March 2008 newsletter
What's Here
Notes From the Chair About the Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program Obama Visit to Salem on CCTVThat Super Tuesday Party - Recap Registration Drive in Independence 5th Congressional District Meeting, West Salem 3/15 WOU Democrats Caucus 3/7 On the Importance of State House Races Betty the Yeti Coming June 4 - selling tickets now The Monmouth Peace Vigil: 5 years of war Channel 22: Wendy Brokaw interviews Normon Solomon and Peter Bergel DVD/CCTV Broadcast Secretary of State Candidates Night
Links to Candidate Websites
Notes from the Chair
Alan Holland, February 1, 2008
Notes from the Chair
Alan Holland,
March 1, 2008
The country is on the threshold of a historic era and Democrats are
riding a wave of momentum unprecedented in our lifetimes. Public
support for Democratic candidates is high and for opponents among the
lowest in history. We must take advantage of these sentiments and
organize to be as effective as possible in helping our candidates sweep
into office to lead us forward. The Neighbor-to-Neighbor (NTN) program is
the epitome of grass roots organizing and we all should be doing our
share to make it happen locally. The program initiated by DNC chair,
Howard Dean, calls on activists to sign on with a commitment to
communicate with neighbors, friends, and coworkers during this election
season so accurate information can be delivered and tailored to voters'
needs and interests with the trust of a local acquaintance and support
resources provided. Research shows how dramatically more effective
personal contact is over literature, e-mail, and phoning and this is
why the NTN program is essential. I urge all PCP’s and concerned
Democrats to sign up via a form available from any PCD Officer or visit
www.oregondemocrats.org to sign up online at
http://www.oregondemocrats.org/neighborhood_leader_program. We do
better together!
I celebrate the 35 people from 3 counties who spent hours in training
on the Vote Builder computer system at LBCC January 26; seven Polk Dems
were included. This will increase our ability to target voters with
phone lists, and precinct walking maps.
Thanks for all the work done in ’07, let’s win some races in ’08! We can do it together!
Alan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
About the Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) Program:
From Autumn Wilburn, State Partnership Program
The N2N program consists of party members identifying
neighborhood helpers who are willing to share information back and
forth with a number of their neighbors or acquaintances. Ideally, each
"Neighborhood Leader" or "NL" would link up with 25 other people. It's
been shown that face to face communication is most effective and the
N2N program thus magnifies Party contact in ways impossible for PCP's.
A NL has less responsibility than a PCP but is a valuable resource for
the local, state, and national Party. We need to help recruit them and
it is important that each NL be recorded with their contact information
either online or via the N2N volunteer card supplied at meetings or
online at the site given below.
1. Recording NL’s: If folks that are doing the work of a Neighborhood
Leader (PCP’s, volunteers etc.) aren’t coded as NL’s in the My Campaign
database, they don’t count. This means that if you have Neighborhood
Leaders in your county that aren't on this database your county isn’t
getting credit for them. Get credit for your hard work – get them into
the system!
2. Next Steps: There will be a new online tool “Neighborhood
VoteBuilder” that will roll out this Spring that will allow them to
create their own walking/calling lists, print them, and do their own
data entry. If your PCP’s (or other volunteers) are already going door
to door,
they should sign up as Neighborhood Leaders and get access to this
tool. Polk County will then get credit with the DNC for their hard
work. If they aren’t in the system as N2N, your hard work is not being
counted by the DNC.
o You can go online and quickly enter the information in at:
http://www.oregondemocrats.org/neighborhood_leader_program
o OR, you can email a list of names with basic contact info to your
Field Organizer, Autumn Wilburn, Democratic Party of Oregon,
autumn@dpo.org , and she can enter them for you.
POLK County will help make the difference this election!
The DNC and Presidential Campaigns are looking daily at Oregon’s
numbers to see if we are adequately preparing for Election ’08. We need
every county to participate fully in this program and to help us meet
our goals. The goal for Oregon is to have recruited 1800 Neighborhood
Leaders for the entire state. This is a 36 county program and we look
forward to working with you to make it a success.
More on Neighbor-to-Neighbor: Progress to Date (Feb 29)
Good News! We are currently at 1706 Neighborhood Leaders across the state! Thank you for all of your help in getting us there!
