What Has Actually Become of Saul Allinsky?

When I wrote a 1965 article on Saul Alinsky for Christianity and Crisis magazine - later anthologized in the book Witness to A Generation -  Alinsky had seven years to live.  By 1972 when he died at age 63, he was the dean of community organizers in the United States. He had largely overcome the objections of his critics. save for the most obdurate on the hard right. 

Researching prior to the Obama run in 2008, I found two others had taken in-depth looks at Alinsky - Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Alinsky was clearly a major stop on the learning tour these two took before they decided that electoral politics is the best way to actually get things done in America.
And that's the story in a nutshell almost fifty years from the time I entered Alinsky's modest Michigan Avenue  office  and began an investigation of several months duration. The verdict then, which has not been contradicted, is that Saul Alinsky was a crack organizer whose basic values were tolerance, democracy and helpfulness. He  applied these values to get things done in a country where the ultimate prize was  and remains the control of governance itself. 
That Alinsky championed a confrontational, in-your-face militancy is   true, but the provocative things he did were like  the Yippies, not their violent cousins. Alinsky was good at scaring media and ginning up controversy. These were weapons of the powerless and marginalized. Saul gained very least a voice at the table for such folk.
Alinsky also left a legacy that was explicit, the Industrial Areas Foundation which continues his work and extends his influence. Community organization was responsible for the ground game of the Obama operation and the various permutations of the Tea Party insofar as they have involve grass roots efforts. Even the now-hapless Karl Rove achieved some successes by assiduous grass roots organizing.
That's all we are talking about. Grass roots organizing with a patina of Yippie sensibility. If one looks back today, one would have to conclude that Alinsky helped to fashion in the American mind a role for the community organizer, a role that transcends political party or religious persuasion. Today and in the future, there will be no democratic politics or social movement that does not make an implicit bow to Saul.
That said, both President Obama and Secretary Clinton realized the clear and daunting limitations of community organizing. Both entered electoral politics precisely to get things done that cannot be achieved just by gaining some power at the grass roots.  I went back and looked at one of the organizations Alinsky lofted into the stratosphere in the 1960s - the Woodlawn Organization (TWO) in Barack Obama's neighborhood in Chicago. At the time, Alinsky could stimulate apoplexy in the adjacent University of Chicago community with a few well-chosen sound bites. Today the conflict has morphed into what can only be called an arrangement in which both sides of the dispute have had successes. Suffice to say that without TWO things would have been worse over time. 
      I would hazard the guess that in the future Alinsky's methods and aims will be integral to American politics and determine both winners and losers, just as they did in November, 2012. The key to community organizing remains constant. Doing it and doing it well. Stephen's Remarkable Kindle Store 


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Five-point Hammer-the-GOP Plan to Soften Things Up This Summer

UPDATED June 20, 2012
Having established the fact that Romneydoesn't get itPresident Obama can now pivot to present and future
The public already blames Bush for deficit and recession  The public knows a fair tax system is necessary The public knows Romney is an empty suit
Cut to the Present and Future
Hammer the Congress for stalling things the American people want and need
Hammer the GOP for current behavior people don't appreciate
Hammer Romney for positions people don't likedistortions that reveal odd character traitsfor outright lies
Hammer Koch and Companyfor trying to buy the electionand to suppress the vote
Hammer Jobs HypoctisyBoehner for inactionMcConnell for nihilismTea Party GOP Congress
FINALLY
Propose the Grand BargainMake fair taxation central
+
The past can be inferredThe present can be shownThe need can be deduced

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In Search of Winning Obama Campaign Slogans

Is there anything in the past that helps us? Below the whole kahuna. My favorite interpolations.

Who is Mitt Romney? (1844)

For President of the People (1848)

Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream (1864) 

I Like Barak (1952)

The stakes are too high (1964)

Note that in 2000 W had four slogans as did Obama in 2008

I see no reason why we cannot begin to use the ideas above to see what sticks.

And here are others that occur to me:

Who cares?
Don't give up your vote!

And here are credited candidates from Twitter.

