Convention: First Impressions

[TayTay]

First of all, I have one hell of a lot of information to share. It is going to take several days to digest it all and put it out here. The convention was amazing. I had a great time.

If you want to keep up with current thinking in the Dem Party make sure you are up on:
Thomas Frank, 'What's the Matter with Kansas'
George Lakoff, 'Don't Think of an Elephant'
Jim Wallis, 'God's Politics'

This is practically bible material for the Dems. Everyone was using themes from those books. I was surprised because the thoughts have been internalized and 'chewed over' to a greater degree than I thought. Lakoff's notions of framing were mentioned in breakout sessions by Vicki Kennedy (Uncle Ted's wife and an accomplished woman in her own right.) It was not slavish repetition of Lakoff, but informed and reasoned understanding of what Lakoff is saying and about how the Dems have to break out of the box that the Rethugs have created for us.

Mrs. Kennedy's thing is gun laws and how to make them sane again. She spoke about the current state of the law, how the NRA (A wholly owned subsididary of the Rethuglican National Committee) has corrupted the debate and about what John Ashcroft did to the legal interpretation of the 2nd Amendment. (not good.) She was using intelligent 'frames' ala Lakoff to fight the pereception that Dems don't uphold the 2nd Amendment. Wow! She is fantastic! (I had never heard Vicki Kennedy before. If you ever get the chance to hear this wonderful Louisiana Lightning of a Lady, go. Wow!) More to come.

EDIT: Almost forgot. You don't have to buy all these books. Lakoff has a web site that you can peruse at your leisure and pick up what he is saying. Go to: http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/people/lakoff and you will get the info.

[TayTay]

1. Kerry Staffers

On Friday night I attended a 'Welcome to Convention' party hosted by my MA Delegation. We had all the candidates for statewide office and several candidates for various county offices there. It was a lot of fun. Free food, one free drink and tons of committed people who had already chosen sides in a Gov's race that is already starting to take shape. There were 'stump' speeches in between sets of music and lots of rousing cheers for various famous folks. Loved this.

I went outside to indulge one of my bad vices (nuff said) and was talking to other pre-quitters who were indulging in bad vices outside the restaurant. One very nice young lady was already a paid staffer for a MA Gov candidate. She has started working for John Kerry when she was only 18. She had been a paid Kerry staffer last year and had worked in co-ordinating NH GOTV efforts.

Learning the language: There are staffers and then there are staffers. Some people work for Sen. Kerry full time in a legislative capacity. They have day jobs that involve community outreach and helping to maintain an actual working Senate office. There are other people who worked as campaign aides for the Senator last year. They come on board to help run elections. These is a great deal of fluidity between these groups. But they are not the same thing. (Sort of. It gets a little confusing.) The woman I spoke with, Amanda, is a campaign gypsy of sorts. She loves to work on campaigns, but does not work in the office after people get elected. Her thing is just being out on the trail. That is her passion.

Anyway, Amanda introduced me to Roger who, it turns out, has returned to Senator Kerry's office in Boston after having been loaned out to work on campaigns. (There are legal reasons why staffers who are paid by the government for legislative work have to take new jobs when they do campaigns. It's kind of complicated.) Anyway, Roger had been with Sen. Kerry for 6 years. He was with Kerry in 1999 when the Senator first started making serious forays into New Hampshire. (Yeah, not a typo 1999.) We talked about commitment and I told Roger to tell his boss that I was a delegate at the convention because I got his boss' e-mail reminding me to stay involved. (He loved this. TayTay is a suckup.)

After establishing my credentials with outright fawning (sigh!) we talked about Sen. Kerry and the folks who worked for him. Amanda laughed and told Roger to show me a symbol of his commitment to the cause. Roger took off his wristwatch and he had tattooed on his wrist the Roman Numerals for '2004.' He had had that done in 2000 or so as a symbol of his commitment to getting Kerry elected. (Hey Kos, you mofo, tell me again that nobody loved Kerry. This guy had a friggin permanent tattoo on his wrist to remind himself of his commitment to Kerry. Kos is a lying weasel.)

Long post.... to be continued.

[TayTay]

2. Kerry Staffers, Part 2

We talked about Internet groups, blogs and the greater community of people who are still Kerry-fans. (What else should I call us?) Roger wants to stay in touch. His official title is "Senior Issues Manager" for Senator Kerry. (He is based in Boston, not DC.) He gave me his business card. (Nice business cards. Very classy.)

