Opinions expressed are those of the poster and not necessarily the Sonoma County Young Democrats.

Monday, December 29, 2008

A California Carol?

Have you seen "A California Carol"?

Just in time for the holidays, it's a new video from the Courage Campaign featuring Governor Schwarzenegger as Ebenezer Scrooge, facing the ghosts of California past, present and future.

You don't want to miss this:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/CaliforniaCarol

After you watch the video, please consider joining me in signing the card for Governor Schwarzenegger. Tell him that California deserves a leader, not a Scrooge, this holiday season!

Sonoma County Rocked the Vote!

For those who missed the election results - Sonoma County rocks! We set a record voter turnout of 93.4%. Numbers straight from the CA Secretary of State's website: 231,817 total voters out of 248,122 registered voters. Don't believe me - check it yourself.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_general/contents.htm

Young people across the state were alo rocking the vote. California voters under age 30 favored Obama by 56 points, 77% Obama-21% McCain; voted to defeat Proposition 4 by 24 points, 38% Yes-62% No; and voted to defeat Proposition 8 by 26 points, 37% Yes-63% No.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Ed's Sexy Voting Recommendations

Ed made this list, and since he is right on, here it is for you to read and follow!

Friends,

Of course tomorrow will be the biggest election in modern history. For this reason, I have put together a sample ballot "Cheat-Sheet" that you can take along with you to the polls. Know that I am completely comfortable with the positions I have taken, and for your own peace of mind, I think you should just trust me on these matters. I assure you, we'll all sleep better at night if you do. Also, feel free to distribute this list to as many people you know. Be sure to let them know that this is how I intend to vote tomorrow. This should give them peace of mind.

I guess you should also know that my ballot decisions are not based on logic, political insight, thorough knowledge of issues, or even common sense. No, no… not this year. Tomorrow's election is all about the young voter, and one thing is certain; young voters love sex and sex appeal. Because there are so many sexy issues and candidates on tomorrow's ballot, I have based all of my decisions entirely on the “sex factor.”

Here are my sexy picks:

PRESIDENT & VICE PRESIDENT
Barack Obama & Joe Biden Two Sexy MFs. If they were R&B artists, they'd be Barry White and Michael McDonald. You got it, damn sexy. McCain, on the other hand has absolutely no sex appeal. We do know why Palin was picked as McCain's running mate, though. She is every Young Republican’s wet dream. Just imagine a Budweiser bikini-clad Sarah Palin draped over the hood of a Nascar. I know I have, but that’s a scary thought in and of itself.

CALIFORNIA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS (in the North Bay)
* Remember, I only vote for the sexy people
6th District: Lynn Woolsey, sexiest 71 year old hottie in the House
1st District: Mike Thompson, he's got a Vietnam Vet kinda sexiness working for him
9th District: Barbara Lee, "Barbara Lee Does IT for Me"
? District: Democrat Candidate of Choice, they're all just so sexy

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS (in the North Bay)
State Assembly: District 7: Noreen Evans, dare I say, I have a sexy boss
State Senate: District 3: Mark Leno, if I wasn't a straight man...
State Assembly: District 1: Wes Chesbro, got that whole Tom Selleck mustache thing going on
State Assembly: District 6: Jared Huffman, member of the 1987 World Champion US Volleyball Team, how sexy is that

SONOMA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
District 5: Rue Furch, West County sexy environment friendly naturalist, yeow
District 3: Shirlee Zane, one sexy redhead
District 1: Valerie Brown, oh, baby... don't even get me started

SONOMA COUNTY CITY COUNCIL RACES
Santa Rosa City Council, 4-Year Seat:
Michael Allen, the naughty nurse
Lee Pierce, think Shaft, without the hair
Gary Wysocky, sex on wheels
Marsha Vas Dupre, Cougar

Santa Rosa City Council, 2-Year Seat:
Judy Kennedy, sassy bitch

Petaluma City Council:
Tiffany Renee, she only looks innocent
David Glass, the bookworm type
Spence Burton, don't really know him, but i've beentold he satisfies the ladies

Sebastopol City Council:
Kathleen Shaffer, the naughty librarian
Jen Thille, will give you thrills

Cotati City Council:
Janet Orchard, ahh...if I were only this Diva’s type

Windsor City Council:
Debora Fudge, better than chocolate

Healdsburg City Council:
Mike Mcguire, "Hott Damn!"

