A Blog Called Hope

RI College Democrats Executive Director (and PC Dems prez) Devin Driscoll did a GREAT job talking about why it’s important for young people to get involved in the democratic process this weekend as he appeared on WPRI’s Newsmakers along-side the always pleasant and open-minded Ryan Bilodeau, who heads up the College Republicans.

Driscoll came off very sharp, poised and sincere, demonstrating an impressive ability to point to specific facts and votes when making his arguments. He did a great job speaking on behalf of the more than two thousand College Dems in Rhode Island – have a look:

Part 1:

Part 2

Democrats all across Rhode Island were saddened to learn of the recent passing of former Pawtucket Mayor Dennis M. Lynch. Mayor Lynch was in icon in his beloved city, proudly serving his community for nearly 10 years before moving on to fill administrative roles in state government.

Classy, generous, warm and sharp-witted are all words that have been used to describe this venerable public servant who left an indelible mark on his hometown and inspired his own family to pursue careers in advancing the common good.

All of us at the party send our deepest sympathies and prayers to the Mayor’s wife, Irene, and his children: our chairman, Bill Lynch, Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch, Pawtucket City Solicitor Margaret Lynch-Gadaleta, John Lynch, Ann L. Dugan, and Linda Lynch, as well as his 17 grandchildren.

Please feel free to share a memory of the mayor here or offer a condolence to the Lynch family. You may also do so at the Providence Journal’s online guest book

In the second officially sanctioned debate, Democratic presidential candidates will meet on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos to discuss the issues of importance to Americans. Continuing the history-making first debate, which featured live YouTube videos, this debate will also feature your video questions which were submitted in advance.

The debate airs live, this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. on ABC 6.

You can also watch and rate videos that have already been submitted to ABC. Here’s one we saw from Mark “The Worm Guy” from Washington State.

“The right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.” – President Johnson after signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Yesterday marked the 42nd anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and we couldn’t let this week go by without recognizing that sadly, there are still some places in this country where American citizens still fear intimidation at their local polling station.

Here’s a list of just some of the recent stunts Republicans and GOP operatives have pulled in recent years to suppress voter turnout. It’s only part of why Rhode Island Democrats have signed on to the DNC’s national effort to protect every eligible American’s right to vote.

• Bush Administration Politicizes Justice Dept., Twists Its Mission to Undercut Voting Rights for Partisan Purposes. The Bush Administration’s politicized Justice Department, under the direction of political hacks planted to twist its mission for partisan purposes, has launched an outright attack on voting rights rather than promoting voting rights. The Bush Justice Dept has aimed to create roadblocks for Americans to exercise their right to vote by approving restrictive state voter ID laws, voter purging, and voter intimidation tactics. And as is now well-known, top Justice Dept officials improperly, and illegally, pressured U.S. Attorneys to bring phony voter fraud cases against Democratic and progressive organizations and individuals, to influence the outcome of elections for the Republicans. [Washington Post, 1/22/04; Boston Globe 6/6/07; Charlotte Observer, 5/31/07]

• GOP Suppression Tactics in 2006. In Maryland, just days before the 2006 general election, copies of the Election Day manual for the Maryland Republican Party were obtained; in that manual, Republican Party workers were given false information about voters’ rights, were told systematically to challenge voters and were advised to threaten election judges with jail time. Also in Maryland, on Election Day, flyers were distributed in Prince George’s County, by the Ehrlich/Steele Republican campaign, falsely stating that African American elected officials had endorsed the Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and for Governor and misleading voters about the party affiliation of those candidates. [Washington Post, 11/3/06; Baltimore Sun, 1/20/07]

• Email from Bush Campaign in FL to RNC Includes List of Voters to Be Challenged from African-American Neighborhood. “Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign’s national research director in Washington, DC, contain a 15-page so-called ‘caging list.’ It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida. An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: ‘The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day.’” [BBC Television News Online, 10/26/04]

• In 2005 RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Vowed to Challenge Voters at the Polls. During an appearance on behalf of the GOP gubernatorial candidate in Virginia in 2005, RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman vowed to “do whatever we can to help make sure Jerry Kilgore becomes the next governor of the state” – including, according to the AP “having poll workers on hand to challenge voter eligibility.” [AP, 05/26/05]

