Obama Pride in North Carolina!

Komen NC Triangle Affiliate:

Sign up by June 3 to Run, Walk and Unite for the Cure

RACE FOR THE CURE JUNE 14 AT MEREDITH COLLEGE
All are invited to join Dems United for the Cure, a diverse group of Democrats and other progressives from around the Triangle coming together for the Race for the Cure for breast cancer, for universal health care, and for victory in November 2008.

WHY RACE FOR THE CURE?
This election year, it's clear that we work together or we fall apart, and this is a cause we can all support. Because 10 million women around the world could die from breast cancer in the next 25 years without the cure, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is fighting every minute of every day to save every life. That's why Hillary and Barack supporters alike will be walking and running together June 14 in the Race for the Cure with the hopes of raising as much money as possible to support this mission.

Every dollar raised will be invested in breast cancer education, screening, and treatment for underserved women in our community and in the national search for a cure. As one of the most respected charities in the U.S., Susan G. Komen for the Cure has received four stars, the highest rating possible, from Charity Navigator, America's largest independent charity evaluator, and was named one of America's 100 Best Charities by Worth Magazine.

WHY DEMS UNITED FOR THE CURE?
This cause is particularly relevant right now. Both presidential candidates understand the need for an effective and comprehensive health care plan, including marshaling resources against breast cancer. In keeping with that commitment, our participation in the Race for the Cure contributes to the life-saving work of the Komen foundation while demonstrating to our community that what unites us is more important and more powerful than what divides us.

RUN, WALK, OR SLEEP IN FOR A CURE - SIGN UP BY TUESDAY JUNE 3
Participants can join Dems United for the Cure using the paper Race Entry Form available at http://www.komennctriangle.org/images/RFTC_08entryform_DO.pdf .

Choose any of the "Open" (coed) Team options: One-mile fun run/walk, Open Competitive 5k run, Open Recreational 5k walk/run, or even "Sleep in for the Cure". Most of us will do the Open Coed Recreational 5k at 9 am, but we also have people in the competitive 5k at 7 am AND the one mile fun walk at 9:45 am. Regardless of activity, you'll be a part of our team, get a team shirt, and funds raised will count towards team totals.

Completed forms must be returned to Team Captain Carole Bell by Tuesday June 3 at 5pm for submission to the Komen foundation. Please download today and then fax the completed form to 919.942.6443 (attn: Carole Bell, tel 919-619-5918) or email cvbell@gmail.com to make arrangements for dropping it off in person.

TO DONATE
Donating is an excellent way to contribute to the cause, and it's quick and easy:
Go to http://race.komennctriangle.org/goto/united
Click on the link on the right side that says "Support Dems United for a Cure". This link is located under the kicking donkey image.
Choose the amount to give and enter billing information.

Contact: Carole V. Bell M 919.619.5918 cvbell@gmail.com http://race.komennctriangle.org/goto/united

Dems Unite to Run, Walk, or Sleep In for the Cure

Now that the primaries are almost over, all are invited to help put the divisions of the campaign behind us by joining a diverse, Triangle-based team of Democrats and like minded progressives to run, walk, or donate to the NC Triangle Race for the Cure on June 14th. Over a dozen people in three counties have already committed to being a part of this team. We believe it's the perfect opportunity for us to start working and having fun together for an important common cause.

WHY RACE FOR THE CURE?
In this election year, it's clear that we work together or we fall apart, so here's a cause we can all agree on. The Susan G. Komen Foundation's Race for the cure funds breast cancer education, screening, and treatment for underserved women in communities like ours across the country and also supports the national search for a cure. That's why Democrats, Hillary and Barack supporters alike, will be running, walking, and fundraising together in support of the foundation June 14.

This event is fun and highly relevant right now. Both candidates understand the need for an effective and comprehensive health care plan in this country, including marshaling resources against breast cancer. In keeping with that commitment, our participation in the Race for the Cure demonstrates to our community that what unites us is more important and more powerful than what divides us.

JOIN US - RUN, WALK, OR SLEEP IN FOR A CURE

With participants from Orange, Chatham, Durham, and Wake, we'll make a solid contribution to the cause of fighting breast cancer, have a visible presence at this major community event, and demonstrate much needed Democratic Party unity across counties and candidates. And yes, there will be a cool Dems United for the Cure team T-shirt, which we'll all wear to show what we're walking for.

There's one thing you need to do today to show your support: Register Online. Online team registration is only open through midnight May 27. After that, new team members can use a paper registration form (available for download from the web site), which must be submitted to me by June 3.

Even if you can’t join us June 14, you can still make a contribution. Either sign up as a team member to "Sleep in for the Cure" or make a donation to the team. If you join our team and "Sleep in for the Cure", you can get your team t-shirt through the mail.

REGISTER ONLINE WITH DEMS UNITED FOR THE CURE:

1. Go to http://race.komennctriangle.org/goto/united and scroll down to the bottom of the page.
2. Click on the link that says "Join Dems United for the Cure".
3. On the registration page select: "Open Recreational 5k Adult - Teams" to walk with our core group at 9 am. Registration is $25 per team member.
• Or choose one of the other team activities such as the competitive 5k, 1 mile fun walk, or "Sleep in for the Cure" (also quite fun). You can be a part of our team, get a team T-shirt, and the registration fee and funds raised will count towards our team totals.
4. After you submit the form, you'll receive an email confirming your registration.
• When you register online, your confirmation explains how to use the Race Center web site to customize your personal fundraising page and e-mail friends using preexisting message templates provided by Race for the Cure. The Race Center will allow you to recruit teammates and supporters, track your progress and get fundraising tips.
• As team captain, I'll also get a notice of that info including your email address so I can keep in touch about logistics like your team T-shirt and our progress overall.