Parag Mehta, DNC Director of Training, will be leading a training
on Neighbor to Neighbor at the DPO Platform Convention in Eugene
Saturday April 12th. There will also be trainings on the new online
tool – “Neighborhood VoteBuilder”. Please be sure to attend or to send
someone technologically competent who will be the local resource.
Thanks again, and keep up your great work!
Autumn Wilburn
Field Director
DNC State Partnership Program
Democratic Party of Oregon
autumn@dpo.org
Obama visit to Salem on CCTV - entire!
It is Oregon's first seriously contested Democratic primary since 1988.
CCTV (Capitol Community Television---cable channels 21, 22, and 23) was
there, taped the entire Obama Town Hall, and has posted it to their
website where it can be watched at any time. They also played it on
their channel at 8:30 the night of the event and will be replaying on
their broadcasts.
Check it out at www.cctvsalem.org
The candidate also visited Portland, Corvallis (briefly, for a pizza
stop and impromptu chat), Eugene and Medford. I was impressed by the
interview with a Eugene Register-Guard journalist, including:
Question: Are there things in the Pacific Northwest, like forest policy, that you’ve taken a look at?
Answer: On
forest policy, dealing with these county payments in a serious,
long-term way so local counties can have an opportunity to plan their
budgets, I think is going to be very important. ... (more at Register-Guard)
Several Polk Democrats attended, including Jackie Pierce, here recruiting voter registrations outside.
|
"Feb.
The |
 |
|
|
while the results pour in -- meet Marion County Chair Wayne Baum and Polk County Chair Alan Holland -- |
|
|
|
| it was fun... | and we kept on registering | and meeting people |
 |
|
 |
| Major, you're leaning... | Our Deer in the Headlights award goes to stalwart activist David Papen |
Profuse thanks to Jackie Pierce
for these wonderful photographs!
5th Congressional District Meeting, West Salem 3/15
Hi Everyone,
It is time for our official notice to go out for this quarter's 5th
Congressional District meeting. This month it will be at the West Salem
Library, 395 Glen Ceek Road NW, on Saturday, March 15 at 10 am.
Diane Hill, Secretary
5thCD Democratic Committee
(503)582-0980
Registration Drive in Independence Getting Organized
Many citizens in Independence, especially people turning 18 this year,
will be registered to vote with the help of Voz Hispana, a statewide
group sponsored by PCUN. A preliminary meeting was held in the Colonia
Amistad Housing Farm Worker apartments in Independence on February 26,
lead by Francisco Lopez and attended by some PCD members. On March 27,
at St. Patrick's church in Independence, there will be workshops in
Spanish and English to train people in charge of registration in
Independence, and to identify good local opportunities to register
voters. Anyone interested in helping or in donating should contact Bart
Marquez at 503-982-0243, ext. 20 or online:
http://www.pcun.org/resources/sisterorganizations.asp (scroll down to the page bottom)
Also, Tambien, Voz Hispana invita al primer taller de formacion sobre
la Campana de Registro para Nuevos votantes. On March 11, at PCUN, 300
Young Street, Woodburn, 5:30-7:00 pm. Para mas informacion sobre este
taller por favor de llamer a Juan Argumedo al telefono: (503) 982-0243 Extension 204 o Francisco Lopez al telefono: (503) 269-5694
!SOY AMERICAN Y MI VOZ CUENTA!
Join The
And caucus for your favorite Presidential Candidate!
Western Democratic Caucus
Friday, March 7th
6:00 pm
WUC, Columbia Room
Free Parking in H lot behind Werner University Center
For more info: woucd@yahoo.com
For more information, visit: CollegeDems.com
(College Outreach Arm of the Democratic Party)
On the issue of the importance of state house races...
Thank you, Wayne, for reminding us of the
importance of getting on board these races early. While the
Presidential race may be more sexy, bigger media, etc., what we all
need to understand is that the state house and state senate campaigns
are the grass-roots that benefit ALL Democratic campaigns in this
state!
When potential volunteers say, "Sure I support you for Oregon House,
but I'm really excited about campaigning for Obama/Clinton," Jason says
"Great!! The best way you can support the Democratic Presidential
candidate is by working for your local house candidate, because we are the ones who meet with voters face-to-face in our communities, and our local campaign is what turns them out to vote."