• RNC-Funded Company Trashed Voter Registration Forms in 2004: “Voter’s Outreach of America aka ‘America Votes’ is responsible for ripping up democratic voter registrations in Nevada. According to the investigative report, hundreds and perhaps thousands of individuals who think they are registered to vote actually are not. The organization has reportedly left Nevada and gone to Oregon. Full transcript of story attached… Well, the company [Voter's Outreach for America, aka America Votes] has been largely, if not entirely funded by the Republican National Committee. We should also point out that similar complaints have been received in Reno, where the registrar there has asked the FBI to investigate. It’s a complicated story and we’ll have a lot more tonight and I think in the days ahead.” [KLAS Las Vegas Channel 8, 4pm news, Oct. 12, 2004]

• Republican Admits Systematic Challenges of Black and Hispanic Voters in 2002. “In the 2002 antifraud experimental run, hundreds of Republican activists slipped on their green vests and tested out the role of poll monitor. In Milwaukee, the volunteers contested the residency of some black voters and in the Hispanic communities they questioned the nationalities of others. Overall, not much came of it. Even Mr. Graber [Wisconsin Republican Chairman] concedes there were ‘few reports of trouble.’ But he says the “dry run” two years ago has better prepared the party for the challenges today.” [Wall Street Journal, 10/22/04]

• Republicans Tried to Scare Hispanic Immigrants From Voting. State investigators have linked a Republican campaign to letters sent to thousands of Southern California Hispanics warning them they could go to jail or be deported if they vote next month, a spokesman for the attorney general said. In fact, immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens can vote. [USA Today, 10/19/06]

• Florida Election Officials Sought To Purge African-Americans From Voter Rolls. Florida Officials Struck Over 2,000 Eligible Voters From Voting Rolls, 62% Were Democrats, More Than Half Were Black. An analysis by the Miami Herald found that the Florida Division of Elections had improperly included 2,119 voters who were on a list of more than 47,000 felons potentially ineligible to vote in the November elections. Florida law requires convicted felons to request clemency in order to regain their right to vote. Of the 2,119 people on the list, 62% were registered Democrats, almost half were Black and less than 20% were Republican. Only sixty-one Hispanics were included on the list of over 47,000 felons though they comprise 11% of the prison population, a politically significant fact for the November elections since Hispanics in Florida vote overwhelmingly Republican while Blacks vote Democrat. [Miami Herald, 7/2/04; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, 7/7/04, 7/8/04; New York Times, 7/10/04]

• Native Americans Told “To Go Home” In June Primary. Poll workers demanded identification from Native Americans in South Dakota’s June primary, and they illegally turned away Native American voters from the polls when they did not have it. The state’s elections auditor sent out a memo to state poll workers stating that all voters must have IDs, but did not widely disseminate information that said that voters could sign an affidavit in lieu of showing identification. State Democrats say that the actions by poll workers were an extension of a wider move by the GOP controlled state legislature to suppress Native American turnout. The law requiring voters to show identification was passed in 2004. One South Dakotan voter turned away from the poll was told by an elections worker that “if she didn’t’ have a photo ID, she could just turn around and home.” [Argus Leader, 6/11/04]

• Convicted Republican Phone Jammer Blamed GOP “Culture” and Was Afraid to Push Back on RNC Official. As he finished serving a prison sentence for “jamming Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire during the 2002 US Senate race,” Allen Raymond told the Boston Globe that the “scheme reflects a broader culture in the Republican Party that is focused on dividing voters to win primaries and general elections. He said examples range from some recent efforts to use border-security concerns to foster anger toward immigrants to his own role arranging phone calls designed to polarize primary voters over abortion in a 2002 New Jersey Senate race.” The scheme led to “the convictions of Raymond and two top Republican officials, and a Democratic lawsuit that seeks to determine whether the White House played any role.” Allen said “he got caught up in an ultra-aggressive atmosphere” and that “he had been reluctant to turn down a prominent official of the RNC, fearing that would cost him future opportunities from an organization that was becoming increasingly ruthless.” [Boston Globe, 06/10/2006]

To get involved with our election protection efforts, or learn more, drop us an email.

Sometimes it can be difficult to find fodder for the grist mill, especially now in the dog days of summer. Such is the plight of the ProJo scribes who labor to assemble each week’s Political Scene, a typically informative and sometimes tongue-in-cheek feature that appears every Monday.

And while we admittedly glossed over most of the riveting lead account detailing the State House restroom overhaul, we would be remiss if we did not extend a heartfelt thanks to ProJo State House reporter Steve Peoples who penned a section on our spiffy new website.

As Democrats in Congress pass legislation fulfilling their promises to the American people, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee have joined forces to launch a Month of Action on Iraq that will begin with a national television advertising campaign highlighting the Democratic Congress’s accomplishments and calling on President Bush to work with Democrats to end the war in Iraq. Here’s the video:

Chairman Lynch announced today that the Rhode Island Democratic Party will join local, county and state committees in a partnership with the DNC to help protect voter’s rights.

