Your questions answered about Just Say No Deal

“You can accomplish much if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

I don’t know who made that quote up but it is apropos of what Just Say No Deal is about. There were a lot of questions about Just Say No Deal on the previous thread and as I and Mawn and Kbird were on the call, I thought we’d provide the answers. (Mawm, Kbird, jump in at any time)

Here’s what I know:

What is Just Say No Deal?

Just Say No Deal is a coalition of bloggers, activists and other grassroots organizations whose goal is to stop Obama and the takeover of the Democratic party by the Dean Democrats and the Chicago machine. It came into being shortly after Hillary’s suspension speech last week when a group of blogs and activists held their first conference call.

Who is Will Bowers and who appointed him god of PUMA?

Will Bower is just another blogger. We should all just chill about various blog sites using PUMA. It turns out to be very, VERY effective. SM should take a bow for coming up with the concept. The symbol of the puma will soon be as recognizable as the donkey and the elephant. It stands for watchfulness, patience, and attacking when the time is right. Anyway, there are numerous PUMA sites springing up all over the place. It’s catchy and viral and gosh darn, it’s just the thing we needed. So, we are Conflucians but we are also a part of the PUMA movement. And no, Bowers doesn’t represent us when he says he is planning to vote for McCain and we made it clear to him tonight that that is not our plan. Our plan is to remain detached from both parties, to withhold our votes. to make those votes worth something, to make them valuable. If we give them away in the name of unity, we accomplish nothing. The parties need to start soliciting us for votes. That is where our power is. If they ignore us, if they try to take us out, they will pay in November.

Why is Bowers our official spokesman?

He’s not. He just happens to live in DC and he was able to snag some media attention.

What is the action plan for Just Say No Deal?

Friends, there is a point in a grassroots organization when there is a decision to *have* a grassroots organization. That is where we are. However, time is of the essence so while we are in the planning stages, we must also make our voices heard. We need to take advantage of all the free media that we can get to spread the word. Our first goal is to let as many people as possible know that we are not just rolling over, that we care deeply about what happens to the party and that the other 18 million of us are not alone. There are many, many others who feel the need to do something. The process the DNC used to take Clinton out was planned. It was probably in the works before the primaries started. We don’t need to get too conspiratorial here. There is plenty of circumstantial evidence that points to plans to elect the anti-Clinton candidate. But what do we do about it? Well, at this point, the superdelegates are probably out of our reach. They have either been paid off or intimidated. Writing to them may be of little use. But what if our movement grows stronger? There is already noise from the Obama machine suggesting that we are making them nervous. Good. Let’s keep it up. That’s means we’re being effective.

Why is the website only half done?

The website is being put together by some marketing and PR gurus. They put that baby together in about 24 hours. There is a lot of filling in to do. If you want to see what Diane and her crew are capable of, go to HireHeels. It’s pretty impressive. Tonight’s conference call was a brainstorming session. There were a lot of ideas flying around and that seems chaotic. But I have confidence that Just Say No Deal is in competent hands and with our help, we can turn ourselves into a sophisticated online presence.

Why virtual?

Just Say No Deal is not ruling out real time, on the ground activism. But at the present time, we are interested in building a movement, a collection of sites and millions of people to say, “Here we are. We’re ordinary voters. Each one of us is one of 18 million. We are not signing onto the illegitimate nomination of Barack Obama. And this nominating process isn’t over until WE say it’s over.” When the time comes for rallies and protests, we will be there as well but our most important goal is to be an online organization ala MoveOn.

So, there you have it. That is some of what I learned tonight. Some of us have already volunteered to help fill in those pages, make entries in databases, confront the media, gather information, make viral videos, register ourselves as the appropriate action committees, distribute opposition research and prepare rapid response emails. There are going to be bumps along the way and we must get our act together quickly. But the bottom line is although we all may have different voting strategies in November, we are united in one thing right now: we will not be silenced by our own party. Our votes are our own. The Democrats are not entitled to them. And there is power in a union.

There is a THERE there: Just Say No Deal!

Ladies and Gents, you’ve all been waiting for a call to action, something to do.  You’ve got this resolve, this intestinal fortitude- your vote.  What are you going to do with it?

There is an answer.  We are now a member of a Rogue Coalition of PUMAs, NOBAMA websites, disaffected Clintonistas.  The name of our coalition is Just Say No Deal.

Go.  Join.  Spread the word.

