Political Gastronomica : January 2007
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John Kerry out of the hunt...
Well, the news is out, and it was very evident on his website with a return to a Massachusetts-focus - Senator John Kerry (JK) has announced he is not going to run as a candidate for the 2008 Presidential Primary Election. While there have been numerous articles, posts and commentaries on his campaign and the missteps (both during and afterward), people still have yet to understand the man for what he has done and continues to do for this country.
Granted, the Right can blow his speeches way out of proportion, but he is trying to be a force for good in government - helping Democratic candidates through fundraising, working on the issues that matter to his constituents and country - and, as he planned all his life, to work to be the leader of this nation. But, as suggested in the article listed earlier, JK may make a greater contribution to our country as a strong, able Senator - with his grasp of technology and grassroots that he has had to learn both by fire and by circumstance. While he may not be a progressive's dream candidate, he is a person that others listen and look to for guidance - at least until the next election is over.
I thank JK for taking the chance to be our President. While he did not win the election, he certainly learned a lot of lessons that all of us have taken to heart - and use to our benefit. Keep on with your support JK - we appreciate it.
Tags: John Kerry, Campaign 2008
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 6:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Isn't this one for the history books...
Was talking with another friend and she pointed me to this amusing article from New Years Eve 2003 about political blogging in USA Today:
In the 2004 election, the boys (and girls) on the bus have been joined by a new class of political arbiters: the geeks on their laptops. They call themselves bloggers. Their mission: to remake political journalism and, quite possibly, democracy itself. The plan: to run an end around big media by becoming publishers on the Internet.
Not that it is overly informative, but it brings back a sense of the beginning of the trend from just over three years ago. Think what this cycle will bring.
And - added Mobile Democracy Blog to the blogroll yesterday - welcome aboard!
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 2:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Kissinger on political reputations
Just found this on my gmail one-line feed. Far too funny:
Quote of the Day:
"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."Henry A. KissingerAny suggestions on why?
Tags: Henry Kissinger, Politicians
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 8:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2007Integrity - Lieberman style...now, I question
Just on Daily Kos today and saw this diary from Cenk Uygur drawing the rallying cry about how Senator Lieberman has forsaken his promises during the 2006 Election. In reading the post, and the original sourcing article from MSNBC, I was taken aback by what the Senator has done. As mentioned in the article,
Last year, when he was running for re-election in Connecticut, Lieberman was a vocal critic of the administration’s handling of Katrina. He was especially dismayed by its failure to turn over key records that could have shed light on internal White House deliberations about the hurricane, including those involving President Bush.
Asserting that there were "too many important questions that cannot be answered," Lieberman and other committee Democrats complained in a statement last year that the panel "did not receive information or documents showing what actually was going on in the White House."
But now that he chairs the homeland panel—and is in a position to subpoena the records—Lieberman has decided not to pursue the material, according to Leslie Phillips, the senator’s chief committee spokeswoman. “The senator now intends to focus his attention on the future security of the American people and other matters and does not expect to revisit the White House’s role in Katrina,” she told NEWSWEEK.This is surprising since I have always felt that Senator Lieberman is the kind of person that will stand up for honor and integrity, especially when having to represent the weak and powerless. The insane cockup of the government's handling of Katrina (let alone Iraq) needs investigation. We spent far too much time on determining what President Clinton did or did not do with a particular intern, we spent far too little time on determining whether we should go into Iraq.
As an observant Jew, Senator Lieberman knows that every Jew has a responsibility to act in the manner that G-d wants the world to follow - to model the ideals that are right in this world. The Jewish faith has impacted the world in many ways, and as a leader in the Senate, he has a responsibility to think about the social impact of his decisions. Does he model the best in integrity....or does he model the social mores he is in? I hope he finds the compass once again and remembers that he has a social responsibility to the country, more than a friendship with a lame-duck President.
Tags: Joe Lieberman, political integrity, Hurricane Katrina
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 8:38 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 12, 2007Florida proposing to move up the primary...
Interesting news out of Florida today - with State Senator Jeremy Ring co-authoring a bill to move up the Florida primary to January 29th to compete with South Carolina in terms of early primaries. In the article, Ring says:
"We know for sure that Iowa and New Hampshire do not represent the diversity of the United States of America," Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, told the House Ethics and Elections Committee Thursday. "We know the state of Florida does. We know that, as Florida goes, so the country goes."While I appreciate what Senator Ring says, I think it quite amusing when I use that logic and would say that Ohio should then be earlier than Florida since it has statistically shown the direction of the country in elections. Other arguments include the fact that since Florida is such a large state, that smaller candidates would not have the ability to campaign across the state as effectively as they do in New Hampshire or Iowa. Candidates with better momentum and infrastructure would win out, or so the argument goes.
