by John Barta [courtesy of Blog for America]

We call this the World's Most Important Poll because it shows that one popular Democratic candidate also has many Democratic voters that find them to be their least favored candidate, thus raising questions about their ability to succeed in the general election if they get the nomination. It costs only a few dollars to create this poll and you'll end up registering lots of voters in the process. This has energized our voter contact activity!

The poll does many other things as well:

by [courtesy of Blog for America]

One of the lessons taught in the DFA Training Academy (I attended the one in Tampa this past summer) is the need to form a cohesive, compelling message, a story about why we are Democrats and, more specifically, Progressives.

It can be harder than it sounds. My favorites are, "I am a Democrat because diversity is our virtue." and "Progressives are about the future. We are the future of the Democratic party because we envision America at its best."

In order to secure key victories next year, our candidates, yours truly included, must establish our message and hone it until it cuts like a knife. Fortunately, we now have some help. Our allies at the Center For American Progress have created 4 television spots which contrast us against our opposition. Here's my favorite:

by Ilya Sheyman [courtesy of Blog for America]

One of DFA's greatest strengths has always been the active community of 760 groups meeting monthly all across the country. We've had a lot of anecdotal evidence of where local groups were leaning - for example DC for Democracy recently endorsed Senator Obama and is actively volunteering in support of his campaign - but now we finally have hard numbers to see the pulse of our community.

We started by taking a look at group organizers across the country - of whom over 60% voted in this poll. These results are for all the declared Presidential candidates with write-in Gores votes distributed to their second choice. (Only a handful had to be removed for refusing to state a different second choice). The results are strikingly different from the overall poll.

Sen. Edwards holds a clear lead amongst organizers with 41.88% of the vote, followed by Sen. Obama at 20.16% and Rep. Kucinich rounds out the top three at 17.03. Much like the rest of the community, there's no clear concensus among DFA organizers about a candidate - although the conventional wisdom is clearly not in play and the race is far from being over.

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

This week the LA Times/Bloomberg poll was released, showing among other things that Americans are very deeply pessimistic about the economy. Perhaps because of this, the poll suggests Americans have begun to turn against the neoliberal economic agenda promoted for the last 30 years. Specifically, enormous majorities support higher taxes if it will pay for universal health care. From The Big Picture's summary (linked above):

-A majority of Americans say they would tolerate higher taxes -- if it paid for universal health care;

Universal Health Care
-60% said they would be willing to repeal tax cuts to help pay for a health-care program that insures all Americans;
-Most of the highest income group polled, those in households earning more than $100,000, support it.
-More than 80% of Democrats say they like the plan; most Republicans oppose it. -Independent voters also support universal health care;

read more »

by Karen Kostoff [courtesy of Blog for America]

Hi DFA Friends and Members;

I am surprised to see so many people flooding the DFA poll with votes for Al Gore.  I love Al Gore.  I'm so proud and happy for Al Gore and all his accomplishments.  Probably one of my first political writings was asking people to vote for Al Gore in late summer of 2000 when I saw all the political pundits turn on him and suddenly start the 'george bush would be great to have a beer with' lines.  After all there wasn't much else they could come up with that was positive about his (bush) experiences, foreign policy or basic grammar.

 I knew so many people that liked Ralph Nader but I pleaded with them to think about that vote.  If it was wasted on Nader by taking votes from Gore....we'd lose.  We did lose but Al Gore actually won as we know now.

 He has come a long way since then doing so much to see that we are informed of the seriousness of global warming.  I feel he's found his niche and will continue to be a great contributor to our country and world.

I wish he would have fought longer and harder in 2000.  I thought so then and I believe it still.  We Democrats are mad at our Democratic leaders now, saying they don't have the courage to stand up for what we want and believe.  Well, I think the 2000 election was the beginning of us not standing up when we should have.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The House just took another stab at S-CHIP legislation, and passed it out with 265 votes.  The veto override got 273, so that sounds like a step backwards.  I don't think so.  Ten Democrats didn't vote, and all of them can be expected to vote yes.  43 Republicans voted with the Democrats, which is I think one more than before.  The point is the cosmetic changes to the bill did little to get Republicans on board.  But they had to vote against kids' health care, again, and take a stand on an issue where Democrats are favored by a 2:1 margin.

by Mark Leno Campaign [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Equality California has launched a huge ad campaign to educate the public on Marriage Equality (great 60 second ad after the flip):

An above the fold story in today's San Francisco Chronicle noted:

"This campaign is about changing the climate in California around this issue," Seth Kilbourn, Equality California's political and policy director, said as he sat in his upper Market Street office.

He cites polls showing Californians almost evenly split on the issue. A 2000 poll by the Policy Institute of California found that voters opposed same-sex marriage 55 to 38 percent; a poll by the same group last year showed a major shift: 48 to 46 percent.

This campaign is intended to move the state "over the tipping point," Kilbourn said. "We wanted to connect to the people of California on an emotional level, on a level they can identify with."