mccain

A good mix today -- some technology, service, and policy for you. Enjoy!

• Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco, uses technology to announce his campaign for California's governorship, with his campaign focusing on generational change as a message.
• Steve Schmidt and David Plouffe took the time to sit down and talk about the 2008 election at the University of Delaware Thursday night. Plouffe talked about the importance of young voters to the campaign and the point in time when the Obama campaign sensed the momentum changing.
• Youth Service America's Global Youth and Service Day events are being held this weekend. From a press release: "During GYSD, the largest service event in the world and an initiative of Youth Service America (YSA), young people will participate in and facilitate projects with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, and businesses; they focus on serious issues such as climate change, education, poverty, health, hunger and homelessness." Over 1,800 projects were planned around the world for this event -- double the number of projects held last year.
• techPresident covers the signing of the Serve America Act, specifically the development of serve.gov, a Web 2.0 clearinghouse for service opportunities run by the government.
• Google and Personal Democracy Forum are launching a fellowship program for those interested in developing new ways of using technology to make change and influence government and policy:
  

  Google and Personal Democracy Forum are teaming up to offer registration fellowships that cover the full forum registration costs and a meal with Googlers for twenty well-qualified, creative political entrepreneurs to attend this year's conference on June 29-30 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

  Fellows will be chosen based on evidence of how you've turned ideas into action and into new applications of technology in the political or civic arena.

  Go to the link and apply by May 8th if interested.

• The House Financial Services Committee passed the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights (H.R. 627) on Wednesday. The House passed similar legislation last year, but it stalled in the Senate.
• Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is a bit upset that he won't be able to reap the benefits of serving as a hero to the private student loan industry. Obama and the House and Senate negotiators in the budget process have agreed to use budget reconciliation for student lending legislation, effectively diminishing Nelson's influence. Ezra Klein reports.
• Speaking of Ezra Klein, someone got a new gig at the Washington Post. Klein's post on this can be found here. Klein starts May 18.
• An alternative view of Ashton Kutcher's Twitter quest at AdAge.

If you've been listening to the Republicans lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that Democrats are nothing more than socialists in capitalist clothing, looking to steal bacon-flavored lollipops from babies and redistribute that candy to appease pork-hungry interest groups.

What else are we to make of these statements by prominent conservative pundits and Republican party leaders? (emphasis mine)

Michelle Malkin:

Barack Obama has dubbed his behemoth fiscal stimulus proposal the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." But if truth in advertising were required of White House plans, only one title would fit the trillion-dollar-plus-and-growing bill: The Generational Theft Act of 2009. [...]

Moreover, despite Obama's earnest-seeming pledge to block all earmarks, there will be an inevitable lard-up of the stimulus. When has there not?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell signaled openness to the plan over the weekend as long as the GOP gets nominal input and kabuki hearings. The lard-up will guarantee that future capital is diverted to superfluous pork projects ("green jobs") and away from productive private enterprise. Instead of basic roads and bridges, infrastructure spending will go to bloated unions overseeing pie-in-the-sky construction projects like the $30 billion-plus high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which California officials fully expect to be funded.

Minority Leader Boehner:

Between the “stimulus” spending package and other spending ambitions held by the Democratic Party, “it seems likely that the deficit for this year will approach $1.7 trillion,” American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett notes. “If your family income in 2006 was between $75,000 and $100,000, the extra taxes that you will have to pay at some point in the future [as a result of the additional borrowing by Congress] add up to about $14,000,” Mr. Hassett says.

The hundreds of billions of dollars Washington is borrowing to finance this pork-barrel monstrosity will come from our children and grandchildren. This is not “stimulus” – it’s generational theft.

George Will:

It is said that the negligible Republican support for the stimulus legislation means that bipartisanship is dead. But what can "bipartisanship" mean concerning legislation that concerns almost everything?

John McCain probably was eager to return to the Senate as an avatar of bipartisanship, a role he has enjoyed. It is, therefore, a measure of the recklessness of House Democrats that they caused the stimulus debate to revolve around a bill that McCain dismisses as "generational theft."

