August 19, 2007 - Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa (ABC) 8PM
August 27-28, 2007 - Cancer Forum, Cedar Rapids, IA (MSNBC & Live Streaming)
September 26, 2007 - Hanover, New Hampshire
October 30, 2007 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
November 15, 2007 - Las Vegas, Nevada
December 10, 2007 - Los Angeles, California
January 6, 2008 - Johnson County, Iowa
January 15, 2008 - Las Vegas, Nevada
January 31, 2008 - California
One week ago today, My Silver State, a progressive community blog for Nevada went live:
Nevada's liberal and progressive blogging community is bigger and more diverse than one might think. The blog roll on the right (which includes non-partisan blogs) is prove enough. My Silver State is not intended to replace any of these blogs, nor is this supposed to be just another blog.
My Silver State is a place for you. It's a place for every liberal and progressive, every Democrat in Nevada. My Silver State is a community blog where you can not only comment on what others have written but where you can actually contribute yourself by writing diaries.
My Silver State is decidedly partisan, meaning that this site supports Democrats and will work to advance progressive and liberal issues. Although this site is not associated with the Nevada State Democratic Party or any candidate for office, any party member and candidate is welcome to register and contribute to this community.
I just posted an event notice about the Democrats Work project in Reno this weekend. We're going to beautify a downtown park with some flowers this Saturday. Thought there may be some folks who are close to the border who may be interested. If so, you can sign up here.
I was born and raised in a very catholic, very conservative county. The less evil German equivalent to the Republican Party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has run this county continuously for the last 60 odd years raking in election results between 60 and 85% in all towns.
As everywhere, majority parties can get arrogant and complacent. This has been the case in the county of Vechta as well. The CDU is so used to winning that losing never came to mind. Traditionally, the parliamentary district comprised of the counties of Vechta and adjoining Cloppenburg always end up as the district with the best election results for the CDU in all of Germany. That is how conservative this area is.
However, voters in this county - like voters everywhere - aren't as stupid as many politicians make them out to be. The CDU made some really bad choices when looking for candidates for mayor in several towns in the last few years which has led to the result that as of now only six out of ten towns have a CDU mayor.
Tomorrow it will be five years ago that I was in Brussels, celebrating my 23rd birthday and my first day as an intern in the European Parliament (with my local conservative member, I have learned since ;)). Only one day later my birthday would forever be the day before 9/11.
Tomorrow I will turn 28 and not only has the pope just arrived in Germany to tell me why I live in sin and should not be allowed to marry. No, now ABC and Disney have to ruin my birthday as well. Thank you, but no thank you! Disney, I don't like my birthday present. Yank the film already!
Right after 9/11 I have witnessed days, weeks and months of unprecedented solidarity with the United States only to watch it all being destroyed by the scandalous behaviour of the Bush administration. This is why I, a former exchange student from Germany to the US, want to see Democrats win in November. This is why I write here and why I started my blog Turn Tahoe Blue because it's the only way I can help change the status quo.
Many people, especially in the media, think that modern campaigns means modern technology. And nothing more. I believe that is not the case and there are two campaigns in the Tahoe area that prove my point.
In 2004, I was one of thousands of Californians to trek across the border to Nevada and campaign.
When it comes to choosing a presidential nominee, California hasn't been relevant for a generation. But in 2008, our neighbor to the east will be sandwiched between Iowa and New Hampshire, meaning it will be far easier for progressives in California to ensure we don't have a DLC loser as the nominee.
For those in Northern California, I'm sure there will be buses rolling from the progressive candidates to haul supporters to Reno. Same with Southern California and the greater Vegas area. California is once again relevant in choosing a nominee when it comes to more than giving dollars. It will be fun to see how this plays out.
It's illegal for me to contribute, it's logistically impossible for me to volunteer since I'm not a citizen and don't live in the US. So I was a little bit in a quagmire because I really wanted to help turn things around and get Democrats back in power.
So, I thought what I could do instead. One month ago I started my own blog called Turn Tahoe Blue which has the aim of doing just that.
I was lucky enough to get an exclusive audio interview at Political Interviews with Sarah R. Carter, the talented young woman who has become the Blogsphere voice of the Jack Carter for Senate campaign.
With her influence,I'm sure, we had a former President join the Blogsphere one day then come back to answer some questions that were posed to him.
In my opinion, Sarah is positive proof of the power of a Campaign Blogger. The fact that she is family as well makes it that much more interesting.
The California angle? Well, as she pointed out to me, we don't have a competitive Senate race this year and the Carter Campaign intends to invite us back to Nevada for their primary and General elections. For those focused on the Senate, Nevada is a real opportunity to pick up a seat.
Listen for yourself. She is a fascinating person who is having a real impact on the campaign while balancing a lot of other things in her life.
