Democrat

Originally posted at Citizen Orange.

The fate of almost a million lives could be decided in the next six hours.  As a voter, as a millenial, as a migrant, as a Guatemalan, I'm writing to say that I will be watching along with the vast majority of those who will determine the future of the United States of America. 

If you already haven't heard already, Harry Reid is going to offer the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act up as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.  The Senate is scheduled to vote on taking up the Act tomorrow at 2:15 p.m.  If you haven't called you're Senator yet in the support of the DREAM Act please do so now by calling:

It is imperative that you focus on these Senators.  If you've called already, call again.  If you've called again, ask five friends to do the same.  If you've done all that, here are some more actions you can take.

If you haven't heard about the DREAM Act yet I wouldn't be surprised.  The media has largely been focused on the train wreck that is Christine O'Donnell's campaign.  But the mainstream media is missing out on one of the most suspenseful political dramas I've ever witnessed.  No one knows if we have the votes to beat the filibuster in the Senate, today.  If we don't beat it, the National Defense Authorization Act will likely have to wait until after the elections.  At that point, all bets are off. 

One of the most compelling elements of this political drama has been the interaction between The LGBT movement and the migrant youth movement.  What to an outsider might be perceived as two unrelated constituencies, perhaps even hostile to each other, have been working long before this moment to build unity and solidarity.  It is one thing to believe in the truth that we are all woven into a "single garment of destiny."  It is another to live that truth and act on it.  The migrant youth movement and the LGBT movement having been living and acting on that truth, as we all should.  My freedom is tied up with the freedom of everyone else in the universe, and tomorrow we have a chance to set close to a million people free. 

Again, the media hasn't been watching but everyone who matters everyone who will decide the future of this country is watching.  The DREAM Act has been front-page news on major Spanish language newspapers all week, and featured heavily on Spanish language television.  The U.S.'s largest and fastest growing minority, Latinos, is watching, today.  Educators and students from around the country have organized for and come out in support of the DREAM Act.  The next generation is watching, today.  Facebook and twitter have blown up with mentions of the DREAM Act, and traffic on the sites covering the DREAM Act is through the roof.  Business leaders, religious leaders, and military leaders have all come out strong in support of the DREAM Act.  If the Senate fails to move the DREAM Act forward today, we will all be watching and we won't just remember this November, but for the rest of our lives. 

The next generation isn't just watching whether the DREAM act will move forward, but whether the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT) will move forward.  Lady Gaga has galvanized youth for the repeal of DADT with her extensive twitter and facebook following in a way that probably hasn't been seen seen Barack Obama was elected.

According to a poll commissioned by First Focus, 70% of the U.S. public supports the DREAM Act.  Multiple polls show that a majority of the U.S. public supports the repeal of DADT.  Republicans, for the most part, are floating arguments about procedure.  They are saying that Democrats are playing politics with the National Defense Authorization Act.  Republicans are playing politics, too, and have used the procedure of the filibuster to grind the Senate to a halt for two years.  Playing politics is what politicians do.  The public doesn't care about politicians playing politics or what procedures are used as long as Congress does their job and gets things done.  It's time for Congress to get two things done that the majority of Americans support. 

Republicans, especially, face an important choice, today.  They can please their increasingly regional extremist base and relegate themselves to irrelevancy for a generation, or they can do the right thing and be competitive with the next generation of voters.

If we win, today, we will face an even steeper uphill battle, but we will all be watching.  Failure has not entered into my mind.  We will pass the DREAM Act and DADT will be repealed.  It is no longer a question of if, but a question of when.  The time is now and whomever stands in the way will regret it for a long time. 

Ari Matusiak is co-founder of Young Invincibles, a national campaign engaging young Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 in the health care reform debate and advocating on their behalf. www.YoungInvincibles.org.

Before Senator Kennedy passed away, he penned a letter to President Obama. It was a reflection on health care reform, “that great unfinished business of our society” and the cause of his life. He concluded that providing every American with quality and affordable health care was nothing less than a moral issue, one that spoke to the very “character of our country.”

Today, the question is whether the election in Massachusetts to replace Senator Kennedy penned the end of health care reform, or whether a Presidential summit will mark the beginning of a renewed push to pass the bill. If you believe the pundits and some elected officials, America has spoken: it is time to slow down, scale back or move on entirely.

But that is not what America is saying.

One year ago, two million people came to Washington to witness President Obama’s inauguration. They traveled from all over America and represented every color, creed and station in life. They were there to ratify a new direction for our country, one that recalled our better history, aspired to our full promise and laid the foundation for long-term prosperity. They were there aware of the challenges ahead, but filled with hope, expectation and a belief in change nonetheless.

