Just received the following in my email; it was addressed to me personally, made my heart go pitter-pat:

>>

Dear Rayne:

I wanted to write to you first because you have been a real leader and a crucial part of all of our work.

As I have traveled across our country, I have talked to thousands of people who are working for change in their own communities about the power of politics to make a difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. Every group I have spoken to, I encouraged them to stand up for what they believe and to get involved in the electoral process -- because the only sure way to make difference is to step up and run for office yourself.

Today, I'm announcing my candidacy for the Chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee.

The Democratic Party needs a vibrant, forward-thinking, long-term presence in every single state and we must be willing to contest every race at every level. We will only win when we show up and fight for the issues important to all of us.

Another integral part of our strategy must be cultivating the party's grassroots. Our long term success depends on all of us taking an active role in our party and in the political process, by volunteering, going door to door and taking the Democratic message into every community, and by organizing at the local level. After all, new ideas and new leaders don't come from consultants; they come from communities.

As important as organization is, it alone can no longer win us elections. Offering a new choice means making Democrats the party of reform -- reforming America's financial situation, reforming our electoral process, reforming health care, reforming education and putting morality back in our foreign policy. The Democratic Party will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by changing its rhetoric, nor will we win by adopting the other side's positions. We must say what we mean -- and mean real change when we say it.

But most of all, together, we have to rebuild the American community. We will never succeed by treating our nation as a collection of separate regions or separate groups. There are no red states or blues states, only American states. And we must talk to the people in all of these states as members of one community.

That word -- 'values' -- has lately become a codeword for appeasement of the right-wing fringe. But when political calculations make us soften our opposition to bigotry, or sign on to policies that add to the burden of ordinary Americans, we have abandoned our true values.

We cannot let that happen. And we cannot just mouth the words. Our party must speak plainly and our agenda must clearly reflect the socially progressive, fiscally responsible values that bring our party -- and the vast majority of Americans -- together.

All of this will require both national perspective and local experience. I know what it's like to lead hands-on at the state level and I know what it's like to run for national office.

With your help, this past election season, Democracy for America, already started creating the kind of organization the Democratic Party can be. This past election cycle, we endorsed over 100 candidates at all levels of government -- from school board to U.S. Senate. We contributed almost a million dollars to nearly 750 candidates around the country and raised millions of dollars for many more candidates.

Together, we helped elect a Democratic governor in Montana, a Democratic mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah and an African American woman to the bench in Alabama. Fifteen of the candidates we endorsed had never run for office before -- and won.

I also have experience building and managing a local party organization. My career started as Democratic Party chair in Chittenden County, Vermont. I then ran successful campaigns: for state legislature, lieutenant governor and then governor. In my 11-year tenure as governor, I balanced the state's budget every year.

I served as chair of both the National Governors' Association and the Democratic Governors' Association (DGA). And as chair of the DGA, I helped recruit nearly 20 governors that won -- even in states like Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi.

All of these experiences have only reaffirmed what I know to be true. There is only one party that speaks to the hopes and dreams of all Americans. It is the party you have already given so much to. It is the Democratic Party.

We can win elections only by standing up for what we believe.

Thank you and I look forward to listening to your concerns in the weeks ahead.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

<<

To quote another creative soul, Chin up. Because it's on, motherfuckers, it is on!

1:20:54 PM    comment []

See this DailyKos diary for this news: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/11/0146/66450

Personal and PUBLIC democracy in action!

Yay!!

/celebration

Keep your eyes peeled, don't turn your back.  This isn't over.  I'll put money on this bill being more than it appeared on the surface.

11:57:10 AM    comment []

From the New York Times today:  Wall Street Hears Pitch for Social Security Plan

Our illustrious Treasury Secretary John Snow is going to pitch the administration's Social Security proposal over a three-day period to Wall Street.

What a freaking waste of my tax dollars. Do we really need another Snow job?

John Snow was a lousy businessperson. Why would Wall Street pay heed to a guy that milked a large company and shareholders, exemplifying the kinds of ethics both the public and Wall Street have come to rue?  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was designed with people like Snow in mind, to protect the public and shareholders against his kind of management practices. 

Wall Street has bachelors', masters', doctorate degrees in management, economics and accounting wallpapering their entire neighborhood. Why can't this administration simply give the program proposal to Wall Street -- sans Snow job -- and let them make up their own minds as to whether this is good for the country and viable over the long-term?

And why bother to spend any more time on the people who will benefit the most from this proposal? Wall Street is already slobbering at the prospect of billions of dollars in management fees from private accounts. Why are we spending tax dollars to sell something to folks who are already sold, who have a vested interest in the success of the product being sold?

Lastly, should we pay tax dollars for the man who said this:

"The cost of the [Iraq] war will be small. We can afford the war, and we'll put it behind us."

--NYT, 09-March-03

to say anything more about our finances?

Put on your warm mittens and muffler. Bring out your shovels.

Get ready to dig out after the Snow job.

9:45:12 AM    comment []