DCW covered the Democratic National Convention last year. We had press credentials, and Oreo did a great on-site job. We also were delighted to have delegates reporting from there, too. We're planning on covering both the DNC and RNC 2012 conventions, although it's likely that if the RNC gives us press credentials, we'll look at each other with that look as to who goes. But there might be a third convention, and THAT would be fun to watch. Ultimate Kabuki Theatre.
It's started in Florida: the Teabaggers are a party! They're going to run candidates! Nationally!
A Florida conservative has registered an official "Tea Party" with the office of the Secretary of State, and is promising to run candidates against Republicans and Democrats in state and national races.
Obviously, their next target is Charlie Crist. It will be interesting to see how the actual Republican Party responds. Could the Teabaggers push them to be more centrist? Or drive them further to the right? We'll see how that plays out, and you can bet we'll be ALL OVER IT as it unfolds.
For today, though, I'm thinking c-o-n-v-e-n-t-i-o-n. First, the signs. We know teabaggers can't spell. Will that carry over to the banners the party itself puts up? Will the advertisers come down to their level? (Speeches at the Poopsi Center anyone?)
Who will they get as keynote speakers? Will Spunky abandon the GOP as too moderate and strut herself at Teabag Central? If so, who will pay the thousands on thousands for her clothes?
What will they hand out in their swag bags? Is there a tea company that will want to be the "proud sponsor"? Will they insist on AMERICAN tea? Do we even GROW tea? Actually, there is one tea farm in the US. However, they grow black, green, and herbal teas. Not white tea. Do you think that will be a problem?
And on that issue, is it possible that the 37 African Americans at last year's RNC convention could dwarf the number of African Americans at the teabagger convention?
Will they have mandatory evangelical Christian services every morning?
You get the idea.
If you think this sounds snarky and perhaps written by someone who would be called by Spiro Agnew a member of the "effete core of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals"...well...I actually am waiting to see if they can come up with a leader with an advanced degree (say, a Nobel Prize winning economist).
For now, I'm just impressed that they picked as their name "tea bag" - something that collapses in water and then goes out with the trash.
Yesterday I wrote an article on you, and while I don't know how you found out about it, since you were never a member of the DCW community until yesterday, you certainly came over and commented. Since you don't read DCW, you don't know what I write about. Therefore, you don't know HOW VERY MUCH I wish there were a serious challenge to Blanche Lincoln.
You also don't know that almost a week passed before I first heard your name and when the article was posted. You don't know that not only did I email you, but sent copies to my DCW Team partners. Could an email have been lost or misdirected? Sure - there is a huge black hole of lost emails. I have phone records indicating my calls to Todd. For days, my partners and I contacted people we knew to find out how legitimate your campaign actually was.
Since you are not a regular reader, you don't know HOW strong my support of gay rights is. I have a body of work which attests to that. Not just here, but going back years in the printed press. You don't know that I do not have "gay friends" and "straight friends" - I have FRIENDS. My base question has always been why my late husband and I had rights that my friends who happen to be gay are disallowed. That situation offends the most basic tenets of my soul: people are PEOPLE. It's that simple.
The issue to me relates to the seriousness of your campaign. My issue with having Miss Gay Arkansas as your treasurer has nothing to do with his being gay. I couldn't care less, it's a non-issue to ME. The issue is how it plays in Arkansas.
Lincoln is polling very poorly, and if she joins the filibuster there is about a 99.9% chance she'll be challenged in the primary. The question is, by whom? And what type of candidate would provide the strongest primary challenge AND the best shot in the general.
I'd still love to interview you. And here are my first four questions:
Arkansas is one of the more restrictive states in terms of allowing citizen ballot access for both initiatives and running for office. My understanding is that third party candidates have only rarely been allowed on the ballot for a major office. (I could be wrong, but that's my understanding, although the Green Party sued a couple months ago to get on the ballot.) Therefore, you'd need to run with the endorsement of the Democratic Party. To do so, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State's office, you will need a Certificate of Eligibility, a Party Certificate signed by the secretary or chair of the state party, and a signed Political Practices Pledge. Along, of course, with the filing fees. Do you have the signed Party Certificate? I understand that it's not due until early next year, so if you don't have it, what steps have you taken to get the Certificate signed? What is the state party requiring of you? What are the chances that you'll get the Certificate?
What are your issue positions beyond "voting with the Democrats"? Specifically your stand on health care reform: are you for the House bill, the HELP bill, the Baucus bill? If you stand for a truly robust Public Option or Single Payer, would you vote against your party because the legislation didn't go far enough?
Who are your advisers? Not the financial ones, the political ones. A serious run for major office requires coordination PRIOR to announcing with county chairs, state party members, elected officials and local pols. This is critical for on-the-ground organization. Who is serving on your advisory committee? Do you meet as a committee, or one on one?
Where is your physical candidate office?
That's how I'd start, Drew. I'm a serious person, and except for the lightening round questions, I don't throw softballs.
I hope you are a serious candidate, and that the "press" on you is wrong. If so, you'll have a campaign plan, complete with map and statistical analysis. You'll have photos from campaign stops already logged, and the schedule of upcoming events. You'll have preliminary issues papers, a list of committees on which you'd like to serve and a set of legislative priorities.
If you are a serious candidate, you'll have good answers to those questions, which you can answer in the comments, or by sending an email to the address on the left side bar. If you send an email, please enclose a phone number, and I'll call you.
I was minding my own business. I've been trying to develop actual hobbies that have nothing to do with politics, and was playing a game on Facebook, when this image popped-up on the side bar, under the heading "A Bible Belt Liberal."
Pitt has run for office before, but it concerned me that it doesn't appear that he has filed to run with the state, and I didn't want to get excited ahead of time. Which turned out to be a good thing.