Many of the people on the Mall were young Americans, a generation that embraced that spirit and conviction and made Barack Obama President. When there were setbacks during the campaign, we did not quit. We did not lower our sights. We doubled down, gave more and fought harder. There was too much to gain.

One special election in Massachusetts did not change all of that. Yes, some things are different from one year ago. The Democrats, who began this Congress with 58 seats in the Senate, not 60, now have 59, the largest majority either party has had in the upper chamber since 1979. The mood of the country is anxious. A bipartisan summit on reform looms.

But more things have stayed the same. There are still over 50 million Americans who do not have health insurance, living in fear of getting sick or living in pain because they already are. There are still 14,000 Americans who lose their coverage every day, many of them because they have lost their jobs in this recession. There are still millions of Americans who cannot get insurance in the first place because of a so-called “pre-existing condition.” It is still a broken system that determines access to care based on what job you hold or what income you have. It is still one that disproportionately impacts young Americans, the largest group of uninsured in the country.

The election in Massachusetts was not a referendum on health care reform. How could it have been? Massachusetts is the one state that provides universal coverage. It is a system that 68 percent of its residents support and is the model for the current reform efforts in Washington. No. The election in Massachusetts was a referendum on the status quo: an expression of frustration one year later with the pace of change. That is why independents and some Democrats went the other direction. That is why 85 percent of young voters stayed home.

Change is not easy. It comes only as a result of persistent struggle, unwavering conviction and a willingness to take risk. That is its character. In 2008, young Americans fought for this moment – this chance to make change. We believed we were sending leadership to Washington with the character to persist, stand strong and deliver for us all.

We are still waiting. What happens now on health care reform will determine whether that belief was justified. The next step cannot be incrementalism. It certainly cannot be the deathly silence that has pervaded the issue the past few weeks. The process – be it a summit, a bipartisan negotiation or reconciliation – is the means, not the end. We want results.

This is not the time to slow down or scale back. This is the time to double down, give more and fight harder. This is the time for leadership. Open discussion and debate must come with urgency and commitment. What we do now will define the character of our country. It will determine whether we have the character to deliver on change. One year ago, young Americans believed we had it. Now is the time for Washington to prove us right.

This week the Democratic National Committee announced a new entity responsible for promoting and re-engaging 25-39 year olds into supporting the President and his agenda.

Gen44 describes itself as

"Gen44 is a new concept founded from some of the campaign’s most successful programs – Generation Obama (GO) and the DNC TrailBlazers.

Building on this strong record of success, the DNC has merged these critical programs in order to create Gen44 . Gen44 will seek to harness the energy and excitement from the 2008 Presidential election by cultivating the next generation of fundraisers for the DNC and Organizing for America. Gen44 will work to maintain their passion from the campaign and engage their networks and colleagues in support of the President and the Democratic Party."

Sharon Yang describes the group as a year around engagement mechanism that communicates with the 25-40 year olds not just during "sexy presidential elections."

BlogTalk Radio interviews Yang about the new program here (click here if the link below doesn't work)

See the former fake President's bodyman "Charlie" from the West Wing - Dule Hill announce Gen44

CIRCLE's new working paper, Spiral of Rebellion: Conflict Seeking of Democratic Adolescents in Republican Counties, "shows a
striking pattern of Democratic youth thriving in political expression and debate when exposed to Republican ideological climates."

The study compares Democratic adolescents to Republican adolescents, and further breaks down the comparison into those living in Democratic, balanced, and Red counties. They found that Democratic youth were more politically expressive than Republican youth, and that Democratic youth in Republican areas were more expressive than those living in blue or balanced areas.

A couple findings of note:

When asked what they perceived to be the greatest influence on their political beliefs, "the largest difference occurs with religion, particularly at post-election, when 24.8% of Republicans identified religion as the greatest influence compared with 1.5% for Democrats."

There are large differences between factors in partisan identity strength (PID) among Republican and Democratic youth:

At T2 (Post-Election), knowledge becomes the sole correlate of Republican ID strength. PID strength among Democrats correlates with more indicators of political involvement: talking with friends, initiating talk, and comprehension at T1 (Pre-Election), and testing out opinions, listening to opponents, classroom discussion, confronting parents, knowledge, and news attention at T2. Thus, we might say that a firm allegiance to the Republican Party is manifest in knowledge during adolescence, while Democratic ID is expressed more holistically, in political cognition but also interpersonal communication.

By knowledge, they are referring to perceived knowledge of the political parties.

