--May 6: 9pm Ashwin Madia at the U!, CMU Rm. 307
--Aug. 25-28: Democratic National Convention (Denver, CO)
--Nov. 4: Presidential Election Day! Democrats take back the White House!
Hey everyone there is no meeting today, our next weekly meeting will be next semester. Ashwin Madia (DFL-CD3) however will be here tomorrow at 9pm in the Board Room at Coffman. See you there!
We are currently looking for motivated interns to assist with our field program during the summer months. Hours are somewhat flexible, but we would like someone who can commit to 20 hours/week and a regular schedule. This is a great opportunity for any of your students who are interested in pursuing a career in progressive politics. Interns would get a variety of field experience. We are open to taking on interns who are at any point in their college career. Experience is not a requirement, but we are looking for individuals with a solid commitment to Democratic politics.
We are also looking for volunteers to help us elect a Democrat to the U.S. Senate and send Norm Coleman packing. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wants to get involved but does not have the time or need to commit to an internship.
Interested students can submit a resume to Amanda Peel at apeel@dfl.org or call at (651) 251-6332.
DFL endorsed candidate for Congress Ashwin Madia will be coming to the University of Minnesota next Tuesday (May 6th) at 9pm in Coffman Memorial Union Room 307 (the Board Room).
Ashwin Madia is a graduate of the U (and former Student Body President). Don’t miss this opportunity to help the U-DFL welcome Madia back to campus, and to learn more about the Madia campaign from the candidate himself!
Today we will have the last regular U-DFL meeting of the semester. However we will be having a special event very soon with DFL endorsed candidate for Congress in the Third, Ashwin Madia! Stay tuned for more details about that event.
Senator Hillary Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary yesterday. Congratulations to her and her campaign are in order. However the contest for who will have the most pledged delegates is over, as Barack Obama has now for all practical purposes clinched the lead in those delegates. NBC’s Chuck Todd explains:
If Clinton is to get the nomination she’ll have to get the Superdelegates to overturn the choice of the elected delegates, and frankly I do not see that happening. Since February 5th the Superdelegates have been breaking towards Obama, and the majority of the remaining undecided delegates I’m sure realize that reversing the results of the primaries and caucuses would only lead to upheaval and chaos within the Democratic Party, which would severely weaken us heading into the fall. Hillary Clinton has all the right to continue her campaign, but she should not sink us to the gutter politics her campaign took us in this last contest. The New York Times makes my point:
The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it.
Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election.
If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead.
On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned.
If Clinton runs a positive campaign here on out, her staying in the race would in my view actually benefit us by increasing Democratic turnout in the remaining states. But once that last primary is over, we have to turn our attention to the Republicans and preventing John McCain from serving a third term for George Bush. I know it is tough for those supporting other candidates to support someone they have been opposing in the primaries. As a Dean supporter in 2004, I know the feeling. But we will only have a ticket to get on one Democratic boat this November. Obama’s going to be our boat, let’s not sink him before we ever get out to sail. Whether we supported Clinton, Obama, or someone else, we are all on the same team, and we must pull together once the primary season has ended in order to successfully push forth a progressive agenda in the fall.
The 1908 Ford Model T went at 25 miles per gallon. As of 2004, the average fuel economy of cars and trucks was 24.6 miles per gallon. Despite the fact that modern cars can go faster, the Model T topped at 45 miles per hour.
Our friends over at Students for Obama will be conducting a visual protest against the war in Iraq on Thursday in front of Coffman. They are looking for some more volunteers for the event, so if you would like to help email obama@umn.edu.
Grassroots Campaigns is running a state-of-the-art voter mobilization effort in 2008 to take back the White House, expand majorities in the Senate and Congress, and work to erase the Bush legacy. Our current clients include MoveOn.org Political Action, the ACLU and the National Democratic Party.
We are hiring graduating seniors with leadership experience for paid election campaign positions nationwide. Not a Senior? Summer jobs available for across the country. Call Sarah (888)999-8852 to apply. And check out www.bringchange2008.org to find out more information.
We are looking for passionate, dedicated, responsible people who are willing to work hard to achieve positive change. We need goal-oriented, results-driven candidates with leadership ability, good communication skills, and a strong commitment to social change. Candidates need to be strategic, team players, able to work with and motivate a wide range of people, and able to tell a compelling story. Prior political field work is not a requirement; we provide apprenticeship and experience to strong entry-level candidates who are looking for a way to start making a difference through grassroots politics. However, relevant experience is an asset and may qualify applicants for additional leadership responsibility.
