Why are you a Democrat?

What makes you vote for the Democratic ticket on Election Day? What made you decide that just voting for progressive Democrats is not enough - that you also need to volunteer for the Obama campaign or for other progressives running in your area?

Perusing through the 99 diaries I have written before today, I realized that, in my year and a half here, I've never really discussed what it is that has molded my belief system - why it is I am a progressive Democrat. So I decided to use my 100th diary entry to offer a few thoughts on what I value, and how my values have shaped my worldview.

"Take it from me - every vote counts." - Al Gore

I dare anyone to look me in the eye and tell me, with a straight face, that one single vote will affect the outcome of the election. Yes, each vote does matter - and I am living proof of that.

On Tuesday I won my bid for re-election as a Democratic Precinct Delegate. My margin of victory? One.

ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO LINK

McCain: Obama pandering to intelligent people with Democratic VP pick; McCain may pick Butts, Hertz, Dork

KENTWOOD, MI - Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama, D-Ill., has selected Michigan Democratic Party member, Kent County Democratic Party member, Isabella County Democratic Party member, Campaign for Change volunteer, blogger, author of numerous letters to the editor, Central Michigan University senior, former CMU Student Government Association Senator, former CMU College Democrats Communications Director, 2005 East Kentwood High School alumnus, 2004 EKHS Quiz Bowl MVP, alumnus of the EKHS Marching and Jazz Bands and American Political Thought team, late-night TV addict, game-show fan, Wait, Wait... Don’t Tell Me! listener, and all-around funny and arguably mildly attractive guy Scott Urbanowski to be his nominee for Vice President.

I am a Democratic Neighborhood Volunteer (a.k.a. Precinct Captain) here in Kentwood, MI, and founder of the Neighborhood Leaders group on PartyBuilder. One of the things I am trying want to do this summer is to get Obama supporters and other Democrats to get involved with the Obama Campaign and the local Democratic Party.

What follows is a letter I wrote to Democrats in my hometown. Feel free to use a similar template to get in touch with people in your area.

Michael Dukakis, Forty-First President of the United States

Okay, so he's not President yet, but he's gonna win, because it's the end of July and he's dominating George Bush, 55-38%! So you might as well call him our next President!

Four years ago today:

We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it.

This part of 'The Speech' got me thinking about how stereotypes are applied against us based on our race, gender, age, or political persuasion. Most, if not all, of us have been subjected to stereotypes. And, let's be honest: Try as we may to fight it, most of us have made decisions, judgments, etc., based on our own false perceptions of people based on their age, skin color, etc.

Yet, as we all know, so many stereotypes out there are simply not true, if not for most (or even all) of the stereotyped group, then at least for some individuals.

Four years after that DNC keynote, I'd like to discuss a few of the stereotypes that don't fit me, and encourage you (if you'd like) to share your own thoughts about stereotypes that don't fit you.

TOP STORY

CNN: Senator: Waste, fraud, neglect hurting U.S. soldiers

Tens of billions in taxpayer dollars have been lost, wasted or remain unaccounted for in Afghanistan and Iraq, and some of those funds -- and some missing weapons -- have landed in insurgents' hands, a U.S. senator alleged Wednesday.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, leveled the accusations before the Appropriations Committee he chairs. He is calling for arrests and speedy trials for any contractors accused of bilking the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

While student voter turnout has not been very high in the past, this year looks to be quite different. And young people appear to be leading the Democrats' surge in party identification - which can only be good news heading into the election.

But we all know what that means: The Republican machine is kicking into high gear to stymie young people's efforts to participate in the democratic process.

TOP STORY

Yahoo!: Senate agrees to triple anti-AIDS funding

The Senate voted Wednesday to triple spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States.

The legislation would replace and expand the current $15 billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires at the end of September.

By now, we've all heard of - and perhaps read - the widely spread and ridiculously false "Barack Obama Is A Muslim" smear email.

Now there's another email beginning to make the rounds - but this one deals with John McCain, and unlike the smear on Obama, this one is sourced.

Check it out below the fold.

TOP STORY

MSNBC: Report: Makers knew Katrina trailers tainted

Manufacturers say they are not responsible for FEMA trailers that had toxic levels of formaldehyde, despite Democrats' findings that companies knew about the dangers yet sold them to the government anyway after Hurricane Katrina.

The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis done by Republican staffers on the same committee. The Republican report backs the companies and found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde — a preservative commonly used in building materials — in trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up to house people displaced by Katrina in 2005. Republicans say it is the government's fault for not having standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in trailers.

As I have stated a few times in open threads here on Kos, I helped to coordinate the Kent County Democrats' presence in the Fourth of July parade in my hometown of Kentwood, Michigan. I had hoped for a good turnout of Obama supporters and Democrats from the area but as often happens with anything and everything Obama-related, things turned out better than I expected.

In fact, we had about 30 people there! I would tell you how many people were in the McCain contingent at the parade, but McCain's campaign didn't even show up! Keep in mind, Bush won Kentwood 56-43% in 2004.

Pictures inside!

It was a courageous act for those who signed the Declaration of Independence to stand up to the tyranny of King George in defense of their "unalienable rights." Yet still they stood up, knowing that human rights are just too important to give up.

They were patriots. They stood up for what they knew was best for the people.

My question for you in 2008 is, do you have that same courage - the courage to be a patriot and do right by our country? And what are you going to do for our country to make it live up to its ideals?

I just found this in my inbox and had to share it with you. It's from retired Army National Guard Sgt. Kelly Dougherty, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The full email is on IVAW's website, but I can't resist sharing a few choice snippets here.

Just a few days ago Independence Day came and went, and did anyone notice? June 28th was the day the US returned sovereignty to Iraq in 2004, and it should be a day of celebration, a day when Iraqis mark their equal status among nations, just as America did more than two centuries ago.

It gets a lot better. Join me below the flip.

USA Today: High gas prices threaten to shut down rural towns

The price of gas isn't an annoyance here. It's a calamity.

Peggy Hanley uses a generator that burns a gallon of diesel fuel every hour —at about $5 a gallon— to power Forks General Store, the only place to buy groceries for miles around. There's no electric service, so Hanley, the owner, uses the generator to run eight refrigerators, nine freezers, lights and two ice machines for the store, which has been in a trailer since a fire destroyed the original building in 1994.

...

This community may be an extreme example of how rising gas prices are hitting rural Americans particularly hard, but people in small towns from Maine to Alaska are in a similar bind as those here.