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Table of Contents
Opportunities to Volunteer
October
Co-Chairs' Report
Did the debate last week get you going…are you reinvigorated to help elect some Democrats? Kerry and Edwards need your money and your time in the swing states (for all the Kerry happenings in October, and there are many of them, including a great event with Hillary Clinton, log onto www.lgbt4kerry.com). And our local endorsed candidates, such as Robert Haaland, need your fingertips for dialing and your legs for walking to get out their message. So, pick your favorite candidate below and get out there. And in addition to your individual candidate support, Alice will be in its traditional place at Castro and 18th the last two weekends in October to distribute Alice literature and educate voters about all of our candidates and endorsed propositions. To help with tabling, please contact Tom Runge at 415-861-7914.
SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS District 1: Lillian Sing Lillian Sing for Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier for Supervisor District 3: Aaron Peskin Aaron Peskin for Supervisor Robert Haaland for Supervisor Sean Elsbernd for Supervisor
Rebecca Silverberg for Supervisor
Heather Hiles Heather Hiles for School Board
David Weiner for School Board
Norman Yee for School Board
Jill Wynns for School Board
Natalie Berg Natalie Berg for Community College Board
Milton Marks for College Board
Rodel Rodis for College Board
Alice Annual Fall Fundraiser
Laura Spanjian & Rich Kowalewski Reese's
World: Perspectives from the Editor
And yet, lately, I’ve sensed a quiet dread in the community. I’ve had it too. Kerry’s campaign has seemed to be lagging; the enthusiasm and hope we had in the summer has dissipated; Bush keeps getting great press no matter what happens; we keep worrying over lackluster polls; and we’ve seemingly lost our faith. We’re still saying the right words and doing the right work and telling everyone all is fine, but underneath we’re a little depressed. It’s time to admit our depression, no matter our fear. We can’t regroup unless we admit where we are.
Why are we sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves? We’ve let the national media, the pundits, the polls, the supposed national mood (all of which are fungible and fluid and easily directed throughout any campaign) get to us too much. Is it obvious for me to say that this is what Karl Rove and Bush and the Republicans want us to do and feel? We know that they know that we know that we lose if we simply give up, but that we win if we fight strongly and proudly. And yet, we’ve been letting them lull us into quiet sad sleepy submission because of our worry and fear.
So let’s start getting back on track. Was the election yesterday? No! Is it already over? No! Have we already finished fighting for our lives and our nation and our ideals? Hell No!
We know this, but we worry. Just like any human does. The best antidote to depression is to end our cycle of worry and get motivated again by doing and striving and loving and hoping. Our energy and excitement is contagious. The country is ripe for change. The polls we tend to worry about have said this desire for change consistently, regardless of the fluctuations of the campaign. The country is ready for change. The country is moving in our direction. And we know this! We are registering record numbers of new voters locally and nationally—people who were never interested in an election before. What an amazing achievement, and one that is hardly taken into account by the media or the polls. If you subscribe to the New York Times, check out articles A Big Increase Of New Voters In Swing States and Deadlines Hit, Rolls of Voters Show Big Surge
Read the latest Democracy Corps (pdf) Strategy Memo from James Carville and Stan Greenberg, and you will see that we simply have to stay strong, keep working, and get out the vote, and WE WIN!
This edition of the Alice newsletter is all about rekindling our fire, our enthusiasm, our hope, and our excitement about winning in November. We are going to win in November! We are changing the hearts and minds of the country! We are making a difference, every day! We are a part of history!
We are going to defeat Bush and send him back to Crawford for good. We are going to have an amazing time in the next four years of the Kerry Administration where our equality is standard and strengthened. We are so close to the top of the shining mountain and we are about to reach the once-thought-to-be-unattainable summit. We can and will do this! We are doing this!
