I think Ashwin Madia (MN-03) is stalking me

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 21, 2008 · 7:29 AM PDT

2008/10/21 · 07:29

The guy has now called me, live and in person, twice during this campaign. I mean, come on. Dude is running for Congress in a highly competitive race. How is it possible that he is personally calling people like me, a guy who doesn't even live in his district? Something's fishy...

More below the fold, some of it even snarkless....

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 06, 2008 · 12:29 PM PST

2008/03/06 · 12:29

The new 50-state Survey USA polls are quite fun for the political junkie. With the usual disclaimers that polls this early are essentially meaningless, blah blah blah, let's dive into the numbers.

SUSA has highlighted the results and claimed that they foretell a tight race in the fall. Other Kossacks have pointed out some of the shocking numbers, like Obama winning in North frickin' Dakota.

But my perusal of the results tells a different story.... Follow me for more....

UPDATED: I've added the same type of results for the McCain-Clinton matchup at the end of the diary...

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 03, 2008 · 8:32 PM PST

2008/02/03 · 20:32

I was a volunteer at yesterday's insane rally in Minneapolis. Unlike the staff and some hardcore volunteers who arrived at 6:30am, I rolled in at about 10:30 am. There were already a hundred or so people in line.... for an event whose doors opened at about 2:00 pm. In 20 degree weather. Yikes. Can you say enthusiasm?

I spent most of the day outside, working the line. This consisted of directing people to the right line (green tickets and a shorter line for precinct captains, who got to stand on the floor; orange tickets or printed out e-mails for everyone else, a waiting area for the thousands without tickets) and getting people to fill out the stubs so the campaign could harvest the info of the 20,000 people in attendance.

Unlike the hardy souls in line, I occasionally took breaks in the relative warmth of the lobby.... wimp! A crazy video and more below the fold.

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday February 02, 2008 · 8:35 PM PST

2008/02/02 · 20:35

Sorry if this is not diary-worthy, and if it's already been diaried, but...

but....

You've simply gotta see/hear this, if you haven't already.

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 01, 2008 · 8:50 AM PST

2008/02/01 · 08:50

I just finished reading James Loewen's Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. It clocks in at well over 400 pages, so it took me a while. This book was published in 2005 and has recently come out in paperback. You may know Loewen as the author of the wildly (and justly) popular, Lies My Teacher Told Me, and Lies Across America.

Sundown towns are towns and cities which are/were "all-white on purpose." That is, they have tiny or non-existent Black populations, and they have maintained their racial purity with deliberate acts of exclusion (up to and including violence). The most important thing to know about sundown towns is that they are not confined to the South. In fact, they are relatively rare in the south. More below the fold about this amazing book and its implications for how we live now.

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 09, 2008 · 9:08 AM PST

2008/01/09 · 09:08

If we want change, we're going to have to work for it. If we want an Obama Presidency, it's going to take a sustained effort, in addition to a lot of hope.

As one of our great progressive politicians has said, "Anytime you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of the status quo attack." Well, the counterattack happened in New Hampshire last night, and the forces of change suffered a setback.

The Establishment isn't going to GIVE it away, folks. They have too much to lose.

And they've done this before: remember Dean in 2004? How invincible we felt in the months leading up to Iowa? How it seemed like an unstoppable, people-powered movement?

And remember how quickly it all fell apart?

We can't let that happen again this year. And I don't think we will.

But we're gonna have to work, and work hard, to win this victory. More below...

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday January 05, 2008 · 10:08 AM PST

2008/01/05 · 10:08

I know everyone's probably sick of reading stories about Iowa, so I apologize. But I decided that I wanted to get some of my experiences written down, for my own purposes if nothing else.

I live in Minnesota and have been involved with the Obama campaign for quite a few months. When I've been able, I've driven down to Iowa to help out there too. I've only lived in this part of the country for a year, and it's the first time I've ever been able to have an influence on the nomination process. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement!

I had planned to go to Iowa again on Jan. 2, and then again on Caucus Day. Unfortunately, I got sick on Jan. 1 (some sort of stomach flu, not because of excessive celebrating!) and couldn't go. But on Caucus Day, I decided I felt well enough after lunch to head down. I hadn't called or signed up-- I just got in my car and drove, to Mason City, Iowa, the nearest office to MN. More below....

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 09, 2007 · 11:40 AM PST

2007/12/09 · 11:40

With all the excitement on the Democratic side of the Presidential race, it's easy to overlook what's going on "over there." But in many ways, the Republican race is more interesting than our own-- and not just because we can say nasty things about their candidates with a clear conscience. [Not that conscience stops many of us from bashing our own fine candidates.]

The R race is completely up in the air-- you have the national frontrunner (Giuliani) tanking completely in the early states. You have the former frontrunner (McCain) given up for dead, then showing signs of life. You have the first serious Mormon candidate facing off against an ordained minister. And you have Ron Paul stirring things up in debates and online.

More below the fold...

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday November 08, 2007 · 8:27 AM PST

2007/11/08 · 08:27

Sorry for the provocative title, but to me, there's no other way to describe this amazing woman. My wife and I attended a luncheon in Minneapolis yesterday at which Ms. Obama was the speaker. It was an amazing experience. Details below the fold.....

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 30, 2007 · 4:48 PM PDT

2007/10/30 · 16:48

I've been thinking a lot lately about term limits. One common objection I've heard in the past goes something like this: "If we have term limits, we will end up with inexperienced legislators who can't get anything done."

Recent events have led me to conclude: "How much worse could it be??"

Since there's been some discussion around here about Larry Sabato's call for a Constitutional Convention, I thought I would throw out some thoughts on term limits, and why I believe they are an important piece of our efforts to restore our democracy.

More below the fold....

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday September 06, 2007 · 5:44 PM PDT

2007/09/06 · 17:44

Today I made a series of phone calls, all with the same simple message: our representatives in Congress need to take action to end the occupation of Iraq. Compromise is impossible with an intransigent administration. The best path is simple and achievable: Congress must refuse to pass any funding bill which does not include real timetables for withdrawal.

Join me below the fold...

Poll

7 votes Show Results

Have you called your Congresscritter yet?

7 votes Vote Now!

Have you called your Congresscritter yet?

Yep

2 votes

Nope, but I'm going to

5 votes

Obama and Pakistan

mtullius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday August 06, 2007 · 1:22 PM PDT

2007/08/06 · 13:22

To establish right off that I am not an Obama "concern troll:"

my wife and I have contributed a substantial amount of money to Obama
I have driven from my home in Minnesota down to Iowa to canvass for Obama
and we've marched in a parade here at home for Obama
we have an Obama bumper sticker on our car

Now, on to the point:

I have a big problem with Senator Obama's recent foreign policy speech. Actually, that's not really correct. I read the speech today in its entirety, and most of it is more or less fine with me. Except for one part.

And that part is below the fold, along with my problems with it...

Newer
Older

RSS

I think Ashwin Madia (MN-03) is stalking me

More on the SUSA results

Minnesota Ba-Rocks the Caucuses

Unbelievable new video: Yes We Can

Book Review: Sundown Towns

It Wasn't Ever Gonna Change Itself, People

My Own Private Iowa

Unraveling the Republican Coalition

Michelle Obama: Badass

Term Limits: undemocratic or essential?

Tell Your Congresscritters: no funding w/o deadlines!

Obama and Pakistan