But I support the shift to an earlier date
Yes, I do - for a very simple reason. Florida needs to build its infrastructure - political infrastructure to be more inclusive and not simply in the last six weeks of an election cycle. The article rightly discusses the fact that Florida tends to be a fund raising stop for almost all candidates (where else to wealthy New Yorkers/famous people go to retire?) but then they leave as quickly as they came. By forcing an awareness of the political process earlier in Florida, the parties (yes, Florida Democratic Party, I am talking about you) will be required to develop a better infrastructure (note, I am not using the word "machine"), which should lead to an increase in public involvement (if only to have their voice heard). Florida has quickly become another microcosm of the United States - travel the state, and you will find almost every part of this country represented. Where better to get a send of the country than here.Tags: Florida Primary, Jeremy Ring, Florida Democratic Party
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 4:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 8, 2007Massa v. Dickert: Arbitration Hearings Cancelled
Update March 6th, 2008: As of this afternoon, the libel suit is settled and a joint statement for the press will be released in due time.
Arbitration Hearings Cancelled
With just 96 hours left until the arbitration hearings were to begin, Eric Massa conceded that the campaign was responsible for upholding my contract, which was the original reason for this arbitration. Eric Massa also withdrew with prejudice (meaning he can not try to bring them up again) the counterclaims that he had made against me in the arbitration.While I am pleased about being vindicated against Eric Massa's efforts not to pay my wages and finally getting paid the money I was owed, it came at a high cost of six months and close to $50K in legal bills, whereas Eric Massa was able to use some of his campaign funds (see [1], [2]) and free legal staff/services to support him through this process. Meanwhile, my political professional life was damaged beyond repair due to his false and empty allegations.
While this is a significant battle to have won, the war for my good name is not over yet. Unfortunately, Eric Massa did not retract or concede the false and inflammatory accusations he made about me that hit the press during the 2006 campaign. The impact of these unfounded accusations still reverberate in my personal and professional life long after the campaign ended.
Ongoing Lawsuit against Eric Massa
I filed the libel complaint (on Nov 2nd, 2006) against Eric Massa to get back my good name by either winning the lawsuit in open court or getting Eric to publicly concede his false accusations (see this post) as part of a settlement.While I could have filed the lawsuit before that date (because of his libelous emails), due to the nature of these allegations and the major story of the day regarding Rep. Mark Foley, I knew that any action of this nature could seriously impact the success Democrats were having in taking back the House. By waiting until after the story broke in the national news, I was demonstrating my resolve not to hurt the Democrats in reclaiming my reputation, regardless of whether he won the seat or lost.
Instead of settling, Eric Massa filed a motion in NY State Supreme Court in New York City to dismiss these charges on a technicality. Eric Massa's lawyers strongly believed the dismissal would succeed. I disagreed.
I could go on with more detail, but if you want to know more, contact Eric Massa at emassa@massaforcongress.com for his response to this ongoing lawsuit. I am moving forward with my life, and this post is simply a way to update the people who have been asking as to where things stand at present.
Thank you again for your support, and I look forward to updating you with more positive news soon.
Tags: Eric Massa, Massa v. Dickert, Eric Massa Arbitration, Eric Massa Lawsuit
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 8:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
January 6, 2007Well...quite certain about my political compass...
This morning, I was reading one of my mailing lists, and found an interesting like (http://franz.org/quiz.html) which was a quiz published in USA Today years go to determine where one lies on the political spectrum.
Jessie
JacksonTed
KennedyHillary
ClintonBill
ClintonColin
PowellGeorge
BushJack
KempBob
DoleRonald
Reagan0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 After a few minutes, and entering my thoughts, I found myself exactly where I thought I would be - between Hillary and Bill, and closer to Bill (14 points). Where do you lie?
Tags: Political Quiz, Liberal Rating, Conservative Rating
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 4:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 3, 2007Secretary of State Bill Clinton?
In a conversation over the holidays, I was chatting with some political handicappers (some people fixate on baseball stats, others on football, I am beginning to love political stats) and we were talking about the Edward announcement and the pending Hillary announcement. But with the standard evaluation of "she has the money, the policy chops and the drive/organization, will she win?" discussion, thoughts turned to there other assets (or liabilities, depending on whom you ask).
Being an engineer, I am loath to make any grand statements on "first time in history" ilk, but the tendency to wonder what a second Clinton White House would be like is an interesting puzzle. With former President Clinton becoming the First Gentleman (or is it First Man or is it First Husband?), there is such a wealth of talent and capability within those walls. With President Clinton's incredible energy in the Clinton Global Initiative and with an eye on repairing the damage done over the last six to (at the time) eight years of draconian, aggressive, neo-con rule, whom else than President Clinton to be the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Vice President to rectify and build strong relationships with our partners abroad?
