Hello, everyone! I've just returned to State College, PA after attending the "Take Back America" conference at the Washington Hilton, in Washington, D.C. Senator Feingold spoke on the final morning of the conference, June 14th. That morning, I chose my president! He was magnificent. AT LAST, a Democrat who stands up for what is right, no matter how unpopular!!
Here's what I wrote to my fellow Centre County Progressives about the conference:
I spent a fascinating three days in DC last week, at the "Take Back America" conference, sponsored by the Campaign for America's Future at the Washington Hilton (which is, fortunately, a reasonable metro ride from my sister's house in Silver Spring, MD).
Speakers and panel participants included Hilary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Tom Harkin, Harry Ried, Ambassador Joe Wilson (who jokingly calls himself "Mr. Valerie Plame"), Ed Rendell, Barak Obama, Russ Fiengold, several young Iraq war veterans, countless congresspersons and candidates, many authors, and, of course, executives of just about every progressive org.
One of the headlines was this: yes, I heard it with my own two ears: John Kerry said those three little words we've been longing to hear from him: "I was wrong" for voting for the Iraq War resolution (he immediately got a screaming standing ovation for that). His was basically a strong anti-war speech. It may be too little too late, but he finally gets it, and I'm proud of him for coming around. He now favors the 6 month withdrawal.
Yes, Hillary was booed by many members of the group, cheered by others (I opted for polite, reserved applause). Actually, I liked her better this year than last (her speech, anyway). She has been working on her style. Her voice is softer, more sincere (I notice these things, cause I'm a voice coach). She was wearing a pink suit. She's definitely trying to soften and humanize her image. But it is all for naught if she continues with her stay-the-course view on Iraq (only she calls it "unwise to make a timetable now" - same thing!). Otherwise, she talked about a lot of great progressive stuff in her speech, but she's definitely dodging the war thing, and that just will not work, as the war is the No. 1 issue for voters according to all the research I heard about, and any candidate without a clear position will be shot down by the Rove attack machine like Kerry was.
The media coverage I saw on our conference focused mainly on the speeches of Clinton & Kerry, and of course the headline everywhere was "Democrats divided on the war". Well, that may be what the media says, but I was there for the whole thing and that was NOT the headline!!
For me, the headline was "All but a few Dems are beginning to finally get it!" What the press doesn't know is that Hillary seems to actually be in the minority. In almost every session and every speech, I heard some variant of the idea of unapologetically and clearly standing up for what we believe, including the issue of the war. The idea of reframing the war issue is definitely getting around. There is talk of "re-deployment" rather than "withdrawl" -- same thing, different word: redeploy the troops out of harms way, so we can actually fight the war on terrorism (which, we all know, is NOT in Iraq).
Russ Feingold had a funny metaphor, which he used in a recent speech to the National Press Club: he calls Bush's idea of how to fight terrorists the "roach motel" theory: that they're all going to end up in Iraq and we'll get them all. Well, as Feingold likes to point out, terrorists are in many, many countries. And the Bush admin put out a list of countries where terrorists are at work in 2001, and the list included the USA and Ireland, but NOT Iraq!! (Now why didn't we hear about that list from Kerry, eh?)
Feingold really gets it, and always has. He's the one who has been fearlessly standing on principle all along, when it seemed least politically advantageous to do so. And he gets he re-framing business (if you haven't heard about "framing", check out the Rockridge Institute's website, and books by George Lakoff). Senator Feingold says we should ALWAYS talk about Iraq in the larger context of keeping the country safe from terrorists, which, of course, the war in Iraq is NOT doing!! He likes to point out how bizarre and nonsensical it was to go into Iraq, of all places, how vulnerable it has left us, how it has weakened the struggle against terrorism, and how we can't prevail over terror with guns. We can't kill them all. We must strike at the root of terrorism, he says, by cultivating strong allies in the world and attending to human rights, and paying attention to places like Indonesia, where there is a potential for terrorism to thrive, and working with those governments to provide good lives for their people, observe human rights, etc, so terrorism will not flourish (Russ says this much better than I - check the speeches on his Senate website).
And of course, the really BIG applause lines from Russ (who was, judging from applause, the rock star of the conference) included saying "Now, I'm not calling for impeachment" (in a tone of voice that seemed to ME to say "not yet") , but saying that Bush's actions (re. wiretapping) DO fit into "the strike zone of high crimes and misdeameanors". (another screaming standing ovation on that one).
I just LOVED Finegold. He said everything I wanted to hear, with conviction but with style (he is calmly outspoken and confident, never shrill - he just comes off as very confident and smart). He voted against the Iraq war resolution, he was the sole vote in the Senate against the Patriot Act, he has come out (not at the conference, but elswhere) IN FAVOR of gay marraige (YES! It's a matter of simple gender discrimination, if you ask me!!), and he introduced the first motion to censure the president (re. illegal wiretapping) in something like 187 years (I forget the exact number).
I mean, what more could you want? Good looks, wit and charisma? He's got it all! He's like Howard Dean only even more progressive in some ways and without the occasional foot-in-mouth syndrome (Dr. Dean is my hero, regardless!). Senator Fiengold is honest, completely fearless and unwavering, brilliant (Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Harvard Law School), and TRULY progressive. He's also a fiscal tight-wad in his office, returning more of his budget to the treasury than any other senator. And he ran on a platform of NOT accepting pay raises, and has returned an ungodly amount of his salary to the treasury as well. And that's not because he's fabulously rich, either. His net worth? According to one online source, somewhere around $200,000, making him undoubtedly one of the least wealthy guys in the senate.
Yep, I'm for Russ Feingold in 2008!!
Another great candidate is Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman's primary opponent. I got a chance to meet him at his reception and hear him speak. He is very eloquent and anti-war. Yes, he's a wealthy businessman, but one who wants to tax himself more (and one who has been volunteering for years as a teacher in inner city schools). He very sharp, and is going to eat Lieberman's lunch in a debate. He just needs more name recognition. The media in Connecticut are giving Lieberman a very hard time, so there is a real opportunity here. I'm planning to go and work for Ned in late July.
Barack Obama talks a good talk, but his voting record is mixed. He seems to be a pragmatist/centrist. Still potentially an asset to a ticket, though, as he certainly IS a fine speaker, no question. We'll see how he develops, as he's just a freshman senator, now.
"The Common Good". Look for that phrase to be popping up everywhere. It's at the core of what seems to be emerging as a Democratic consensus. More complicated than I can explain here, but Kerry and so many others used the term at the Take Back America Conference.
I had a chance to exchange a few words with Ed Rendell, who said, in his session at the conference, "...if we're going to lose -- and I'm not saying we're going to lose, but we HAVE been losing lately -- if we're going to lose, let's lose talking about what we believe in!" Amen, Ed!!
In EVERY speech, virtually everyone at Take Back America stressed the urgency for the Dems to win in November. If we don't take back some power NOW, the Democratic Party may be jerry-mandered and voting-machined out of existence. So in Pennsylvania, we're really going to need Bob Casey's Democratic vote in the senate to get voting reform, ethics reform, and so many other things passed. Everybody get out there and make sure we beat the incumbent (I don't even want his name on my blog).
So..... I went to the conference frustrated , and I returned fired-up and ready to drag every Democrat to the polls in November. The country really NEEDS the Dems to win!
Let's get 'em!!!
Kris
PS. You can view speeches from "Take Back America" at the Centre for American Progress website.
PPS. Senator Feingold, will you PLEASE be my president?
