Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democrats
The following photos have just been posted at our Photos section:
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
The following photos have just been posted at our Photos section:
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
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You can comment on this entry by posting a response at: Labels: Democrats, Thomas Hunt
Hope you're all having a great time."Remember the Power of the Disability Vote!"
Tom Hunt who is in Denver with Rabbi Dennis Shulman (the candidate for Congress in NJ's 5th Congressional District) is interesting in being in contact with 504ers.
Please e-mail him at...
thomas.m.hunt @ gmail.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/504Dems/message/7868
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
Pictured left-to-right (background): Verena Brown (Civil Court Countywide-Bronx), Senator Martin Connor (25th Senate Distict-Brooklyn and Manhattan), Michael Katz (Civil Court Countywide-Manhattan), A Harrison staffer holding a sign, Steven Harrison (13th Congressional District-Brooklyn and Staten Island), Assemblywoman Joan Millman (52nd Assembly District-Brooklyn), Zack Bommer (representing Speaker Sheldon Silver), JoAnne Simon (District Leader, 52nd Assembly District-Brooklyn)
Pictured left-to-right (foreground): Marty Sesmer (504 Treasurer), Michael J. Schweinsburg (504 Vice President), Senator Shirley Hunter (10th Senate District-Queens), Edith Prentiss (504 President), Lewis Goldstein (504 Board Member and Executive Committee member, State Committee)
The 504 Democratic Club (504) which works to turn disability rights into legislative and judicial priorities, today announced the endorsements of a strong slate of candidates in the September 9th primary battle, signifying a strong effort to elect candidates who have earned the endorsement in their races.
Endorsements are a key element of our strategy to craft a pro-disability agenda -- because we aggressively target candidates where it matters most, at the ballot box. This year 504 celebrates our 25th Anniversary and has a proud history of backing-up our endorsements with intensive involvement in the campaigns of our chosen candidates. Each year, our 300+ membership of politically involved disability rights activists works hard to elect and work with candidates on the campaign trail and after they have achieved elective office. "504 is proud to endorse these candidates who are fighting for our vision on the campaign trail. We urge our membership and all those who share our concern for the over 20 percent of New York's population who comprise the disability community, to show these candidates how much their courage and leadership means to us by working hard for their election and contributing today,"
said Edith Prentiss, President of the Club.
View the list of candidates running in this fall's elections endorsed by the 504 Democratic Club.
Note: The 504 Democratic Club is now also on Yahoo! Groups, MySpace, and Facebook.
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
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Date: Sunday, August 17, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: steps in front of City Hall in Manhattan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/504Dems/message/7835
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Labels: 2008 Election, Democrats
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Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards
The upcoming 2008 Presidential Primary (February 5th) is particularly exciting for the disability community as we continue to strive for greater representation in society, the Democratic Party and at the Convention. On behalf of the Officers and Executive Committee members, I am writing to ask that after you vote for the Presidential candidate of your choice, that you support all and any of the following 23 people with disabilities who may be on your ballot running to be delegates regardless of which candidate they are supporting.Name Congressional District - Representative 504 Club Member Candidate Brooke Ellison 1 - Bishop No Clinton James Sanders Jr. 6 - Meeks No Obama Thomas Duane 8 - Nadler Life Member Elaine Berlin 8 - Nadler No Edwards Arthur Schwartz 8 - Nadler Life Member Obama Anastasia Samoza 8 - Nadler previously Clinton Norman Rosenthal 9 - Weiner Yes Obama Belinda Dixon 13 - Fossello No Clinton Dilia Schack 13 - Fossello No Clinton Kenneth Dash Sr. 14 -Fossello No Clinton Sylvia Friedman 14 - Maloney Life Member Edwards Arthur Leopold 14 - Maloney No Obama Ida Torres 14 - Maloney No Clinton Pamela Bates 15 - Rangel Yes Clinton Gloria Alston 16 - Serrano No Obama Barbara Werber 23 - McHugh No Clinton Lynne Tillotson 24 - Arcuri No Obama Lori Gardner 24 - Arcuri Clinton Denise Williams-Harris 25 - Walsh No Clinton Janice Dunne 26 - Reynolds No Obama Bryce Hopkins 27 - Higgins No Edwards Sue Samuels 28 - Slaughter No Obama Mushtaq Sheikh 29 - Kuhl No Clinton
Most Club communication occurs via our listserv (join at 504Dems-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) but we're working on reviving our newsletter. Our goal would be to primarily e-mail it. So please include your e-mail on your membership renewal form and indicate if you are interested in joining the listserv, or just receive the newsletter.