ProgressPAC PA ‏@ProgressPAC

@vulcanbard @stephencrose Barack #Obama - "Because he cares about ALL of us." #p2 #dems

Kimber Hussein Obama ‏@NLuvWitUOnly

.@stephencrose @BarackObama @michelleObama On of my Campaign Slogans I'd like to SEE "This is STILL America!" You saw it here first :-)

Chuck Diem ‏@chasdiem
RT @stephencrose: "In Search of Winning Obama Campaign Slogans" http://buff.ly/LyHZ4c | "Save yer mama, vote Barack Obama" ;)

Save yer mama, vote Barack Obama 

Campaign Candidate Slogans SOURCE

1840 William Henry Harrison Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
1844 James K. Polk 54-40 or fight
1844 James K. Polk Reannexation of Texas and reoccupation of Oregon
1844 Henry Clay Who is James K. Polk?
1848 Zachary Taylor For President of the People
1856 John C. Fremont Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, and Fremont
1860 Abraham Lincoln Vote Yourself a Farm
1864 Abraham Lincoln Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream
1884 Grover Cleveland Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine
1884 James Blaine Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha
1888 Benjamin Harrison Rejuvenated Republicanism
1896 William McKinley Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity
1900 William McKinley A Full Dinner Pail
1916 Woodrow Wilson He kept us out of war
1920 Warren G. Harding Return to normalcy
1920 Warren G. Harding Cox and Cocktails
1924 Calvin Coolidge Keep cool with Coolidge
1928 Herbert Hoover A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage
1952 Dwight Eisenhower I Like Ike
1956 Dwight Eisenhower Peace and Prosperity
1960 Richard Nixon For the future
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson The stakes are too high for you to stay at home
1964 Barry Goldwater In your heart you know he’s right
1968 Richard Nixon Nixon's the One
1976 Gerald Ford He’s making us proud again
1976 Jimmy Carter Not Just Peanuts
1976 Jimmy Carter A Leader, For a Change
1980 Ronald Reagan Are you better off than you were four years ago?
1984 Ronald Reagan It’s morning again in America
1984 Walter Mondale America Needs a Change
1988 George Bush Kinder, Gentler Nation
1992 Bill Clinton Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
1992 Bill Clinton Putting People First
1992 Ross Perot Ross for Boss
1996 Bill Clinton Building a bridge to the 21st century
1996 Bob Dole The Better Man for a Better America
2000 Al Gore Prosperity and progress
2000 Al Gore Prosperity for America's families
2000 George W. Bush Compassionate conservatism
2000 George W. Bush Leave no child behind
2000 George W. Bush Real plans for real people
2000 George W. Bush Reformer with results
2000 Ralph Nader Government of, by, and for the people...not the monied interests
2004 John Kerry Let America be America Again
2004 George W. Bush Yes, America Can!
2008 John McCain Country First
2008 Barack Obama Change We Can Believe In
2008 Barack Obama Change We Need
2008 Barack Obama Hope
2008 Barack Obama Yes We Can!

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Three pillars of Obama support

Three pillars of Obama support  
1 Start a grass roots POB fundraising page and get friends to join you
2 Use social media like Twitter to tell the truth about the GOP and its criminal destructionof both the President and the economyYou can find many reasons right hereusing the search field or just schmoozing
3 From the Convention to the Election share every positive reason for voting Democratic and re-electing the Presidentwith as many people as possible on the ground and in cyberspace
This election will come down to whether the nationretreats to the Fortress America hoariness of the Bush Yearsor emerges from the cocoon of hopewith a renewed vision of a future that is sustainablegreen and aimed at a new ageof better valuesand improved livesGoing back is not an option

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An interview with Rev. Oliver White on his support for same-sex marriage–and what it’s cost.

An interview with Rev. Oliver White, pastor of the only predominantly African American Congregational Church in Minnesota, on his support for same-sex marriage–and what it’s cost.

By Becky Garrison  Interview was originally published at The Revealer. http://therevealer.org/archives/11409

According to ABC News/Washington Post polls, for the first time, strong public support for same-sex marriageexceeds strong opposition by a significant margin–with more African-Americans moving in favor, perhaps taking their lead from Barack Obama on the issue. Despite this shifting, media coverage continues to present only the conservative face of African Americans when reporting on marriage equality legislation. For example, The Revealer’s previous analysis of the Amendment One vote in North Carolina noted that even local media focused on the alliances between white and African American conservative Christians. They paid scant attention to the multi-racial faith based coalitions formed to defeat the amendment.

A media landscape that relies primarily on the voices of those with the microphone tends to miss out on the smaller, quieter voices for justice, such as the Rev. Oliver White, a United Church of Christ pastor and social studies teacher based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At present, his church is facing foreclosure–a result, many say, of his decision to speak out in favor of same sex marriage at the 2005 UCC General Synod.

After Believe Out Loud distributed a call for support of White’s waning church, The Revealer contacted him via email.

Why did you proclaim your support for LGBT equality at the 2005 UCC General Synod?

I was a delegate to the synod and while I never got the opportunity to stand up at the microphone, when it was time to vote for the amendment, “In Support of Equal Marriage Rights for All,” I raised my card in support. In general, the UCC supports the LGBT community though some churches offer more support than others with some churches simply not supporting same sex marriage at all. What makes my vote unique is that while Minnesota is home to 170 Congregational Churches, I pastor the only predominantly African American Congregational Church in the state.

Describe the ethos at St. Paul’s Church.

We were always known for being opening and affirming and in fact, I performed a commitment ceremony for two women before I left for General Synod [in 2005]. Also, I led bible studies where I would stress the words of Jesus to “… love your neighbor as you love yourself…” and to put the apostle Paul into his first century context. When someone would call “homosexuality” an abomination and say that God hates the sexual orientation of gays and lesbians, I would suggest that they read further into the scriptures and discover that eating shrimp, catfish or pork chops was, according to Leviticus law, a sin. In addition, I was very careful to be inclusive in terms of ministry and to make sure that I used language that was not gender specific.

How did your vote change this?

My congregation has always struggled because our outreach was to the poor. We were never in a position where we could draw in doctors or lawyers. But when I came back from that synod and made that report, about 75% of our 350 member congregation left. The lack of donors made us vulnerable to predatory lenders. We’re now in a position where we’ve begun to draw in people who have great financial skills but we’re still facing foreclosure. (See reporting in Twincities.com for a fuller account of the church’s financial woes.)

Did they leave right away?

I noticed a drop in attendance the Sunday following the 2005 announcement that I supported same-sex marriages, but I didn’t find that too unusual, as it is common to have “low attendance Sundays” owed to weather, holidays, Vikings games, etc. However, attendance never picked up, and soon it became apparent that many people had left the church for good. It took about three months to lose 72% of the entire congregation.

How has President Obama’s support of same sex marriage impacted your congregation?

We were very, very, very delighted that he came out and said what he said. I wrote him a letter and asked him if I could come to Washington to shake his hand for standing up for something that I know is risky. In the end, I don’t think that black people will collectively move away from Obama because the alternative doesn’t offer much hope.

NPR offered this analysis: “Fairly or not, African-Americans have become the public face of resistance to same-sex marriage, owing to their religious beliefs and the outspoken opposition of many black pastors.”

African Americans are staunchly religious and unfortunately too many African American pastors preached fire and brimstone without doing enough reading about gays and lesbians. This is not a choice where you can pray over someone and they will change. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that the next generation of African-Americans is not on the same page as the current generation. To that extent, the world is slowly changing, and thank God, it’s changing for the better!

While many white, progressive evangelical leaders have yet to come out and champion equal rites for all, young evangelicals seem to be distancing themselves from their leaders over this issue.

That dynamic isn’t true for young African Americans who take on characteristics of the leaders of their churches. We’re finding our changes are happening because more churches insist on having a trained minister as their leader. More African-American pastors now attend liberal seminaries where they learn about the theological developments surrounding gay and lesbian issues. Conversely, you still have a number of African Americans, who go to bible colleges that teach a fundamentalist point of view.

How has your current grassroots fundraising campaign impacted your congregation?

Every time I open an envelope, it’s like opening a love letter with a gift attached to it. But I have received some hate mail as well. Through all of this, our congregation has new energy. They’re on their feet shouting “Thank you.” If nothing else, this draws together an interracial LGBT and heterosexual community. I’ve even been in touch with people who don’t believe in God but believe in the goodness of humankind.

Image: by John Doman via St. Paul Pioneer Press/RNS

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Tweet @speakerboehner and tell him Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4 UPDATED

UPDATE 4 June one month to go
Today I will try to finish posting this to all Senators @speakerboehner Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4I have also put up a petition at change.orgThis is only day threeI am for progress each dayBy the middle of June I hope to have visibly increased pressureon the SpeakerWe cannot wait
Original Post Unchanged:
Last night I launched an effort to create a massive wave on Twitter aimed at actual resultsPlease join following campaign. Our message:  @speakerboehner Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4By tweeting this post you can help
Here are some other messages so far 

@speakerboehner On July 4 you plan golf at a luxury course paid for by your bosses. Pass Obama Jobs Act by then and we'll see.

@SavannahGuthrie Our message: Tweet @speakerboehner and tell him Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4 

@PoliticalTicker We're not playing politics. Our message:@speakerboehner and tell him Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4 Report it! 

@stephencrose @katyperry @speakerboehner Thanks. I hope Katy will tweet her followers: 

@speakerboehner Pass Obama Jobs Act by July 4 

@ladygaga Dear Lady Please help lead massive Twitter effort 2 get@speakerboehner 2 pass President's jobs act by July 4. We're doing it!

Twitter helped bring change around the worldHow about seeing if we can achieve some good results right here
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Barack Obama is a hoops guy. Barack Obama knows how to score points.

I'm grading his performance on suggestions I made in October 2010:
1. Introduce the idea of Sherlock Holmes in talking about the War on Terror. Get people ready for a coming move from reliance of military might. (A Three Pointer.) B+
2. Beat up on criminal bankers and their kith and kin. It is our money they are taking on the train to New Canaan, Greenwich and Stamford. (Slam dunk.) C-
3. Get specific about regulatory controls. Talk about leverage ratios. Say what's been done and what's needed. No general statements about Wall Street Reform. People don't believe it's happened yet. (Several lay ups needed.) B-
4. Propose contests. For example, a contest to design or create from existing areas 21st century neighborhoods of 5-10,000 persons. Reduced vehicular traffic, safety and security, connect everything with pedestrian ways, include many "squares" and plazas and small parks. Talk about safe places for kids to play. (Lay up.) D
5. Tax on all market transactions and scrub mandatory insurance purchases no one likes. (Three pointer.) F
6. Train up a class of driving professionals who can do minor emergency repairs and have basic paramedical skills. A new profession. Millions of jobs. (Lay up.) D+
7. Insert David Plouffe into the White House. Talk to him daily. Heed him. (Consistent scoring) A-
8. Get Bill Clinton to fund a careful study of the relationship between philanthropic endeavors and social progress. D
9. Institute simple global security measures such as a required super-secure credit card for all air travel. No cash ticket buys. A free pass for passengers who pose no threat. (Three pointer if done right.) D
10. Oil will go back to $100 a barrel. Again, a line of green initiatives that make sense in language people can understand. (No scores but needed.) B

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Barack Obama - Poem

Barack Obama said 

Deep within himself

There are two kinds of power

There is the power of the struggle

There is the power of the victor

Struggle begins

The cold in Springfield 

Iowa to Super Tuesday to the cold Mall
Daunted not at all 

I knew 

I knew

The power of the victor 

Let me down 

For now I knew 

My hands were useless 

To achieve 

My dreams
I met my enemies
Was forced to pause

Now I see the truth
These powers must be fused
The power of the victor
The power of the struggle
I move with a light step
With my dreams intact

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Obama Wins - A Prophecy from 2010

Come gather round ye haters a story I will tell 

About how the President beat you 

It's a story I know well 

If the millions spent on hate ads put all the wing nuts in 

They will be such a side show 

The President will win

If the money spent on hatred should fail to do the job 

When wing nuts have to govern 

Their thunder he will rob 

He'll have two years to do it and he will do it well 

And the chickens will come home to roost 

In November 2012

How President Obama Wins No Matter What Happens - Free Verse by Stephen C. Rose To the tune of "Pretty Boy Floyd".