We also talked about the 'off season' that we are in now and what 'fans' of Sen. Kerry can do. This is a ticklish subject. Sen. Kerry is not officially running for anything and won't be officially running for anything until at least next Nov. (Sort of. Should he run for 2008, that won't be official until around Sept 2007.) Hence the questions that I mentioned in a prior post. What are we doing out in web-land? What do 'fans' do in between elections? This is new ground for a lot of people and they don't quite know what to do about it. I said that people show up at various events the Senator holds and then report back on what it was like. (I also told him to get those pics from Austin. I have to e-mail him with the address of those pics. I am still blown away by them.) There was no resolution of what to do or what people want. This is a work in progress.

I am going to e-mail Roger next week and ask him about some better notification from the office about trips the Senator takes. I would also like to see if there is any way for DC to send out an e-mail when a nice floor speech is happening. But what else is there in this 'off season'?

He was the nicest guy! The online world is still new and nobody really knows what it means long term or how to use it. (I don't and I don't pretend to.) That was the discussion I was referring to and the thoughts I wanted to get from people. They are not going to explicitly do anything about 'fan sites' because they can't. (Sort of. It's a little confusing and there is no operator's manual on this stuff. It's still very new.)

Anyway, that is a better start to this discussion than I made the other night. I have so much stuff to share, I just wanted to make sure this part was clear. There are no 'campaign' Kerry staffers at the moment. Most of them have drifted away to other campaigns (if they are campaign gypsies by nature LOL!) or gone back to their day jobs in think tanks or legislative offices. But there is a shadow organization that is there as well. It is a strange circumstance.

[TayTay]

3. BTW, I'm not that special

I hope I didn't give the impression that I am somehow special or 'in the know' or anything. The people I met were nice to everyone. (Roger gave out his business card to a lot of people, which is why I am so comfortable talking about it here in a public forum.) They want to stay in touch with a lot of people.

I am a Masshole. Sen. Kerry's office needs to reconnect with Massholes because, ah, he was kind of absent last year. (Talk about stating the obvious.) My hubbie is a local Masshole pol. It's good practice to reconnect with the locals. (Does this make sense? Yes, Sen. Kerry is a national pol. But he also comes from a specific place and wants to stay in touch with the locals too. That is his ultimate base.)

I hope I did not give the impression that I am somehow magically connected with people that I am not. I had a nice conversation with some folks that I would like to talk to again. The door is open for that. It was interesting. But it wasn't hugely more than that. (And I have left out a lot of local talk, cuz I thought it would bore you.) I have this weird fear of 'putting on airs' and pretending to be what I am not, so I hope I have clarified that. Anyone could have talked to a nice guy like Roger. And lots of 'anyones' did. That's why he was there at the Con, for outreach and to let people know that the Senator cares about MA Dems. (And, as I stated, is interested in more than that.)

[globalvillage]

4. I think your convention posts are fascinating.

Really gives a sense of 'being there'. Post more, I'll read every word. And I love having a connection to Mass, Boston is one of my favorite cities, and I travel lots.
BTW, I think you're special.

[vinessa4freedom]

5. don't down your importance...

For goodness sakes TayTay. You are a heck of a lot closer to goings on than many of us, and bless you for relaying all of it to us. You keep us connected. The magic in the connections is that you're in the middle of it doing, doing doing, and you're not afraid to talk to people. By the way, as my first attempt at being a non-you-know-whater was not successful, I feel a bit guilty for liking this, but you do get to know the most interesting people when you go outside to commune with other "pre-quitters." (great word) People just talk to each other in those situations, and I've met and talked to some incredible people doing the, um...same thing. :eyes: When I'm a succesful non-puffer, I will continue to have my after meal stretch with the outside crowd.

[whometense]

6. I'm curious to hear what you have to say

about Dean's speech. I just read the (tiny) article about it in the Globe, and saw it earned an outright rebuke from Barney.

Is anyone still in doubt as to why this guy should not have been nominated last year? I'm sorry, but everything about him just screams "loose cannon."

[ginnyinWI]

7. hmmmm...yes

Loose cannon is a good description. Of course the far left loves it. But statements like that have consequences. Dean has to remember that he's not on the campaign trail now, where stuff like that is more tolerated. This is why I started favoring Kerry over Dean, because, although I liked his policies, I thought Dean's temperament was too volatile for the WH. Not unlike the current occupant I might add.