CANDIDATES—SPECIAL DISTRICTS:
Cotati/Rohnert Park Unified School District:
Ed Gilardi, makes you want to stay after school, if you know what I mean

PROPOSITIONED

1A High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century.
YES, c'mon baby, do the loco-high speed-motion with me

Prop 2 Treatment of Farm Animals
YES, being locked in a cage is only sexy for so long. I wouldn't want to spend my whole life that way

Prop 3 Children's Hospital Bond Act
YES, more hospitals, more hot nurses

Prop 4 Teen Safety
NO, ain't nothing sexy about endangering the health of young ladies

Prop 5 Nonviolent Offenders Rehabilitation Act
YES, rehabilitation, think of it as a "safe word"

Prop 6 Safe Neighborhoods Act
NO, this is definitely not the "girl next door" kind of Prop.

Prop 7 Renewable Energy
NO, this is a scam. if you want to save energy, just do it with the lights off

Prop 8 Marriage Inequality
NO, hate ain't sexy, neither are the Knights of Columbus http://www.kofc.org/un/index.cfm "vote No on ha-8"

Prop 9 Victims' Rights and Protection Act
NO, if you're into "Caged Heat" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071266/ save our State’s tax dollars by going to the video rental store

Prop 10 California Alternative Fuels Initiative
NO, sounds inviting, but T.Boone Pickens is not at all sexy http://apolloalliance.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/pickens372.jpg

Prop 11 Redistricting
NO, a Republican power-grab is NOT sexy. stick with the reacharound

Prop 12 Veterans Bond Act.
YES, help veterans do things in the privacy of their own homes

Measure Q
YES, just imagine all the sexy things you can do while commuting

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Yes We Carve

As shared by our Political Director - Ed...

check it out:
http://yeswecarve.com/

Yes we can … have civilized pumpkin carving

Three old friends who met while working for a Seattle record label launched the nationwide Obama pumpkin extravaganza Yeswecarve.com last week. Josh Horton, 29, lives in Memphis, Tenn.; Jason Powers, 31, lives in Manhattan; and Josh Jeter, 25, mans the carving operation in Chicago.

It's not your typical pumpkin-carving affair — these pumpkins will have candidates' heads carved into them.

It's civilized pumpkin carving, so no smashing pumpkins and "no attack pumpkins," assures Powers. "We're not going to allow any bashing on our site."

Here's how it works: The site offers creative Obama stencils for pumpkin carvers to meet up for carving parties around the nation. The page showcases photographs of the carvers with their Obama pumpkins. Horton said he came up with the idea while lying in bed with his wife. The couple was discussing, of all things, pumpkin carving and began conjuring silly Obama pumpkin phrases such as the "Barackolantern" and the "Obumpkin." The next day he bought the domain name and phoned his friends. One thing agreed upon early on was that the site should not be overtly political, despite the fact that all three are Obama supporters.

There are rules: no negative stenciling, and no carving McCain's head into a pumpkin with a large red X through it. Mainly, the creators just wanted something different.

"Everyone has a yard sign," Horton said. "There's nothing personal about that. There's something expected about that."

Jeter, who enjoys pumpkin carving in his off time from the University of Chicago Law School (where Obama taught), thinks of it as the "organic version of lawn signs." He's also looking forward to BYOP (last letter stands for "pumpkin") parties. "I was thinking maybe we'd restore civil discourse one pumpkin at a time," he said. So far, the site is catching on, having accrued approximately 8,000 visits.

Sarah Palin's "poetry"

I didn't believe this at first, so I went back and listened to her during the VP debate. She actually talked as if reciting poetry. This Slate.com article displays Palin quotes in poetic cadence from the few media interviews she has given.
http://www.slate.com/id/2201342/

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

China's Melamine scandal hits U.S. candymakers

Just what you want to find out before Halloween and buying all the candy to give away. Not to mention the dangers posed to children. Parents be warned about Snickers, M&Ms, Oreos.
See CNN's newstory for details.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/09/29/candy.milk.ap/index.html

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The REAL McCain

If you haven't heard about Brave New Films' project chronicling the "Straight Talk Express" aka McCain's flip flopping. They have done an excellent job compiling video of various speaking engagements of McCain contradicting himself. Here is the link to check it out yourself.
http://therealmccain.com/

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Marriage Equality...Finally

On May 15, 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of equally and made same-sex marriage legal in our state. Effective 30 days from the decision (June 16, 2008) couples who have been together longer than I’ve been alive (I’m still in my twenties, at least for a few more months) will be able to have their relationship defined as married. That is after they file the marriage petition. There are still some questions and concerns not fully addressed by the Court’s decision, and Equality California (www.eqca.org/marriage/faq) is a great resource.

