Return of the Iowawineguy and Updates From The Field!

That's right, my relocation is nearly complete and I am now alive and well and working back in the state of Iowa, thus Greg the Wisconsin Democrat has become iowawineguy once again. I am currently living in a residence hall on the campus of the University of Iowa until I close on my new home in Coralville on July 6th. The job is going great and is a great breath of fresh air.

Something else smells great here too...the smell of caucus politics! Thick cut pork chops, the Field of Dreams, corn, and first in the nation Presidential voting...Iowa has it all!

I hope to be able to bring you better coverage from the the front lines of the 2008 campaign, at least from the GOOD side. I might even get motivated to go check out the GOP folks if they get close enough...Lord knows there will be plenty of seating...

Tonight I went to the field office for Barack Obama here in Iowa City. The office is in a large cluster of offices in a building in downtown, and is approximately 6 offices down from the Hillary Clinton field office. I got to meet several volunteers tonight as well as the county coordinator and volunteer coordinator Chris. I got a quick tour around the office, which is fairly small, changed my voter registration, signed a caucus pledge card for Obama (I really hope Gore doesn't get in the race now!), signed up for phone bank shifts and took myself a bumper sticker!

My initial impressions are very positive. Based on my experience with the Dean campaign in 2003, the Obama group already seems more organized and off to a better start. Of course Dean had a much harder road to hoe then Obama does these days. Chris said that they were having a large influx of volunteers, many of whom were young and had never done campaigns before (much like Dean). Most interesting was that they were getting a huge flood of high school volunteers, which was a new phenomenon to manage...lots of young people signing pledge cards in anticipation of their 18th birthday...remember these folks don't get polled!

The office already had numerous ways for me to get involved: upcoming July 4th parades, community summer events where they would have tables, canvassing, and phone banking.

Tomorrow night is my first round of phone banking, and I will be sure to report back after to let you know how it goes!

Of Many Things

The last two days my head has been swimming with the news and follow up that the elected Democratic Congressional majority is giving up the fight to end the war in Iraq and give George Bush, the great Liar, a blank check to continue this futile and costly war. Clearly Democrats were given the houses of Congress with a clear mandate to end this mess in Iraq and instead of working to do so, they have rolled over and given in...and at the same time ignored once again the will of the electorate. Maybe they will have a better shot come September when the next round of reports come, but my gut tells me this war will not end while George Bush is still in the White House unless funding is cut for the war. The Repbulicans are too strong in standing together so far.

Honestly, I have lost a lot of faith in the Democrats in Congress, and especially with the leadership. It is time for the ineffective Harry Reid to be replaced as Senate majority leader. He just does not have the stones to get the job done in the face of a tough adversary. Nanyc Pelosi...meh. Who knows. But if these leaders cannot get the caucus whipped into shape then they should be replaced for someone that will fight for the will of the electorate.

All of this also has me sizing up the candidates again and really wondering who I should be supporting in this mess. Only John Edwards and Chris Dodd have taken firm stands on ending this war now and they are starting to look like visionary messengers to me. I want to see Obama take the hardline of what is right...and for me what is right is getting the hell out of Iraq and focusing on real problems. So my choices are shaken and I am left doing a lot of evaluating.

Keith Olbermann has become a powerful voice for reason and progressive values on his evening telecast and he issued a scathing indictment to Bush and the Democrats last night. The value is greatest when you view the video, but I will post the text here. I remain, completely frustrated.

A Special Comment about the Democrats’ deal with President Bush to continue financing this unspeakable war in Iraq—and to do so on his terms:

Few men or women elected in our history—whether executive or legislative, state or national—have been sent into office with a mandate more obvious, nor instructions more clear: Get us out of Iraq.
Yet after six months of preparation and execution—half a year gathering the strands of public support; translating into action, the collective will of the nearly 70 percent of Americans who reject this War of Lies, the Democrats have managed only this:
The Democratic leadership has surrendered to a president—if not the worst president, then easily the most selfish, in our history—who happily blackmails his own people, and uses his own military personnel as hostages to his asinine demand, that the Democrats “give the troops their money”; The Democratic leadership has agreed to finance the deaths of Americans in a war that has only reduced the security of Americans; The Democratic leadership has given Mr. Bush all that he wanted, with the only caveat being, not merely meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government, but optional meaningless symbolism about benchmarks for the Iraqi government.

The Democratic leadership has, in sum, claimed a compromise with the Administration, in which the only things truly compromised, are the trust of the voters, the ethics of the Democrats, and the lives of our brave, and doomed, friends, and family, in Iraq.You, the men and women elected with the simplest of directions—Stop The War—have traded your strength, your bargaining position, and the uniform support of those who elected you… for a handful of magic beans. You may trot out every political cliché from the soft-soap, inside-the-beltway dictionary of boilerplate sound bites, about how this is the “beginning of the end” of Mr. Bush’s “carte blanche” in Iraq, about how this is a “first step.”Well, Senator Reid, the only end at its beginning... is our collective hope that you and your colleagues would do what is right, what is essential, what you were each elected and re-elected to do.Because this “first step”… is a step right off a cliff.