An intriguing implication is that dynamics of formative partisan identity resonate with the philosophical tension between progressive and conservative visions of “the good citizen.” Progressive ideology celebrates the inter-subjectivity of civic and political engagement, in conceptions such as the public sphere, social capital, deliberative democracy, and communitarianism (Murphy, 2004). In conservative visions of the ideal citizen, civic virtue springs from the pursuit of self-interest and the guarding of individual autonomy (Murphy, 2003; Westheimer, 2004).

From the results of the study, the authors recommend the following:

In more pragmatic terms, results from this study suggest a need for peer-centered discussion about topical issues in U.S. social studies curricula. We have documented a significant gap in interpersonal political engagement between liberal and conservative youth. A strikingly consistent pattern of deliberative deficits appeared among Republican youth. However, recent research shows that schools can promote equality of civic and political development by allowing students to wrestle with contentious issues (Hess, 2004; Hess & Ganzler, 2007). Unfortunately, conflict-avoidant instincts of school boards, teachers, and parents preclude this kind of instruction in many communities (McDevitt & Caton-Rosser, 2009). Still, an argument put forth by Hibbing and Theiss-Morse in 1996 still resonates. Civics is not enough. If we can tolerate and even promote agonistic expression in classrooms, more youth would benefit from deliberative development.

hey everyone. Its good to finally join the Future Majority Blog community. My name is Dan Levin and it is my pleasure to serve as President of the College Democrats of NY: http://www.collegedemsny.com In what has been our mast active year ever of expansion, growth and activity, we have made our presence felt throughout the state and in the northeast. We encourage you to read our blog posts to see what we've been up to and stay in touch.

Results from voter registration drives from college democrat chapters across the state. Below are totals of new registered voters by college dems members below:
Chapter Voter Reg #
Binghamton 1400
Brockport 250
Oswego 512
niagara 438
stony brook 1500
NYU 924
Columbia 200
Fredonia 1060
st. johns 634
Corning 76
Albany law 30
Yeshiva U. 195
Sarah Lawrence 360
Bard 400
st. lawrence 350
Hartwick 150

Total so far: 8,479 new registered voters
more results still coming...

Bumped. George is a 29 year old running for state senate in Connecticut. He live-blogged here on Future Majority a few weeks back. Feel free to ask him about his race, his district, or running for office at such a young age.

Hi everyone!

It’s been a month since the live blog and I want to again thank Michael and everyone who participated. It was my first live blogging event and a real learning experience! It was a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to blogging again.

I’ve spent the past month enjoying the many community events that summertime brings to the 7th district: parades, 4th of July Celebrations, Fireman’s Carnivals, summer concerts, Little League games and more than my fair share of cookouts. The striking common element that hits me time and again is how refreshingly non-political these gatherings are. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of running a campaign. So much time is taken with responding to questionnaires, researching legislation, entering voter contact data, meeting with pollsters and mailing consultants, setting up websites and fundraising. Yet, while all these things are vital to a campaign, it‘s the time spent in fellowship with neighbors and strangers-turned-new-friends that remind you what public service is all about – people.

The one-on-one conversations are inspiring me to get out there every day. The headlines are dominated by stories of rising gas prices, the continuing mortgage crisis and companies making rounds of layoffs. Yet, when I talk with people, there’s just as much focus on last night’s Red Sox game, bragging about the fish that was caught last week or anxiously anticipating a child heading off to college.

I believe folks want representatives who understand what they’re going through every day: the worries of making ends meet and the joys of family: the crushing concern about the economy and the elation over a pennant race victory. They want someone they can trust to look out for them when even when they’re not looking out for themselves. Someone who will anticipate their wants and needs, maybe even before they do. Campaigns are a chance to remind people why they should care about who represents them in politics, while voters should seize the opportunity to remind candidates that they’re being sent to do a job to protect and support our families, our work, and our communities.

I spent nearly every morning in July at a different diner in the district. They weren’t publicized events. I would show up on my own, sit at the counter and strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone who felt like talking. I wouldn’t mention that I’m running for office until the middle or end of the conversation. It’s these casual, unscripted talks that are teaching me the most about what folks are going through and I’d like to tell you about just a few of them. I met a waitress who drives 25 minutes to work and needs to seriously consider working closer to home, but doesn’t have the time to search for another job in summer because she needs the day-to-day tip money to pay for day-care. I spoke with a diner owner who’s spending $56 per case of eggs. He can’t pass that along to customers – ‘cause let’s face it, who wants a 10-dollar omelet – but that could mean laying off a worker who’s become more family than employee. I broke bread with a relocated father who’s starting a new job, in a new town, while trying to sell a home that is worth less then what he owes on it. He’s not sure he can come up with the security deposit for a rental after taking the loss…and to top things off he can’t sleep at night thinking about his wife going through the start of the school year while he’s 1500 miles away. These are the campaign meetings that I’m discovering are the most compelling. The first step in solving any problem is to understand it, and the more I’m learning, the more anxious I am to begin finding solutions as a State Senator. The “inside politics” many of us in the blogosophere like to debate and argue are fun, important, and can lead to some great *on-line* discussions. However, I found that what’s learned *on the road* is what really matters most.