[TayTay]

10. My first reaction is 'ARRRRGGGGGGHHHH'

I went to a egg-heady breakout session on Friday night titled, "The Democratic Message: Speaking Out on Matters of Conscience." The panelists all remarked on a luncheon they had had with Gov Dean Friday afternoon and his plans for the DNC. One of the things he has started is a dedicated DNC effort to deal with matters of 'Faith and Politics.' The Democratic Party has a problem with Catholic voters and with other voters who are strongly aligned with Evangelical faith traditions. (Please note the Masshole language of inclusion here; we don't have religious backgrounds, we have faith traditions. LOL!) Gov. Dean is trying to re-connect Catholic voters with their Democratic backgrounds and prevent the Rethugs from lying this significant portion of the American electorate into the arms of the Republican Party.

This is great. This is beyond great, it's an actual initiative that we need, want and will pay amazing dividends. The purpose of this is not to convert people to religion or to interfere in religion. The purpose of this is to directly and forcefully rebut Rethug lies about the Democrats and God's Own Party. Gov. Dean is firing on all cylinders on this one and should be supported. Dem Catholics need a place to go where they can learn about their own 'faith traditions' and the incredibly important moral imperatives of those traditions. Catholics need to be reminded that poverty and the absolute moral command to alleviate this for the common good is a moral value. And so forth. Abortion is against Catholic tradition, but so is abandoning the poor to circumstances where abortion becomes the only option. Social justice is not something to be thrown away as naive, it is a basis of Muslim, Jewish and Christian teachings in the world and believers are morally commanded to tend to it.

I wish Gov. Dean had not said that bit on Delay. Delay is bad on his own terms. The choice of language picks a silly and unnecessary fight. Someone is now going to have to 'put out' that little brush fire. What a waste of time. It's a shame, because some of this under-the-radar stuff I heard about was just great. It's going to take time to put this stuff into play and he will need money and people to do so. Stupid remarks make it harder. Arrrggghhhh! That said, I heard it in his remarks and cheered. But I was in the moment, not making the speech. (Red-faced TayTay!):blush:

[whometense]

18. If I'd been there,

I would have been cheering too. (No need to :blush:)

That's the crux - you and I are not politicians. We have to rely on the political smarts of the party leaders, and Dean ought to be thinking before he opens his mouth. At least, he shouldn't be saying things our pols have to correct/comment on. It just reinforces the unease he provokes in me.

[JohnKleeb]

16. That quote by Dean is a perfect explanation for why many have problems

with him. He acts like poltiics is some WWE wrestling match, I agree with what Barney said as well, and I bet hes being criticzed for this but hes right.

[ginnyinWI]

8. TayTay, you aren't alienating us

We love that one of "our own" has a chance to get out there and see what's going on and sort of represent our interests. You go girl! :)

[TayTay]

9. Much thanks, but I also want feet firmly on the ground

and no head in the clouds. I loved meeting some Kerry staffers. They are still in recovery, but are almost out of it. You can just see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices when they talk. The wistfulness is still there. The 'Why am I still at a State Convention' look in the eyes LOL! These folks are invariably young, (as opposed to the 'Think Tank' people, more on that later) incredibly intelligent and motivated.

I was just moved by these folks. They show up. They work hard to get older, richer, more famous people into the public spotlight and then spend so much of their time in the background putting out fires. They put in ridiculous hours and are always on call. (Roger works at the pleasure of his boss. That's the rule. Senators can hire and fire at will and without cause, just a whim. Fortunately, Sen. Kerry is a good guy and has some damn intensely loyal staffers and ex-staffers. But it is a hard life. No wonder those folks are mostly young 'uns. The burn-out rate is very high.) Some of them, like Roger, are just completely hooked on certain pols because those pols have that certain something that inspires them. Kerry did that for him. Hence the tattoo on his wrist. It's why Roger came back to the Senate office. It's why he is intensely curious about what people in other parts of the country still think about his boss. It's why he will, again, spend a lot of time thinking about 'the next run.' You can just see this stuff in their eyes.

(Another aside. I am humble by choice. It keeps me a democrat and not a whiny, self-important bitch. I am weary of seeing this type. My husband ran for unpaid public office because he wanted to serve. He thought he had some talents to share in the public sphere. That's it. You would not believe the number of people who think being elected to something means they are somehow better than others or deserve the star treatment. So many of these folks are also just local folks, but they love the perks. That offends me so much. It is an honor to serve in a public office, an honor that can be taken away pretty quickly. Some people forget that. Oddly enough, or logically enough, most of the folks in higher office know this and are good folks. But some local people need to remember they serve the public trust and the public does not serve them.)

[blm]

12. Best advice to Roger: JK needs to openly discuss BCCI connex to terror

and its funding and how, if the investigation had not been blocked by the Bush White House, the fight against terror and those international finaciers, banking institutions, and certain state governments who financed the terrorists would have begun in earnest by 1990.

