fast food restaurants and for the past 9 years I’ve been teaching many of the same demographic at a small community college.

From my experience the vast majority have zero knowledge about and even less interest in politics. In my classes I try my best to let them know why it matters to them that they participate in the process, but I don’t think most of them ever will.

Although many of them instinctively know that the government is not doing much to help with the issues they are most concerned about, like a living wage and child care, they just don’t believe that their vote will make a difference. And another thing, I think most of them are intimidated by the process of voting and more often than not they don’t think they know enough about the candidates or the issues.

Okay photo fixed. I feel better.

immanentize — you’re right of course, we’re talking about a “progressive” message that could possibly enfranchise a lot of women. Yet the “tough on terra” crowd treat it like it has cooties.

I like “Wonkette” better when she was relatively obscure and still writing about getting trashed and fucked in the ass. Anybody else share that sentiment?

jcricket, that’s great information, and reminds me of something I was thinking about in the car between patients today. Why do we vote on the Tuesday in November? Is it law or tradition? It would be so much better to vote on a Saturday for the vast majority of America. I know there was an idea out there a while ago about making voting day a holiday, but the business crowd would never go for that because they might have to pay somebody. There was also an idea to pay folks to take time out of a workday, which wouldn’t fly for the same reason. Some people can’t vote if they work 12 hour shifts, or if they commute and have 14 hour days. If votes could be done on a Saturday, along with the laundry and errands, I bet it would help.

“Ghostman, this is actually a great model, although I wonder if you will be accused of stereotyping.”

Oh, I get accused of everything else, might as well add that one to the pile! (chuckle)…looks like maybe the Salon thing is a good grassroots item! Good. Only….maybe “I” better stay out of those places….something about a bull in a china shop…

Ghostman

OT: I’m beginning to dread the Fourth of July Holiday. I live in the inner city and fireworks go off continuously for days. I have four skitterish pitbulls and they are positive the house is being attacked by evil forces. This provokes loud barking and rushing around frantically. We all get worn out …

I’m surprised you remembered that conversation, Jane. You seem to be pretty busy and you talk to a lot of people. BTW, you remind me of my daughter.

*ilson – I know what you mean about the doggies… I live about 200 yards from where they are set off each year and it sounds like a mortar attack going off over my house… then there’s the kids with the firecrackers… we go far, far away to get away from it all…

not a good for dogs or dog lovers…

Zennurse, the Tuesday thing is traditional — in part to keep politicians from liquoring up the workers on a weekday in exchange for votes. of course now, it is a way to suppress votes pure and simple, which is the primary strategy of the Rovian Reich.

As an ex-British now US citizen old lefty lawyer freind of mine says, “If voting could change anything in this country, it would be illegal.”

I have my bright-hued hair done professionally at a downtown salon. The owner is an active Democrat and he prosletizes the clientele — in 2004 he gave out over 100 copies of my bootleg Fahrenheit911 DVDs…

When I worked in HIV prevention, there were always African-American hair salon owners stopping by to pick up our free condoms to distribute to their clients. When asked, they didn’t want a “fishbowl” we could supply, they didn’t want “deliveries,” they didn’t want brochures or signage. There was a powerful message being delivered at the hair salon, but I couldn’t help deliver it. But I could supply condoms.

And that brings me to a larger point. Ghostman, I owe you an apology. You write very clearly and candidly — probably how you speak, if I’m not mistaken. I was one of those early on who challenged you here, because I mis-read your candor — and your honest, frank inquiry — for what we here call “concern.” I was not alone.

But I can apologize only for myself, because I’ve decided you’re the real deal. Maybe you’ve fooled me. Maybe the others are right. But after this comment, where you’re in pretty treacherous water, commenting on “women’s issues” on a “women’s blog” to women, I’ve got to say this: I admire your candor and your plainspokenness. Keep it up.

Oregon’s got it right, IMO.

http://www.uhavavote.org/votin…..ymail.html

That pretty much takes care of all voting logistics for the voter.

I have never, ever liked Wonkette. She has always seemed to have no reason behind her paricular brand of nasty. Good snark requires ethics and intelligence. That’s why Jane is the Queen.

“And another thing, I think most of them are intimidated by the process of voting and more often than not they don’t think they know enough about the candidates or the issues.” badick

I wonder if they would feel more empowered if )they were encouraged by someone who was more of a peer
2) if their employer invited someone to come and register them at work and
3) if they could go to vote with a partner, like a buddy, or in a group.

Just thinking about strategies…

oilfieldguy 70 — no that was a very affecting conversation. You have a very well thought-out strategy for GOTV. It’s quite labor intensive but also, I would imagine, incredibly effective.

I’ve got katymine’s back upthread – check out the data and resources at AAUW on Women and Voting. I’m an AAUW member, would love to encourage every eligible woman (college student or grad) to consider becoming a member to support equity in education. As AAUW’s tagline says, “Because equity is still an issue.” (There’s even a near-nationwide voter registration form available at the linked site above.)