Now let’s get back out there with all the enthusiasm and faith
and hope that we’ve had before in our best moments and that
we know is inside us, and use it to win this. Because we CAN. And
because we are going TO WIN! PostScript: This column, and most of the newsletter, went to print before Thursday's rockin' debate where Senator Kerry, our next president, kicked Bush's butt. We've always heard, and been witness to, the idea that Kerry is a big closer, and here's one more political race he's about to win. As Eleanor Clift writes for Newsweek after the debate: "Republicans thought they had the race wrapped up. All their candidate had to do was repeat his road-tested slogans. But 90 minutes of Bush is a long time.... Kerry spoke crisply and clearly, and he looked presidential... It’s a tactic of Karl Rove’s to create an aura of inevitability about Bush... Now the momentum shifts. The Kerry crowds will get larger and more enthusiastic..." And it's all true. We are on the march to victory! Keep on keepin' on. There's work to be done. Reese Aaron Isbell, M.P.P. On
the Mark in Sacramento Dear Alice Friends, It's election season 2004 and there's much to consider. Clearly,
this is the most important election of our lifetime. We must do
all we can to defeat George W. Bush, to elect John Kerry the next
president of the United States, and to reelect Senator Boxer. First, let me discuss how important it is to defeat Proposition 62 (www.noon62.com)and support Proposition 60 (www.yeson60.com). A broad coalition, including all seven state political parties, has formed to show how dangerous Proposition 62 is to voter choice. Proposition 60 was overwhelmingly placed on the ballot in a bipartisan manner by the State Assembly in the hopes of locking in place our current system of primary elections that allow all parties' candidates to have a voice in the general election. Proposition 62 would deny the parties and independent candidates that chance by designating the top two winners in the primary election, regardless of party, as the only choices before the voters in the general. This harms voter choice, lessens opportunities for lesser-known candidates and smaller parties to have a say in the election, and would create more intra-party fighting during general elections during the time when our Democratic party needs to be working together. I strongly urge you to vote Yes on Prop 60 and No on 62. Also, I want to encourage your vote in support of Proposition 63 (www.yeson63.org), the Mental Health Services Act. This measure would expand county mental health programs through a state surcharge on California millionaires to benefit the neediest of Californians. By providing stronger mental health programs in San Francisco, we have the opportunity to target effective and direct outreach assistance within our City's homeless community. Because this state initiative assists county programs, it would directly help San Francisco's work in providing care for those needing mental health care and our homeless individuals. Please join me and Mayor Newsom in voting Yes on 63. Lastly, California needs to pass Proposition 66 (www.voteyeson66.org)that will amend our Three Strikes law. The initiative requires that a third strike, which mandates a 25-year to life sentence, must be a serious or violent felony. Currently, California is the only state that allows any felony to trigger a third strike conviction. As such we are incarcerating for life those guilty of writing a bad check, stealing a video or a pack of t-shirts. In the past ten years, California has had four times the third strike convictions as the 22 other three strikes states combined through they have three times our population. This lunacy has cost us six billion dollars and will continue to waste $700 million annually, precious funds which could better fund child care, senior services, health care and education. Unfortunately, our governor and attorney general have opposed this sensible amendment. Proposition 66 will make sure that the time fits the crime. In conclusion, please VOTE YES on 60, 63, and 66 and VOTE NO on 62. Additionally, the following state propositions-59, 61, 67, 71, and 72-have my support, while I do not support 64, 65, 68, 69, and 70. As always, should you have questions or thoughts, please feel free to contact me at any time through my District Office at 415-557-3013 or keep updated on the web via: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a13. I have also recently published my first email newsletter-"The Leno Report" (click here for PDF)-where you can find detailed information about my work locally, statewide, and nationally. If you are not already receiving the emailed report, please sign up by emailing me at: Assemblymember.Leno@assembly.ca.gov Yours,
Our Proud
Message of Optimism and Victory As we enter this vital phase of the presidential election, the
time has come to be energetic in broadcasting the We support John Kerry because we have seen the rightness and the wisdom of his message. I do not know a single person who has seen Senator Kerry speak in a live setting who has not been powerfully impressed with his integrity and his vision. The greatest challenge that we face in this election is not any question of substance or ability. John Kerry wins in those categories every time, hands down. The greatest challenge that we face is in helping the American electorate to start envisioning John Kerry as their next President in the face of a massive effort by the Bush campaign to make that as difficult as possible. The Bush campaign has followed a coordinated plan to make Americans feel defensive, or self-conscious, or even embarrassed about proclaiming their enthusiastic support for John Kerry. The sneering, sarcastic tone of the Bush message is not just the product of a juvenile attitude. They are much smarter than that. The Bush message is sneering and sarcastic because all of us are susceptible to being made fun of. And the Bush campaign is making fun of Americans who agree with John Kerry on the issues, who admire John Kerry's lifelong record of public service, and who want to see John Kerry elected President. But