Too many people are completely unaware that Kerry spotted this problem, investigated it, exposed much of it, and crafted legislative solutions to the terror problems more than TEN YEARS BEFORE 9-11, and all the while the GOP powerstructures lined up to OBSTRUCT the investigation and prevent any serious notice of the entire terror issue.

[politicasista]

17. I agree.

Plus, it would decrease the label that Dems are weak on Terrorism. or would it not?:shrug:

[blm]

19. The GOP was abetting the terrorists by blocking Kerry's work against them.

Republicans and their presidents should be in jail for the treason they committed then against this country.

[kerrygoddess]

11. There is some level of disconnect between JK's offices

Which most likely plays out in the reactions from staffers about what people are doing on the internet with regards to supporting JK.

His PAC which is now running JohnKerry.com has little contact with his Senate offices, per FEC regulations they can not coordinate. It's his PAC staff who handles all the KidsFirst and other email action alert stuff.

Campaign staffers are all gone. Some who worked for JK before the campaign still do. Some who worked for him during the campaign were rehired as Senate staffers or PAC staffers.

As a rule Senator's offices don't send out emails alerting constituents to floor speechs. The general public does not care about that stuff. Only political junkies and the press do. Some press releases come out after the fact. JK's office has sent out press releases recently alerting to floor speeches they felt were important enough to announce ahead of time. I post these when ever I can on LUTD and here.

During the campaign there were limitations as to coordinating with Kerry supporter websites and blogs, the same I believe holds true to his Senate office coordinating with any supporter websites or blogs.

They also have to be very careful as to who information is given to lest it get spun the wrong way. I learned all of this when I wrote for the campaign blog and worked with various staffers who were knowledged about all of this.

[TayTay]

13. Confusing, isn't it?

That's why this is a strange dance. I have some access only because I am a genuine constituent. (Who lives in a Mass/New Hampshire border town. Some geographic locations are better than others LOL!) So I can ask about some of this stuff and get some answers, but some of it belongs to other offices, which can't talk about it. And so forth. Bless you KG for your patience in figuring this out.

It is amazing how much staffers go from one office to the other. I get whip-lash trying to figure out which person is where and what hat they are wearing now. You are correct in how the coordination is done about floor speeches and stuff. (And it matters. A different fund paid for Sen. Kerry to go on the road recently to give the KidsFirst speeches. That stuff is strictly accounted for and there is a big legal difference as to who pays for this stuff. 'Bad road trips and the people who pay for them' is what is giving that weasel Tom Delay in trouble. Fortunately, Sen. Kerry's folks are great about making sure everything is open and above board.)

That brings me back to my question: What do I want from them? I don't know for sure, given what you have so clearly stated above.

[kerrygoddess]

14. I have a feeling...

that Kerry's staff is reticent to do too much online right now given the speculation over whether he will run again and his desire to help in the 2006 races.

I would think that giving them a list of all the Blogs/Websites supporting JK would be useful to them, regardless of whether they reach out them or not.

[TayTay]

15. I agree, That would be nice

Plus I am going to e-mail him the web site where those nice Austin pics are.

I know a lot of local pols. I am beginning to know a lot more staffers for local pols. (And the other staffers who are election people.) It is a new world for me. I knew the think tank people before and was comfortable hanging out with them. The actual staffers are a whole new expereince. (Sort of.)

[blm]

21. I've also noticed a number of younger ones aren't as familiar with his

actual record in public office and they fail to make simple connections.

[k j]

20. Thanks!

Great posts, TayTay. For what it's worth, I didn't once get the feeling you were trying to do anything other than report what happened. :-)

As for "...he is intensely curious about what people in other parts of the country still think about his boss."

I can say, here in Missouri, there is still a sadness (I'm in a rural red area) that the campaign seemed to give up on us. I'm not saying they did, and I'm not saying that if they did they didn't have reason to, but we're sort of lost in the wilderness here, it's a top-to-bottom red state, and for the longest time, many of felt like we could be a state that turned blue.

While I still see Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers (got in a conversation with a woman just this weekend who still had hers on her car), there is some talk about Edwards, because the CW is, maybe he can connect better than Kerry did in the rural areas.

I'm as loyal a Kerry supporter as you'll find, so please take this how it was intended. I'm just reporting what I hear around town re: "next time." I happen to think Kerry will do just fine "next time," but then, I believe in the guy. (And I believe in my ability to help him here, too!)

Also, a good friend still lives in Massachusetts and she agrees with your post above, Kerry needs to keep those home fires burning, too.

SO GLAD to hear Lakoff is being digested. I've sort of thrown myself into his work since November, and am just now starting on Wallis.

Again, thanks for report.