DONATE TO THE CURE

Making a donation is an excellent way to support the work of the Komen foundation and is quick and easy:

1. Go to our team page at http://race.komennctriangle.org/goto/united
2. Click on the link on the right side of the page that says "Support Dems United for a Cure". This link is located under the kicking donkey image.
3. That will bring you to the donation page where you can choose the amount you want to give and enter your billing information.

Thanks in advance for your support. Please give me a shout at cvbell@gmail.com if you have any questions, suggestions, or if there's anything I can do to help.

All the best,

Carole Bell cvbell@gmail.com

Team Captain, Dems United for the Cure

Loving v. Virginia - Roanoke.com

Many people would like to draw a line between restrictions against interracial and same sex marriage, labeling one racist and obviously wrong, the other natural and right, but Mildred Loving, whose marriage challenged Virginia law in the 1960s, made no such distinction:

"Loving, whose husband was killed in 1975 by a drunken driver, eventually stopped giving interviews. But she broke her silence last year on the 40th anniversary of the ruling, to speak out in favor of gay marriage.

'I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry,' she said. 'Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people civil rights.'"

Declarations - Getting Mrs Clinton - Peggy Noonan on WSJ.com

Declarations - WSJ.com
All hail Peggy Noonan. With all due respect to David Brooks, for me, recently Peggy has been the right's most consistent voice of reason. And now this Wall Street Journal oped on the latest Clinton drama:

I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not. And if you don't, after 16 years of watching Clintonian dramas, you probably never will.

That's what the Bosnia story was about. Her fictions about dodging bullets on the tarmac -- and we have to hope they were lies, because if they weren't, if she thought what she as saying was true, we are in worse trouble than we thought -- either confirmed what you already knew (she lies as a matter of strategy, or, as William Safire said in 1996, by nature) or revealed in an unforgettable way (videotape! Smiling girl in pigtails offering flowers!) what you feared (that she lies more than is humanly usual, even politically usual). But either you get it now or you never will. That's the importance of the Bosnia tape.

Fired Up in Chapel Hill NC

Obama for America has finally come to the sky-blue dot in the semi-red state of North Carolina. This is our fearless, tireless team in their new home at 504 West Franklin.
Our kickoff meeting is this Saturday March 29 at 10 am.
We will soon see how fired up the Tar Heels are for Barack Obama.

Making the personal political: Another view on Obama's Big Speech

With thoughtful, measured analysis and uncommon historical context, Duke law prof Jedediah Purdy considers "A More Perfect Union" and debunks some of the more shallow criticisms leveled at it, noting, "the most principled political heroism has always grown up out of what Yeats called "the foul rag and bone shop of the heart"." Further, "King himself, far from being the universally accessible Tiger Woods of racial politics, said plenty of things that would have gotten him pilloried." It's a really smart, insightful commentary on what is already one of the most talked about speeches in recent history.

This is one of Purdy's most important contributions, exposing the false dichotomies and extremes presented by so many professional commentators:

So which is it: the "profile in courage" that the New York Times admired, the evasive cop-out that conservatives denounced or the failed tactic that horserace handicappers predicted would not placate white swing voters?....It was, for all its ambition, a tactical speech by a candidate in a corner. It's amusing to see some commentators chide Obama for going after the Clinton campaign here and here....Even Lincoln's speeches - the mythic standard Obama has managed to get himself thrown up against - are political through and through, full of wry, ironic digs at opponents (and outright laugh lines, which Obama couldn't risk). The idea that moral and rhetorical ambition can't coexist with running to win is a trap for Obama, one he's mostly managed to avoid. That kind of ambition is how a candidate explains why he wants to win, not a high-minded consolation prize."

Purdy also remarks at length on the honesty and singularity of the vision and voice put forth in "A More Perfect Union", placing the speech squarely in context alongside Obama's memoir Dreams of My Father.

Most important, he acknowledges that, in addition to being necessary means to an end, enabling Obama to secure political redemption in the eyes of the American public, the personal, revelatory tone of "the speech" was needed simply because that's the way change is made:

The reason to go through the unpleasant stuff Obama called up is that there is no other way. There is no alternative that is purely "rational", washed pure of unstable emotional elements, whether technocratic problem-solving or clean principles. Every redefinition of the rights and duties of American citizenship has come with a vision of dignity. From Abraham Lincoln to Lyndon Johnson and beyond, civil-rights residents have helped people give up (some of) the perquisites of race in favour of the dignity of belonging to a (more) free country. Franklin Roosevelt redefined frontier independence as requiring security against sickness, joblessness and poverty in old age. Ronald Reagan justified his takedown of Roosevelt's welfare state by reasserting, in sometimes beautiful political prose, that we had been stalwart frontiersmen all along. [italics are mine]

It's a really smart reflection. But don't take my word for it, everyone should really read the whole thing and tell me what you think!
read more digg story

Lessig Bets 'Wikipedia' Approach Will Transform Congress

A prominent Stanford law professor on Thursday launched an ambitious project that aims to use collaborative software to harness the extraordinary levels of pent-up political energy and dissatisfaction that voters have shown over the past two years with their members of congress.

read more | digg story

New CBS Poll: Most See Barack's Speech on Race as a Success

New Poll Shows Obama Speech Effective: "Most voters following the events regarding Senator Barack Obama and Rev. Jeremiah Wright think Obama's speech was a success. Most agree with his thoughts on race, and think he did a good job explaining his relationship with Rev. Wright..." 1/4 of Dems say they are now MORE likey to vote for Barack.

read more | digg story

Story behind the story: The Clinton myth - Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen - Politico.com

Politico makes a well researched, but surprisingly bold and likely controversial assessment given Barack's recent troubles, "Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning."

Citing a variety of unnamed inside sources, they explain:

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.
People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet."