I'm Back (Sort of)

Argh! I have not blogged in so long...two weeks! I apologize for my absence...I have had a ton of papers and other stuff. I won't be able to blog much until after the semester ends in mid-December, but I will try to blog as much as possible before then. And then when I am in New Hampshire, I will try to keep this as up to date as possible, as often as I can access a computer.

Anyways, on Monday night I went to the birthday bash at the Capitol City brewery. It was awesome...I had not seen Dean speak in a long time, and it was great to go to another rally. I got a great spot sitting on a ledge, from which I could see the stage and take pictures. At one point I motioned to Dave Kinsey, the head of Generation Dean AU, to hold up a sign someone in our group had made that said "American University for Dean." I wanted him to hold it up so I could take a picture, but instead he passed it to me. I held it up when everyone was cheering and waving signs, and Dean looked right at me and grinned! It was really exciting...everyone in our group was so excited for me.

In other exciting news, Scott IM'ed me late last night and told me that I appear in the background in a new Iowa commercial. I looked, and sure enough, I could see a shot of myself at the Falls Church rally in August. I look really goofy, just like in the picture that I appeared in from that rally, but it was still really exciting.
- posted by Laura @ 4:16 PM |

Public Financing Vote

So I voted to accept matching funds. I was really torn, but I decided that since I know that rejecting matching funds is going to pass overwhelmingly, that enables me to vote my conscience. Here is what I wrote in the comments section:

I know that rejecting the matching funds is going to win overwhelmingly, and I think it is probably a smart decision. But I feel very strongly about public financing, and I am afraid if Dean opts out other Democrats will follow and it will set a bad precedent for future elections. So while I understand why you want to opt out and I would probably do the same thing if I were in this position, I am going to vote my conscience and vote to stay within the system. But I appreciate your opening this decision up to grassroots supporters like me, and I will respect whatever decision is made and continue to be a diehard Dean supporter whatever the outcome. Just as long as you use the extra money that opting out will enable you to use to GIVE 'EM HELL!
- posted by Laura @ 1:23 PM |

Public Financing: The Big Question

So the Dean campaign has decided to have its supporters vote on the dilemma of whether or not to forgo public financing. I am so torn about how to "vote." On the one hand, I strongly support public financing, and if neither party's candidate uses it in the primaries, then it could kill the system. On the other hand, if Dean can raise enough money on his own, why should he handicap himself by accepting a limit and letting Bush clobber him with a barrage of ads from March to July which he won't be able to respond to? I am really torn between my belief in public financing and the part of me that says do what it takes to win...this election is too important to throw.

Feel free to post comments with your opinions, because I really do not know what the right thing to do is.

- posted by Laura @ 5:36 PM |

New Jersey Legislative Races

Woo-hoo! The Democrats in New Jersey have taken control of the state senate and increased their margin in the statehouse! I am in shock...the way McGreevey is polling, I was fully prepared to get trounced in both houses. Instead, we have picked up 1 state senate seat, breaking the 20-20 tie, and gained 5 additional seats in the Statehouse, bringing our majority to 46-34. According to NJ.com, this is the first time in 20 years that a governor's party in New Jersey has picked up seats in a midterm. Not bad for a governor who is polling in the low 40's on a good day! We even beat the Republican leader in the NJ Senate, John O. Bennett. Not a bad night!
- posted by Laura @ 5:33 PM |

Adorable Dean Teddy Bears

Check these out. Aren't they adorable?
- posted by Laura @ 2:39 AM |

Mock Iowa Caucus

So this morning I got up early (ugh) to go to a mock Iowa caucus put on by a weekend graduate course at the university (which I was supposed to take, until my advisor made me drop it because she said I was taking a spot from a grad student, although there were 7 spots open the day before the class began!). But the caucus part was open to the public, and so Nathaniel and I went. Unfortunately, we had not really publicized it because we were not sure if it was open to the student body and we did not want to tell people to get up before 9 AM only to find out it wasn't. So the Dean people consisted of two guys in the class, plus me, Neal and Nathaniel. The Gephardt and Clark people had organized and had big groups, and all the Republicans in the class were supporting Sharpton. So eventually the Gephardt people convinced us, the 7 Kerry people, and the 4 Edwards people to join them, promising us a delegate and convincing us that the important thing was beating the Republicans. This combined group had 3 delegates, 1 short of what it took to win. Then at the last minute, they convinced the Clark people to come over, and there was a huge cheer on our side. I got to be the delegate for the Dean people, and I said that I was a Dean supporter but was throwing my support to Gephardt because Democrats Unite! Everyone on our side cheered. I wish Generation Dean AU had been able to organize for this, because we could have overwhelmed all the groups there. But it was still a lot of fun...worth getting up at 8:30 AM on a Saturday for.
- posted by Laura @ 5:23 PM |