Author: Emmett O'Connell (Page 143 of 177)

Washington Bloggers group. The Online Outreach Coordinator for the (state?) party, Tracy Joan, started a group for us bloggers. Sweet. Go there and join. Its a private group, so she’ll have to let you in. But, join anyway.

And, I’m so freaking confused about it too. Though, before that, this is a good review of whole PB thing from Hotline (hat tip Matt Lewis):

In the simplest of political theories, each party’s tool is reflective of their respectivie philosophies. Talk about competitive market: RNC users compete to get points, dollars and yes, the elusive “official” GOP ipod. With what is most like an intentional emphasis on competition, MyGOP users how much money they’ve raised (up to $200), voters they’ve and volunteers they’ve recruited. The DNC’s Party Builder is all about building and communicating within a community.

Most important is to check out how each party gathers information about the user. The RNC has different logins for different features, such as the blog, personal homepage and volunteer recruitment center. It’s a model for different levels of engagement and getting lots of names without shoving committment into a user’s face — and typically getting a larger drop-off rate in return. The DNC takes a different approach. By singing up with Party Builder, the DNC gets basic information in the login and then collects information through the user’s profile, signed petitions, signed letters to the editor and their network/group memberships. So why do we care? These users are the party’s next loyal supporter and volunteer. And how much information the parties have on these folk will determine the strength of their online activism in ’06 and ’08, which is conveniently transferable to field staffs across the country.

Party Buider is superior because it uses online political activism in a social sense, not simply as a way to draw people to a website, the way EPSN or Yahoo! would. See Kari’s review of the fall-down-the-stairs failure of MyGOP.

All that said, here has been my problem with Party Builder. I created an account at Democrats.org awhile back so I could comment on the blog. I tried to use that login for Party Builder, which I assume is the point.

But, Democrats.org doesn’t remember me. I don’t remember myself. Forget all that was here before, the DNC tech team is fine. Do their jobs great. I’m stupid.

From a comment at the Replace the Pick A Party Primary blog:

I don’t want the parties to get my address and start sending me mail.

From the Cluetrain Manifesto:

The Axe in Our Heads

Every one of us knows that marketers are out to get us, and we all struggle to escape their snares. We channel-surf through commercials; we open our mail over the recycling bin, struggling to discern the junk mail without having to open the envelope; we resent the adhesion of commercial messages to everything from sports uniforms to escalator risers.

We know that the real purpose of marketing is to insinuate the message into our consciousness, to put an axe in our heads without our noticing. Like it or not, they will teach us to sing the jingle and recite the slogan. If the axe finds its mark we toe the line, buy the message, buy the product, and don’t talk back. For the axe of marketing is also meant to silence us, to make conversation in the market as unnecessary as the ox cart.

The overwhelmingly popular vote in favor of I-872 two years ago and the continued support for something other than the closed primary has as much to do with buying a car as democracy. Buying a car and democracy are both necessary (well, not really the car, but you get my point) and during the process of both, you feel like you’re being sold on something that you dont’ really want.

One of the fears of closing up the primary system is that if you vote for a candidate, then whatever party that person belongs to will suddenly consider you a member. That is the downfall of many closed primary systems back east. Great for the parties, but sucko for the voters.

Actually, not so great for the parties, because their mail will soon be part of that junk mail we open over the recycle bin. It would be better to need accurate (junk mail) lists less and find other ways to engage voters.

While Sen. Tim Sheldon considers himself a Democrat, as is his right, he should tell the state Republican Senate Campaign Committee about his political affiliation. They’re under the impression that he’s a Republican.

From an RSCC memo (click image to enlarge):

And:

Its funny, that second page points out that both Kerry and Gregoire won the 35th. So much for Democrats for Bush.

Both the Times and PI have reviews of the issues surrounding Stephan’s really off the wall blog post about Toby Nixon not running afoul of the legislaitive ethics rules.

Seattle Times: Free the press releases
Seattle PI: Deciphering ethics in the digital age

Both seem to center on the webiness of the issue, that you can’t really fault someone for pointing to something on this big wide crazy web. On the other hand, It does seem wrong for a candidate to use the efforts of paid public servants to campaign.

He could just get someone to rewrite press releases if he’s going to cut and paste them onto his website. But, that’s just me.

Still can’t figure out what this has to do with the Klan or the governor.

I try never to get quoted during work. Ironically, yesterday I had a conversation with one of my co-workers on how to best send a press release so a particular newspaper doesn’t attribute anything to you. You have to be sneaky.

But, today, Ryan Blethen quotes me and I’m happy. Good column, its about politics in general and how my generation relates. I think I have a good point, but the entire column is pretty good. You should read the entire thing, but here is my part:

Emmett O’Connell, a 29-year-old respondent from Olympia, summed it up best during a telephone interview this week: “People see the parties being solely focused on winning elections, so they don’t want to get involved.”

O’Connell is not a bystander. He is the Web master for America For Richardson, the unofficial site for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s possible run for president. O’Connell also writes for a number of blogs, including Western Democrat and Olympia Time.

Even with an insider’s view, O’Connell craves what the other respondents want.

“More than anything, we want authenticity,” he wrote. “We’re the generation of cable television, telemarketing, infomercials and junk mail. We don’t want to be sold; rather, we want to be engaged.”

I’m hardly an insider though.