Voting is an equity issue, too. We women do not vote as often as we should, yet we are the people who by dint of our majority and by virtue of our needs are most affected by voting. We are the low hanging fruit that are left to fall when we are not encouraged to register to vote, to vote often, and to run for office.

zennurse – I gotta’ tell ya’, one of the most successful women we have in local office is a hairdresser; she networks with clients while doing their hair to get support on key issues, gleans resources and information, encourages others to run for office while she has their hair in her hands. IT WORKS. At what other time is a busy woman, working mothers in particular, captive and available to talk and to listen except that half hour or hour in her salon?

We are going to use this methodology, believe me. And we are also going to encourage blue-voting women to support blue-run salons so that we can try to use simple economics to help our own and to use this valuable time to the fullest potential.

We’re also brainstorming about childcare; how do we help single mothers or simply busy mothers with the issue of child care so they can vote? If you are good with kids and have the chops for it, please consider volunteering to help with this in your precinct.

zennurse 76 — thanks, and you said the magic word, “peer.” I don’t think they’re seeing themselves in those who are doing the talking.

More Christys, I say. She is superb.

I’ve been talking politics with my hair cutter for years. She has 2 young daughters and is as mad at what is going on as I am, though she doesn’t keep up with the reading, etc. that I do. We started by talking about West Wing many years ago and it went from there. When I was in before YKos, she told me that almost all of her customers are feeling the same way, some who never talked about politics are now cursing and yelling about Bush. I found that interesting. I may be in MA, but her place is in a former mill town, now exurb, as blue collar as they get around here.

Saw her this week (my hair is now not much longer than zen’s or BarbaraB’s) and she was eager to hear about the trip and what we are all doing. I usually try to talk loud enough with her so the others are able to listen in, which they do.

Every little bit helps.

Teddy SF

I’m either enlightened or stupid. I’ve never given any thought to this being a “women’s blog.” I popped in one day to learn something and I’m still learning. Quality discourse is genderless.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062906C.shtml
More grist for the mill.

Hardly stupid!

advance excerpts of tomorrows Frank Rich column with a damn hard smackdown of Rep. Pete King http://www.editorandpublisher……1002765284

Amen re: Oregon. We still use the punch cards in my town, and I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know if we have used machines in MA, but I have had to vote absentee twice when I was hospitalized and it’s so easy.

RevDeb, Have you ever thought about asking her to use her space for a little voter registration and information party? Maybe inviting a local candidate? Very empowering, used to to it with health care and invite Jean, a radiologist who would wear jeans and answer a million questions. Might make her feel better about her anger.

Jane, peer to peer is the best and most effective way I ever educated anyone, except older folks who seemed to need “the nurse said” or “the doctor said”, although I don’t know that that would translate to politics because of the trust issue. Big diff there, for certain.

Here’s an article about Fighting Dem John Laesch, who Howie got to chat with us earlier today:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/f…..ohnlaesch/

I have always found female-run entities (like FDL) much more civilized to work with …

Damn, I just lost a BIG comment. I hate that when it happens.

Getting katymine’s back upthread with a link to AAUW’s Woman-to-Woman Voter Turnout page. Includes a near-nationwide voter registration form. I’m an AAUW member, primarily because I believe in AAUW’s mission of equity in eduation. As the organization’s tagline says, “Because equity is still an issue.”

zennurse — I’m all over the salon approach; one of the most successful local elected officials we have is a salon operator. She networks with constituents, chats up women with resources and others with needs, encourages women to run for office. All right there in the salon while she’s got their hair in her hands. Where else would a busy working woman/mother have a half-hour or an hour to simply talk and listen? when else are they as captive as in the salon? We’re going to use this as a tool; it’s already working very well through the example I cited.

Voting is an equity issue; women are less likely to vote, but disproportionately affected by the outcome of any vote. We need to explain that to younger women, help them with child care and transportation issues so they can vote. If you are good with kids and/or have the ability to assist with transportation, please get in touch with your local precinct captain/delegate to volunteer to help with either come the primaries and the election.

Oilfieldguy, would you mind giving a few tips as to how you do your soft sell? I’m having such a hard time of it in my area (getting people to believe their vote counts is nigh impossible).

zen,
It’s not her space, other than her chair and work space, but the idea of getting her a pile of voter reg. cards is a great one. She’s on vacation this week, but I’ll do it after she gets back. I doubt that she would have any trouble asking her clients if they are registered to vote.