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Barack Obama did infrastructure from day one

Barack Obama 

Did infrastructure from day one 

And roads and bridges and power plants 

Now are repaired

The auto industry 

Breathes some new life

One third of the whole stimulus 

Was set aside 

For Infrastructure 

And now that money is going into 

Projects that will change the very face 

Of things to come

A grid to make it possible to 

Live anywhere and 

Be connected to 

Everywhere 

As revolutionary as 

40 acres and a mule 

Light rail is just a predecessor to the 

Zapping of air travel 

As the preferred way to get from 

Here to there

From the start our President 

Set eyes beyond 

The near horizon 

And toward work on the ground

And this will happen 

Ever more visibly 

Until people say 

Look 

See what is happening

And feel 

A brand new freedom 

To be and to do 

To plan and realize

Unsung 

The President's accomplishments 

Will prove 

The reason why 

What people scoff today 

Will be 

Our common success 

In years to come

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The 'Obama spending binge' Is Another GOP Lie

The 'Obama spending binge': Fact or fiction? - The Week: 

"The Obama binge is pure fiction: The "big surge in federal spending" started before Obama stepped into the Oval Office, says blogger Meteor Blades at Daily Kos. Obama did add $140 billion in stimulus spending that year, but over the four years that Obama actively shaped the budget, spending is on track to go from $3.52 trillion to $3.58 trillion. Adjusting for inflation, that amounts to an average 1.4 percent annual decrease. That should burst the GOP "propaganda balloon." 

"An Obama spending spree? Hardly" "

'via Blog this'

The GOP is a disaster

Obama has stuck to his thrifty ways

Lies won't cut it when the truth is crystal clear

In 1964 LBJ lied his way to a landslide

In 2012 the GOP is lying itself to oblivion

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Is President Obama Going Against His Core Identity?

Going Negative - NYTimes.com: "David Brooks: The conventional view is that it works. My view is that it works in some cases. Obama ran plenty of negative ads in 2008, but he won because he rejected the sort of stale campaigning everyone is disgusted by. Now he is running exactly the sort of campaign he once rejected. I don’t see how going against your core identity can be a good thing."

'via Blog this'

Dream on David you're on the wrong track

The President's a fighter and under attack

From the sad Party you have called Grand

You have no ground upon which to stand

GOP reasons so lack decency

The people if not you will easily see 

They will give him another term more

Meanwhile David look to your core

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Obama's True Status Among Women Vs. NYTimes Fish Wrapping

Obama on the High Wire - NYTimes.com:

'via Blog this'

The New York times giveth and taketh away paragraph by paragraph.

In the piece above the Gray Lady cites an odd poll to surmise that Romney has a better standing among women than the President. This is so fatuous that were FOX to claim it it would be laughed out of court.

Here are five reasons one might surmise that the President will achieve victory in November on a wave of female support.

1. Romney wants to zap Rowe v. Wade and Bork the Supreme Court

2. Romney cannot be depended on to support equal pay

3. Romney threatens women's access to vital health care

4. Romney will zap Planned Parenthood

5. Romney mirrors a patriarchal culture. At Bain only 10 percent of middle leadership were women


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92 Plus 102 Obama Agenda Items

92 Things Barack Obama Would Do As President — Verbatim | Stephen C. Rose:

'via Blog this'

President Obama had an agenda from the Git-Go. This is from 2007. What is here and remains undone is what he intends to achieve. People who claim they do not know what the President wants are either ignorant or lazy. These are taken verbatim from careful position writings.

Here is the continuation - 102 things the President has either done or will seek to do. We have a competent President who has never made a secret of his agenda for America.

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Obama is the Third in the Plutocracy Democracy Triad