John McCain:

While I'm touched by the GOP's new-found concern for our youth, I'm curious as to why such concerns never materialized over the last 8 years as a Republican President turned record budget surpluses into the worst deficit in American history. President Bush achieved that legacy - aided by Rep Boehner and Senator McCain - by failing to invest in American infrastructure, turning a blind eye to the self-destructive practices of Wall Street and the banks, and championing massive tax cuts for the rich such that economic disparity in America is now greater than it has been at any time since The Gilded Age. Forgive me if I find it disingenuous that two figureheads of the party that turned a blind eye to Bush's tax cuts and spending policies, and enabled this new "Gilded Age," are now crying "generational theft."

Of course, such claims also ring hollow for historical reasons. About a decade ago - right before Bill Clinton started to create record surpluses in the budget - Republican lawmakers and conservative activists issued a similar war-cry on behalf of future generations:

The story of "generational conflict" begins with a handful of strategists and their organizations, the media sources for the myth of Generation X. The first of these was Americans for Generational Equity, or AGE, an organization that demonstrates that with proper funding, it's possible to launch an unsubstantiated idea and see it turn into the standard media view.

AGE had three adept founders and leaders: executive director Paul Hewitt, who continues to direct campaigns to privatize Social Security from his base at the right-wing National Taxpayers Union; research director Philip Longman, who recently published an anti-entitlement tome called The Return of Thrift; and Sen. Dave Durenberger (R.-Minn.), who later pled guilty to theft of public funds.

AGE was the first organization to put political muscle and public relations clout into promoting the notion of "future intergenerational conflict." Their thesis was two-fold: resources devoted to the elderly come at the expense of children; and young people will eventually mobilize against the elderly to reclaim their share of the pie. They immediately found media willing to cover these claims (e.g., Wall Street Journal, 1/13/86).

As we all know, the 8, 9, and 10 year-olds on whose behalf they claimed to speak cast their first ballots last November, and they resoundingly rejected such conservative philosophies.

The facts of the matter are simple. We're facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and the question on the minds of most economists isn't "how big will the deficits be," rather, it's "will the stimulus be big enough to plug the gaping holes in our economy." The economic recovery package isn't $800 billion in pork or wasteful spending, rather it is a stop-gap to save jobs, and a mid- to long-term investment in the future our citizens, our infrastructure, and our economy.

In its final form, the stimulus package will:

• Modernize more than 75% of federal buildings and improve the energy efficiency of 2 million American homes, saving consumers and taxpayers billions on our energy bills. The plan will also double American renewable energy-generating capacity over three years.
• Make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America’s medical records are computerized, reducing medical errors and saving billions in health care costs.
• Equip thousands of schools, community colleges, and public universities with 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries.
• Expand broadband across America, so that a small business in a rural town can connect and compete with their counterparts anywhere in the world.
• Enact the largest investment in America’s crumbling roads, bridges and transit systems since the creation of the national highway system.
• Invest in high risk-high reward science-based research and innovation, and bring it to market—to invent the technology the world uses, and prevent and cure deadly and costly diseases.

As for the economic well-being of "future generations," as my coblogger Karlo ably described in his post earlier today, there are plenty of provisions in the final package that will help give today's youth, and tomorrow's, a leg-up: providing them with more education and employment opportunities, a cleaner environment, a more efficient health care system, and less personal debt as the price of entry to a middle class life. Here's a look at just a few such provisions:

