[courtesy of Blog for America]

Dear %%first%%,

Make your voice heard! Help draft the 2008 National Platform for the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign. As Barack Obama emailed:

"...No political experience is required. Your thoughts and experiences are all that matter, and they will shape a platform that -- like this party -- is owned by the people. ..."

COME to a local '08 Dem Platform Meeting
Sign up today at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4gjc2
     7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
     July 24, 2008
     Campaign office of U.S. Rep.Allyson Schwartz for Congress
     101 Leedom Street
     Jenkintown, PA 19046

Mary Clark (Montco DFA steering committee member and past chair) will host, and really appreciates that the national Dems have provided a Host Guide!

[courtesy of Blog for America]

One of the reasons that so many people in this day and age turn to the internet and especially the blogs for real news and information is because  of how miserably the press fails us.  So typical, was the story that appeared in the Foster's Daily Democrat about Governor Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and his recent visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Their story was entirely about the New Hampshire Primary and that topic wasn't even mentioned one single time in Governor Dean's speech nor did it turn up in a most interesting Q &A session.  As so often with the press, any story is an opinion piece that the editorial department is interested in and not what actually happens.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the attendees at the event which was a House Party given by our New Hampshire Speaker of the House, Terie Norelli.  It was at 2:00PM on a hot Friday afternoon.  When I arrived, I saw many of my friends and colleagues.  Senator Martha-Fuller Clark, Representative Jim Powers, Representative Jackie Calli-Pitts and my wonderful Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter were among those I was able to chat with.  Though the party was supposed to be for only 40 or 50 people and was not open to the public or the press, nontheless there must have been about 100 people there and some press people did manage to get to the house and hang around outside.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that she is "thrilled"that Barack Obama will accept the nomination in a public rally. "I wasat the 1960 convention with my parents. John F. Kennedy gave hisacceptance speech in the Los Angeles Coliseum...and it was the mostthrilling. Tens of thousands of people showed up at that. It was one ofthe thrills of my life," said Pelosi.

An Alameda County grand jury is appalled by Oakland's employee credit card program. Their report found that the credit cards were used for questionable purchases, from holiday cards to barbeque supplies.

The Democratic National Committee is opening formation of the Democratic platformto local communities. "From the beginning, we said we were going bringdown the traditional walls of the Democratic Convention and make thisevent more accessible and include as many people as possible," saidHoward Dean.

There's more... 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Ben Malley

The fight for a single-payer universal healthcare system continued yesterday outside of Moscone Center. Inside was the conference of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), a lobbying group of more than 1,300 private health insurance companies. In 2006, the organization spent more than $7 million on lobbying efforts. Outside, more than 1,000 people voiced support of State Senator Sheila Kuehl’s SB 840 and Congressman John Conyers’ HR 676, both of which would establish single-payer healthcare.

Also inside was Terry McAuliffe. The former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair and most recently former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run, spoke between 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. His topic: Decision 2008: The Politics of Healthcare.

A sampling of other speakers at the event included such infamous notables as former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, former counselor to President Bush, Dan Bartlett (who spoke alongside McAuliffe) and former Health and Human Services secretary under the Bush Administration, Tommy Thompson.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

Jess Durfee was elected to the Democratic National Committee over the weekend.

His election was a merit-based decision of the Party’s Executive Board. Durfee isn’t a big contributor to the party or a Member of Congress or a noted ideologue. He’s the Chair of the County Central Committee in San Diego County.

County Central Commitees were a creation of the Progessives in the second decade of the last century. They were designed to weaken the major parties by breaking any connection between them and those elected to real offices as Democrats or Republicans.

State Committee members are a combination of activists who show up at open meetings to win election and cronies of elected officials who are appointed. But County Committee members are directly elected by party registrants in the direct primary. They need know nothing of how to win elections, may represent ideological extremes, may indeed simply be motivated by an egotistical need to see their name on the ballot.

I have known County Committee members who believed the votes they got made them comparable to Members of the Legislature or Congress.

This disparate group selects a Chair. In San Diego’s case, Jess Durfee.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Marcy Winograd
California Democratic Party Executive Board Representative
41st Assembly District

When anti-war activists on the California Democratic Party Executive Board gather near San Francisco this weekend their swing block votes, representing roughly a third of the board, could elect strong progressives to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Up for grabs are 19 seats for the California Delegation in 2012, when the next Presidential nominee will be chosen. In the running are dozens of candidates, some incumbents of 15 years, others leaders in the party's Progressive Caucus.

Christine Pelosi, an incumbent DNC candidate and daughter of the current House Speaker, should be prepared to answer an important question on the minds of anti-war activists: Are you prepared to amend the DNC platform to call for de-funding the US occupation of Iraq? At the last California Democratic Party convention, Pelosi, as head of the Platform Committee, agreed to amend the state platform to include the de-funding language. Whether she is prepared to pledge to amend the national platform is another story, particularly on the eve of a massive 170-billion (and climbing) Iraq supplemental, which is expected to hit the House floor under mother Nancy Pelosi's leadership next week.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Rick Jacobs
Chair
The Courage Campaign

This is personal.

I was quite surprised when I learned that Terry McAuliffe was going to appear at a major convention of health insurance corporations in San Francisco on June 19.

After all, how could the former Chair of the Democratic National Committee show up as a guest of health insurance executives -- much less accept any money for his appearance at the AHIP (America's Health Insurance Plans) convention? This appearance seems inappropriate at best, especially after Barack Obama and Howard Dean courageously directed the Democratic National Committee last week to reject contributions from lobbyists, including the health insurance industry.

And now it's personal. My sister, who suffers from severe and rapidly deteriorating hearing loss, just told me that she has been denied useful health care coverage. Again. Why? Because her hearing problems have been diagnosed as a "pre-existing condition," precluding her from receiving cochlear implants so she can hear again.