Fact is, when progressives and swing voters feel confident in their D
candidate for state house, odds are they will vote right on up the
ticket for the D for state senate, the D for Congress, the D for U.S.
Senate, and the D for President! The reverse, unfortunately, is not
true... If people turn out to vote just for their Presidential
candidate, Dems and non-affiliated voters in particular, are likely to
leave the rest of their ballot blank! What a loss for our state, and
for the U.S. Senate and House!! We can't let this happen. That's where
our local house races come in: If we put our effort into campaigning
for our state house candidates, we will turn out plenty of D's and win
all the way up! It seems counter-intuitive at first, but the best way
to help the Dems win in 2008 is by getting on board with our local
house candidates.... and the sooner the better!
Added bonus: If we get organized now behind our local candidates, then
when the Presidential campaigns roll into town in October, we'll be
ready for them. Our strong ground teams will be in place to benefit the
national campaigns, instead of being steam-rolled by them.
Think Global, Act Local!
Lisanne
----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne Estes
To: PolkDemoNetwork@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 4:21 AM
Subject: [PolkDemoNetwork]
Democrat enters House District 20 race
[re: Statesman-Journal article on Richard Riggs.
Folks, if we hang together, instead of separately,
we can retire one more Republican in the Legislature.
Rich and Shannon Riggs are willing to work nonstop.
What will you do to help?
I have already invested hundreds of hours in this project and am not
stopping. We need to flood the SJ with letters containing specific
points of failure by this “moderate” Republican, Berger. You have to
wait 60 days between letters. If you start in March you can log four
letters against Berger before the General Election. Consult Rich Riggs
for particulars. Coffees in your home will also help immensely because
money is at a premium in a second tier campaign. We need to act RIGHT
NOW, not when the season heats up later or else we will absolutely get
blind sided by national campaigns. That happened to us in ’04 and I
vowed it would never happen again in HD 20.
Please, Polk County Democrats, unify behind this exceptional candidate, and we in South Salem will match you stride for stride.
What say you?
Wayne Estes
We still need to sell tickets for Betty the Yeti, so here's the description again:
Pentacle Theater June 4 Benefit for Polk Democrats
The Polk County Democrats are hosting a theatre event June 4, with a performance of "Betty the Yeti" by Jon Klein.
In this comic Call of the Wild, a disgruntled logger, Russ Sawyer,
heads for the woods after losing his job and his wife. It takes a
lonely bigfoot to finally touch the logger's heart.
It is more than a silly comedy about a man and
his odd beast. All the characters (Sawyer, his estranged wife Terra
Sawyer, her mother Clare Kutz, fiancee Trey Hugger, Iko from the Forest
Service, even Betty the Yeti) represent points of view. They tangle,
and what do you know?: passion for a cause is entangled by special
interest groups.
Lots to think about, and laugh about at the same time.
Tickets are $20, and you should purchase them early. Thanks to everyone
who is selling the tickets! To join them, and for full information, see
Upcoming Events
Monmouth Peace Vigils - every Wednesday
The vigil still meets in the same place (Monmouth, Main Street Park),
and on the same day (every Wednesday), They plan to return to the
summer-light time schedule soon, 5 to 6 pm. Contact Armelle Hofer: Armelle.Hofer@oregonstate.edu.
.
Wednesday March 19 will be the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.
If you have been thinking of maybe dropping by the vigil one of these
days, how about doing it on March 19? It would be good to have a big
turnout on that date.
There are several extra signs in the trunk of the Prices' car, also some blank cardboard and marker pens.
Here are a couple of more slogans we haven't gotten around to making yet:
* (to stand beside Bring Our Troops Home Now)
From Wendy:
Norman Solomon Movie, + Interview with Solomon and Peter Bergel.
A reminder: watch CCTV channel 21 starting March 6 at 8 pm for a 90
minute movie, "War Made Easy", followed by a half-hour Conversation
With Norman Solomon and Oregon Peaceworks executive director, Peter
Bergel (produced by Wendy Brokaw).