Impact of natural disasters will take precedence
As I watch the VCs in the Valley ponying up money for green solutions and the continuing growth of awareness of the impact of our impact on the global environment (have never expected a NYE when I could wear a light sweater and jacket), we will need a champion that can coerce and engage global leaders to make the changes necessary. From all intents and purposes, President Clinton (42) will be a strong ally for President Clinton (44) in accomplishing the goals abroad. And, with Senator Clinton's growth in domestic policy work and Homeland Security, I think the one, two, three punch (including the VP) will be an amazing impact on the coming years.This is a vision worth being excited for. 42 works on global initiatives - especially for global warming, while 44 works on domestic and military initiatives. While there may be challenges in the sale of Senator Clinton to the Right or the Progressive Left - I think she will be quite the formidable challenger that all others will be compared to. And, in coming days, I will give an assessment on each leading campaign's web/Internet presence as we move forward.
Tags: Clinton 2008, Secretary of State Bill Clinton, Senator Clinton, Global Warming,
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 6:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
January 2, 2007Answering an old question on NY-29th
Back in mid-November, Rochester Turning, a progressive blog I have taken to reading relatively frequently, posed an interesting question - what should they do now? I drafted and sent an email to Exile, one of the editors of RT and I outlined what I thought would be a way for the progressive blogs to help formulate and support the growing need for Democratic players in the 29th District of New York.
One thing to note - this is one tough District for Democrats. The gerrymandering that has occurred there almost makes it a balanced 51/49 district with the advantage going the way of Southern Tier. In the 2006 Election, where both Clinton and Spitzer enjoyed 70/30-like margins, the Southern Tier was not as friendly:
- Clinton versus Spencer - 53% / 47%
- Spitzer versus Faso - 55% / 45%
- Kuhl versus Massa - 58% / 42%
As I said, a very challenging District. So, in answering the question, I drafted the following response (modified for this posting):
Exile - Democrats have always had a major challenge in the 29th since the gerrymandering from the Republicans have set up a balance between the Democrats of the North (in Monroe, Yates and Ontario) and the staunch Republicans of the Southern Tier. This is a difficult challenge for Democrats. Even though there is a bastion of Democrats in Monroe County, gerrymandering has cut through the heart of the Democrats and added the primarily Republican Southern Tier to balance out the Monroe communities. So, the key to winning is either to get-out-the-vote in Monroe County and/or increase the Democratic turn out in the two major counties of the Southern Tier - Steuben and Chemung.
The Southern Tier seems to value where you come from (not interested in out-of-state people coming in and establishing roots) and/or how long you have lived there (one of the Democratic County Chairs once told me that their family had lived in the county for over 30 years and the neighbors STILL thought of them as outsiders). They remember the past very well - and think of being part of the Republican Party as a badge of honor. Just because of a bad Administration does not seem to sway them from being Republicans or voting party line (look at the difference in returns for Hillary or Spitzer).
There are still some places it takes a long time to settle in - and the Republican fabric is in place, not because Bush is anything positive, but because Democrats are seen as negative and from "outside". Remember that Corning (the company) is STILL there after these many years - even after the crash. Locals used to tell me stories of Amo Houton's incredible generosity during the floods of the 70's - how he drove around in a pickup truck handing out checks to people to stay. Farming and manufacturing is still in the blood - but many of the blue collar jobs have been disappearing and unions are not as strong a force as they once were (without the manufacturing base).
How to solve the problem: help the District build a machine
The way to fix it? My suggestion would be to continue the build up of the "benches" in each county - local seats and positions that are "in play"- and focus on the long term build up of Democratic candidates. The three Democratic mayors are a strong start (Mayor Coccho in Corning, Mayor Shawn "The Dean" Hogan and the Mayor John Tonello from Elmira) but other seats (county commissioners, etcera) need to be built up as well. I remember hearing about the get-out-the-vote efforts by people in Yates and so on, but each of these efforts need the money to support it.But to build up the benches, you need to build up the Democratic machine. The local Democratic County Committees do their best, but IMHO, they need more support from the NY State Democratic Party in terms of infrastructure and funding - $5K for them can go a LONG way in counties like Allegany and Cattaraugus. One of my efforts that I was discussing with the Cattaraugus County chair was building a fundraising program for each of the county chairs for their infrastructure (e.g. website, database of names and voters, email blast system, direct mail relationships for sending newsletters) to support the foundations of a REAL Democratic machine to reach all of the Democrats that are are in District.
You want a job for Rochester Turning? Build the Democratic support network with FiredogLake, Fighting29th and Rural Patriot along with other local and national bloggers to become the source of money and expertise in terms of technology for them. Fundraising and growth of mailing lists could be simple metrics you could directly measure - and then contribute to the DNC's 50 State Plan. Working with each other to support the county committees is where you can make a difference far sooner than just in the last three weeks before Election Day.
But hey, that is just my $0.02. Value the advice as you see fit. And best of luck with your future.
Tags: NY-29, rochesterturning, Fighting 29th
Posted by Sanford Dickert at 10:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