Edith Prentiss, President
president @ the504dems.org or 212-781-8309
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You can comment on this entry by posting a response at: Labels: 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Democrats, Edward Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republicans
New York Times
February 1, 2008
LOS ANGELES — Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama met for debate here Thursday, sitting side by side and sharing a night of smiles, friendly eye-catching and gentle banter. Cordial as the encounter was, the candidates did not mask their own divisions, even as they previewed the attacks one of them will ultimately make against a Republican rival.
Still, it was almost as if the battle was to see which of them could outnice the other.
At the end of the nearly two-hour encounter, as the audience of Democrats and Hollywood celebrities rose to its feet at the Kodak Theater, Mr. Obama held Mrs. Clinton's chair as she rose. The two rivals, almost hugging, held each others' elbows and whispered in one another's ear, offering a striking image that captured the tenor of the debate. "When we started off, we had eight candidates on this stage. We are now down to two,"
Mr. Obama said. "I think one of us two will end up being the next president of the United States."
Gone were the sharp and sometimes personal attacks that have characterized a year's worth of debates, particularly a combative session last week in South Carolina, which both sides conceded had tarnished their images.
Still, the candidates were at pains to lay out their differences on issues like national health care, the Iraq war and experience in their last appearance together before voters in more than 20 states weigh in Tuesday on the presidential nominating fight.
As she has through much of the campaign, Mrs. Clinton found herself defending her 2002 Senate vote to authorize war against Iraq — a position that has been enduringly unpopular with Democrats. The vote has forced her to discuss her shifting stands on Iraq instead of the antiwar principle she has sought to embrace in the campaign."I think now we have to look at how we go forward,"
she said. "There will be a great debate between us and the Republicans, because the Republicans are still committed to George Bush's policy."
Mr. Obama, given his opposition to the war from 2002 onward, argued that he would be in a strongest position to challenge the Republican nominee over Iraq."I think it is much easier for us to have the argument when we have a nominee who says, 'I always thought this was a bad idea, this was a bad strategy,' "
Mr. Obama said to applause. "They screwed up the execution of it in all sorts of ways."
"The question,"
he said, "is, can we make an argument that this was a conceptually flawed mission from the start, and that we need better judgment when we decide to send our young men and women into war?"
Still, unlike when they last met for debate, when they attacked each other over personal conduct as well as issues, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama aimed their sharpest words at Republicans.
Mrs. Clinton criticized President Bush over his stewardship of the economy, while Mr. Obama chided Senator John McCain of Arizona, one of the two Republicans leading in their race, for supporting Bush-backed tax cuts for wealthy Americans after initially opposing them."Somewhere along the line the Straight Talk Express lost some wheels,"
Mr. Obama said, referring to one of Mr. McCain's political slogans.
Both lavished praise on John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who dropped out of the race this week and whose endorsement they are actively seeking.
Mr. Obama said he and Mr. Edwards were determined to fight special interests and big business. Mrs. Clinton twice noted early on that her universal health care plan — which, unlike Mr. Obama's, includes a requirement that all Americans have health care — was very similar to that of Mr. Edwards.
Mr. Obama countered that about "95 percent"
of his plan and Mrs. Clinton's were the same, but that he believed his proposal went further to reducing costs.
But their tone Thursday night was largely friendly. Each candidate laughed agreeably and nodded at the other's remarks, and they praised each other at different points and looked ahead to the battle with the other party."They are more of the same,"
Mrs. Clinton said of the Republican candidates. "Neither of us, by looking at us, is more of the same — we will change our country."
Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton sidestepped a question about whether either would select the other as a running mate. Wolf Blitzer of CNN, the moderator, called it a "dream ticket"
in the eyes of many Democrats. In fact, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have built up resentments toward each other over the campaign and seem unlikely to want to pair up for the general election."We've got a lot more road to travel,"
Mr. Obama said, "and so I think it's premature for either of us to start speculating about vice presidents."
