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Monday, July 24, 2006
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Colorado Confidential: "It's looking good for Denver's quest to capture the Democratic National Convention in 2008, if you ask members of the Democratic Leadership Council. The DLC is in Denver for their 'National Conversation' session. 'The weather's great,' chimed Mike O'Conner, former Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis. 'It'd be fine with me to have the convention in Denver to get out of the humid Midwest.' The Democratic presidential nominating convention is scheduled from Monday, August 25, through Thursday, August 28, 2008 (after the Summer Olympics in Beijing.)
DNC member, Phil Noble of Charleston was also impressed with Denver. 'Everything you want is walking distance downtown,' he noted. 'We all agree back home that the Democrats have get off the East Coast in '08.' Then he whispered a secret: 'We hear New York is out.'"
Denver Business Journal: "Democrats may feel least at home in Denver than in the two other cities vying to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, judging by a study released Monday. Capital Eye, a newsletter by the Center for Responsive Politics, published a breakdown of how Denver stacks up against rival cities Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York City. While Denver is only interested in playing host to the gathering of Democrats, the Twin Cities and New York are hoping to attract either the Democrats or Republicans."
"2008 pres"
9:37:36 PM 
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Non-Prophet: "Alternet has a very interesting, very... l o n g essay posted that examines the idea that perhaps Wal-mart has grown so large and powerful that it is now a funtioning monopoly that needs to be dismantled. I think that the whole idea that a retail business can grow using fair and legal tactics and be so successful that it is acutally harmful an interesting possibility that probably needs to spend more time in the spotlight. At what point, when a business emerges as a clear winner, is a free market no longer technically free?"
"2008 pres"
6:19:31 PM
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The Democratic Leadership Council is meeting in Denver this week. The Rocky Mountain News has a roundup of yesterday's meetings. From the article, "Hundreds of Democrats from around the country gathered Sunday in Denver, asking themselves how the party can convince voters to give them control of Congress and the White House. The Democratic Leadership Council, a group that has pushed the party to take centrist positions, is holding its annual 'national conversation' at the Hyatt Regency Denver...
"Several Colorado political figures were on hand to tell the group how Democrats had succeeded in taking over the state legislature for the first time in decades in 2004. Former Colorado State University president Al Yates, who helped bring together a coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, and wealthy donors that supported the Democrats in the last election, said the Republicans had helped create their own misfortune."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post. They write, "Republicans are heading into a 'Category 5' political storm in November, giving Democrats a shot at taking back control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in over a decade, a panelist told Democrats meeting in Denver on Sunday. Voter dissatisfaction with the Iraq war and the Bush administration in general provide Democrats a unique opportunity to win over moderate Republicans and independents, said Amy Walter, senior editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report...
"Democrats have not regained control of both the U.S. House and Senate since losing them in 1994. In November, they must pick up six Senate seats and 15 House seats in order to regain the majority. Along with Walter, some 375 centrist Democrats from 42 states gathered to plot their strategy for winning back Congress and the White House. Much of the opening day of the two-day Democratic Leadership Council was devoted to panel sessions about how to connect with voters on issues including immigration, energy and poverty. Democrats also discussed trying to connect with voters on religion, instead of avoiding the topic. However, rather than discuss faith in the context of abortion rights and gay marriage, Democrats were encouraged to use faith and religion when discussing jobs, health care and education."
"2008 pres"
7:07:22 AM
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San Francisco Chronicle: "The most interesting environmental leader in the United States is a former petrochemical worker from Louisiana's Cancer Alley named Jerome Ringo. As chairman of the board at the National Wildlife Federation, Ringo heads what is by far the nation's largest environmental organization, with 4.5 million members. What really sets Ringo apart, however, is that he is black...
"Now, Ringo wants to bring these varying constituencies together to build a broader, stronger green movement. It's a good idea, and it comes at a critical time for American environmentalism. The past six years of the Bush administration have highlighted an embarrassing paradox for the environmental movement. On the one hand, opinion polls indicate that 70 percent-plus of the public think that we as a society should do 'whatever it takes' to protect the environment. And the movement does not lack financial resources: The budgets of local and national groups amount to $1.7 billion a year. Nevertheless, President Bush and his congressional allies have pursued the most anti-environmental policies in the nation's history -- and escaped without paying much of a political price. As popular and wealthy as the environmental movement appears, the Bush era exposed it as something of a political paper tiger.
"Yet the Bush years may be the movement's salvation, for they have taught environmentalists that a new approach is needed. Parts of that new approach are already in place and yielding success. Green politics may at last be finding its voice again. The federal government is a dead end at the moment, but state and local environmental organizations are scoring solid victories in red and blue states alike. Environmental justice groups are developing real political clout while proving that affluent white people aren't the only ones who care about clean air and water. Evangelical Christians are organizing against climate change. And there has been an explosion of student activism around global warming, which Billy Parish, coordinator of the Climate Action Coalition, calls 'far and away the biggest issue on campuses now.'"
"2008 pres"
6:50:29 AM
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© Copyright 2009 John Orr.
Last update: 3/15/09; 11:46:54 AM.
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