Sunday, September 19, 2004
Several Hollis Democrats attended the Victory 2004 Volunteer Convention at Portland High School, an organizing event for the First Congressional District put on by the Maine Democratic Party.
We each signed in, received a Volunteer Organizer Kit of resource documents for our campaign work, and found a seat in the auditorium with others behind the sign of our county.
Volunteer leader John Henessey spoke first, welcoming and thanking those who had come. He announced that we were among over 250 volunteers, including 40 from York County.
Several activists shared their stories:
Sam Spencer had been a Democratic National Committee member and later an aid to Al Gore during the aftermath of the 2000 election. He told of being at work preparing arguments in Florida when the news came that the Supreme Court had ruled to stop the recount and make George Bush president. He told of returning to Washington as the only person wearing a "Gore" hat in a plane full those with "W" hats, who were celebrating this outcome.
Sam said that he had become involved in this campaign because it is clear that a single election can change the course of history, and that a small additional turnout could make the difference.
Darlene Huntress spoke next of how after watching the changes the Bush administration brought, she found herself screaming at the television,
"I can’t believe this is happening--how can they let them do this?" Then she realized that "We are They" and that participation in democracy is much more than voting. The Republicans do not want you to have a voice. "They want you to remain silent, and our silence is what will defeat us. Never shut up. Never stop asking questions. Never stop demanding answers", she urged us, and quoted Martin Luther King: "Our lives begin to end on the day that we remain silent on the things that matter."
Stan Freidman, who had worked on the Robert Kennedy campaign, spoke of the need to do "old-fashioned retail politics" as a way to increase voter turnout, and to "talk to people who are different from you". He stated that President Bush has taken us to war in Iraq for reasons we now know are wrong, that is has become a quagmire and "an administration that treats lives and treasure in this fashion does not deserve a second term."
Portland Representative Ben Dudley talked of the need to unify our actions for a common purpose. He spoke of how the American People were there, together after 9-11 and on Afghanistan, but that then President Bush lost it with policy after policy that divided us and sought "to pound down the minority voice."
The lights dimmed and a short film featuring messages from John Kerry and many other volunteers across the country about the importance of our work.
After a break for snacks the volunteers for York County met in the cafeteria for a training session with Samantha Kurkjy and Kate Nyhan. We went over the materials in the Volunteer Kit in detail, and the process of Get-Out-the-Vote activities, including calling voters and door-to-door canvassing.
Volunteers returned to the auditorium and welcomed Tom Allen with a standing ovation.
"The work that you do is critical." He told us. "We are all in this together and all want a country that we can be really proud to live in" and face the same challenges: that of competing in the global economy, investing in education, health care, renewable energy and conservation, protecting the environment. Allen said that the administration’s policies amount to "eating our seed corn." That they have taken individualism to an extreme and their idea of an ‘Ownership Society’ is really an ‘On-Your-Own’ Society.
"You cannot seize opportunity unless you can create it as a community. Success comes from working hard and getting help from others. We are connected to each other because we are connected to something transcendent. Be active citizens and put the common good above self interest."
On Sunday September 26, A follow-on local organizing meeting Hollis Democrats. Samantha, from the Democratic Coordinated Campaign, will be there to assist in our work. See the Events Calendar page on this website for more information and directions to the meeting place.
Thursday June 3rd - Our Representative Bonita Breault hosted a candidate’s evening of Democrats in her home in Buxton. Candidates introduced themselves to a wide range of Democrats in attendance, from the more recently active to well-known party elders. Bonita is running for re-election as House District 131 Representative.
House Majority Leader John Richardson spoke in praise of Bonita’s work as Representative and on the Insurance Commission. In particular, her taking a stand to support the Dirigo Healthcare program and the interests of the people of Maine, even though it was at odds with the position of the administration of the healthcare institution where she worked.
He also urged those present to vote "No" on Referendum Question 1 proposed by the Maine Municipal Association, stating that although well-intentioned, it would require the State to come up with an estimated $250 million dollars to meet the 55% funding level. It would be difficult to make additional cuts after the $1.2 Billion already made to close the gap from revenue shortfalls during the slow economic period of recent years, and raising taxes would affect Maine's already high level-of-taxation ranking compared to other states.
"The State has been increasing its funding of education steadily," he said, "but with the growth of local education costs, the 55% level became a moving target."
John warned not to assume that you can vote for Question 1 and depend on the Legislature then having the ability to work out an alternative, since it is often difficult to do so with an explicit mandate from voters in the form of a referendum. He acknowledged that the legislature had hurt its credibility by not passing an alternative yet, and asked that the Legislature be given another chance to enact reform and that voters defeat this referendum.
[To hear arguments by Democratic Senators both for and opposed to passage of Q1, listen to the MPR Call-in Audio Program Article on the State/Local Articles page.]
Senate candidate Barry Hobbins, House candidate Dave Farrington, and District Attorney candidates Mark Lawrence and Lloyd LaFountain also briefly spoke.
Jane Ryan told the gathering of the creation of this web site and Veronica Hartman talked about the activities of the Hollis Democratic Committee and activists. This group met to discuss planned and potential future activities including:
- Getting out the vote for the General Election, communicating with local voters via this website, email, and by other low-tech means--especially reaching out to the many non-voting Democrats and un-enrolled
- A two-track strategy, one to work within the time until the November election and existing system constraints in a with a pragmatic way, and two, to work to change the systems in a more idealistic way over a longer period of time--to put personal and Democratic values such as those expressed in the Maine Democratic Party into practice to work things such as a Single-payer Universal Healthcare system, Instant Runoff Voting, Public Financing of Elections, and the other causes on our Issues page.
- Having regular meetings for the group, and possibly meeting place, in addition to other public events.
- That although there is much important work to do, that activities and being involved with the group will be mutually supportive and FUN.
- Get-togethers to watch political programs videotaped from PBS, or films, audio tapes of programs, and then discuss them as well as recent articles and books.
Friday May 9th - Mark Lawrence opens his new website for re-election as District Attorney.
Sunday April 25th - Members of the Hollis Democratic Committee met at the Salmon Falls Library. It was the first get-together to continue the work begun at the caucus last February. Mark Lawrence, District Attorney for York County and former Democratic Senate President, attended. Topics discussed included Local Democratic community-building ideas, and possible future events, including the creation of a (this) website to communicate with the community. Also, the upcoming Presidential Election, the IRV (Instant Runoff Voting), the escalating cost of elections and the efforts to increase the level of public funding of elections.