the Bush campaign's strategy is flawed, because that kind of sneering and sarcasm depends upon intimidation. As soon as people stand up to it -- as soon as they refuse to be made fun of for who they are and what they believe -- the sneering collapses and slinks away. This is the method of the schoolyard bully, and that's precisely what we are facing. And our strength, our way of refusing to allow the Bush campaign to intimidate the American people, is to proudly express our belief that John Kerry will be the next President of the United States. Over and over, I have spoken with friends who are solid supporters of John Kerry but who have allowed themselves to become intimidated by the tone of sarcasm that the Bush campaign has been drenching us with. Over and over, it has had a galvanizing impact when I respond with my own, powerful confidence that John Kerry will be victorious in November. The effect is transformative. America is ready to welcome the Kerry administration into office and send the Bush administration packing. The only thing that could stop that from happening is for Americans to doubt their own instincts about what is right. That is why the Bush administration has set such an insulting tone for this campaign -- to make people doubt their own instincts. And that is why we have to urge people to trust their instincts and to believe that the American electorate will do the right thing in November. It is time to get people excited about this election! It is time to begin trumpeting our message of optimism and victory as loudly as possible! Because, come November 2nd, Senator John Kerry is going to be elected the 44th President of the United States, and American voters still have the chance to become a part of that winning team. Now get out there and start reminding people of that! Tobias Barrington Wolff is a Professor of
Law at the University of California at Davis Swing an LGBT Voter from Pride at the Polls, The Democratic Party LGBT Vote: We need your help to reach each and every last "swing voter" in the country. Help us win by sending e-mails and writing letters to your friends in the "swing states" about why it is so important that they vote for John Kerry and John Edwards on November 2. We have designed two letters that are written from the perspective of a LGBT voter you can use to persuade your friends in the swing state about how important it is to vote for Kerry and Edwards on November 2. You can download these letters or you can e-mail them to your friends. CUT/PASTE/EMAIL:
Put Away
Your Hankies 9/20/04 Dear Friends, Enough of the handwringing! Enough of the doomsaying! Do I have to come there and personally calm you down? Stop with all the defeatism, OK? Bush IS a goner -- IF we all just quit our whining and bellyaching and stop shaking like a bunch of nervous ninnies. Geez, this is embarrassing! The Republicans are laughing at us. Do you ever see them cry, "Oh, it's all over! We are finished! Bush can't win! Waaaaaa!" Hell no. It's never over for them until the last ballot is shredded. They are never finished -- they just keeping moving forward like sharks that never sleep, always pushing, pulling, kicking, blocking, lying. They are relentless and that is why we secretly admire them -- they just simply never, ever give up. Only 30% of the country calls itself "Republican," yet the Republicans own it all -- the White House, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court and the majority of the governorships. How do you think they've been able to pull that off considering they are a minority? It's because they eat you and me and every other liberal for breakfast and then spend the rest of the day wreaking havoc on the planet. Look at us -- what a bunch of crybabies. Bush gets a bounce after his convention and you would have thought the Germans had run through Poland again. The Bushies are coming, the Bushies are coming! Yes, they caught Kerry asleep on the Swift Boat thing. Yes, they found the frequency in Dan Rather and ran with it. Suddenly it's like, "THE END IS NEAR! THE SKY IS FALLING!" .... So, do not despair. All is not over. Far from it. The Bush people need you to believe that it is over. They need you to slump back into your easy chair and feel that sick pain in your gut as you contemplate another four years of George W. Bush. ... WAKE UP! The majority are with us! More than half of all Americans are pro-choice, want stronger environmental laws, are appalled that assault weapons are back on the street -- and 54% now believe the war is wrong. YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO CONVINCE THEM OF ANY OF THIS -- YOU JUST HAVE TO GIVE THEM A RAY OF HOPE AND A RIDE TO THE POLLS. CAN YOU DO THAT? WILL YOU DO THAT? Just for me, please? Buck up. The country is almost back in our hands. Not another negative word until Nov. 3rd! Then you can bitch all you want about how you wish Kerry was still that long-haired kid who once had the courage to stand up for something. Personally, I think that kid is still inside him. Instead of the wailing and gnashing of your teeth, why not hold out a hand to him and help the inner soldier/protester come out and defeat the forces of evil we now so desperately face. Do we have any other choice? Yours, Michael Moore
Alice Endorsements - November 2004
Alice B Toklas LGBT Democratic Club General Membership Meeting 2nd Monday of each month You can now join online www.alicebtoklas.org/abt/joinonline.asp, or fill out the application below Membership Application Yes, I want to join the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club! __$35 Regular __I am renewing my membership __I will be a new member __I am a registered Democrat Name ______________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________State: ______Zip: _____________ Phone: Day __________________________Eve: _____________________________ Email: _________________________________________ Please send checks payable to “Alice B. Toklas
LGBT Democratic Club” and mail to: |
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Well,
if you've been looking for something to do this month…
I
am so Proud of our community! We 
