Monthly Archives: October 2004

Help Shape America’s Future by Nominating Progressive Cabinet Secretaries

Posted on October 28, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Help Shape America's Future by Nominating Progressive Cabinet Secretaries Progressive Democrats of America and the Backbone Cabinet Coalition  Dear Friends, Progressive Leaders, and Progressive Organizations: The Backbone Campaign and a coalition of grassroots organizations from around the nation has come … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, Main Page, Progressive Community | 2 Comments

Nader Speaks to Small Crowd at ISU Wednesday

Posted on October 28, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Nader Speaks to Small Crowd at ISU Wednesday by Dawn Mueller Ralph Nader filled a room of about 290 people Wednesday at ISU, just hours before John Kerry's appearance in Cedar Rapids. Nearly all were very young students.  The event … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa in the News, Main Page | 1 Comment

Election Night at Blog for Iowa

Posted on October 28, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Election Night at Blog for Iowa by Linda Thieman I know a lot of our dear activist readers will be getting home late on November 2, Election Day.  Some of you will be in the trenches, turning in the final … Continue reading →

Posted in Introducing DFIA, Iowa in the News, Main Page | 4 Comments

Battleground: Iowa

Posted on October 27, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Battleground: Iowa By David Moberg, Salon.com [Iowa's Gov. Tom] Vilsack is optimistic about Kerry's chances in his state. “It's all in the numbers in the early voting and registration war,” he said. Iowa is divided into roughly three equal parts … Continue reading →

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Here Comes The GOP Stampede

Posted on October 27, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Here Comes The GOP Stampede by Joshua Holland, AlterNet.org The conservatives don't play politics with real grassroots activism. Their top-down style and “buy the movement” approach is better suited for Astroturf – and this week, they're on the march. This … Continue reading →

Posted in GOP, Main Page, Media Bias, National News | Comments Off on Here Comes The GOP Stampede

Election Day Problems: What To Watch For

Posted on October 27, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Election Day Problems: What To Watch For Voters Unite! Below, find ways you can help no matter where you live. SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT …   1) Electronic voting machines changing votes!! VOTERS — CHECK THE REVIEW SCREEN!! This means … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, How You Can Help, Main Page, Verified Voting | Comments Off on Election Day Problems: What To Watch For

New York City Musician Endorses Art Small With New Song

Posted on October 26, 2004 by bfialindathieman

New York City Musician Endorses Art Small With New Song by Michael Ander U.S. Senate candidate Art Small has been gaining some very prominent endorsements lately.  None too shabby is the one he has received from Nobel Prize-winning economist George … Continue reading →

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Connie Wilson: Bush Forces Look Worried in Davenport Appearance (10/25)

Posted on October 26, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Bush Forces Look Worried in Davenport Appearance (10/25)

By Connie Wilson

Connie Wilson files yet another classy report from the Bush rally in Davenport yesterday

Considering that one of the Republican bumper stickers bears the message “Flush the Johns,” I learned something surprising at the Bush rally at the Davenport, Iowa, River Center on Monday, October 25th. Republican women don’t flush. At least, not as much as they should. Three stalls on the left side of the rest room. Only one was flushed. [Please join me in a chorus of “Eeeuuuuwwww!”]

The crowd inside the River Center, which holds 4,000, was smaller than I had anticipated. At approximately 2/3 full, this would be 2,640 people. I later heard that only 3,000 tickets were distributed. The crowd was much smaller than that at the Edwards rally in Iowa City on Thursday, the 21st, and much smaller than that at the Waterloo airport for Kerry on Tuesday, October 19th.

I see numerous people I know on my way to the rally: my trust executive from the world’s fifth-largest bank; Andrea Zinga and husband (who, since she is a Republican candidate from Illinois, running against Lane Evans, was surprisingly absent from the stage full of people-props behind Bush); Mary Jane and Rocky Nelson of Hampton, who worked for and with me for years at the Sylvan Learning Center (and, before that, at United Township High School); Jane Robinson of Silvis, former Silvis School Board Member.

In other words, “the usual suspects,” wonderful people all. But growing smaller and smaller in numbers, it seems. And, (with the exception of the above-mentioned account executive and the always-youthful Andrea), older and older. Not a one of them under seventy.

Bush rallies are full of people who are primarily….well…. old. (Takes one to know one.) Bush rallies usually seem to have many present who are better-dressed than their Democratic counterparts. Bush rallyers are more predictable, in that certain “buzz words” are used to denigrate the opposition and set off a Pavlovian response from the assembled mini-masses…”flip-flop”, for example, during this campaign year.

Republican rallies have Country & Western music or really old recorded music…and not much of that. At one point, I thought I heard a Rolling Stones song, but then, listening again, I thought: “Naaaaah.” Republican rallies invoke God, over and over and over again. This makes me increasingly uneasy. (Whatever happened to “separation of church and state?”)
Continue reading →

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Bush Makes Explosive Mistake in Iraq

Posted on October 26, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Bush Makes Explosive Mistake in Iraq American Progress The New York Times reported yesterday that “nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives” are missing from one of Iraq's “most sensitive former military installations.” The enormous cache of explosives is unaccounted … Continue reading →

Posted in GOP, Main Page, National News | Comments Off on Bush Makes Explosive Mistake in Iraq

Ames Tribune Endorses Paul Johnson

Posted on October 25, 2004 by bfialindathieman

Ames Tribune Endorses Paul Johnson Ames Tribune Paul Johnson is the Democratic candidate running for Congress in District 4, Central and Northeast Iowa The Tribune's editorial board is impressed by [Paul] Johnson's character and vision. A former director of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Candidates, Main Page | 1 Comment