Side note, I found her through the neighbor across the street, who turns out to be a republican. We haven’t talked much since I had the ReDefeat Bush sign out on my front lawn. One of these days I’ll ask her if she’s still a fan of W.

testing…having problems posting…

Oilfieldguy…

That’s the point. And you make it well. They vote intangibles like values over money. And being against gay rights, for prayer in school, and flag burning legislation does not put bread on the table. Or pay for day care or whatever. But things like outsourcing, anti-labor ideology, rejection of lifting the minimum wage certainly detracts, or perhaps a better way of saying it, subtracts from the ability to bring home the bacon. And what’s particularly curious and galling, is do these values-voters really think the Bush crowd gives a damn about values? They’re being conned. Winning, wealth increase and power maintanence is what Bush is concerned with. I am thinking.

Oilfieldguy — you really should do a post about your “soft sell.” You touched on it a bit in the post you did for us but I’d love to see you elaborate.

I know why Digby and Jane posted the same article–Markos told them to.

Soft sell? Find common ground. And work from there. Perhaps.

Nuts. I think it’s a link I’m trying to embed that’s causing the problem. AAUW’s website has a Woman-to-Women Voter Turnout page under Issues Advocacy, includes a near-nationwide voter registration form.

Will follow up with a comment on salons in a moment…

WELL!!!!! As I live and breathe! Zennurse thinks I’ve hit on an idea…and good ole TeddySF extends an olive branch. Branch accepted, TSF. Folks, I really AM a life-long progressive Democrat. I may not be with you TOTALLY on a few issues…but I always express that as well. Am I “up front”….yeah. It’s just me.

I SELDOM ever speak of my background…for many reasons. What I’ve done as an adult I just keep to myself. But I’ll tell you this much, as to my childhood: I’m the son of a union organizer. I learned how to walk a picket line before I learned how to tie my shoes. United Steelworkers of America. And, growing up in Texas, I got called commie….mafioso…and so forth on damn near every school ground. So…perhaps I grew up a wee bit tough. And I’ll admit, as an adult, I can sometimes be “an obnoxious male”…chuckle. Oh well, ENOUGH about me.

Let’s get those women motivated and voting! I’ll pour a wee glass now, and thank you TSF and ZN for your thoughts.

Ghostman

*ilson46201–Thanks! I’m going right over to the NYT to read in its entirety. I can never go to bed on Saturday nights until I read Rich.

Also, I wish Redshift were here to tell him that I did e-mail both people he introduced me to in Richmond, and now we are Five!! Next Friday is our first f-t-f meeting, and it’s ROOTS to me. Finally! No Drinking Liberally chapter in Richmond, so we’ll be eating and talking liberally instead.

Rayne, check upthread, is it your 78 that you’re trying to post again?

Rayne: both of your comments got caught by the spam filter (dunno why) but they have been sprung and are flying free on this page now. both!

Well…one of those software glitches just vanished my comment. Oh well. TSF, thank you for your comments. Good of you to extend an olive branch….branch accepted! Peace.

Ghostman

That’s great, Rayne, she sounds like a gem. I also used the Tupperware party model, both for HIV education and for mammography, especially for non-english speakers, or folks who were going to “get it” more in their first language. It was Italian and Portuguese here, but others did it with Greek, Russian and of course, Spanish groups. I think candidates can only think in terms of fundraisers and people who may potentially work for thier campaigns. That seems to translate to higher income groups easy to access/ possibly already motivated folks. The challenge is to find the hard to find and reach the hard to reach, forgetting about what they can give besides their vote.

Thanks zennurse – The absentee ballot “project” has me a bit enthused. You know, if you vote by absentee ballot, it can be any week-day before the election as well as that infamous Tuesday.

The talk of the hair salon is the absentee ballot connector for my enthusiasm. My colorist has two active boys and she is fed up with Bush and the GOP. I bet she would love some assistance getting set up with an absentee ballot. She works too hard and too many hours to guarantee that she will have the stamina on voting day to bravely venture out to her voting precinct. There are gals at work (I work for a resort corporation and we don’t get regular holidays or convenient days off) who would love the help to register and get settled with the absentee method.

This could really develop into something civic-ly wonderful!!!

*ilson — there should already be 4 comments from me now on this site upthread…moderator(s) could kill one of the the first two since they have nearly identical contents.

Unlike the usual post that appears pink, these never showed up at all. They probably were held up because of the AAUW website link, although that does seem odd.

There need to be more women in technical professions like software, too, as well as in the voting booth…

I think part of it is that while these men – and a few of the women – are talking macho, and swingin’ it around, the women are doing. They are getting the kids to day care or school, fixing lunches, cleaning the house, running errands, working outside the home, thinking about what to have for dinner, helping with homework, taking the dog to the vet, making the doctors appointments, taking the kids to the orthodontist, going to the store, trying to fit in a workout, making play dates for the kids, taking them to rec league sports, volunteering with Girl Scouts or Cub Scouts, helping out in the classroom, baking cupcakes for the school party, and on and on and on.

Women’s minds work differently than men’s; they run on several tracks at once, which is why we can listen to and referee the kids fighting in the living room while making dinner, and listening and responding at the appropriate points in the story the hubby is telling. We are not flustered by having to do four things, three of them at times that overlap. We figure it out and we do it.

