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"I want a president who
understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage
others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest
ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the
American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American
ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country
needs every one of us to get involved." --Caroline Kennedy
March 3,
2008
COMING EVENTS
Wednesday, March -- 5th 6-8
pm-ish
Mac's Triangle -- free appetizers
Wheatland
March
10th -- 6-8
pm-ish
Millennium Ballroom-O'Brian's Pizza
Tuesday March 11 -- 6:00-8:00 ish P.M.
Democratic Social Event -- free hors d’oeuvres
SAINT PATRICK CELEBRATION
Remington’s in the Frontier Motor Inn on West Lincolnway
in
Saturday, March 15
Registration begins at 8:30 A.M.
For information about
delivering food for the convention call Charlie Smith at 243-3031 or email him
at charliesbluff@iowatelecom.net
or Pat Outzen at apoutzen@cis.net
Friday, March 28 -- 4:00 -- 7:00 P.M.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE TOM SCHUELLER’S
ANNUAL SOUP SUPPER
The Maquoketa Eagles Club --
You've heard about our great soups and desserts! Come and enjoy them for yourselves!
$10.00 Suggested Donation
Tom represents the northern part of
and three precincts in
For more information go to our
website: http://www.clintoncountydemocrats.org
FACTS ABOUT THE
v
The booklets for the convention have been mailed to all of the
delegates. Since we ran only 200 copies
and we expect 200 delegates at the convention, delegates are asked to bring the
booklet with them to the convention or pass it along to their alternate or give
it to Jean Pardee, Dick Kissack or Hugh McAleer.
v
At the convention the credentials committee will seat delegates and
determine alternates to be designated as delegates.
v
Registration
at the Convention will begin at 8:30 A.M. and extend to 10:00 A.M.
v
The convention will be called to order at 9:00 A.M.
v
Alternates
should check in before 9:00 A.M. and will be seated according to the
v
The suggested delegate donation of $10.00 covers the cost of mailing
and convention materials.
v
At registration lunch tickets will be sold for $5.00. Coffee and rolls will be served throughout
the morning.
v
We have the opportunity to make a contribution to the health and
strength of the Democratic Party and improve the conditions in the County,
State and Nation. We hope you will
attend the convention.
v
We need items of Democrat memorabilia for our usual convention
auction.
v
We welcome everybody at Democratic events.
Friday,
April 18 -- 5:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Van Lancker for
Auditor Fundraiser
Buzzy’s in Welton --
Ticket Price $15
Help
the Clinton County Democratic Party retain the auditor seat that we have held
for over a generation. Retiring Auditor
Charlie Sheridan has endorsed Eric Van Lancker as his
replacement and would like to invite you to this fundraising dinner to support Eric’s campaign. Get
your tickets at any upcoming Democratic Party event or by calling Eric at
563-242-2057.
www.votevanlancker.com
BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE
Saturday,
April 5 -- 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
PLAZA BOWL
OF
Please
help us in supporting our local Big Brothers Big Sisters of Clinton. This
is the agencie’s biggest fund raiser. There are various sponsor opportunities
available and a need for teams to bowl. If you haven't participated or
ever cosmic bowled before, here is your chance!
The
event takes place at Plaza Bowl of Clinton on Saturday, April 5th. Two
bowling times are available: 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. Five people
per team and you must raise at least $300 PER TEAM, so roughly $60 per
person. However, you get t-shirts, bowling, entry into the silent
auction, giveaways, etc. If you feel that you might be able to help out,
please Contact Chad Haskell at 563-249-2057.
DOES THE
MAJORITY RULE?
“It’s interesting to note that in the world’s
largest democracy, majority doesn’t always rule. At
least five presidential elections in our nation’s history
have been won by the second most popular candidate. The reason: ‘spoilers’—third-party candidates who took enough votes away
from the leader to tip the election. The win of G.W. Bush over Gore (with Ralph
Nader as the spoiler) is a prime example, but it’s not the only one. Abraham Lincoln was also the
beneficiary of this phenomenon.” (from ‘Gaming The Vote’ by William Poundstone)
A VOTE FOR
RAPH NADER IS A VOTE AGAINST THE DEMOCRATS!
“THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY SUPPORTS A POLITICS OF UNITY AND CHANGE, ACKNOWLEDGES DIFFERENCES OF IDENTITY AND INTEREST, BUTAT THE SAME TIME INSISTS UPON THE NEED FOR
COMPROMISE AND COOPERATION TO ACHIEVE THE COMMON GOOD”
“The caucuses and primary elections have demonstrated in astonishing terms that
the cynics,
the media, and the pollsters do not dominate our politics; the voters do.”