I think this is a paragraph I influenced as well, it includes some points I made:

The only way to force open the seemingly impenetrable boundaries of party politics is for a new generation to get involved and not lose sight of the reasons for doing so. Involvement does not necessarily mean working for a candidate or getting a job on a politician’s staff. Political involvement should include civic involvement. Only by being engaged in a community can a person truly understand its needs.

I know it sounds silly. Politics should be about more than just electing the right person. It should be about making better communities, and often times that is more than electing someone.

In addition to the conservative attempts to sandbag the state Supreme Court, there seems to be a similar effort to unseat a quality judge at the Appeal Court level in Southwest Washington. Judge Joel Penoyar is facing off with Brent Boger, who had been given a plus rating by the Faith and Freedom Network and is the former head of the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Northwest office.

Like the Supreme Court races, Appeal Judges can be unseated in the primary. Penoyar is a judge in Division II, District 3 (which covers Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis, Pacific, Skamania and Wahkiakum counties).

In addition to not liking the Faith and Freedom Network and the PLF, I have personal reasons for preferring Judge Penoyar, probably over most other candidates. I met Judge Penoyar when I was covering a small town controversy for the Montesano Vidette. The case of a McCleary Mayor that had been accused of stealing from the city was moved out of Grays Harbor and into Pacific County, where Judge Penoyar was then a Superior Court judge.

While I and my colleague waited for court to start (we got their early) Judge Penoyar chatted with us in his chambers. Somewhat about how he expected to behave (within the bounds of reason), but mostly he quizzed us about our impressions of college and how we’d come to choose ours. We were both young, and recently out of college. I was actually still working towards my degree at Evergreen, and it was odd feeling to be asked for advice from a judge. A really judgy looking judge too.

A year or so later I was back in South Bend covering a high school football game for the Aberdeen Daily World. I was walking up to the press box when I passed Judge Penoyar, this time in his civies. He recognized me and we chatted. His son had chosen a school (I forget where specifically, but I think it was a small liberal arts college in the midwest), and that he’d chosen it so he could play soccer (not a bad reason). Since I was a sports reporter (technically) at the time, Judge Penoyar also took the opportunity to suggest that the Daily World make an extra effort to cover more soccer games in Pacific County.

In my two run-ins with Judge Penoyar I always got the impression that he was a genuinely nice guy and a fair person. That he is a judge makes sense to me. That he is now being challenged by a far right lawyer feels offensive.

Here is what I can find out about Boger so far:

• Former PLF Lawyer. The PLF is a right wing, property rights law firm that fights the bad fight on many environmental and land use fights in the West.
• Plus rating by the Faith and Freedom Network. While Judge Penoyar declined to fill out their questionnaire, Boger got a plus rating by saying he supported the “U.S. Supreme Court, Boy Scouts can deny leadership positions to homosexuals” and for sending out a press release this year supporting the Supreme Court’s “defense of marriage” ruling.
• His “bi-partisan” endorsements include: Supreme Court Justice Jim Johnson, Dino Rossi (who gave him $100), and Senator Slade Gorton.
• Two of his top contributions include $1,400 from the 49th LD Republicans (no Democratic organization gave him money) and $1,400 from the Washington Affordable Housing Council, the PAC of the Building Industry Association of Washington.

First there was the ad covering the dust-up over the entire skateboard through the window thing. Now the new ad.

Find it here.

From email:

…please be advised that State Party Chair Dwight Pelz is convening a press conference at 10 AM tomorrow morning at our campaign office (506 SW Columbia) to announce the Washington State Democrats’ endorsement of Kyle Taylor Lucas in the 35th LD Senate primary race against incumbent Tim Sheldon.

And, our county party is also putting down a lot of money on Kyle Taylor Lucas, Sheldon’s opponent:

Thurston County Democrats Vote to Provide $15,000 to Kyle Taylor Lucas’ Primary Campaign

At its monthly central committee meeting tonight, the Thurston County Democrats (TCD) voted unanimously to donate $15,000 from the local party to 35th LD State Senate candidate Kyle Taylor Lucas. Ms. Lucas is vying for the seat currently held by incumbent Senator Tim Sheldon, who’s also running as a Democrat.

TCD Chair, John Cusick, stated “It’s amazing how critical this primary race is to our membership and, from what I’m hearing, Democrats across Washington state. Our members recognize Kyle, unlike the incumbent, doesn’t have big corporate contributions contributing to her primary election bid. Their long-standing, deep frustration with the incumbent’s votes against the interests of the district’s working men and women and their families, coupled with his outright support of George Bush and the Republican party compelled them to do whatever they could to help ensure she can get her message out to more voters during the next several weeks.”

Each of the local party organizations within the 35h LD has voted to support Lucas’ bid to gain the Democratic nomination during this season’s primary election.

More on Tim Sheldon:
Tim Sheldon Lied, he gave $10,000 to the GOP
Which Democratic candidates did Sheldon help beat in 2002?
Tim Sheldon fails to get campaign services from Thurston County Democrats
More Tim Sheldon thoughts: “shouting down”
Tim Sheldon loses endorsement of 35th District Dems
TC Blue: Sheldon and voting the represent the district
Flummo: Oly chat
Flummo: Recall the Hillbilly!
Evergreen Politics: Kyle Taylor Lucas: Sheldon-Slayer?
Chase’s blog: A New Letter That I Have Written

I wrote about this earlier here. But, now I have some questions about the headline.

What does Gov. Gregoire have to do with the restatement of a Legislative Ethics Boards decision from 2004?

What does any of this have to do with the Klan?