Defunct.

Due to increased work demands, this site will be placed on hold temporarily. Perhaps once the private fundraising becomes less the focus and public schedules are available online it will be reactivated.

Clinton in Florence, SC

Florence Mayor Frank Willis thought his wife was joking when she said he had a call from Senator Clinton, just as he was sitting down to watch the SuperBowl.
Willis told Clinton on the phone that day, if you're going to win South Carolina, you have to come to rural South Carolina. President's Day, she did just that. Several hundred people showed up in Florence to meet and greet Senator Hillary Clinton as she kicked off her presidential campaign in South Carolina. Clinton addressed several national issues, but specifically highlighted some of ones that impact our area. "South Carolina has lost jobs, particularly in the textile industry." She also talked about a push for health care. "One of our pieces of unfinished business is to have universal health care." And she talked energy. "South Carolina can produce a lot of it's own energy."

Vilsack in Winterset, IA

Radio Iowa has all the best stuff.

Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and his wife spoke to a crowd of about 60 Democrats in Winterset last night about Vilsack's presidential campaign. Jim Nelson of Winterset likes Vilsack, but it'll be at least six months before Nelson decides which candidate to back in the Iowa Caucuses. "Unfortunately, it's probably who gets the most money is who's going to win it," Nelson says.

But Pam Deichmann of Winterset, a member of the Madison County Democratic Party central committee, gives Vilsack "excellent" chances. "As it shakes out, then you begin to know if they can or not...and he's jumped in there and made a point," Deichmann says. "...I'm not ready to think he can't do it."

Robert Bell of Winterset has boarded the Vilsack for president bandwagon. "Once people get off of all of the fanfare with a couple of the other candidates, I think Tom'll really show 'em up when it comes down to substance," Bell says. Patty Linius of Winterset was there to take the measure of Vilsack as a presidential candidate.

Biden in Nevada already.

US Senator Joe Biden used a Presidents Day forum in Reno to blast the incumbent and to say why he should succeed George Bush.

The Delaware Democrat told an audience of more than 100 at the
Grand Sierra Resort that Bush's plan to escalate the number of troops in Iraq is what he calls "a tragic, tragic mistake."

Biden, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says Bush has criticized those who oppose his plans to escalate American involvement in the war for emboldening the enemy.

Biden says it's the failed policies of the Bush administration that are emboldening the enemy.

Biden is in Northern Nevada for tomorrow's Democratic presidential forum in Carson City.

The event also will feature US Senators Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd, former vice presidential candidate John Edwards; former US Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska; Congressman Dennis Kucinich, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

Obama in Texas

Senator Barack Obama Fundraiser

Date:	Thursday February 22, 2007
Time:	9:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Type:	Other (Public)
Location:	Communications Workers of America - Local 6222, 1730 Jefferson

Edwards in Dubuque, IA Video

Gravel interview with Blogs

From the blogs (click through to read entire post):

In the first part of our email interview Gravel discusses, among other things, what we should do in Iraq, how to deal with Iran, and how the "Fair Tax" can eliminate the IRS.

1) After leaving the U.S. Senate over 25 years ago, what prompted you to climb back into the campaign saddle and make a run for the Presidency and, with most of the media coverage currently focusing on Senators Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, what do you believe you offer to Americans that the early Democratic front-runners don't have?

On November 7th of last year, Americans went to the polls to send a clear message to the House of Representatives and Senate; stand up to George W. Bush and end the War in Iraq. We celebrated that victory in the hopes that after three disastrous years in Iraq our country was finally heading in the right direction. However, the Democrats have so far refused to respond to the will of the American people and call for a withdrawal of American troops, even as a January USA/Gallup poll has just 26% of Americans supporting Bush's handling the war.

The current Democratic leadership continues to lash out at George Bush for raising troop levels, while they avoid taking action. They have opted for a non-binding resolution that opposes the President's troop escalation by singling out dissenting Republicans. While they have maintained their criticisms, they are refusing to take further action to block the move.

We need a new direction. We need a President that will restore sanity and morality and integrity to the White House. We need experienced leadership that will strengthen our communities at home while restoring our reputation and relations abroad. Any Democrat who voted to authorize the war in Iraq is morally unfit to hold the office of the President.

2) As a U.S. Senator during the Vietnam War years you were famous for releasing the "Pentagon Papers" and your five-month filibuster that helped end the military draft. Do you think your experience in that era gives you added insight into the current War in Iraq?

Yes. For twelve years I served in the United States Senate during another disastrous war. I know what it means to take on a Republican administration that has lost its moral compass. Each day for five years I fought from the floor of the Senate to demand an end to a war that cost the lives of 60,000 US troops and millions of Vietnamese men, women and children. I launched a one-man filibuster against the draft. I stood up to the Nixon administration all the way to the Supreme Court. This is the kind of political ambition that we lack today and that I seek to restore to government. We must use our full range of constitutional authority against those in government whose actions fail to uphold the constitution.

3) It seems everybody in Washington is looking for an "exit strategy" in Iraq, but the debate has mainly been framed in slogans such as "stay the course," "cut and run" and nebulous "time lines". Is there a good strategy out there and, if so, what do you think it is?

The best exit strategy for Iraq is an immediate withdrawal. I do not accept the rationale that it was wrong to go, but right to stay. I refuse to support an illegal war and occupation that the Bush administration sold to the American people with lies and deception. Today, the Presidency stands for preemptive war and institutionalized torture. The office of the Presidency deserves better.

Some Democrats, even some running for President, are now admitting that they made a mistake when they voted to authorize the war in Iraq. But we knew then what we know now; that the President's rush to invade Iraq concealed the truth of the matter which is that the evidence was faulty. Neither Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix nor IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei could definitively say that Iraq had WMD. We now know, of course, that they did not.

Obama in Nevada

Illinois Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama brought his campaign to the Silver State.

Senator Obama spoke Sunday at the Clark County Government Center. During his speech, Obama touched on his relatively short amount of time in office, but still believes he knows what is right for the country.

Obama said, especially when it comes to the war in Iraq, " I have not been in Washington very long, but I have been there long enough to know Washington has to change. I know we cannot continue to send our young men and women into a Sectarian Civil War," said Sen. Barack Obama (D) Illinois, running for President.

Obama has stated he would like to pull U.S. Troops out of Iraq by March of 2008. Other key points in Obama's speech included global warming, better education, and stopping rising health costs.

Vilsack on The Situation Room

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack plans to go toe-to-toe with Wolf Blitzer this afternoon on CNN’s “Situation Room,” campaign aides said.
The appearance is one in an increasingly frequent series of national television appearances for Vilsack, an outsider candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Last week, Vilsack was a guest on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, riffing with the comic host and actor Jim Carrey.
It’s likely the spot with Blitzer, scheduled for the top of 3 p.m. hour, will be at least a little more serious than than his time with Leno.

Biden to speak in Reno

The Washoe County Democratic Party will host presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden at The Garage in the Grand Sierra Resort tonight at 6 pm.


What: “Let’s Get Visible” Fundraiser for the Washoe County Democratic Party (with special guest, Senator Joe Biden)

Where: The Garage at the Grand Sierra Resort, 5200 East Second Street

When: February 19, 2007, 6 p.m.

Tickets: Call the Washoe Democratic Party at 323-8683; $35 in advance or $40 at the door

Senator Joe Biden is the senior senator from Delaware, having served in the Senate for over thirty years. He chairs the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Sub Committee on Crime and Drugs.