Women are impressed by men who do, not men who talk. We adore the man who doesn’t ask, “how can I help?” but instead actually sees what needs doing, and then does it.

How does this translate to votes? Tell women what you have done to make their lives better, and tell them the things you know still need doing. Speak their language. Do as much one-on-one or small group events as you can. Reach into your own personal life and relate.

How do you get them to the polls? Make them believe that it matters. Use the numbers, point to the close elections, where a thousand votes would have made a difference. Call your local party headquarters and offer to drive people to the polls. Offer to set up child care in the polling place for parents who can’t leave the kids at home.

Try everything until you find the thing that works.

Margot,

I would try this: “Yes, that’s very frustrating, and we absolutely must do something about it. But really, throwing your hands up, I don’t think is the right approach. If something is broken, it should be fixed so I would hope we should insist on counting the votes. We can’t just give up…if we do that, then the people who can’t win honestly, will continue to skew the results. And I could really use your help on that.”

Heh. I just thought of the tagline for a salon-based GOTV effort:

I’m gonna’ wash that man right outta’ my hair!

Heh.

I hope you are all correct about absentee ballots. I know there was a huge push in ‘04 to get people signed up for absentee because it was the only way to have a paper trail.

Jane,

I’ve just been waiting for an invitation. I would love to do another post for FDL.

OFG,

Since you’re neighborhood oriented, have you considered a neighborhood newspaper? That’s something I did about 10 or so years ago. It was primarily “Crime Watch” type stuff initially and not political but it took off like a rocket as far as contributers, helpers etc. The circulation (about 600) was once a month, four pages initially and then six, and non profit. To offset the cost of printing (Office Depot), we sold advertising. Neighborhood banks, fast food joints, real estate agencies, insurance, etc.

Women don’t want to see their sons and daughters blown to smithereens in Iraq or wherever the next war is when they come of age. I think that could be a very visceral frame that would propel mothers to the voting booth.

zen, on election day 2004, I took 2 neighbors to the polls, one who was afraid she’d mess up if she didn’t have help. She hadn’t voted since 1960. That was a result of months of seeing her and her saying, “You’ll help me, right? ” She was scared.

*grin*

Anne, I know a wonderful woman who runs HAWC for MA now, I used to work with her, and she used to say that it’s been this way since the beginning: While the caveman was carving a spear, the cavewoman was keeping the cooking fire lit, roasting and drying the meat, making loincloths out of rabbit hides, delivering her own babies and kicking the wooly mammoth out the door of the cave!

No offense to our amazingly enlightened FDL men. If you ask a man what he’s doing on Saturday, he’ll say he’s having the oil changed in the car and watching a ball game. A woman will tell you four things she’s going to do on the way to doing two others, before she does the laundry and makes dinner.

Anne – 105 : Thank You, you said everything I’ve been thinking, especially this –

- Speak their language. Do as much one-on-one or small group events as you can. Reach into your own personal life and relate.

People follow doers and emulate others who inspire them.

margot – that is so sad! Bless you for helping her. And for holding her hand in her apprehension.

Oklahoma kiddo @#91,

By jove I think you’ve got it! The trick for Republicans is to never actually solve these culture or value issues they hammer on. They can’t get past 45% if they do. If they cure these ills, they never win another election–sorta like the guy who invented the lightbulb that never burns out–he went out of business because he had no repeat customers. They just trot these issues out for a narrow defeat and say, “we’ll gittem next time, re-elect me!” Meanwhile they are cutting taxes for their rich buddies and giving fat corporate welfare checks to donors and repealing environmental laws and….

zenn — heh. Ain’t that the truth? I’m doing research for contract work, reading and responding to this thread, trying to develop a message for an online campaign ad, messing around with some website code, waiting for a batch in the washer to finish and watching a crappy movie.

And I still have to tuck in the kids and spouse.

But I’m going to take over the world in my free time.

Anne – that’s great.

OFG — consider yourself invited.

Margot, I love that!!

I’m going to work on that, I’d be great at that kind of support. I bet there’s a way through the Senior Center.

I just looked at the time, I have to tuck myself in, alarm goes off at 5:15.
Great talking with all of you, thanks for such great enthusiasm and ideas.

Now for my request. Could you hold Lucille and Marion in your hearts tonight with thoughts for calm waters ahead, along with their families. They are in mine. Thanks, it always helps!

Sweet Dreams

zen

Rayne, I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair Is brilliant. It’s a familiar tune, it’d be a short television commercial…I wonder if it would work?

Zen – thanks for anwering *ilson … I was distracted by daytona! (Smoke!)

*ilson – I’ve been a single mom for 15 years with zero support, been on welfare for a few months, two kids both with health issues at times, etc … I know what it’s like. And I think Anne is precisely right – women want candidates who actually do something and until they see some who will actually *do* they will continue to feel that feeding the kids and paying the bills is more important than voting for another *do*nothing politician.