When Obama ran in '08 I felt vindication as a CRVI think all who were in the Civil Rights Movement felt itI did not anticipate the virulenceof the GOP reaction
To condense itIn the eyes of the GOP Obama is the Great DestroyerSince this is hogwashit remained for Abba to help us see the cause of it
For the first time since the 1960s the issue of plutocracyversus democracywas being raisedbare naked
And Obama has always had the admirable wisdomto seek a Middle Course beyondnot far from where the sane in the GOP once wereNot far from TR's progressive reforms
To the extent that the GOP is genuinely apoplecticit is because Obama has deprived them of any veneerHe has done what they hypocritically say they doHe is the Synthesis beyond the dichotomy ofPlutocracy and Democracy
But democracy is more than majority ruleIt is an ontological value that trumps plutocracyEven  as Obama reminds us that we are republicansIt is we who have to remind ourselves and everyone of the actuality of democracy which includesthe rights of allthe universal right to freedomthe universal right to justicein short the whole skein of argumentsby which we must bring down thesad lumpen who mouth vile Rushismswithout knowing what they do They serve the purposes of the manipulative Koch Rove plutocratsThey are the enemies of reality
Obama is the Third in the Plutocracy Democracy TriadThat is what is redemptive about this year and the coming electionAnd it is the realistic seal of out ultimate success
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Obama Focus on The Future

Nothing tougher than the truth
Our current global oil automobile sprawl economy
is unaffordable for most
What can we do to forge an American Dream that is 
attainable affordable profitable
We can center on reclaiming of life at the grass roots
Safer life with fewer cars
Services scaled to communities
Communities more and more walkable and bike-able
More face to face social life
Safer
More attractive public space
More living where you work and working where you live
Zoning to make living walkable
with most things needed within reach
Less domination of our lives by the machine
the interchange, incessant emphasis on
what is increasingly unaffordable
All this requires a prodigious leap to thinking
Past oil
Past sprawl
Past almost exclusive reliance on the car
We need to heal the economy by imagining new economies
that improve life and health
and make education affordable to all
Today's way won't cut it
Tomorrow is up to us and our native abilities.


Charles Sanders Peirce - Thinking in Threes

Twelve Reasons Romney is Going Down as We Speak

ShortFormContent at Blogger: Mildred Purse says Karl Rove is full of it:

'via Blog this'

Surrounded by neo-cons who counsel war

Tied to Rove and the Koch Brothers 

Identified with Bork and overturning Rowe v Wade  

Health care conundrum
Foreign policy flops
Horrendous media advice

Tepid and borderline endorsements

No honeymoon bounce

Past statements come home to roost

No place to pivot to 

The GOP Congress

On all accounts an undesirable risk

 People's solution - 

Democratic majorities in Congress 

Re-election of the President

Progressive solution - 

Think beyond oil and sprawl and how 

a commitment to that could revolutionize 
our economy and politics

Consider how election of Romney would 

set things back 

The People Beat the Money (1/18/2013)

Revised 1/18/13 since what was written last April came true in November



The rich folk once enamored of Barack pulled out

They flattered themselves their reasons were progressive 

But what they were really doing was helping stoke a  fire

The fire of folk who understand that Barack has

done the best he can given ...

No more need be said

Enjoy your riches

Whoops

Forget it

The people came up with the money we need

The people went door to door

The people sent Romney packing

And the rich still go on as before

Not really richer in the things that count

Charles Sanders Peirce - Thinking in Threes

Free Re-Elect Obama Resource - Simple Truth

Copy and circulate, No permission needed.

MO means method of operation

It was Bush 1 who allowed Lee Atwater to poison politics

It was Bush 2 who used the same tactics to submerge McCain

Now we have the seemingly comic figure of Romney

Who is he

He is the front man

The GOP all along has been in the plundering business

Plunder everything in sight

to serve the contributors

and hoodwink the people

Romney will be the perfect foil

Acting centrist while caving to

the things that make a real difference

like the composition of the Court

The little poster above says it all

Instead of running scared

we need to fight back with simple truth

 While Romney dithers

the GOP will plunder

Charles Sanders Peirce - Thinking in Threes

The President is not too shabby on long shots

Obama Campaign Turns Attention on Arizona - NYTimes.com:

'via Blog this'

What I like about this narrative is the fact that there is nothing but business on the Obama side of the equation. The GOP says try it you sludge. The Obama forces say hey it's a long shot. And go about the business of adding one here one there until there is a possible tipping point. How many Tea Party voters will stay home or cast protest votes so as not to give their endorsement to a hamstrung candidate they cannot trust? How many Latinos will go to the polls to affirm that they do not want another season of negative vibes from the GOP? The Obama forces are good people and they can explain exactly what is at stake. Romney = risk. Obama = reasonable progress. Yes We Could.

Charles Sanders Peirce - Thinking in Threes