The full impact of the decision didn’t truly hit me until I ran into some friends who’ve been together a long time, and they shared with me their plans to get married on June 16th. Tears rushed to my eyes, as they are doing right now as I type this. I was and am overwhelmed that so many couples I know will finally have the chance to marry the person s/he loves.

Not all of my friends in this situation are planning weddings yet. This has actually caused a disagreement among one couple I know. Several years ago they had a commitment ceremony with family and friends. Now that they can get married one wants a big ceremony the other just wants to go down to the courthouse. I’m just thankful they now have the choice.

Unfortunately, opponents of marriage equality were prepared for the CA Supreme Court’s decision by putting a proposition on the November ballot that would overturn this ruling. Governor Swarzenegger has stated he will not support the proposition. And, a poll released today shows that 51-42 percent of registered voters believed same-sex marriage should be legal in California. That is a significant change in ideology.

Thank you to all the LBTGQ people and friends (like PFLAG) for speaking out and making this issue personal. Although the scenes from 2004 of the San Francisco weddings were deemed a reason why Republicans retained control, I believe it paved the way in people’s hearts to be more accepting of others. The numerous pictures of couples expressing their love for each other after years together made it personal.

How much more personal can you get then from a statement from one of our members included in the California Young Democrats’ press release.

"We thank and congratulate the Supreme Court for their monumental and historic decision, and look forward to the fight that is still ahead," said Rachel Kau-Taylor (Sonoma County), Chair of the YDA GLBT Caucus. "A Constitutional Amendment to limit marriage (1298. (07-0068) is pending signature counting and stands ready to qualify for the November ballot in California. This would embed discrimination in the California State Constitution, and great leaps forward still remain in making one marriage available to all in our state laws and at the national level."

I can’t wait until June 16th! I’ll be heading to the courthouse to witness the barriers of segregation crumble under love.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

No on 98, Yes on 99

Or if you prefer: We hate 98!

Proposition 98 goes too far. It was placed on the ballot by wealthy landlords who spent millions to put it on the ballot. It would rollback laws protecting renters and the environment. Proposition 99, on the other hand, provides protections to landowners from eminent domain (for private development purposes) while also protecting renters' rights and the environment.

The authors of Prop 98 think people should be able to do anything they want on their own land. Hmm…I wonder if the language would allow them to bypass other laws and regulations like land-use that neighbors rely on to keep their neighborhoods respectable (and with no monstrosity eye-sores).

Prop 98 guts environmental protections. Just when we are beginning to take serious action on global climate change, the laws we’ve passed to protect our land, air, water and coasts would be overruled. Our drinking water all comes from the same supplies. This puts us all at risk.

Hate frivolous lawsuits? Then vote no on 98. If this passes it opens the door to a lot of those lawsuits. The end results higher taxpayer costs and an economy hurting even more than it already is.

Who opposes Prop 98? That's why a broad coalition including AARP, League of Women Voters of California, the Coalition to Protect California Renters, California Professional Firefighters, California Alliance for Retired Americans, California Teachers Association, California Police Chiefs Association, California Chamber of Commerce, and dozens of others. Governor Schwarzenegger, Senators Boxer and Feinstein and nearly every other state-wide elected official also are urging a NO vote on Prop 98. Many of these same groups are also supporting a real eminent domain reform on the June 3rd ballot. Proposition 99 is the straightforward solution we need to protect against eminent domain abuse. Prop. 99 prohibits government from using eminent domain to take a home to transfer to a private developer. Unlike the landlords' Prop. 98, Prop. 99 is eminent domain reform with NO HIDDEN AGENDAS. Please be sure you have the facts and vote NO on 98 and Yes on 99 on June 3rd.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Superdelegate Dilemma

There are so many people up in arms about the structuring within the Democratic Party that gives superdelegates a vote for the next President. Let’s be frank, it wouldn’t really be an issue if there was an obvious nominee, but since we are stuck with a very questionable outcome… poof…we have controversy.