When pressed, he said, "I'm sure that Hillary would be on anybody's short list."
Mrs. Clinton responded in kind. "Well, I have to agree with everything Barack just said,"
she replied, to laughter from the audience.
Later, Mrs. Clinton was forced to fend off a question about her ability to "control"
former President Bill Clinton from interfering in her administration should she become president in 2009, given his assertiveness on the campaign trail. (Mrs. Clinton has acknowledged that her husband has become "carried away"
at times recently.)"The fact is that I'm running for president, and this is my campaign,"
she said to applause. She added: "At the end of the day, it's a lonely job in the White House. And it is the president of the United States who has to make the decisions. And that is what I'm asking to be entrusted to do."
On one flash point — immigration — Mr. Obama cited his role in immigration reform legislation in Washington last year. He voiced his support for states giving driver's licenses to undocumented workers."People don't come here to drive, they come here to work,"
Mr. Obama said.
It was an issue that stirred controversy in a debate last year, which Mr. Obama sought to raise by pointing out that his rival gave "a number of different answers on this over the course of six weeks."
"Now she does have a clear position, but it took awhile,"
Mr. Obama said Thursday. "The only reason I bring that up is to underscore the fact that this is a difficult political issue."
It was the first dust-up of the evening between the candidates, occurring near the end of the first hour. Mrs. Clinton smiled and offered her reply."I just have to correct the record for one second,"
she said, explaining that she initially supported the concept of giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants so she could help Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York, who was being criticized over the issue. Turning to Mr. Obama directly, she said: "You were asked the same question and could not answer it. So this is a difficult issue."
Asked by Mr. Blitzer whether she was "missing in action"
during the immigration debate, Mrs. Clinton was quick to reject the suggestion."I cosponsored comprehensive immigration reform in 2004, before Barack came to the Senate,"
she said.
In a week where Senator Edward M. Kennedy endorsed the candidacy of Mr. Obama, as did Caroline Kennedy, Mrs. Clinton was asked why they had chosen her rival and whether she would represent the kind of change that would inspire a nation."I have the greatest respect for Senator Kennedy and the Kennedy family,"
Mrs. Clinton said. "I'm proud to have three of Bobby's kids supporting me — Bobby, Kathleen and Kerry supporting me."
She added, "I think having the first woman president would be a huge change for America and the world."
The candidates could not question one another in the debate, but took questions from viewers. A 38-year-old woman in South Carolina, who sent her question in by e-mail, said she had never voted for someone not named Bush or Clinton. She wondered how Mrs. Clinton would represent change."You have to make the case for yourself,"
Mrs. Clinton said. "And I want to be judged on my own merits. I don't want to be advantaged — or disadvantaged."
The debate also featured questions about the strengths of Senator McCain and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts — the two leading Republican presidential candidates. Asked about Mr. Romney's experience as a chief executive officer, Mr. Obama drew laughs when he reminded the audience that Mr. Romney has significantly outspent his rivals, investing millions of his own money."Mitt Romney hasn't gotten a very good return on his investment during this presidential campaign,"
Mr. Obama said, adding that he would match his financial management skills with Mr. Romney's. (Hours before the debate, Mr. Obama's campaign announced that he had raised $32 million in January alone.)
Not only was the debate much less contentious than Wednesday night's debate among the remaining Republican candidates, but it was also far more muted than recent Democratic debates — an obvious calculation on the part of both candidates, who have been criticized for being overly harsh and personal. Democratic leaders feared that the negative tone would carry over to the general election, tamping down voters' enthusiasm.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/504Dems/message/7119
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Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats
New York Times
August 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, August 25 - The Democratic National Committee, threatening to take the toughest line possible, voted Saturday to refuse to seat any Florida Democrat at the Democratic presidential convention in 2008 if the state party did not delay the date of its 2008 primary to conform to the party's nominating calendar.
The committee gave Florida Democrats 30 days to propose a primary date that conformed with Democratic rules prohibiting all but four states from holding their primaries or caucuses before February 5. But Florida leaders, who seemed stunned by a near-unanimous vote and the severity of the punishment, said they were doubtful they could come up with an alternative.
They said they were bound by the vote of the Republican-controlled State Legislature, which set the primary for January 29.