I'll be checking back soon. Feel free to follow along on www.georgecolli.com . Enjoy the Summer!

Hi,

I am online now. Happy to answer any questions on any topic.

Yesterday I announced my plan to reduce gas prices:

GAS PRICES: WHAT TO DO?

Yesterday I outlined some tough actions I will take if elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to lower gas prices and move our nation towards energy independence and green energy policies.

While big oil conglomerates are recording record profits, middle- and low-income families, consumers and businesses are struggling with staggering gas prices at the pump and the ‘oil tax,' which is increasing the price of everything from groceries to airline tickets. The American economy is gravely threatened.

I will stand up to the big oil and gas industry if I get to Congress. I will fight for solutions to bring down soaring gas prices and halt the price gouging. I will push to end the tax subsidies, the giveaways and the rollbacks of royalties that big oil and gas have extracted from taxpayers. Congress has been far too timid. These are solutions we desperately need today if we are to make the investments in a green future in America.

There’s a real difference in this campaign. In the State Senate, one of my opponents sponsored legislation that was called the ‘Oil and Gas Dream Bill’ by newspapers. Now she’s complaining about $4 per gallon gas prices, but what did she expect after doing the bidding of the oil and gas lobby? I'll take a different approach and stand up to the special interests added. My career has been based on bringing new solutions to old problems, and I will do that in Congress. Consumers have been held hostage by oil and gas companies for too long.

Some things that I support:

• Strategic Petroleum Reserve –release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring market prices down immediately, and maybe additional future releases to drive speculators out of the market.
• Tough anti-trust laws and enforcement – Congress must act forcefully to end market manipulation and illegal, anti-competitive practices in the oil industry. We need new antitrust legislation and enforcement to do it. There is too much concentration in the oil and gas industry today. I will push the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look closely at gas prices, and conduct thorough investigations for illegal market manipulation by the oil and gas giants, and swift, tough enforcement of penalties. More competitive markets will bring lower gas prices.

Mergers – like that between Exxon and Mobil ten years ago — have created entities that are too big and too powerful, and have directly resulted in higher gas prices at the pump, as was confirmed by a 2004 Government Accountability Office report. These corporate giants produce the crude oil, own the refineries, and sell the gasoline at the pump. As the FTC itself admitted in 2001, when oil companies own the refineries, it makes it simple to manipulate market prices. We need old-fashioned trust busting. We need new a new generation of anti-trust legislation to deal with this new environment, and tough enforcement.
• End tax giveaways to big oil – I support the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 2008, HR 5351, legislation to strip $18 billion in oil company tax breaks that were enacted in 2004. I will push for repeal of all existing oil company tax breaks. We should be putting that money into solar, wind, alternative fuels and energy efficiency.
• Regulating energy exchanges – We need tough new regulation, oversight and enforcement of OTC as well as regulated energy exchange markets. Financial speculators are driving up the price of oil. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) must be strengthened and criminal sanctions should be enforced on speculators who violate the law.
• Protect public lands from drilling – Further drilling, exploitation and despoliation of wilderness areas like the Roan Plateau and ANWR proposed by the oil industry is not the answer. I strongly oppose the Bureau of Land Management’s current plan to expand gas-drilling leases in the Roan Plateau. Instead, I want to strengthen environmental protection of our pristine public lands. The oil and gas industry is exploiting the gas price crisis to rush along leases on our federal lands and argue for additional exploitation. I believe that these are false solutions and only feed our reliance on fossil fuels.
• Get the special interest money out of politics – The price of gas and the neglect of clean energy policies in Congress is the direct result of too much special interest money in politics. The oil industry pours millions of dollars into political campaigns every year. Too many members of Congress fear them. I am not afraid to stand up to them. That is also why we need, and I will fight for, public financing of campaigns and ‘Clean Money Clean Elections’ legislation in Congress. I am the only candidate for the 2nd Congressional District not accepting money from Political Action Committees (PACs).

For too long, our country’s energy policy has been written by and for the oil and gas industry. That must end. I will work with allies in and out Congress, like Public Citizen, and with citizens across the 2nd District to accomplish these urgent goals.