We cannot do away with superdelegates, at least this go round, because the structure was pre-arranged. This has worked no problem for how many years? (Hint: since before I was born) So now we are faced with two questions: How should the Democratic National Committee resolve this dilemma?, and, Do we want to continue with a convention structure that gives superdelegates a vote for a Presidential nominee?

Addressing the question of how the DNC should resolve the current dilemma, keeping in mind that superdelegates will still have a vote, there are many options and theories out there. Personally, I would like to see the DNC offer Florida and Wisconsin an opportunity to recast their votes in caucus and thus recognizing their delegates at the Convention. FL and WI should not have their previous election count, because they knew they scheduled the election dates in opposition of the DNC rules there would be repercussions and they would lose their delegates. To allow those votes to count now would be unfair and set a terrible precedent for the next Presidential election.

Why is it unfair? For one, not all the candidates listed themselves on the ballot (campaign-wise a stupid move) because all the candidates pledged not to campaign in those states. To count those votes is unfair to all the candidates including those who have already withdrawn from the race. It is also unfair to the voters in the States that followed the rules. Our state governments or state Democratic Party followed the rules for fear of penalty. Why should FL and WI get everything they wanted after breaking the rules just because there happens to a questions of whom the nominee will be? I say if they want a say give them the option to caucus. That still penalizes them while giving them delegates and prevents future problems with the primary lineup. Personally, I feel it is important to give the voters in those states a chance to be heard because no one’s vote should be silenced (but it happens when you break the rules or fill your ballot wrong).

Will that direction fix the problem concerning superdelegates? Unlikely. The DNC and the two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, will have to sit down and negotiate. A floor vote at the August convention will only fracture the party. Many voters will feel disillusioned with the party and we will likely lose some as voters for a very long time. We cannot afford that! The best for the future of our party would be for the candidates to come to an agreement.

As for the continuation of the superdelegates within the Democratic Party process, I have a question for you: Are you involved with the Democratic Party? This does not mean donating money or casting your vote on election day. This means donating time and energy to building the party including elected positions on local central committees, attending state conventions, walking precincts, organizing community events, phonebanking, etc. If you have never done any of the above for the party, not a candidate, then you probably have not been involved with the Democratic Party. Regularly I hear someone complaining about the government etc. Immediately I ask that person if s/he voted. If not, then my response is “you chose not to vote and silence your voice in so doing you gave up your legitimate right to complain”. So now I say to those who are complaining about superdelegates, if you are not involved with the Democratic Party then you are choosing to stay silent so stop you’re whining and do something about it. I know the Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee is always looking for members and alternates. There is a link to their website from our site under links.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Why do all middle-aged white women support Hillary Clinton for President?

Why do all middle-aged white women support Hillary Clinton for President?
Offended by that question? How do you think I feel when I’m repeatedly asked “why do all Young Democrats support Barack Obama for President?” Just as not all middle-aged white women don’t support Hillary, not all YD’s support Barack. As soon as people learn to get past their categorizations (ie “isms”) maybe this country will begin to move forward.

Look at us Democrats now debating whether sexism or racism is the bigger issue in this Presidential race. Who will be the one to win it in November? I’m just elated that our two top candidates are a woman and an African American. We have come so damn far from the old rich white guy group in 2004. Not that all old rich white guys are bad – remember to donate to Democrats J - because I’ve been supporting the Democrats for years now and that’s all we’ve been putting up for Presidential candidates. Not that others minorities, read non-white and/or male, to be a serious contending but they never made a scratch in national polling.

You may be wondering what got me started on this rant. Basically, I got tired of repeating not all YD’s support Obama. The most recent happened at the annual Sonoma County Democratic Parties Crab Feed. A middle-aged white woman introduces herself to me, btw I was wearing a SCYD nametag, and begins lecturing me on why YDs should be supporting Hillary instead of Barack. Excuse me! She never once asked whom I support(ed) and besides CA has already voted and those delegates are assigned. Personally, I see pros and cons to both candidates.

So old people listen up – don’t start lecturing a YD about who they should or should not support. Did it work with your kids? We are going to decide in any way, shape, or form we choose to whether based on charisma, policy, or flip of the coin. If you want to DISCUSS candidates then start a conversation NOT a lecture. You’d be surprised – some of us may know more than you do…
 
Clusty