(Mortimer B.
Zuckerman, Editor-in-Chief, U.S. News & World Report)
March 6,
2008
COMING EVENTS
Friday March 7, 2008 11:00am
Re-Election Announcement
Lunch
Riverside Restaurant --
Braley to Announce Plans to Seek Re-Election to Congress
Supporters to Join Braley for
Formal Announcement
March
10th -- 6-8
pm-ish
Millennium Ballroom-O'Brian's Pizza
Tuesday March 11 -- 6:00-8:00 ish P.M.
Democratic Social Event -- free hors d’oeuvres
SAINT PATRICK CELEBRATION
Remington’s in the Frontier Motor Inn on West Lincolnway
in
Saturday, March 15
Registration begins at 8:30 A.M.
For information about delivering food for the convention call Charlie Smith at 243-3031
or email him at charliesbluff@iowatelecom.net or Pat Outzen at apoutzen@cis.net
Friday, March 28 -- 4:00 -- 7:00 P.M.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE TOM SCHUELLER’S
ANNUAL SOUP AND
The Maquoketa Eagles Club --
You've heard about our great soups, sandwiches and desserts!
Come and enjoy them for yourselves! $10.00 Suggested Donation
BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE: Saturday,
April 5 -- 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
PLAZA BOWL
OF
Van Lancker
for Auditor Fundraiser
Buzzy’s in Welton --
Ticket Price $15
FACTS ABOUT THE
v
The convention will elect forty-six delegates to the District and
State conventions.
v
Delegates
to the County convention may choose to remain aligned with the preference group
that elected them at the caucuses or they may choose to realign with a
different group. Only those preference
groups that comprise fifteen percent or more of the registered delegates will
be able to elect delegates to the District and State Conventions. Detailed information about the alignment
process is printed in the convention booklet that was mailed to all delegates
last week.
v
Most
Democratic State Legislators representing
v
AUCTION OF DEMOCRATIC MEMORABILITY: This is a major fund raiser for the Clinton
County Democratic Party. If you have
items you would like to donate, bring them to the convention. We will have a form to fill out with your
name, address, the estimated value of the item and a short description of the
item. If you would like to fill out the
form ahead of time, send your request for a blank form to Dick Kissack at rkissack@mchsi.com Dick will email you the form.
v
We will be debating, amending and approving the platform of the
Clinton County Democratic Party. The
platform will then be sent on to the District platform committee.
EVERYONE
IS WELCOME AT ALL DEMOCRATIC EVENTS!
HELP SAVE HEADSTART
Support Increased Investments in Child Care
& Head Start
“As
federal funding has declined in recent years, hundreds
of thousands of children have lost access to child care assistance. Head Start and Early Head Start remain unable
to serve most eligible children. These vital early childhood programs have
also been forced to cut corners to stay open, short-changing the children and
families they serve and the staff that work with them.
“Urge Congress to reverse years of cuts to funding for vital
programs for women and children.
These programs ensure a safe environment for children while their parents work.
They provide early education to young children which greatly
improves their chances for future educational success. Under President Bush’s proposed budget, 200,000 low-income children and
their families would lose child care assistance and 14,000 children would lose
Head Start.
“Urge Congress to reject the President’s
budget proposal and to increase funding to $874 million for child care and a
$1.072 billion for Head Start. These figures restore funding to 2002
levels plus inflation. The administration'
Contact
Lobby Associate Jackie Clark at jclark@networklobby
One of the most
effective ways to communicate with members of Congress or the State Legislature
is by email. To find email addresses,
mail addresses and phone numbers you will find a link to Congress and the
Legislature on our Clinton County Democrats’ website:
http://www.clintoncountydemocrats.org
Republicans tirade about
how important family values are to the well being of
the nation, yet they oppose almost every program that will help ordinary families.
“Our values of love for our
fellow humans, family unity, a strong work ethic, respect for the law and
effective public policy should be the framework for efforts to resolve the immigration
issue.” (Rev. Martin J. Amos, Bishop of the Diocese of
March 12,
2008
Saturday,
March 15 -- Registration begins at 8:30 A.M.
Ø Select delegates by preference
groups to the District and State Conventions.
Ø
Ø Auction of Democratic memorabilia.
Ø Debate, amend and adopt the Clinton
County Democratic platform.
FOOD DONATIONS
Charlie Smith would like to have all
of the hamburger by Wednesday, March 12.
He will be at Democratic Headquarters from 10:00 – 11:00 A.M. Wednesday. For additional information about delivering food for the
convention call Charlie at 243-3031 or email him at charliesbluff@iowatelecom.net
or Pat Outzen at apoutzen@cis.net
COMING
EVENTS
Tuesday, March 18 --
7:30 P.M.
