In Coastal California, they often talk about “June gloom,” that meteorological phenomenon that causes the skies to grow cloudy above the beaches because the heat from the valley draws the cool marine air onto land. This summer is anything but gloomy for the progressive grassroots. Movements are heating up all over the nation and drawing in hordes of citizen-activists fighting to take our country back from the grip of the radical right.
In this issue, we revisit one of our favorite grassroots She-roes, Granny D who at age 94 continues to inspire us. Can you believe it? She is running for U.S. Senate! Go Granny Go!
Get ready to rumble in Boston! If you’re not a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, don’t worry. There are two great reasons to spend a few days in Massachusetts next month. Our favorite is DemocracyFest which has secured a location and has a great program of speakers, seminars and workshops to sign up. There are a other shadow conventions happening around the Democratic National Convention as well and we feature another option in our Get Involved section.
As usual, we have acres of new grassroots groups to report. In Virginia, a group is training high school students on Campaign 101. In the heartland, activists are helping to Wake Up Ohio to economic reality, and all across the nation Cyclists for Kerry are ready to roll.
We’re serving up another batch of Dean Dozen in this issue, and you can also get the skinny on a low-carb diet for a better environment.
They say forewarned is forearmed, be sure to take a look at the article excerpt of "One man and his god" by Jonathan Steinberg, Walter H. Annenberg professor of modern European history at the University of Pennsylvania.
Finally, be sure to check out a special item heading up the Grassroots Calendar!
Subscriptions to Taking Root are spam-free and come free to your email box. Sign-up today! And please feel free to forward this to your friends.
| --Kimberly Krautter, Grassroots for America |
Glimpse What’s Inside!
Click on a title to jump to the story below.
NEWS FROM THE ROOTS
BREAKING NEWS
DemocracyFest Location Secured, Speakers Booked, Program Ready to Roll
Loaded schedule includes Gov. Dean as keynote and workshops by major grassroots leaders
After the heartbreak of losing the previous location in the 11th hour, Jessica Falker of My Vote Is My Voice announced that DemocracyFest will indeed go forward on schedule, as planned and will still be held in the Berkshire Mountains. All permits have been secured for the new location at the Butternut Ski Resort in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
This is especially good news for attendees who had already booked travel arrangements into Hartford, CT, which remains the closest airport to the venue.
Progressive grassroots hero, Governor Howard Dean, is scheduled to present the keynote address. Other marquis speakers include, Zephyr Teachout of ACT, Liz Herbert of Rapid Response Network a grassroots media watchdog group and Eugene Hedlund of Truth & Hope which funds and creates a variety of advertising campaigns for the grassroots. A number of Dean Dozen candidates will speak about their journeys from citizen-activists to candidates. And, anyone committed to grassroots action will not want to miss the humor and wisdom of Cathy Bao Bean, author of “The Chopsticks-Fork Principle: A Memoir & Manual”. This must-read book explains how anyone who steps outside the home can benefit by greater awareness of the diversity within and around us
A number of workshops and education seminars are scheduled for the two-day event. You are encouraged to sign-up for these programs today.
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
Granny D Runs for U.S. Senate
Doris, “Granny D” Haddock is famous for walking across America to raise awareness on important political issues like removing corporate influence from politics. Now she’s raising the stakes in New Hampshire politics by challenging Republican incumbent Judd Gregg for U.S. Senate.
Regular readers of Taking Root will no doubt remember her inspiring story in our premiere issue last April. This spry 94-year old runs circles around most of us when it comes to her commitment to fighting for progressive values such as reproductive freedom, fair hiring practices, separation of church and state and universal heathcare.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Granny D said, ““I am the angry grandmother come off my porch to ask young Judd what in the world he is thinking when he supports Bush’s military misadventures, supports the transfer of billions of our tax dollars to billionaires and supports the shipping of our jobs overseas.”
In the same interview, she took umbrage with large retailers that leverage NAFTA to the detriment of American workers, “If we need a new chair and our neighbor, the woodworker, needs work, what in hell are we doing at Wal-Mart buying a chair made three oceans away?” Haddock said.