And this President! How shameful it would be to watch an adult... hold his breath, and threaten to continue to do so, until he turned blue.But how horrifying it is… to watch a President hold his breath and threaten to continue to do so, until innocent and patriotic Americans in harm’s way, are bled white.You lead this country, sir? You claim to defend it? And yet when faced with the prospect of someone calling you on your stubbornness—your stubbornness which has cost 3,431 Americans their lives and thousands more their limbs—you, Mr. Bush, imply that if the Democrats don’t give you the money and give it to you entirely on your terms, the troops in Iraq will be stranded, or forced to serve longer, or have to throw bullets at the enemy with their bare hands.How transcendentally, how historically, pathetic. Any other president from any other moment in the panorama of our history would have, at the outset of this tawdry game of political chicken, declared that no matter what the other political side did, he would insure personally—first, last and always—that the troops would not suffer. A President, Mr. Bush, uses the carte
blanche he has already, not to manipulate an overlap of arriving and departing Brigades into a ‘second surge,’ but to say in unequivocal terms that if it takes every last dime of the monies already allocated, if it takes reneging on government contracts with Halliburton, he will make sure the troops are safe—even if the only safety to be found, is in getting them the hell out of there. Well, any true President would have done that, Sir. You instead, used our troops as political pawns, then blamed the Democrats when you did so.

Not that these Democrats, who had this country’s support and sympathy up until 48 hours ago, have not since earned all the blame they can carry home.“We seem to be very near the bleak choice between war and shame,” Winston Churchill wrote to Lord Moyne in the days after the British signed the Munich accords with Germany in 1938. “My feeling is that we shall choose shame, and then have war thrown in, a little later…”That’s what this is for the Democrats, isn’t it? Their “Neville Chamberlain moment” before the Second World War. All that’s missing is the landing at the airport, with the blinkered leader waving a piece of paper which he naively thought would guarantee “peace in our time,” but which his opponent would ignore with deceit.The Democrats have merely streamlined the process. Their piece of paper already says Mr. Bush can ignore it, with impugnity.

And where are the Democratic presidential hopefuls this evening? See they not, that to which the Senate and House leadership has blinded itself? Judging these candidates based on how they voted on the original Iraq authorization, or waiting for apologies for those votes, is ancient history now. The Democratic nomination is likely to be decided... tomorrow. The talk of practical politics, the buying into of the President’s dishonest construction “fund-the-troops-or-they-will-be-in-jeopardy,” the promise of tougher action in September, is falling not on deaf ears, but rather falling on Americans who already told you what to do, and now perceive your ears as closed to practical politics.Those who seek the Democratic nomination need to—for their own political futures and, with a thousand times more solemnity and importance, for the individual futures of our troops—denounce this betrayal, vote against it, and, if need be, unseat Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi if they continue down this path of guilty, fatal acquiescence to the tragically misguided will of a monomaniacal president.

For, ultimately, at this hour, the entire government has failed us. Mr. Reid, Mr. Hoyer, and the other Democrats... have failed us.They negotiated away that which they did not own, but had only been entrusted by us to protect: our collective will as the citizens of this country, that this brazen War of Lies be ended as rapidly and safely as possible.
Mr. Bush and his government... have failed us. They have behaved venomously and without dignity—of course. That is all at which Mr. Bush is gifted. We are the ones providing any element of surprise or shock here. With the exception of Senator Dodd and Senator Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidates have (so far at least)failed us.
They must now speak, and make plain how they view what has been given away to Mr. Bush, and what is yet to be given away tomorrow, and in the thousand tomorrows to come. Because for the next fourteen months, the Democratic nominating process—indeed the whole of our political discourse until further notice—has, with the stroke of a cursed pen, become about one thing, and one thing alone. The electorate figured this out, six months ago. The President and the Republicans
have not—doubtless will not. The Democrats will figure it out, during the Memorial Day recess, when they go home and many of those who elected them will politely suggest they stay there—and permanently. Because, on the subject of Iraq...The people have been ahead of the media....Ahead of the government...Ahead of the politicians...For the last year, or two years, or maybe three. Our politics... is now about the answer to one briefly-worded question.Mr. Bush has failed. Mr. Warner has failed. Mr. Reid has failed. So. Who among us will stop this war—this War of Lies? To he or she, fall the figurative keys to the nation.To all the others—presidents and majority leaders and candidates and rank-and-file Congressmen and Senators of either party—there is only blame… for this shameful, and bi-partisan, betrayal.