The Clinton County
Democratic Party Central Committee will meet at the
Items on the agenda will
include: Election of additional central
committee people,
the Hall of Fame Dinner and
a review of the
Friday, March 28 -- 4:00 -- 7:00 P.M.
STATE
REPRESENTATIVE TOM SCHUELLER’S
ANNUAL
SOUP AND
The Maquoketa Eagles
Club --
You've heard about our
great soups, sandwiches and desserts!
Come and enjoy them for
yourselves!
$10.00
Suggested Donation
BOWL
FOR KIDS’ SAKE: Saturday, April 5 --
2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
PLAZA BOWL OF
Van Lancker
for Auditor Fundraiser
-- Buzzy’s in Welton --
Ticket Price $15
Go to our website: www.clintoncountydemocrats.org/events
DIGNITY,
COMMON SENSE, SANITY AND INTELLIGENCE RETURN TO
FOURTEENTH
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
First-time
candidate Bill Foster, a physicist, beat Republican Jim Oberweis,
a money manager and head of a giant dairy in a special election last Saturday
to fill the seat vacated by former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. The national Republican Party spent millions
on behalf of Oberweis and Senator John McCain
actively campaigned with him. The
traditionally Republican district voted overwhelmingly for President Bush.
In
a statement released by his campaign Saturday night, Obama
said the people of
LEADERSHIP,
NOT SHALLOW RHETORIC, CAN RESTORE
COMPASSION TO THE IMMIGRATION DEBATE
“Iowans
should be concerned with the negative rhetoric surrounding the issue of
immigration. This rhetoric clouds and distorts real facts and issues.
“Research indicates that immigrant workers are very important to our State’s economic well-being. This is very relevant at a
time when the State is forecasting future worker shortages. Immigrants work in farming,
meatpacking, construction, home care, and service—-all industries that help
grow
“Undocumented immigrants also pay significantly into the Social Security and
Medicare systems, though they receive no benefits. IPP found that undocumented
persons in
“But there is a larger issue than economics involved. This polarizing rhetoric
leaves the impression that Iowans might be more influenced by messages that
portray immigrants as a threat than by messages that outline sound public
policy solutions. The current barrage of negative messages implies that the
majority of Iowans are anti-immigrant and that we do not embrace our nation’s rich immigrant heritage. We deserve better!
“A recent University of Iowa poll showed that a majority
of Iowans favor a comprehensive approach to fixing our broken immigration
system. We want to have border protection policies that are consistent with
humanitarian values and that foster a respect for the law. Enforcement-only and
mass deportation proposals offered by some of the candidates are not good
solutions from an economic or human perspective. Iowans understand that
comprehensive reform would help restore order and the rule of law to our
outmoded immigration system. By providing legal status to undocumented
immigrants and a path to citizenship, law enforcement would know better who is
in the country. By providing visas to permit immigrant workers to enter the
country legally, border enforcement personnel could focus on those who truly
seek to harm us: drug smugglers, human traffickers and terrorists. Iowans, and
most Americans, want an effective and humane solution to the problem of illegal
immigration.
“As a state with one of the fastest growing immigrant populations,
“We should reject the attacks against immigrants and demand constructive
dialogue on an important national issue.
Such attacks dehumanize our fellow human beings and are not worthy of
the compassionate people of our great state.”
(Rev. Martin J. Amos, Bishop of the Diocese of
“March 19th
marks the fifth anniversary of our invasion of
terrible
mistake. How could we have made such a
horrible error?”
(Arthur C. Donart)
Read the rest of Dr. Donart’s excellent article in the Clinton Herald, Friday,
March 14, 2008.
March 17,
2008
WE HOPE YOU
HAVE A LUCKY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY
COMING EVENTS
Tuesday, March 18 -- 7:30 P.M.
The Clinton County Democratic Central Committee will meet at the
Items on the agenda will include:
Election of additional central committee people,
the Hall of Fame Dinner and a review of the
Friday, March 28 -- 4:00 -- 7:00 P.M.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE TOM SCHUELLER’S
ANNUAL SOUP AND
The Maquoketa Eagles Club --
You've heard about our great soups, sandwiches and desserts!
Come and enjoy them for yourselves! $10.00 Suggested Donation
BOWL FOR KIDS’ SAKE: Saturday,
April 5 -- 2:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M.
PLAZA BOWL OF
Van Lancker for Auditor Fundraiser -- Buzzy’s in Welton -- Ticket Price $15
District
Committee Meetings:
March 22 District
Platform meeting at 10:30 A.M. at