But I know that the discussions in my hair salon which is like a scene from Barbershop but with wonderful arabic guys making us all look beautiful, we have great discussions about politics (and sex!) and the analysis is very insightful … but tell the women I chat with there to vote for another fool, forget it! they take fools apart for breakfast … and no one has ever made it easier for them!

(Given that we’re Obama’s home turf, I suspect he got a nice batch of votes here last time but he’s not getting them again … another donothing fool)

Delurking to say Firedoglake is fast becoming my favorite liberal blog. What other blog uses Vamp-Willow references to talk about Women and the Democratic Party? Nice entry.

Well, here’s an article in tomorrow’s WashingtonPost by two men who think a particular woman can be elected President:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01478.html

Sounds like a few of us had the same kind of day…*g*

Mine was going to the store, getting stuff for my family, and things for my mom, who was returning from the beach today. Went home, put my stuff away, returned a neighbor’s dog who had come to visit our labs, ate lunch, took my mom’s things to her house, picked up and sorted her mail, went to the gym, met my daughter to go shopping for a special-event dress (that took 5 hours!), came home and made a carrot cake for my nephew’s birthday tomorrow.

Going to the office is easier.

Cozumel,

I’m familiar with the neighborhood newspaper. I spent five years selling advertising, writing articles, going to council and commerce meetings for a community newspaper (circ 46,000). It bears some thought.

Love the picture change, Jane.

For myself & my peers, Vampire Willow/Dark Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was wish fulfillment & empowerment personified in that astonishingly well written show. Remember the very last time she said “Bored now?”
(For non-Buffy watchers, Dark Willow tosses off the line, then FLAYS an evil male character she’s finally had enough of).

Oh, Teddy, honey, those two idiots need to get the hell over themselves RIGHT NOW. They are in an echo chamber.

Mostly just wanted to say hi!!(((((((Teddy))))))))

Bye, gotta sleep.

TSF, The Hillary “can win” article in the WP is written by James Carville. Does he have any credibility anymore?

I’m for what works. It seems that past approaches sure haven’t, in terms of getting many demographics who have so much at stake to actually get out and vote. Unmarried women, voters between the ages of 18 and 25, are notorious. So, candidates target proven voters, and leave the GOTV efforts to the parties and groups like the League of Women Voters.

What can be done to make the GOTV efforts to work for the groups that historically have low turnout? I think the Democratic Party ought to consider less emphasis on identity politics, and more emphasis on class-based politics. The Bush Administration has declared war on the middle class, working class, and poor people, continuing the effort begun by Reagan in 1981 with his offensive against unions. The Democratic Party has a strong interest in supporting and working with the labor movement, to help raise the consciousness of unmarried women and young voters who need to see how their votes affect their lives and those of their children. It’s cross-gender, cross-generational, cross-ethnicity. The common theme is economics. The environment is also a critical concern in this regard: it’s the middle class, working class, and poor folks who bear the brunt of global warming, now and in the future. Just consider New Orleans and Katrina for a moment.

So, pardon my rambling, but this is a complex issue, and unless the Democrats are bold enough to follow John Edwards’s lead and consider a class-based approach to politics, we’ll see the same results in the electoral process.

hillary will be gone by the SC primary.

The big thing Dems need to do IMO – believe in what they say. Not as rehearsed talking points, but as fundaments.

Murtha, Feingold, Frank, Byrd, etc. – the reason you give them respect and the break when they do something you don’t like – is bc they are talking about things they care about and believe in. If we can’t have pols like that – and let’s face it, some aren’t, then they need the schooling and tutoring and talkpointing.

But no wave of progressive bloggers drafted talking points for Murtha – his training, background, heart and facts took him down his path. Same with Feingold. Byrd can bring a tear to your eye quoting Cicero – not bc anyone crafted a talking point for him, but bc of his views.

All of them will make you foot stomping mad at times, but you go with them bc they are trying to do the right thing and the best thing and it comes from the right place.

IMO, talking points for Dems is only to present a clarification that can be understood easily and quickly – but Dems will never win on talking points. They win by sounding just like John Laesch did today (and Ned Lamont did earlier). I know its a longshot with Hastert, but if I were him, I’d be getting nervous. The real deal always appeals.

Okay,

looks like I’ve got some scribing to do. Thanks for the invite. I’m off to bed to corral my thoughts. I’ll send a post in tomorrow. Nite.

OFG,

“I spent five years selling advertising, writing articles, going to council and commerce meetings for a community newspaper (circ 46,000).”

I know, that’s in part why I suggested it ; ) I should also add, they were free. We walked the neighborhood once a month, door to door, and handed them out or left them on the doorstep etc.

I can mail you a sample (leftover) that I have laying around if you like to see what it looked like if you’re interested. Maybe Jane can email me your address? Your call.