Despite her advanced age – one any of us should hope to reach with such mental acuity – Granny D says she’s more than fit to serve. “I may struggle for the right word from time to time, I can yet string my words together somewhat better than even our current President,” she said. “And while I need glasses for reading, I can see clearly the difference between a necessary war and an unnecessary war.”
Help Granny D to the U.S. Senate. Send your campaign donations to:
Doris Haddock for U.S. Senate
Box 492, Dublin NH 03444
Make inquiries at 603-563-8086 or CampaignHQ-at-HaddockforSenate.org
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
Cornell University prescribes a Low-Carb Diet for a Cleaner Environment
Just as low-carbohydrate diets are trimming the American waistline, more judicious use of hydrocarbon-based fossil fuels would reduce U.S. energy consumption by 33 percent and save consumers $438 billion a year by 2014, according to an analysis by Cornell University ecologists.
David Pimentel, Cornell professor of ecology, and 11 student ecologists found the most fat for trimming -- with the best potential for major energy savings -- in the transportation, residential heating and cooling, industrial and food-production sectors. Energy conservation and implementation of energy-efficient technologies also would allow significant savings in the production and use of chemicals, paper and lumber, household appliances, lighting and metals, the analysis showed.
Their report on "U.S. Energy Conservation and Efficiency: Benefits and Costs" is in the latest issue of the journal "Environment, Development, and Sustainability" (Vol. #6, Issue 3-4). http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/May04/Low-hydrocarbon.hrs.html
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
CANDIDATES
The “Dean Dozen”: The Next Batch
Grassroots For America is proud to support all “Dean Dozen” candidates. As each list is announced through Democracy For America, Taking Root will publish the list, provide website links and profile candidates.
Judge William O'Neill for Supreme Court of Ohio. "Money and judges don't mix. Never have and never will." That's why Judge O'Neill limits campaign contributions to $10. And that's why he wins races even when he is outspent more than 10-to-1. www.oneillforjustice.com
Jim Stork for United States Congress from Florida. A former mayor and small businessman who was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Stork is also openly gay. He is challenging Republican incumbent Clay Shaw who barely won re-election by 599 votes in this Democratic leaning district where Kerry is currently leading by double digits. This year Stork has the momentum. www.storkforcongress.com
Edward Ableser for Arizona House of Representatives. Generation Dean's own Edward Ableser is running for state representative from Tempe. He'll be a seatmate with Representative Meg Burton Cahill in this two member district. Edward is walking every precinct in the district, knocking on doors and introducing himself and his issues: education and health care. www.eza2004.com
Tami Green for Washington State House of Representatives. Four years ago first-time candidate Tami Green lost to a well-financed, incumbent Republican by only 3 percent. This year the seat is open. www.tamigreen.com
Paul Babbitt for United States Congress from Arizona. This is one of the most competitive races in the country this year. http://dfa.paulbabbitt.us
Susan Clary for Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor of Orange County, Florida. An avid outdoorswoman and award-winning member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalist, Susan will work with landowners to conserve the natural resources held by private citizens in central Florida. www.susanclary.com
Eddgra Fallin for School Board in Huntsville, Alabama. Since helping to desegregate the Decatur, Alabama public schools as a child, Eddgra Hill Fallin has been working for equal access to excellence. www.eddgrafallin.com
Scott Kawasaki for Alaska State House. Kawasaki is Fairbanks' youngest City Councilman and a tireless opponent of certain provisions of the Patriot Act, He is fighting for privacy, senior citizens, higher education and labor issues in this tight race. www.scottforhouse.com
Missy Taylor for Kansas House of Representatives. As a retired teacher and NEA member, Missy Taylor's first priority is a just finance plan that will fund an excellent education in all Kansas schools. www.taylorforkansas.com
Patti Fritz for Minnesota State House District 26B. This LPN at St. Lucas Care Center in Faribault, Minnesota and retired member of SEIU Local 113 came within 600 votes of victory in 2000. That strong showing has put her near the top of the target lists for 2004. Help put Patti Fritz in the Minnesota State House. http://pattifritz.smartcampaigns.com
James Whitaker for Michigan State House. The Republican Party of Michigan doesn't think very highly of Democracy for America. Is that because they are worried that dynamic James Whitaker is challenging one of their incumbents? Could be. The Whitaker campaign gives DFA an opportunity to prove the Republicans have every reason to worry. www.jameswhitaker.us
Lois Herr for United States Congress from Pennsylvania. Lois Herr is challenging Joe Pitts - an anti-choice Republican who has reneged on his pledge to abide by a ten-year term limit. www.loisherr.us
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
NEW GROUPS TAKE ROOT
Campaign 101 – Training Youth to Take Back Our Country
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is suitable for replication in your neck of the woods.
By Shaula Evans, Special Advisor, Campaign 101 Virginia
Campaign 101 is a Democratic youth activist project to provide high school and college students the progressive grassroots skills to get involved and make a difference in local politics. Campaign 101 is a real grassroots project. The organizers are a team of high school students from different schools in Virginia, plus one adult advisor.
We got together in February because we believe that youth participation in politics is really important. We've all been involved with politics in Virginia one way or another, either by working on local election campaigns, or getting involved with our school Democratic or political clubs--often both. We wanted to find a way to make political participation more accessible to other students, show them how exciting politics can be, and give them the skills to get involved in a higher level. We decided the best way to do that would be to organize a campaign skills training that would bring together students from all over the Commonwealth along with top state and national trainers and political figures.
And no, we're not making a profit at this. We have collectively put in several thousand hours of (unpaid) work because we believe that what we're doing is that important. Our original registration fee was $100. However, we are looking for a cheaper facility so we can lower our costs. Our budget is in flux at the moment, but we look forward to updating you through this site about the new participation fees, and we promise they will be substantially reduced.
New dates: July 10 & July 11
http://rollupyoursleeves.blogspot.com to register or contact shaulaevans-at-comcast.net.
WAKE UP OHIO!!
By Stephanie Studebaker
Not long ago in the battleground state of Ohio Democrats held the majority in the state legislature. Both our U.S. Senators were Democratic (U.S. Senator Metzenbaum (1976-1995) and Glenn (1974-1999).
Today when you look at the current political representation in our state it makes you want to cry. Both our United States Senators are Republican (Dewine and Voinovich), only 6 out of our 18 U.S. Congressman (Brown, Tubbs-Jones, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan and Strickland) are Democrats, 11 of our 33 State Senators are Democrats and 37 out of our 99 State Representatives are Democrats. Ohioans have been asleep at the switch.
244,000 Ohioans are now jobless, one million without health insurance, our public education system in shambles and the financial burden the War in Iraq is placing on our tax dollars is unprecedented. It is obvious that the Republican majority in our state is not serving “We the People”. It is time for Ohioans to Wake Up.
These sad facts have brought into existence two new groups in Ohio. Wake Up Ohio Not For Profit Corporation and Wake Up Ohio Political Action Committee (WUOPAC) . These two entities intend to give progressive Ohio Democrats a voice and bring them back into politics. The Not for Profit Corporation will focus on education and statewide issue advocacy in regard to fiscal responsibility and job creation, environmental protection, universal health care, and an adequately funded public education system. WUOPAC will provide much needed financial assistance to statewide Democratic candidates who support our progressive Democratic values.
We intend to become a powerful force in the state and once again bring back a Democratic majority to Ohio. For more information, or if you would like to donate, please visit our web site at www.Wake-UpOhio.com.
Wake Up Ohio is an all volunteer organization and we rely on donations for all of our funding. If you have any questions you can e-mail Madeline Breslin maddi.bres-at-sbcglobal.net
Cyclists for Kerry Are Ready to Roll
By Michael Meurer, founder, Cyclists for Kerry
Did you know that John Kerry is an avid bicyclist? Not only is he a dedicated cyclist, his custom made Serotta road bike even flies around the country with him on the campaign trail! He has bicycled in California, Washington state, Massachusetts and many other areas around the country just in the past month.
We are launching a new website at http://www.cyclistsforkerry.org to mobilize the cyclist community nationwide on behalf of Senator Kerry's Presidential campaign. The site is scheduled to be online by the July 25 convention. To be notified when the site launches, please visit us online today and send an e-mail request.
The website will provide organizing tools, Cyclists for Kerry artwork, and an interactive cyclists map that lists rides in your state. We want Cyclists for Kerry to be ambassadors for the campaign with their local clubs and advocacy groups. We also want Kerry cyclists out organizing fund raising rides for the Kerry campaign in every city and state in the U.S.