One Million Agents of Change!

Whoo-hoo! We have a million hits! Now, I know that some of you are repeat offenders but a girl can dream, can’t she? Quite a feat and one I never expected that cold bleak January day when Markos Moulitsas suspended my privileges. Of course, I couldn’t have done it alone and I didn’t. Everyone who contributes to this blog is responsible for this (and you will be investigated by the DNC as soon as they can afford to hire the people to do the legwork). Thanks to:

ronkseattle, katiebird, bostonboomer, garychapelhill, litigatormom, dotcommodity, regencyg, hlr, plukasiak, mawm

and all of the many commenters, both old and new.

The party said they wanted Change! and we now have the leverage to give them what they wanted. Who’s in with me? This is our moment.

Now, everybody get up and dance. PAR-TAY!!!:

One more thing: We will be participating in a conference call with HireHeels (see them in the blogroll). So, I’m asking everyone here, what steps should we take going forward? What kind of message would you like to send? What ideas do you have for making our voices heard and spreading the word? You can put your suggestions in the comments.

Sunday: When they say it’s not about money, it’s about money

Anglachel has a new post up, Representation. (Be patient, Conflucians, Anglachel has more important stuff on her plate right now) where she says she thinks we are watching the decomposition of the Democratic party. I have to agree. And some of it definitely smacks of nefarious activity. No doubt about it. But I think at the bottom of all of it is – money.

We turned off the spigots which caused Dean et al to hold their breath and vow to not budge and inch until we capitulated. And we won’t capitulate because we are demanding fairness, by historical precedent and in process so we withhold *more* money. Which causes the DNC to rely more heavily on the Obama donors. But even the Obama donors are restricted by law to a certain donation amount and no more. So, no matter what the Obama money asks for, there is only so much leverage they can use. They’ve gotten just about everything now anyway. But it’s not enough to feed the downticket dems, who are really starting to hurt. Now, the whole party infrastructure, from the top of the ticket to the lowliest dogcatcher is at the mercy of Howard Dean’s tyrannical rule and Obama’s money. It is a vicious cycle and it is all starting to unravel, bit by bit.

My local congressional candidate, Linda Stender, came within 4000 votes of beating Santorum wannabe, Mike Ferguson. This year, she doesn’t have Mikey to kick around anymore but Kate Whitman, the daughter of former governor Christie Todd Whitman, is her new rival. I thought Stender was a shoe-in this season but Kate has name recognition and a moderate Republican pedigree that could put this district in play again. Stender, as progressive a Democrat as you would ever hope to find, is in need of campaign funds and when the cost benefit analysis of the DNC starts to be played out on the balance sheet, NJ is going to be the last place they are going to want to spend money. They *think* NJ is reliably blue so even when the DNC is flush with cash, NJ gets little of it.

That’s a crying shame. Stender’s campaign would have been a whole lot easier had Clinton been at the top of the ticket. She would have had moderate suburban NJ women eating out of her hand. It could have been a landslide. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. So many opportunities now imperiled by Dean’s megalomaniacal 50 state strategy and testosterone poisoned election year atmosphere. Can Pelosi be so stupid as to sign on to this willingly? If so, she needs a serious primary challenger.

Anyway, if the rumors are true that now GLBT delegates for Obama are being systematically purged and replaced with loyalists, then the Dean-Obama machine must be in an even deeper hole than we think. That plus the other rumor that Clinton’s name will not be on the first ballot suggests Dean is not quite sure that the pledged delegates, now waking up from their rohypnol induced psychogenic fugue and seeing the horror of their Party imploding, wlll honor their pledges. Can anyone even imagine such a thing in their lifetime? A woman candidate who got more than half of the votes in the primaries is deliberately left off the ballot? That those of us who voted for her would have our votes not counted at all? That we mean even less than Florida and Michigan? We are nothing?

Well, no money for the DNC then. And the cycle begins again. Some people never learn.

One other thing: We are about to hit the millionth hit. Please join me in celebration and help Hillary retire her campaign debt. You can do this to her directly but visiting the page that Heidi Li has set up for this purpose: Heidi Li’s Potpourri Retire the Debt! Her campaign terminated my monthly contributions earlier this week, so I’ll be sending her the balance in a lump sum. And if you have a little bit extra, consider sending it to the congressional candidate of your choice who needs your support more than ever. For NJ, here’s my recommendation: Linda Stender for NJ-07.