Lina – I have no idea who told you they don’t count absentee ballots unless it is close, but whoever did told you wrong. Those ballots are certainly counted. Here in Virginia each jurisdiction has what is known as a central absentee precinct where all the absentee ballots are counted together. They are counted at 7 PM election night, same as the other votes.

and don’t just talk to them. Get them to the polling station! Seriously. It’s not brain surgery. Working women with children leave their homes early in the a.m. and have to get their kids out of daycare by 6:00 p.m. Then everyone is tired and whiney and hungry, and the polls close at 7 or 8.

I’ve said this so many times, I feel like I’m in a Kafka novel, but I’ll say it again: If Karl Rove can get people to the polls on church buses leaving from the churches, then why can’t our side get these women to the polls directly from the child care centers? (And feed their kids along the way.)

Christ almighty. It’s fucking GOTV people!!!
Do you hear me??????????????

Lina – come up with a specific plan for how that could be implemented and I will personally arrange that it be done this year in Fairfax County. Seriously. We have been wrestling with this for years. There has been a lot of talk about how to win the pink collar vote and also how to win the single women vote. How do you target such individuals, what is the best approach to voter registration. Come up with a plan and we will do it.

Dana — umm, give me a minute to ponder that.

NO.

Carville lost what finely chiffonaded bits of dignity he had when he said about the push by the grassroots for Howard Dean’s chairmanship of the DNC,

“…Somebody should have fixed this damn thing in November. I wish someone would have taken charge and three or four people would have gotten together in a smoke-filled room. … They’re not running for president! They are running for party chair. This is supposed to be a rigged deal. You think the Republicans would do it this way?”

This is what Carville really thinks about Democratic politics, that WE the people are not entitled to select the people to run our party. If he thinks this about the DNC, you can bet he believes that about the entire ball of wax.

This piece in WaPo is an early warning signal that HRC is ramping up; they are going to try to rebut any damage that’s accruing.

“Well, here’s an article in tomorrow’s WashingtonPost by two men who think a particular woman can be elected President.”

He basically seems to say that if it comes down to ‘quien es mas macho’ Hillary es mas macho que Kerry.

She’d never let the run a smear campaign against her. Ella tiene las cojones del hierro. De los toros!

And women will vote for her because ? She is a woman, they are women. You know how women always vote for every woman candidate that runs. It’s like a sure thing.

In my work – human services, to be vague about it (by necessity) – I’m struck by the fact that both men and women are generally aghast at the loss of (mostly young) life under the Bush Doctrine. Women pretty much across the demographic board; men, mostly educated thity-somethings, softening forty-somethings (count me in), and grandfathers. On this blog, the ideas for recruiting voters from any and all of these groups makes much sense.
I’ve gone mushy with the suggested ethics of my field, and engage people in sometimes contentious dialogues regarding what’s happening in our country under the current administration. Three things seem to hold sway in these conversations: personal experience (family in Iraq, for example), emotional connection to humanity at large, and a willingness to act, i.e., vote. Responding sincerely to any and all, I stump for change. Hell, I even tell ‘em where their polling stations are (info online, even this far in advance). I give out bus routes too (also online).
So, lesson: talk about it, inform about it. It happens here at FDL; it can happen anywhere. The worst that could happen… already has.
Cheers to all FireDogs.

For the lawyers in the group, I highly recommend reading Alito’s dissenting opinion in Hamdan, which I finally got to this weekend. It confirms just what I thought: he is an intellectual lightweight, graceless and boring. Of course, I feel that way about any lawyer who starts an argument with a dictionary definition. All we needed was a Corpus Juris cite.

minerva.x — Carville doesn’t get it. Women vote with sus ovarios, sus cerebros y sus corazones. They won’t vote for a woman simply because she has the same equipment.

Carville es muy stupido, simplemente.

Rayne, I wonder if HRC isn’t just playing coy because she needs, what? 30 mil to run for senate. She certainly knows how divisive she is. I don’t think she’ll run in 08, and don’t believe she’d get the nod if she did.

Agh. Perdonarme …estupido, not stupido. What little Spanish I’ve picked up is very rusty.

mrs. skippy and i are big absentee ballot fans.

we rarely go to the polls on election day, we like to vote days before w/absentee ballots. it’s just convenient. here in cal anyone can vote absentee if they request it in time.

i agree that gotv is a big big issue. i thought if we had more feet on the ground pounding the pavement in florida, mcbride would have won the gov, and i said so before the fact.

just catching up on news all over the place – reading a WaPo piece on the rape and murder of an Iraqi woman and her family …

buried in the article in the info that the platoon that includes the accused is also the platoon of the two soldiers who were kidnapped and then killed and beheaded … I hadn’t seen that before but it certainly explains a bunch.

My daughter’s friend interned in Hillary’s DC office for 6 weeks this summer, and said he was bowled over by how smart she is, how she absorbs vast quantities of information and remembers what she takes in. What he observed is something I always thought was true, but being smart isn’t enough.

