This was my first caucus! I was so inspired to participate that I wanted to share with everyone my experience.

I moved from California at the end of 2006 to the Seattle area for my job. I had always voted in California since I was 18 in elections via Ink-A-Dot votes (optical). This was my first opportunity to be part of a caucus.

What a difference! I really liked the community sense the caucus gives you. You get to meet similar minded people who are motivated and care about the future of their democracy. You can discuss the candidates, you find out everyone's names and you have the opportunity to join other organizations that are tied in to the WA state Democratic party.

(more after in extended including 30sec video I shot)

I received an email with the subject "Can you talk tomorrow?" from John Edwards with the following content:
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Dear Friend,

Tomorrow I'm making an exciting and important announcement about our next big step together and I want you to hear about it directly from me. As an active member of our online community, your leadership has been central to the success of our campaign. Now, I'm really counting on you to step up once again and play a big role in what happens next.

Please join me on a conference call tomorrow, Saturday, May 12th, at 12:30 PM ET / 9:30 AM PT. Because spots are limited, I want to give you early notice to make sure you have a chance to reserve yours. Please RSVP right away to make sure you get a spot:

http://johnedwards.com/XXXXXXXXXX (my personal token there)

Once you've signed up you'll receive all the information you need to join our call.

Thanks for standing with me during the critical moments,

--John Edwards
May 11, 2007
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My question, does anyone know what this is about? Is he dropping out? Changing the campaign's direction? Something else?

And for Lord's sake, let's push this assuming that the pendulum has truly swung in our direction.

Keep emphasizing, these races were decided because of extraordinarily greater turnout. What does this accomplish for us lucky Democrats?
-Foundation to build the mandate frame
-Foundation to build the anti-Republican frame
-Foundation to build the anti-Bush frame

It is so powerful. Imagine this Democratic thinking point (re: Lakoff): Voters in every state came out in TWICE their normal numbers to send a message to the White House: you have gone too far and now must be held accountable.

I'm already pushing this in posts on news web site blogs, especially because indexing often happens at midnight or so for site search engines. Win big and win early.

Onward to victory with its full, symbolic force!

We must win the races...and the battle of ideas.

I just watched Eminem's "Mosh" video and it made me cry again.

Eminem - Mosh (Continues) http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZcpJ3LafwbY

Please send this to everyone you know. It matters in 2006 even more than 2004.

Why does it matter more?

Here are FIVE reasons:

1. Over 100,000 people were displaced because of Hurricane Katrina, many of them poor and African-American. Bush did nothing.
   
2. Over 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001 on Bush's watch. He read a children's book despite the death and destruction.
   
3. Rep. Mark Foley, who fought for federal rules against Internet predators, was himself an Internet predator of young boys.
   
4. Rep. Tom DeLay said he never did anything wrong. After several judgements against him, he resigned in disgrace.
   
5. Vice President Dick Cheney shot his friend point-blank in his face with buckshot. Then he muscled him into not pressing charges.

Rise up November 7th!

Notice something similar about these quotes:
"Denny is very credible as far as I'm concerned. He's done a fine job as speaker."--Bush 10/2006

"Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."--Bush 9/2005

From "The Daily Show: What Is Bush's Job?": http://youtube.com/watch?v=dEJY6g-Z3nE

I learned some of this from Jeffrey Feldman but I am going to take it further. "Job" is language designed to evoke ideas of work, acheivement, performance, review and other job (remember McJobs?) related diction (look Mom, I'm applying my American Literature degree!) But, in the end, you can be let go from a job or fired and the consequence is uncomfortable but accepted as a "workplace hazard" or something like that.

So, just like Michael Brown, Hastert could be let go and it would be part of the narrative evoked by the word "job." In fact, this may be a cue to Hastert that he may be close to facing the same fate as Brown very soon.

Something to think about: being President is not just a job, it is not a worker's role but a LEADER'S role. Leaders don't have jobs. They have positions of authority with responsibility. Responsibility is missing from this Administration. Maybe they ARE just doing a job. If so, we should definitely fire them.

OK, so I've read and participated in MyDD.com since late 2003. I read it EVERYDAY and scan EVERY post. And there's this energy that's here that's hot and cold and defeatist. Stop it right now!

Look, I understand that everyone, including myself, feels stung by the 2004 elections. I worked my ass off for more than nine months straight to elect John Kerry President. I was so sad on election night I nursed a bottle of cheap red wine until I fell asleep. I thought I would wake up and like on that crappy TV soap "Dallas" everything would turn out to be a dream. Instead, it's been a two year nightmare.

Chris and many, many others on this board have strained to temper expectations for the coming election. They get excited about large gains in the House and Senate and then add caveats such as that the media might sabotage these gains. Or, (another) October Surprise. Or, the difference between local, state and national elections.

Well, BUCK UP! None of this matters.

Expectations, predictions and polls are smoke and mirrors. Here is what matters: how much you and I get off our f**king asses, motivate our friends and neighbors and do something. There is only one way to win and win big. Typing at our keyboards won't do it. Reading newspapers won't do it. Dancing around in a Grandpa Gorilla suit or that crazy old anti-bush man on YouTube alone won't do it.

Blood, sweat, tears and action WILL DO IT!

I wrote this original spoken word song about Hurricane Katrina and the Bush Administration's horrifying lack of concern, effort and action. A royalty-free backing track and Damen on the piano, Kat on the guitar, Jeff on the harmonica and Alex on the drums accompany me. We performed this 8/23/2006 at Velvet Guerilla Cabaret in Santa Monica, CA. Visit www.adambresson.org for the lyrics and more information. Hope you enjoy it!

*Introduction
I am working hard on several web sites and web communities to take our learning from the San Diego and Connecticut races and channel them into effective, constructive Progressive narratives. I'm about 50% there, hoping for a 9/11/06 launch (date chosen purposefully). The main web site at http://www.actiondemocrats.org/ will contain developing projects, narratives and commentary in line with a Progressive message for Democrats. Thank you for helping me by reading this cross-posted diary!

*What Happened
Last night at 2AM, British authorities captured 24 suspects, many of Pakistani descent, in a raid designed to thwart an alleged terrorist plot during the planning stages. The plot would have involved detonating homemade bombs from over-the-counter ingredients such as peroxide in mid-air, taking down 10 airplanes bound for the U.S. from Britain.

*What The Bush Administration Knew
It is verified that British intelligence alerted President Bush, on vacation in Crawford, TX, about the details of the plot and the upcoming raid on Sunday 8/6/06. TSA action was taken on 8/10/06 in the U.S. restricting liquid or gel-based items in carry-ons after the raids. There is NO SPECIFIC evidence that ANY attacks or terrorist acts were being planned for within the U.S. Mueller of the F.B.I. said a month-long investigation in conjunction with British intelligence revealed no American connections.

(more in Extended Entry)