Gore Continues To Leave The Door Open, While Obama Struggles To Gain Traction

If you have been paying attention to polls over the last few weeks you will notice that the slight upward trend Obama had through much of March and April has disappeared with Hillary Clinton gaining back the momentum and then some. For me I think the real issue is Obama's lack of clear policy statements. I also think that as long as he stays this close he can afford to wait on releasing his policy statements until mid-summer/early fall and take the good sized bump they should give him.

Meanwhile, Al Gore continues to leave the door open to his entry in the race, from the New York Times:

When I asked Gore why he hasn’t dismissed all the speculation by issuing a Shermanesque refusal to stand, as he did in 2002, Gore said, "Having spent 30 years as part of the political dialogue, I don’t know why a 600-day campaign is taken as a given, and why people who aren’t in it 600 days out for the convenience of whatever brokers want to close the door and narrow the field and say, ‘This is it, now let’s place your bets’ — If they want to do that, fine. I don’t have to play that game."

I think the fall should be interesting, with some potential big names like Newt Gingrich, Al Gore, Fred Thompson, or the independent ticket featuring Bloomberg or Hagel making an entry into things.

Back in the Saddle, Headed to the Heat of Battle

I am a master of rhymes as well. Welcome back as we look to head into the summer months! Many apologies for my lack of posts...I have been involved in a job search. That process is concluded and in mid-June I will be moving to the great state of Iowa. I did this just to be able to more effectively give you insight on this race!

One development to check out today are two new adds from Bill Richardson. The ads may shock you, because they are meant to be humorous, which is a trait you do not see in many campaign ads these days. The ads do a good job of showcasing the deep resume that Bill Richardson has.

Check them out here.

Nothing to Say Except God Bless Va Tech

Fundraising Numbers

Here is a link to the final reports for the first quarter fundraising numbers. It confirms that Obama did outraise Clinton in primary dollars and has a donor list about 40,000 stronger then Clintons. This probably means that Obama will continue to rake in more money headed for the primaries then any of his opponents.

"Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt."

Today we take a turn away from politics to mourn the passing of Kurt Vonnegut, your humble hosts favorite author.

In 1994 I was a junior in high school and starting to really figure out who I was a person. It was the year I started what would be a 7 year smoking habit. I think I had always been one of those really good kids through my upbringing that was smart enough to question things I saw, but not daring enough to challenge things I disagreed with. During my junior year I moved into 3rd year German class, which was held in conjunction with 4th year German because the classes were so small. In this German class were a number of friends I had in high school, as well as some folks that I always considered "different" then me. I was not in the high school band, but the majority of my friends were, and in this German class were a group of band kids that I did not usually hang out with. They rode skateboards, smoked pot, and generally had a free spirit and casualness about school and life in general.

Through the year I got to know this crew better and one of them especially, Ben, who was a senior. We used to spend a lot of time hanging out and talking about music (he introduced me to the Violent Femmes, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Lou Reed, and the John Spencer Blues Explosion), current politics, and just who we were in the world. The deep stuff ya know! Anyway, I still remember the day that I was at Ben's house and after some discussions he told me that there were some books I needed to read. He took me up to his room and put two books in my hands that would fundamentally help change me. The first book was "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. I got this book because we had been talking about the movie version that I had recently seen. The second book he gave me was "Bluebeard" by Kurt Vonnegut. He gave me the warning, "This book will make you want to chain smoke", and he was right. I had never read a book written like "Bluebeard" was, it was cynical, yet optimistic, descriptive and rich. It is hard to explain, but it was a book that helped a part of me to wake up. A part of me that would start to question and seek out answers on my own on a variety of things.

Another thing that I learned from Ben was the amazing value of the library, and after my first taste of Vonnegut I hungrily went back for more and read many of his works: "Slaughterhouse Five", "Cat's Cradle", "Welcome to the Monkey House", "Galapagus", and "Breakfast of Champions". Part of the appeal of many of the books was the pseudo-science fiction they contained. They were also funny and entertaining, and revealed so much of the author in the process. Each one of those books has a place in my heart for the wonderful tales and emotions they stirred up in me.

Seeing that Vonnegut had passed away this morning was like a punch in the gut. You hate to lose those that have clearly made such an impact on you, and in ways that are so hard to describe. Some of the comments I have seen reflect back a piece of Vonnegut's words in "Slaughterhouse Five" by saying that he did not really die, he just became "unstuck in time".

I leave you with some of my favorite Vonnegut quotes, both from text and from life:

Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be.

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.

People have to talk about something just to keep their voice boxes in working order so they'll have good voice boxes in case there's ever anything really meaningful to say.

1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.

Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.