Still...this is what he wrote over at the Arkansas Times:
Yes it's true, I am running.
I got tired of waiting for a true blue Democrat to step up and run. If one with financial means ran, I would certainly reevaluate my options, but I am not holding my breath.
My opinion is if you run as a Democrat in Arkansas than you should vote with the Democrats in Washington, D.C. That means supporting a Public Option for Health Care Reform. That means supporting the Employee Free Choice Act. That means supporting an end to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It means being a Democrat. And I don't accept the fact this is the Deep South.
The same state that produced Orval Faubus, Jim Johnson, and other conservative Democrats produced J. William Fulbright, Dale Bumpers, and Bill Clinton. The same deep South that produces blue dogs produces true blue Democrats. Regionality is no longer an issue.
Finally, there will be those who say hateful stuff. Heck, just Google my name and you see the "wiki" page they created. My response is to eloquently echo what Tyler Perry said....it's not what people call you, it's what you answer to.
I couldn't find the wiki page. So, I tried to find out if Drew Pritt and his candidacy were legit. There was an email address, so I wrote to see about getting an interview with this progressive Democrat. Came back as undeliverable.
I was able to find some information on Drew Pritt. I've put it after the jump. Trust me, it's extreme.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell on Tuesday turned aside an impeachment resolution brought by another Republican. He says lawmakers can only deal with a limited number of items in their abbreviated session this week. They came back to Columbia specifically to deal with unemployment benefits.
Harrell said state Rep. Greg Delleney can file the resolution next month in advance of the regular legislative session starting in January.
But there's a new sex scandal in South Carolina. Meet Roland Corning, age 65. Former State Legislator. Really recently former Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Soon to be formerly married. And of course, a proud IIE member. No, he's not dead, but the cemetery is integral to the story.
On Monday, Roland went to lunch with a friend. They chose to "have lunch" at the cemetery pictured at left. In a secluded spot. Which is where the police spotted them.
As the officer approached, Mr Corning sped off, then pulled over a few blocks away. He and the 18-year-old woman with him, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club, gave conflicting stories about what they were doing in the cemetery, Officer Michael Wines wrote in his report, though he did not elaborate.
Mr Corning gave Officer Wines a badge showing he worked for the state Attorney-General's Office.[...]
He then searched the SUV, where he found a Viagra pill and several sex toys, items Mr Corning said he always kept with him, "just in case", according to the report.
W-e-l-l-l-l-l- the officer decided to check on his employment. And his identity. Who did he call? Mrs. Corning, who also happens to be an employee of the state Attorney General's office. She verified his identity, and then marched into her boss' office, and by the end of the day, Roland was unemployed.
You know how I feel about learning basic math and geography. Let's add spelling to the list. Now, anyone can make a typo. But it's hard to do that when you're printing with a pen or marker, as opposed to typing. Well, maybe not so hard if you just plain can't spell.
Maybe the teabaggers should spend more time in actual school....
LOVE that face!
For more adventures in the world of Republicans, click this link and enjoy the photo show.
If you can't see it, click Ctrl++ a few times and you'll be able to see ALL the detail.
It honestly explains a lot...And if you look at this and wonder about all the "twitter" references, then you surely want to know who has the most twitter clout in Congress. Theoretically, it's Joe Wilson.
It's a serious time: Congress is back, health care is hanging by a thread.
I'm thinking back to a year ago, when we had a candidate who espoused HOPE.
Today I read something about someone which truly embodies the theme of hope, and I thought I'd share:
A 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to marry for the 23rd time because she fears her current drug addict husband might leave her for a younger woman, a report said Monday.
As always - I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. Imagine the hope and faith one must have to consider taking a 23rd husband!
I'll have something political up in a little while...
I have the sense that no matter who the choices are in a "who won the week" poll, the DCW crew is going to overwhelmingly select President Obama. So instead, today's poll is the idiot of the week poll. Sadly, I only have ten slots.
The choices:
Michele Bachmann, for this response to Ted Kennedy's Service America Act:
I believe that there is a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into mandatory service. And the real concerns is that there are provisions for what I would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they have to go to work in some of these politically correct forums.
Spencer Bachus, for coming up with a list of 17 Socialists in Congress. (Yes, I know the list was originally Michele Bachmann's idea, but with her, there are always options.)
Betty Brown, a Texas state legislator, for asking Asian-Americans to adopt American names for voting purposes.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.
The pirates who are, at this moment, staring down the US Navy, for thinking they can get away with it.
“As you go about planning and planting the White House garden, we respectfully encourage you to recognize the role conventional agriculture plays in the U.S. in feeding the ever-increasing population, contributing to the U.S. economy and providing a safe and economical food supply.”
English translation: "Use chemicals, Madame First Lady".
Jim Tedisco's legal team for their impersonation of Norm Coleman's legal team.
Ostructionist IIE Senators: Burr, Brownback, Cornyn and Shelby.
Vince Shlomi, ShamWow pitchman, for having a fist fight with a hooker. I put this one in just for my own amusement and so I could say that perhaps they argued about how "low, low" the price could go, and for the thought that Vince could end up saying "but wait, there's more." Sorry, sorry.
DCW covered the Democratic National Convention last year. We had press credentials, and Oreo did a great on-site job. We also were delighted to have delegates reporting from there, too. We're planning on covering both the DNC and RNC 2012 conventions, although it's likely that if the RNC gives us press credentials, we'll look at each other with that look as to who goes. But there might be a third convention, and THAT would be fun to watch. Ultimate Kabuki Theatre.
But there's a new sex scandal in South Carolina. Meet Roland Corning, age 65. Former State Legislator. Really recently former Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Soon to be formerly married. And of course, a proud IIE member. No, he's not dead, but the cemetery is integral to the story.
LOVE that face! 