What worries me about Hillary is that I sense that while she does care about women and their issues, I think her ambition and her goals for herself are priority number one, and everything she does is in furtherance of that goal.

I want a candidate who will do the right thing because it is the right thing, because he or she believes in it at some core level. If that candidate is female – great. But it’s more important to me that the candidate have those core values and beliefs than that the candidate be of one gender or the other.

We need someone who inspires people, who makes people believe that all things are possible, and who helps us see the things we have in common instead of the things that make us different.

I think the concept of pushing registration and absentee ballot for working moms via local contact points (like hair, grocery) is great.

As to Rove and buses, there are plenty of non-fundie church demographics where you would get dems to the polls by the same tactics- just likely differnt churches. Mainstream Protestant. Also, only a few very wingery churches would not get behind something like a non-denominational public service poll day child care and potluck – I may have to take that idea and play with it some here.

I can also tell you that for women who have not voted in awhile – the machines themselves make them nervous. They don’t want to go and not know how they work, and if they haven’t voted in 12 years or so – they feel timid. They also don’t pay enough attention ahead of time and then wonder where they need to go. But child care is a biggie, as is making them feel any connection to the candidate.

An overworked single mom with low levels of political interest to start is not going to be motivated to go vote by candidates who promise they won’t do anything and won’t rock the boat and will be just like the other guy as much as they can. Then need a reason and for most of them, pro or con gay marriage and flag burning isn’t it.

Dana — Coy? I don’t think so; the woman really understands the VRWC and its workings. Remember that she was once a Goldwater Girl, too; I think she’s got Carville running point work to prep for a run, and I read the piece as a warning to the VRWC that they’d better not plan on the same games they used on Kerry.

She’s trying to play to the centrists in both parties and some of the very far right paleocons like Buchanan-ites, although I use the word “play” loosely here. Her votes speak for themselves.

The money is nothing; she’d get all kinds of corporate types who’d step up and take care of that 30 mil.

I’m with you that she won’t get the nod. I would personally only vote for her if she manages to survive the primary; I would vote for other candidates in the primary.

Alice Marshall — here’s a possible plan, probably there is time to do this for 2008 only:

1. Register with your state’s authorities as a non-profit, tax exempt organization with the purpose of transporting people to voting precincts.
2. Solicit charter bus companies for donations of the use of their buses and ask for volunteer drivers. Since you have the tax exempt status, they can write it off as a donation.

3. Here’s the harder part: Figure out several neighborhood central points to pick people up for a precinct delivery, round trip.

The crux of it is the tax exempt status of your organization that can be the recipient of this kind of trade-donation.

Is this just blowing hot air? What do you think? Hey, you DID ask for ideas :)

Alice Marshall:

First, take the money that would be used for useless robo calls and put it aside for chartering buses. Then make a list of all publicly funded or middle income afterschool programs. Then live there everyday during Sept. and Oct. with a voter registration table and get mothers who come and go registered to vote. And while you’re registering them, ask them what time of day they plan to make it to the polls – either before work or after work. Have huge signage informing them what time the polls are open on election day. Then on election day, be there with your rented transportation. Make sure you’ve got coolers with snacks and drinks on those buses.

Do basically the same thing on college campuses, i.e., follow-up voter registration with transportation to the voting booth on election day. (don’t bother feeding the college kids. just get them to the voting booth).

It will take an army of volunteers, but it’s probably more effective than door hangers in residential neighborhoods. If the Mom gets home with the kids, it’s too late. She’s exhausted and won’t go back out again.

Anne – there are a lot of things, esp domestically, that I do like about Hilary. I think she’s an interesting voice and force to have in the party – but she and all those tied too tight to the beltway are not the right go-tos on the war, and it is the big issue. Plus the country is very fractured right now and she is just another source of fracture. Absolutely a bad choice for a presidential candidate all around. I hate the thought of her running and I hope she raises a lot of money, then opts out and sprinkles funds through the party. She can be a force and influence without running right now. As to the qualities you do mention – I think Edwards sells that best. I’m all Feingold, all the time, but I think Edwards could GOTV with his message and direct appeal. FWIW.

Rayne – glad to see the migraine let up.

masaccio – *g* The hearings told you a lot – despite all the prepping, he was light on the answers and Graham almost got frustrated at times. You could see him thinking:*%#$ I went over this with you 500 times!

IMO – Hamdi and Robert’s need to recuse on Hamdan is why we got Alito instead of Luttig for the next slot. They didn’t want Luttig to have to recuse on Padilla bc they saw how their vote counts were ebbing.

Rayne, I agree that she’s playing to the centrists in both parties, and I too would only vote for her if she survived the primary (which I don’t think she will). I know two people who run fund-raisers for her in NY, and “coy” is their assessment, meaning, she’s testing the waters, not having made a decision, hedging her bets. I don’t think the money is nothing.