• $19 billion, including $2 billion in discretionary funds and $17 billion for investments and incentives through Medicare and Medicaid to ensure widespread adoption and use of interoperable health information technology (IT).
• $1.1 billion to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, NIH and the HHS Office of the Secretary to evaluate the relative effectiveness of different health care services and treatment options.
• $53.6 billion for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, including $39.5 billion to local school districts using existing funding formulas, which can be used for preventing cutbacks, preventing layoffs, school modernization, or other purposes; $5 billion to states as bonus grants for meeting key performance measures in education; and $8.8 billion to states for high priority needs such as public safety and other critical services, which may include education and for modernization, renovation and repairs of public school facilities and institutions of higher education facilities.
• $13 billion for Title 1 to help close the achievement gap and enable disadvantaged students to reach their potential.
• $12.2 billion for Special Education/IDEA to improve educational outcomes for disabled children. This level of funding will increase the Federal share of special education services to its highest level ever.
• $15.6 billion to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500. This aid will help 7 million students pursue postsecondary education.
• $3.95 billion for job training including State formula grants for adult, dislocated worker, and youth programs (including $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth).
• $4.5 billion for repair of federal buildings to increase energy efficiency using green technology.
• $11 billion for smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid.
• $6.3 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Grants.
• $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program.
• $2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy research.
• $2 billion in grant funding for the manufacturing of advanced batteries systems and components and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States.
• $6 billion for new loan guarantees aimed at standard renewable projects such as wind or solar projects and for electricity transmission projects.
• $1 billion for other energy efficiency programs including alternative fuel trucks and buses, transportation charging infrastructure, and smart and energy efficient appliances.
• $21 billion in COBRA premium assistance provides a 65% subsidy for up to nine months to help workers who lose their jobs keep health coverage.
• Child Care Development Block Grant: $2 billion to provide quality child care services for an additional 300,000 children in low-income families who increasingly are unable to afford the high cost of day care.
• Head Start & Early Head Start: $2.1 billion to allow an additional 124,000 children to participate in this program, which provides development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other activities that prepare children to succeed in school.
• $555 million to expand the Department of Defense Homeowners Assistance Program (HAP) during the national mortgage crisis.

To be sure, this will not be the last time we hear Republican's express concern about "future generations." This will come up again when we begin to debate Social Security and Medicare reforms, and conservative activists already used this meme to make a play for young voters during the election. We're going to continue tracking how the GOP uses this meme throughout the year.

In an interview that appeared on Thursday night on NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams, and in an early transcript of the interview posted on the Washington Post, John McCain accused New Yorkers of being elitist:

WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite?

PALIN: So anyone who thinks that they are -- I guess -- better than anyone else, that's -- that's my definition of elitism.

WILLIAMS: Senator?

MCCAIN: I -- I know where a lot of 'em live.

MCCAIN: Well, in our nation's capital and New York City. I've seen it. I've lived there. I know the town. I know -- I know what a lot of these elitists are. The ones that she never went to a cocktail party with in Georgetown. I'll be very frank with you. Who think that they can dictate what they believe to America rather than let Americans decide for themselves.

This fits in right along with his running mate's view that New York is an "Anti-America" part of the country.

Well I've got news for you Senator McCain, I'm dam proud to be a born and bred New Yorker. I've lived in New York City, one of the greatest cities in the world and I go to college in upstate New York, earning one of the greatest affordable educations available for Americans. Here in New York we are hard working class Americans, just like the rest of the country.

Comments like these show just how out of touch with America John McCain really is. Let's get a real candidate of change in office who doesn't think that people are elitist or anti-American just because they live in certain liberal states.

Bumped. Welcome College Democrats of NY! Thanks for posting, and come back often. We'd love to keep up to speed on all that you are doing. For everyone else, be sure to also check out CDNY's posts on their election activities this year. --Mike

cross posted on the CDNY blog: http://collegedemsny.com/blog/

As President of the NY College Democrats, I am proud to say that we have a booming organization in the Empire State. A quick google search of NY College Dems yields tons of blog entries and our amazing website which our New Media Director JF has brilliantly put together with tons of pics and links to our 50+ chapters across the state. Meanwhile the NY College Republicans are nowhere to be found. It is difficult to find their webiste and they dont blog at all. They don't even get any mention in the NY media.

This past weekend we sent over 150 students from NY into central PA to canvass for Obama. We were located in 4 different offices: Bloomsburg, Hazelton, Stroudsburg and Wilkes- Barre and not a single college republican was to be found either from NY, PA or any other state.

