Progressive Update--11/03/2006

Only four days to go until Election Day on Tuesday the 7^th. Please find out how you can help a particular candidate’s campaign over the next few days, or help Delaware’s Democratic Party (kdwyer@deldems.org). Kristin Dwyer at HQ can provide you with contact information for whatever campaign that you would like to help with, and opportunities for work for the entire party.

John Kowalko for 25^th RD State Representative—John’s staging area for volunteers is the UAW complex at 698 Old Baltimore Pike. Since polls open at 7am on Tuesday, poll volunteers are needed at—are you ready?—6:15-6:30am. John is looking for folks, even if they can best handle a two hour shift. The 25^th RD has five polling locations. John also needs phone bank volunteers on Tuesday, to call Democrats who have not yet voted. There are shifts from 10:15a-2:30pm and 2-6pm. You can also email John at kowalkoforthe25th@verizon.net to ask for other volunteer opportunities.

John Kowalko and other candidates need ‘poll checkers’, folks inside the polling stations who keep track of voting Democrats. This enables campaigns to call Dems who have not yet voted later in the day. To do this, you will need to go through training, which is on Saturday at 6pm at Del Dems HQ at 19 E. Commons Blvd, 2nd Floor, New Castle, DE 19720, (302) 328-9036, near the News Journal building near Basin Road.

Dennis Spivack for US House of Representatives—I am certain that they need volunteers, however I did not get information from them. For such information, contact Glenn Shipley at glenn@spivackforcongress.org, 153 E Chestnut Hill Rd, Suite 104, Newark, 302-479-7748

Beau Biden for DE Attorney General—Contact Sarah Gallagher at sgallagher@bidenag.com or cell phone 302.545.4365 if you can help. There are lit drops on Saturday from 9a-1p, and 1-5pm, also on Sunday at the same times. There is door-hanger hanging on Monday at 5:30pm, and a need for volunteers for 4 hour shifts on Tuesday. Biden HQ is at 918 S Madison St, Wilmington, at the Riverfront Shipyard Shops.

MoveOn has phone volunteer opportunities that Karen, a friend of mine, says is really snazzy. Go to pol.moveon.org/phone/volunteer/c4c.html for more information.

Donate—It is not too late to donate to your favorite candidates. Last minute contributions can help with last minute advertisements and phone banking. In addition to supporting Delaware candidates, consider helping Tester (Montana), McCaskill (Missouri), and Webb (Virginia). In each of these US Senate races, the Democrat is currently within 3 percentage points of the Republican candidate.

Yellow Dog Democrats—I recently heard this phrase as describing folks who would vote for a yellow dog who is a Democrat over a nice person who is a Republican. I can understand how this can be intended as an insult, however I feel that six years of W has effectively turned me into a proud Yellow Dog Democrat. To those who look down their noses at such partisan hacks such as me, I would point to the White House. How many moderate Democrats up for re-election is Dictator Bush helping to campaign? W, Rove, Cheney, Frist, Hastert and other have created this extremely divisive environment. Hastert and others covered up sexual abuse of Republican Rep Mark Foley, following the past lead of the Catholic Church (see no evil, …). Rep Castle and other Republicans backed a House rules change that would permit Republican Rep Tom Delay to remain Speaker despite his indictments of campaign finance lawbreaking. Republicans have circled their wagons tightly for six years. It is time to reap what you sow.

No honest Republican can fault Yellow Dog Democrats this year. Actually many Republicans are deserting the party in droves (either as candidates who are running as Democrats, or as voters who support new and old Democrats and reject today’s corrupt Republicans), as they recognize that the current Republican party has lost all moral direction and fiscal responsibility.

Keeping Track—I re-discovered the website www.electoral-vote.com, which does a wonderful job of keeping up with the surveys and projecting results (current results is 49/49 with 2 unknown in the Senate, and a whopping 241 Dems 193 Rep’s, and 1 Tie in the House, for a unbelievable pickup of something like 38 seats in the House by the Dems. Remember that the Republicans have been gerrymandering the districts and still are losing 9% of their House seats—what a revolt! Karl, how are you going to spin this?

Paul S Baumbach

Go to my blog at paulprogressive.blogspot.com for all of my past postings. I learned this week that the ultra-conservative folks at WDEL (on the ‘right side of issues’) and in Ulbrich’s campaign are reading my blog—I am honored. Read on—you might actually learn something, such as how fed up people are with commentators and professional politicians who have no idea how government can serve people.