Here’s a message from Gov. Dean announcing the program:

Last year, we put DNC staff on the ground all across the country to rebuild our party and stand up to the lies and failures of the Republican Party. The 50-State Strategy worked. Those organizers were key to our unprecedented victories up and down the ballot in 2006.

Our organizers are still on the ground in all 50 states, preparing for 2008 in every way possible. And starting this month, they are kicking off an unprecedented voter protection effort, of a scale never attempted by any organization.

While Democrats protect everyone’s right to vote, Karl Rove and the Republican Party have a long history of threatening this right, working to make it harder for Americans to vote. We’re going to stop them.

Protecting the right of every eligible American to vote is our party’s top priority because we know that it’s good for America and good for our democracy when everyone votes.

All Americans deserve to go to the polls confident that they won’t be harassed or intimidated. That they won’t wait hours for a ballot and that their vote will be counted fairly and accurately. Unfortunately, nearly forty-two years after the signing of the voting rights act, millions of American’s are treated like criminals just for trying to vote.

So we’re going to meet with every election official in the country, visit every polling place, and make sure that every American will have their vote counted-and we will do it now, instead of waiting to hear about big problems on the news on Election Day 2008.

We need your help. By giving $20, $50 or $100 you can help support the organizers working in your state and the vital work they are doing to make sure every vote counts.

http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote

Under the Bush Administration’s politicized Justice Department we have seen an outright attack on voting rights. In their latest scheme, the Republican Administration has manipulated the mission of the Department of Justice, firing U.S. Attorneys who were unwilling to pursue phony “voter fraud” cases, and politicized the Civil Rights Division.

Over the past several years the GOP has tried everything from phone jamming schemes to vote purging to voter intimidation tactics to try and suppress the vote.

That’s why this effort is so necessary. Support our organizers on the ground and help us make sure we can fix voting problems now, instead of on Election Day 2008.

http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote

I’ve promised to build the infrastructure and develop the strategy Democrats need to fight everywhere, and this is exactly the kind of effort it takes. Our work may not be in the headlines right now, but it’s how we are going to make an impact next year and in every election after that.

We all know what happened in Florida in 2000. We all know what happened in Ohio in 2004.

Help make sure it doesn’t happen again in 2008.

http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote

Sincerely,

Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.

There’s an interesting story out of South Carolina’s Times and Democrat newspaper today that looks at how campaigns are reaching a broader and in many cases younger audience by communicating through the Web.

In Rhode Isalnd, few campaigns have gone as far as the major nationals have in hiring full-time staffs dedicated to all things online, from blogging and socoal networking pages to keeping their Websites stocked with fresh pics and video…and maybe even the occasional right tone.

You can bet a large number of local candidates will turn to the Web in both the 2008 and 2010 cycles to reach their constituency. Some innovative Dems, like General Treasurer Frank Caprio went the way of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in starting a site almost exclusively dedicated to streaming video, giving voters the opportunity to view content that never made it to broadcast TV.

“Technology is traveling so fast; now it has transformed American politics. It’s beginning to advance politics by getting ordinary Americans back in the process. Before, there was a one-way campaign where candidates talked to voters; now we have a two-way campaign,” said Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Dean and others who attended last week’s CNN-YouTube debate say the Internet has had a profound effect on politics – changing the way voters get information about candidates, the way campaigns are organized and fund-raising.

Congressman Kennedy invited Speaker Pelosi to Rhode Island Saturday, here’s some video of her discussing the growing influence of women in politics.

The Democratic Party of Rhode Island is looking for volunteers interested in serving in the RIDP Women’s Caucus to promote gender equality and a number of other issues important to all Rhode Islanders. If you’re interested in getting involved, all you have to do is email the party.

Thanks to the hard work of field director Gabe Amo today’s “Go Green” event was a total success. Between the Warwick and Providence events, we distributed hundreds of energy-efficient light bulbs and signed up a ton of people to get active in and learn more about the RI Democratic Party. We even registered a few dozen people to vote!

A BIG thanks to a all the volunteers who helped out today, especially Alexis, Guadalupe, Patrick, Jay, David, Jason and Kristen. You were all great representatives of the Democratic Party, and left a positive impression with everyone we reached today.

Today’s event was part the national Democratic Reunion, which this year, focused on our party’s commitment to a safer, cleaner environment.