Much has been made of an op-ed post by College Democrats of America National Council Vice Chair Lee Drake who talked about the high budget of the national college republicans and their lack of ground troops helping McCain. I couldn't agree more with him. The College Republicans do indeed have a significant fundraising advantage over us but the College Democrats have a huge advantage when it comes to mobilizing our troops for Obama on the ground across the country.

In fact, College Democrats make up much of that fundraising gap by working with the Obama campaign and the DCCC, DSCC to help pay for transportation costs for campaign invasions into battleground states and regions to get Democrats elected.

Earlier this fall I challenged the NYS College Republican chairman to a debate and they rejected the challenge, claiming that they wanted to focus on campaigning. While that's perfectly reasonable, I have yet to see or hear college republicans in NY campaigning for any race in large numbers.

Perhaps nationally they are hiding because they think McCain is a horrible candidate who doesn't adequately represent young voters.

Bumped. --Craig

Crossposted at Young People For

One of my fellow YP4 Leadership Academy participants and myself attended the debate watch party last night hosted by San Francisco for Obama. We predicted that McCain would address the audience and viewers at home as "friends" (even though he should be talking directly with Obama out of respect and given that it's a debate), and Obama would share his "hope" for the country by bringing "change" to Washington. Nevertheless, additional phrases/terms were added to the pot: "Wall Street v. Main Street," "strategy v. tactic," and how about that "bracelet"?

After the debate, I listened to various analysts and read blogs and editorials representing different parts of the political spectrum. One commentator summed up the debate as a competition between experience and judgment, which is a salient point. While I honor and pay my respects to McCain and his military service as a POW, his experience doesn't necessarily guarantee he makes sound military/national defense and security judgment. His initial and continued support of the war in Iraq is a case in point.

I began to discuss the debate with my parents earlier this afternoon, and my father was already looking forward to seeing the first (and only) VP debate next week. Once again, I thought about this theme of experience and judgment. I was particularly taking a closer look at McCain's VP selection, Gov. Palin, and reconsidering if such a move was strategic or tragic?

While her identities as a hockey mom and Washington outsider might have intially appealed to disgruntled Clinton supporters and helped McCain with the "women vote," how long will the postive craze over Palin last? When will more of the public, particularly those who are eligible and registered to vote, be made aware of Palin's judgment as mayor of Wasila to bill sexual assault victims for the cost of rape kits and forensic exams? Biden, in contrast, drafted the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, in which he included "provisions to make states ineligible for federal grant money if they charged rape victims for exams and the kits containing the medical supplies needed to conduct them." McCain voted against Biden's initiative. Again, a question of judgment.

The more I listen to Palin and observe her resort back to her talking points when posed with questions on foreign policy (as in the case of the interview with Katie Couric), I worry that she would be second-in-command to the oldest first-term U.S. president.

Palin: strategic or tragic? And for whom?

Maybe you've had a sit-in. Or taken part in a teach-in. Well, now, you can join a "lie-in."

Which is probably a less absurd phrase than a "nose-in" -- even though the concept is about that absurdity level.

You see, folks have decided it's time to call the McCain-Palin ticket out on their lies. And what better way to do that than with long, rubbery noses.

They call it Pinocchio Politics. If McCain's going to have a speak-no-truth approach to campaigning, these Pinocchio Posses are going to point it out...with their noses.

Seriously, it's a weird idea; an entertaining website; and it might even become a catchy idea. A man in a chicken suit followed the first George Bush around, until the President of the United State snapped at him...giving the fowl friend far too much credibility. In 2000, "Tax Man" hounded Hillary Clinton's opponent Rick Lazio for not releasing his tax returns. And, of course, in '04, the GOP delegates waved flip-flops and wore purple band-aids to mock service to our country.

So, weirder stuff has happened. Who, ahem, nose how this will turn out?