Mary, there are monied people out there urging Hil to be a “king maker” in 08. She could be a real force in that regard!

Rayne, I am with you regarding Carville’s credibility. He is the go-to guy for the conservative talking head shows that want to showcase the Democratic voice as out of touch with reality. As a viewer who might be looking for an alternative to the current power scheme, this is what the MSM shows me as “the opposition party’s consultant” How many MSM viewers are completely turned off with his high decibel rationalizations and pseudo-insider references?

Alice Marshall %u2014 here’s a possible plan, probably there is time to do this for 2008 only:

1. Register with your state’s authorities as a non-profit, tax exempt organization with the purpose of transporting people to voting precincts.
2. Solicit charter bus companies for donations of the use of their buses and ask for volunteer drivers. Since you have the tax exempt status, they can write it off as a donation.

3. Here’s the harder part: Figure out several neighborhood central points to pick people up for a precinct delivery, round trip.

The crux of it is the tax exempt status of your organization that can be the recipient of this kind of trade-donation.

Is this just blowing hot air? What do you think? Hey, you DID ask for ideas :)

This has possibilities, the hardest part would be persuading potential voters to show up at the agreed pick up points. No need to charter busses. Not too hard to find volunteers with Minivans here in Fairfax.

Contacting voters at the afer school programs makes sense. I have had some luck here in approaching students at adult education. They mostly arrive between 5:45 and 7 PM. Most students of adult ed are women and/or immigrants, so it is a good place to contact Democrats.

If you make the pick up points local enough — say a school or campus, and publish a schedule, it might not be so hard….but….you never know.

Fresh thread from Pach.

I can’t believe there are 12 people out there who still think Carville speaks for the Democratic party, who knows what the party needs, who even understands voters.

Sad to say, he is probably best known for being the moron who married Mary Matalin, and who apparently had to sign over his balls in the pre-nup.

Saul Alinsky used to say that people do not understand anything outside of their personal experience. Low and middle income people experience powerlessness everyday. They experience powerlessness thru their frustration with their children’s school, powerlessness at work, powerlessness in traffic, powerlessness with their credit card company, HMO, and so on. It is very difficult to believe that going in a booth, pressing a button once a year will have a real impact on your life. It is counter intuitive.

So you just have to ask these voters to vote every year. Like reseeding a lawn, it simply has to be done every year.

for those who may be interested, this is how we do voter registration in Fairfax. This is one measure of its effectiveness.

Rayne,

That is my fantasy Hillary scenario for 2008 too. It would also give the winger pundicks another black-eye for saying she was going to jump in the race, just like they said she would in 2004.

-GSD

new thread!

Maybe we should do some sort of post about GOTV efforts for single women. It’ll take some research but well worth looking into.

And your points about “powerlessness” of low and middle income people are well taken, Alice. That’s a very difficult thing to overcome.

Your local League of Women Voters (www.lwv.org) will be running voter-registration drives and printing info on how to vote absentee, pollwatching, etc, etc. They do great work, but even in a hotbed of political fervor like my little town, there aren’t many members. We can all pitch in.

Jane & Digby for Prez.

oooh that was sort of a creepy convergence; opening FDL and seeing dark willow about an hour after watching that very episode of BtVS.

and speaking of which: “I may be love’s bitch, but at least I’m man enough to admit it.” –Spike, BtVS

jcricket 3. Here’s the harder part: Figure out several neighborhood central points to pick people up for a precinct delivery, round trip.

Have the busses run the ususal school-pickup route.

wow, there’s 20 million single women? i gotta get out more…

:^)

Two ideas as food for thought.

The first came from that well-known Democratic political organizer of single women, Richard Nixon. When Nixon was running for Congress, one thing that he did was to encourage supporters to organize by profession. So if a supporter was a barber and knew another barber, the two of them would become president and vice-president of Barbers for Nixon.

A strategy that a community-level sexual assault crisis center once explored was to increase community awareness of the center by making sure that every licensed cosmetologist in the county knew who they were, had coffee mugs on site from the center, etc. Every beauty shop from el cheapo through the ritziest was targeted. The theory was that women might tell their stylist things they might not tell other people, if not about themselves then about their friends, so it was an untapped venue and perceived as a safer one.

Neither of these is a strategy but maybe they will lead someone to come up with a strategy.

Maybe someone has already brought this up, but whatever happened to pocketbook issues?

If a woman is single, and expects to remain single for the rest of her life, one of her biggest concerns is FINANCIAL SECURITY. Remember the number one way women escape poverty is by marrying out of it. So what happens to those who don’t marry out of it? FAIR WAGES is a women’s issue. But that’s just for the here and now, what happens when she gets old? SOCIAL SECURITY is a women’s issue.

If she’s married, and she has kids, she worries about HER CHILDREN. That means EDUCATION and HEALTHCARE.

These used to be things the Democrats were good at, why can’t we be again?