We will be seeking experienced volunteers to organize a larger national ride that Senator Kerry will be invited to kick off as our honorary pace cyclist this summer.
The Cyclists for Kerry website will feature a sign up form that alerts the Kerry campaign whenever a new cyclist joins our group; a Cyclists for Kerry discussion group (cyclistsforkerry-at-yahoogroups.com); links to helpful cycling information; updates from the campaign trail; background info on John Kerry the cyclist; a list of all Democratic members of the Congressional Bike Caucus; and breaking political news of interest to specifically cyclists.
Please join us today.
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
GET INVOLVED
Shadow Conventions
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the days immediately preceding the Democratic National Convention, a number of shadow conventions will play host to thousands of progressives who hope to influence the party’s platform. Like DemocracyFest described above, most of these event aim to provide a venue for progressive activists and organizations to coalesce, train their members and advance the agenda to take back our country. If you were not elected to be a convention delegate, there are many reasons to go to Massachusetts next month. Here is another good one.
On July 23-25, 2004 at the University of Massachusetts at Boston—just before the Democratic National Convention—a coalition of Boston area, progressive community organizations, non-profits, and unions will be hosting what promises to be an exciting event—the Boston Social Forum (BSF). www.bostonsocialforum.org
The BSF has been called to help progressive activists to begin to answer some very basic questions: What kind of future do we want for Boston? For our region? For our nation? For the world? What is our vision of a better society?
Through a series of workshops, cultural events, plenary sessions, and giant convocations of the entire forum, we are encouraging progressive organizations of all kinds to showcase their best analysis of the present, and their best ideas for the future, across the breadth of human knowledge—politics, economics, science and technology, culture and faith—in the context of corporate globalization.
The goals of the event are simple: encourage various social movements to exchange information, network with one another, form new alliances, and push our movements forward a bit more towards the next stage of our development. All progressive activists, interested community members, and delegates to the Democratic National Convention, to come to the BSF and become part of the global process to build a better, more human-centered society.
The forum is a social space and not an organization. It is organized by a coalition of organizations but does not represent the coalition. Here is an early list of organizations involved with the forum; some organizations have contributed to the logistics and funding of the forum, others are contributing workshops and events to the forum.
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
INSPIRATION POINT
FIRST PERSON: Kevin Spidel’s Journey from Gangbanger to Grassroots Leader
By Kevin Spidel, Political Director of Progressive Vote
In the inner-city of Glendale Arizona, I experienced violence first-hand. In High School, in order to “fit in”, I chose to hang out with gang members. Even as a young student I knew that I was betraying who I was, however the pressure to conform was too great. My enlightening moment as a youth came when I was attacked by rival gang members who not only wounded my body, but also destroyed my reliance on this violent system.
Experiencing this relatively small amount of violence first-hand, I was able to open my mind to the suffering and violence happening throughout the world everyday such as the “ethnic cleansing” of Rwanda. I also saw our government doing nothing to stop that genocide. I chose to redirect my anger and energy toward a more peaceful solution.
In college, I studied religion and politics. I researched non-violence as an organizing principle. I became involved in programs that support those principles. After graduating from ASU, I continued on my path of working to improve the human condition. I focused on human rights organizations by working for groups like Amnesty International, where I became a Field Organizer and Grassroots Trainer. These experiences led me to community organizing as an effective way to help others create change.
My activities have always been connected to human rights and social justice. However, I started to make a transition from working with these non-profit organizations and in our political system separately, to trying to integrate the two. My experiences led me to working directly on progressive policy within the Democratic Party. As a result I have worked on many progressive campaigns, including working as the National Field Director for Kucinich for President. I am now working with Progressive Vote to try to unite a progressive base toward working together, creating effective strategies toward advancing a human rights and progressive agenda within the political system.
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
SITE SEEING
Multi-lingual Voter Center
The right to vote is not just a "white" thing. This is an essential resource to any person or group engaging in voter registration drives – and that is, of course, one of the most essential elements to getting out the vote in 2004! Please use this resource today.
http://www.myvotecounts.ca.gov/multilingual.html
Tell Kerry What You Think
In the 2004 Presidential campaign, there is strong enthusiasm and consensus around the notion of "Anybody but Bush". But there is not the same kind of conviction and enthusiasm for the only candidate with a realistic chance of beating him - John Kerry. To win, we believe Kerry must address the issues that are currently distancing him from many voters.