Bumped. In a worst case scenario in which Obama loses, this post identifies what will be the key messaging challenge for youth organizers on November 5th. --Mike

Personal drama, celebrity personalities, legal trouble, rumors, crowd comparing, covers of weekly mags…we even have celebrity speak outs, most recently from Pink and Matt Damon who are making their opinions loud and clear that they are definitely Team Obama/Biden.

It’s as if we are in the middle of the newest reality show.  But alas, it is the election of the next President, which nearly everyone would say is the most powerful position in the world and just about every young person I talk to says this election is critical for their jobs and families. 

Young Voters Up for Grabs?

Young voters are squarely with Team Obama/Biden, but some members of the media (and some tenacious young Republicans) don’t seem to think so.   Just last week the Wall Street Journal ran an article which essentially said that because of the Palin pick, young people are now up for grabs.

This assumes of course that young voters just fall out the sky to vote in large numbers for a candidate because they are young or give a good speech.  A candidate has to have a ground game in place for young people in order to secure their vote.  It is highly unlikely on the Republican side, this close to Election Day and especially since they are already facing a huge uphill climb since 2004, that they will be able to grab the youth vote.

In 2004, young people were the only age group to vote for the Democratic ticket, giving Kerry a 10% point advantage over Bush.  In 2006, young voters gave Democrats a 22% point advantage. In the most recent presidential poll done by Newsweek, young voters prefer Obama/Biden by a 27% point margin.  In fact, young voters are the only age group Team Obama/Biden is winning.

All of this good news on the youth vote does have a downside for Democrats.  If, like what happened in 2004, Republicans win, guess who gets blamed?  Yep, young voters.  Young people were told they didn’t turnout, that they didn’t perform yet again and that they are all hype—even though they increased their turnout more than any other age group and hit record turnout levels in 2004.  Clearly, the worry again if Obama does not win, is that young people will get blamed.

But...

Is liking someone enough to get someone’s vote, especially with young voters?  Will the economic times we are facing and that fact that poll after poll showing that the economy is the #1 issue young people care about win over the personality factor?  Will the election actually get back to talking about things like the economy?

In Nebraska, a few young Republicans I spoke with at the state’s Convention Watch Party are definitely Team McCain/Palin.  They like her because she is young, they feel like they can relate to her and the fact that she brings true conservative values and mom credentials to the ticket is a major plus.

Research however tell us time after time, in particular in studies done by researcher David Nickerson, the way you get young voters to the polls boils down to young people talking young people about the candidates/ issues and running a field program just like you would to any other group of voters.  The conventional wisdom that it’s all the cult of personality that gets young voters to the polls simply doesn’t ring true.

Drop the Lipstick, Bring the Focus Back

We have a banking system that is falling apart at the seams.  It started with Bear Sterns, then Fannie and Freddie and now we are beginning to hear the trickle of small and large banks that are being sold or being saved by the government (with our tax dollars).  AIG, one of the largest insurance companies, is asking the government right now for $40 billion dollars to save them from bankruptcy.  We are living what professors will teach in economic classes for the next 50 years or more and yet we are hearing more about lipstick.

If Team Obama/Biden and Team McCain/Palin are truly serious about targeting the youth vote, then here are a few suggestions to both teams:

1)     Go back to the hope place.  I am not the only one who wants to hear how we as a nation can solve our country’s problems.  Both liberal political commentator George Lakoff and conservative David Brooks are hungering for the hope place.  Is it any wonder why Reagan, who talked a lot about hope and the promise of our country and had a strong young voter outreach program on top of it all, won?  We all want hope back in politics, even if we do get distracted by lipstick and the cover of weekly mags occasionally.  Hope and the promise that our government can do better is why so many young people joined Team Obama to begin with.  Even if people are not saying it out loud, trust me, they want to be inspired, they want to be called to something bigger than themselves.  Don’t let us down and don’t listen to naysayers.  We want our hope back.