Beyond what is emerging as a clear embarrassment for the party, the practical results of this dispute were unclear. To a considerable extent, it could prove to be little more than a reminder of how little authority the party appears to have over its nominating process this year.
Florida Democratic leaders said they were resistant to bowing to the party's demands, having already refused twice. And assuming the party has a presumptive nominee by the time the convention is seated in Denver next year, it will be the nominee - not party officials - who would have the power to resolve a dispute over who is seated.
Aides to several candidates said it was inconceivable that in the end, a Democratic presidential candidate a year from now would penalize a state like Florida, going into a general election, by refusing to seat the state's delegates.
But the aides, who requested anonymity to discuss tactical concerns, suggested that candidates might be wary to invest money and energy in Florida for a delegate-less primary if, at the time, the race is tight and candidates are in a contest to build up the biggest delegate counts."There are 30 days for this to get worked out, and our hope is it gets settled in a way that Florida is contributing delegates to the nominating process,"
said David Plouffe, the campaign manager for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. "If they don't come into compliance, that means they won't be contributing any delegates to the contest and this will be nothing more than a straw poll."
The vote by the national committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee laid bare a sharp division between one of the most politically important states in the country and a party that has been struggling to change its nominating calendar to accommodate party leaders, who object to the dominance Iowa and New Hampshire have enjoyed because they are first in the nominating process.
The party voted to allow two states, South Carolina and Nevada, to move their contests to the start of the year to provide regional and ethnic balance, and barred all other states from holding contests before February 5.
The debate, coming at a time when other states are also threatening to move up their primaries, was the latest evidence of the extent to which the party's nominating calendar is in turmoil."This process is still a mess,"
said Alice Travis Germond, the longtime secretary of the Democratic National Committee. "Eight years ago we said it was broken and getting broker. It's now broker and getting more broker."
Ms. Germond warned of embarrassing floor fights at the convention if Florida Democrats failed to come up with a date that met the party's requirements.
Karen L. Thurman, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Committee, said she would go back to Florida and discuss what the party should do. The options include creating a state-party-financed primary that would take place after February 5 - something that Ms. Thurman said would be expensive and potentially unfeasible ? and challenging the party?s ruling in court."We have seen the strong feelings that have been relayed over this,"
she said, referring to the committee's vote."We do represent, standing here, a lot of Democrats in the state of Florida - over four million,"
she said, adding: "This is emotional for Florida. And it should be."
Under the rules passed by the Democratic National Committee, if Florida is not in compliance with the calendar it will automatically lose all 25 of its so-called super delegates - basically, elected officials and state party members - and at least half of its regular 185 delegates. But the committee voted, with one dissent, to impose the maximum penalty by refusing to seat any delegates should Florida not return with an acceptable plan.
The result was praised by Scott Brennan, the Iowa Democratic chairman, who, along with Ray Buckley, the New Hampshire Democratic chairman, flew to Washington for what in other years would have been the most routine of summer meetings by the Rules and Bylaws Committee. "It's a harsh sanction, but you have to enforce the rules,"
Mr. Brennan said.
In arguing for the Democrats to allow Florida to go early, Ms. Thurman and other party officials said that the party had unsuccessfully fought the effort by Florida Republicans to move up the date. Again and again, party officials presented themselves as victims rather than protagonists, and asked the party to grant them relief because of that."We're asking you for mercy, not judgment,"
Jon Ausman, a Democratic leader, told the committee.
But James Roosevelt Jr., the rules committee's co-chairman, said he was not convinced that Florida Democrats had done all they could do. He said it was "clear that the Republicans were the moving force behind the selection of a date that violated both the Republican and the Democratic rules, but that the efforts to oppose that were form over substance."
Committee members made it clear that they wanted to send a message to any state that might be looking to change its primary; the vote came as Michigan leaders are looking to move that state's primary to January 15. Committee members noted that there had been a long process in setting the calendar."We have voted on these rules,"
said Donna Brazile, a member of the committee. "The process was very fair, very democratic in every step that we've taken."
Ms. Brazile suggested that Democrats in Florida, given what happened there in 2000, should be particularly sensitive to what the party was doing. "I'm going to send a message to everybody in Florida - that we are going to follow the rules,"
she said.
Michael Falcone contributed reporting.
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