WeCount.org, ProgressiveVote, and Media-Screen Market Research are conducting this survey to determine where you stand on key campaign issues, whether John Kerry represents your views, and if not, how he could refine his positions on the issues to gain your support.
Take the survey that's buzzing its way around the country. You can send a powerful message to John Kerry by letting him know where you stand on the key issues and even let him know who you'd like to see in his administration. We're working with our partners to push Kerry to expand his platform at the Democratic National Convention at the end of July - making sure the "anti-Bush" vote is united. So, what do you have to say to John Kerry?
Go to www.wecount.org click on “Take the Survey” at the top left of the navigation bar.
| Return to the Top |
THE TOOL SHED
One man and his god
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is excerpted from an article first published by The Financial Times on June 12, 2004. The article was spurred by the request of GFA Executive Diretor, Joe Magid, for Prof. Steinberg to write up the talk he gave at the Lower Merion/Narberth (PA) Democratic Party annual dinner.
By Jonathan Steinberg, Walter H. Annenberg professor of modern European history at the University of Pennsylvania
George W. Bush is a deeply religious man and the US remains a very religious country. In February 2004, Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Trust's Religion Programme, wrote that in a recent poll, "Eighty-five per cent of respondents stated that religion was either 'very' or 'fairly' important in their lives, and nearly 60 per cent reported that they attend religious services at least once or twice a month."
If religion matters in general, the particular religion that President Bush avows matters all the more. Bush and many of his closest advisers are Evangelicals, a variant of Christianity that non-Americans scarcely comprehend, and Americans in the large urban centres rarely encounter.
Exit polls in 2000 showed that 55 per cent of those who voted for Bush placed moral reform as their highest political objective. All the so-called "hot-button issues" of this campaign - conflicts over gay marriage, abortion, guns, feminism or stem-cell research - reflect that. All those issues grow out of what Evangelicals call "secular humanism" - a movement which, they believe, has debauched American life in the form of feminism, moral relativism, bible criticism, Darwinian evolution and, worst of all, abortion. US representative Mark Souder of Indiana, who accepts the Bible as literally true, told the interviewer for "The Jesus Factor", an episode of a PBS documentary on Evangelicals and politics: "I believe that the fundamental change in America was the legalisation of abortion."
For conservative Christians, the election of 2004 represents the ultimate struggle between good and evil in American life. Republican Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma told supporters that a vote against George Bush was a vote for Osama bin Laden. He later strengthened that to comparing it with a vote for Adolf Hitler.
Read the full article on the Grassroots for America Web site at One man and his god.
| Comment on the Roots Blog | Return to the Top |
Grassroots Calendar
| June 30 | Grassroots Theater Network kick-off - special showings of Fahrenheit 9/11 |
| July 9 – 11 | Virginia Campaign 101 High School Training by 21st Century Democrats |
| July 24/25 | DemocracyFest, Butternut Ski Resort, Great Barrington, MA |
| July 26/29 | Democratic National Convention, Boston, MA |
| Return to the Top
|
ABOUT OUR NEWSLETTER
Send Letters to the Editor to: editor-at-grassrootsforamerica.us
Send content submissions to: news-at-grassrootsforamerica.us
Subscribe to Taking Root, a semi-monthly newsletter by Grassroots For America. (You will only receive the newsletter email through this list.)
If you are subscribed and wish to unsubscribe, click here.
| Privacy Policy | Return to the Top |
VISIT OUR WEB SITE
Grassroots for America is a resource for progressive grassroots organizations across the nation, connecting groups and providing services, infrastructure and consulting to:
Grassroots for AmericaSM is a not-for-profit corporation operating as an IRS chapter 501(c)4 organization.
 Your contribution will help sustain Grassroots for America, ensuring the continued publication of Taking Root as well as supporting all of our endeavors to help the progressive grassroots grow. |
Special Thanks to BRAINCHILD MEDIA GROUP for their design work and consulting.
| Return to the Top |