2)     Go bigger with young voter outreach programs.  While it’s true Obama has the best and biggest young voter outreach program in recent history, with not only a national youth director but state youth directors that have full field operations happening on and off college campuses.  McCain should do that as well, although it will be very difficult to build an operation in 50 days that Obama has been building over the last year.  Both campaigns absolutely need more buzz in youth circles.  Things have slowed down since the primary when it comes to the buzz, or what is often called “street marketing.”  Get local opinion leaders, mavericks, whatever you want to call them and get them to start wearing your shirts (think DJ at a club wearing a t-shirt with Obama’s face on it), do more parties like the Hope Gallery in Denver and look back at 2004 to what a lot of the youth groups from YDA to the League of Young Voters to the Bus Project and take a page out of their playbook because they were mad creative and it worked.  In fact, Obama's team is starting to do this...

3)     Keep the gloves off, but no sucker punches.  For anyone who wants the election to be warm and fuzzy, they should go to a secluded island tomorrow.  Our country is facing big problems and I don’t see either side being nice.  Young voters don’t mind “tough,” they just don’t want to be lied to.  Young people simply don’t buy a product on face value—information found on the internet and friends’ opinions matter and matter a lot.  Out of any of the age groups young people can see through the lies faster than any other voters since they have been marketed to since they were little kids—so it’s a skill fine tuned and trying to pull a fast one on young voters will most definitely back fire.

Today, while at a town hall meeting, McCain made one of the stupidest mistakes he could have made. He agreed with a women who brought up the draft.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Senator McCain I truly hope you get the opportunity to chase Bin Laden right to the gates of hell and push him in as you stated on your forum. I do have a question though. Disabled veterans, especially in this state, have horrible conditions [...] My son is an officer in the Air Force, and I am a vet and I was raised in a military family. I think it is a sad state of affairs when we have illegal aliens having a Medicaid card that can access specialist top physicians, the best of medical and our vets can't even get to a doctor. These are the people that we tied yellow ribbons for and Bush patted on the back. If we don't reenact the draft I don't think we will have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell.

JOHN MCCAIN: Ma'am let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said and thank you and I am grateful for your support of all of our veterans.

Now with Obama holding a steady lead among young voters this was probably the worst thing that McCain could say.

With president Bush's disapproval ratings, and most Americans wanting the United States to pull out of Iraq, this is not a good time for McCain to bring up the draft.

With young voters, one of the biggest issues in decided how to vote, is the Iraq war. If the youth catch on about what McCain said then this could be the issue that could send them to the polls. And that could be a McCain election disaster.

Today Democracy Corps released a new targeting analysis of the Presidential race. The research looks at where the Obama campaign is outperforming Democrats from 2004 and 2006 and where he is under-performing.

The image above shows that voters under 30 are supporting Obama at higher levels than supported John Kerry or Democrats in 2006. This is definitely good news for the Democratic Party. As we have talked about a lot before, young voters are moving towards the Democratic Party in large numbers.

I am a little surprised by the difference between voters under 30 and white voters under 30. Their survey shows white young voters statistically tied, where with all young voters Obama has a huge lead.

There's some interesting stuff in this report, so check it out and leave your thoughts in the comments.

It looks like the same old politics from John McCain. He promised that his campaign would do away with the negativity seen in politics. Looks like he hasn't kept his word. The first video you see on his site is an attack ad on Barack Obama. Obama has no such ads on his site. Furthermore, you can more easily see Barack's accomplishments and what he has been doing more recently than on McCain's site. McCain is an old guy. And it looks like he's sticking with the politics of old.

Obama has promised change, and look how many attacks he's made! On his site, absolutely none. That may have to change, as the attacks on him may be too much to sit passively and not fight back. However, Obama's intentions are clear: the country needs to shift its focus, and the government needs to become more trustworthy and more focused on the people, and not interest groups.

Obama has been accused of flip-flopping, but this attack has failed now that McCain has failed to keep his word on negative campaigns. People are worried that Obama's numbers in the poll are not as high as they should be. I'm positive his numbers will rise once people start to put more trust and faith in Obama as he continues to demonstrate that he has and will continue to keep his word.

I implore you to look at these sites. It'll help gain your understanding of how these two candidates are approaching the campaign, and hopefully help you to see the strong differences between the two.