Must see television! Here's a link to the rest of the schedule. Tell your friends! Wendy
http://hexi.com/cctv/schedule.php3?keyword=War%20Made%20Easy
Wendy Brokaw, producer
Shedlight Productions
1136 Westfarthing Way NW
Salem, OR 97304
(503) 585-3394
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
note: this article is lifted
entire from Wikipedia. The highlighted words all work, by removing from
this site to Wikipedia or elsewhere. Use your back buttons to return.
Norman Solomon (b. 1951) is a journalist, media critic and antiwar activist. A longtime associate of the media watch group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), Solomon is also the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy,
a national consortium of policy researchers and analysts which works
pro-actively to provide alternative sources for journalists. His weekly
column, "Media Beat", has been in national syndication since 1992.
Biography
Solomon came under FBI scrutiny after he picketed for the
desegregation of a Maryland apartment complex at age 14. As a high
school senior, he drew further FBI surveillance for his efforts on
behalf of the Montgomery County Student Alliance activist group. He
became aware of their surveillance later, through a Freedom of
Information request. In Portland, Oregon, he was an activist against
nuclear power and nuclear weapons and was a researcher for the
Committee for U.S. Veterans of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In September 1984, Solomon served 10 days in jail for obstructing
railroad tracks in Vancouver, Washington, to block a train carrying
U.S. Dept of Energy cargo bound for the U.S. Naval submarine base in
Bangor, Washington. USNAVSUBASE Bangor was a home port for submarines
armed with Trident D-5 missiles. Soon afterward, Solomon became
"disarmament director" for the interfaith Fellowship of Reconciliation, where he remained until spring 1986.
As a freelance reporter, Solomon worked for Pacific News Service and Pacifica Radio.
He made eight trips to Moscow during the 1980s. In February 1986, he
and U.S. military veteran Anthony Guarisco engaged in a sit-in at the
U.S. Embassy in Moscow, demanding that the U.S. join the Soviet Union
in a nuclear test ban. In 1988, Solomon worked briefly as a
spokesperson for the Alliance of Atomic Veterans in Washington, D.C. In
August 1988, Solomon was hired to run the new Washington, D.C. office
of FAIR.
Solomon's book, Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience with Atomic Radiation, co-authored with Harvey Wasserman, appeared in 1982. In 1990, he and Martin A. Lee wrote Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media. Since then, Solomon has written ten more books--most recently, Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State (Fall 2007). War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (2005) was the basis for a Media Education Foundation film by the same name.
Barbara Ehrenreich has called Solomon "one of the sharpest media-watchers in the business."
External links
DVD of event still available -
Recorded live Dec.13th in West Salem.
Candidates Forum with all four Democratic Candidates vying for Oregon
Secretary of State. Hosted by Polk County Democrats, sponsored by Polk,
Marion, Linn and Benton County Democratic Central Committees. Producer
Wendy Brokaw and her company, Shedlight Productions, covered the event
using sophisticated equipment, making an exciting, professional
production.
The film was shown four times in January and February on Comcast cable channel 21.
DVD's are still available from CCTV. To order yours for $7.50, complete with attractive cover as shown here, call (503) 588-2288.
Links to Candidate Web Sites /for Democratic Primaries
House District Candidates
| House District 20 | House District 23 | |
|
 |
|
| Richard Riggs | Jason Brown |
Also running in HD 23: Wesley
"Buddy" West of Sheridan, Grand Ronde tribal elder and former tribal
council member. Photo not available.
U. S. 5th Congressional District. (former Rep. Darlene Hooley's seat).
 |
 |
n.a. |
| Kurt Schrader | Steve Marks | Richard Nathe |
Note: The likely Republican candidate, Mike Erickson, unopposed in the Republican primary, has just loaned his own campaign $340,000.
U. S. Senate
|
|
|
 |
|
| Candy Neville | Steve Novick |
Note: There are three more declared Democratic Candidates for the Senate
David Loera (D) - Mental Health Counselor and Community Activist
Pavel Goberman (D) - Fitness Instructor, Machinist & Frequent Candidate
Roger Obrist (D) - Retired Construction Worker & Frequent Candidate
For a complete guide to Oregon candidates (and some nice old buttons) see http://politics1.com/or.htm
Attorney General (alphabetical order)
 |
 |
|
|
|
Secretary of State (alphabetical order)
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Brad Avakian | Kate Brown | Rick Metsger | Vicki Walker |