The Amherst County Democratic Committee hereby announces that it will hold an assembled caucus beginning at 7:30 PM on Monday, April 23, 2012 at the Amherst County Public Library, 200 River James Shopping Center, Madison Heights, VA for the purpose of electing 10 delegates and 2 alternates to the 6th Congressional District Democratic Convention (May 19th, Lexington, VA) and the 2012 Virginia Democratic State Convention (June 2nd, Fairfax, VA).
Any person wishing to seek election as a delegate or alternate must file with David Burford, Chair of the Amherst County Democratic Committee, 178 Trents Landing Road, Madison Heights, VA 24572, no later than 5:00 PM, Wednesday, April 18, 2012. A voluntary administrative fee of $10.00 (which may be waived) will be collected at the time of filing for those wishing to be elected as delegate or alternate, a $5.00 for the 6th Congressional District Convention, and a $10 fee for the 2012 Virginia Democratic State Convention.
There is no charge for those wishing to attend and vote at the caucus.
Doors to the caucus will open at 6:30 PM for check-in. Any person attending the caucus, before participating in such caucus, shall sign a standardized Caucus Participation Form stating that he or she is a Democrat, does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee in the ensuing general election, believes in the principles of the Democratic Party, and is a registered voter in Amherst County.
Caucus Participation Forms must be filled out at the caucus prior to participating in the caucus. At 7:30 PM the doors to the caucus will be closed and no person may complete a form and participate in the caucus after that time, with the exception of those persons in line at 7:30 PM.
If only one person files for each delegate and alternate position, the caucus will be canceled. In this event the Chair will publicly announce the cancellation, proclaim the individuals properly filed as the duly nominated delegates and alternates, and so advise those individuals.
For further information, contact David Burford, Amherst County Democratic Committee, at 434-384-1731 or by email at dave_burford@verizon.net.
Authorized and paid for by the Amherst County Democratic Committee
PO Box 1411, Amherst, VA 24521
Dear Friends,
Calling all Amherst Dems! Would you like to attend the Congressional District Convention, the State Democratic Convention, or the BIG ONE - the Democratic National Convention?
Well, it all starts right here. Read the Call to Caucus below and request the Pre-Filing Form by return email to start the ball rolling.
PLEASE forward this message to others who may not be getting email. If there was ever a time to get involved in an election year, it's now. No experience necessary, and you can do as much or as little as you like. The important thing is that we all do something.
LOTS of INFO BELOW - PLEASE READ ON ...
Monday, April 23rd, 6:30 PM - A Caucus will be held to elect delegates and alternates to the 6th Congressional District Democratic Convention AND the State Democratic Convention. Scroll down for details. This Caucus is also the first step for anyone seeking election to the Democratic National Convention.
Any questions about being a Delegate or Alternate, please call or write David Burford - 434-384-1731, 434-841-7420, dave_burford@verizon.net.
Watch for more NEWS & INFORMATION ... Coming Soon ...
2012 Amherst County Call to Caucus
NOTICE OF AMHERST COUNTY
DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS
The Amherst County Democratic Committee hereby announces that it will hold an assembled caucus beginning at 7:30 PM on Monday, April 23, 2012 at the Amherst County Public Library, 200 River James Shopping Center, Madison Heights, VA for the purpose of electing 10 delegates and 2 alternates to the 6th Congressional District Democratic Convention (May 19th, Lexington, VA) and the 2012 Virginia Democratic State Convention (June 2nd, Fairfax, VA).
Any person wishing to seek election as a delegate or alternate must file with David Burford, Chair of the Amherst County Democratic Committee, 178 Trents Landing Road, Madison Heights, VA 24572, no later than 5:00 PM, Wednesday, April 18, 2012. A voluntary administrative fee of $10.00 (which may be waived) will be collected at the time of filing for those wishing to be elected as delegate or alternate, a $5.00 for the 6th Congressional District Convention, and a $10 fee for the 2012 Virginia Democratic State Convention.
There is no charge for those wishing to attend and vote at the caucus.
Doors to the caucus will open at 6:30 PM for check-in. Any person attending the caucus, before participating in such caucus, shall sign a standardized Caucus Participation Form stating that he or she is a Democrat, does not intend to support any candidate who is opposed to a Democratic nominee in the ensuing general election, believes in the principles of the Democratic Party, and is a registered voter in Amherst County. Caucus Participation Forms must be filled out at the caucus prior to participating in the caucus.
At 7:30 PM the doors to the caucus will be closed and no person may complete a form and participate in the caucus after that time, with the exception of those persons in line at 7:30 PM.
If only one person files for each delegate and alternate position, the caucus will be canceled. In this event the Chair will publicly announce the cancellation, proclaim the individuals properly filed as the duly nominated delegates and alternates, and so advise those individuals.
For further information, contact David Burford, Amherst County Democratic Committee, at 434-384-1731 or by email at dave_burford@verizon.net.
COUNTY NEWS
Republicans Have Nothing to Say
Republicans are desperate. They can’t attack Obama on jobs because the jobs picture is improving.
Their attack on the Administration’s rule requiring insurers to cover contraception has backfired, raising hackles even among many Republican women.
Their attack on Obama for raising gas prices has elicited scorn from economists of all persuasions who know oil prices are set in global markets and that demand in the United States has actually fallen.
Their presidential ambitions are being trampled in a furious fraternal war among Republican candidates.
Their Tea Party wing wants to reopen the budget deal forged with Democrats after Republicans got bloodied by threatening to block an increase in the debt limit.
So what are Republicans to do now? What they always do when they have nothing else to say.
Call for a tax cut, of course.
It doesn’t matter that their new “tax reform” plan (leaked to the Wall Street Journal late Monday, to be released Tuesday morning) has as much chance of being enacted as Herman Cain has of being elected president.
It doesn’t matter than the plan doesn’t detail how they plan to pay for the tax cuts. Or whether an even bigger whack would have to be taken out of Medicare than Paul Ryan’s original voucher plan – which would drowned many elderly under rising medical costs.
It doesn’t even matter that the plan would probably raise taxes on many lower-income Americans, All that matters is the headlines.
“House Republican Budget to Propose Lower Income Tax Rates,” says Bloomberg Businessweek. “Republican Budget Plan Seeks to Play Up Tax Reform,” says Reuters. “GOP’s Budget Targets Taxes,” blares the Wall Street Journal.
Presto. Republicans have gotten what they wanted on the basis of saying absolutely nothing.
Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written thirteen books, including The Work of Nations, Locked in the Cabinet, Supercapitalism, and his most recent book, Aftershock.
His "Marketplace" commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes. He is also Common Cause's board chairman.
HEADLINES
USA NEWS
WORLD NEWS
POLITICAL
Mitt Not Smart Enough To Quit and Go Home
Mitt Romney has been running for president for six years – and he still can't seal the deal.
After losing the Republican nomination to John McCain in 2008, Romney became the presumptive nominee this time around.
The problem is, no one told the rank-and-file Republicans.
Rick shot to the top of the GOP Mountain for about 5 days till his memory failed him at a debate and he disappeared.
Herman recently learned that harrass is one word and that it does not refer to the posterior portion of the human body. Imagine how much money it would have saved him to learn that earlier.
They’ve gone from Rick Perry to Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and now Rick Santorum. And if Santorum's sweep this week didn't shake Romney up, it should have.
Compared with Romney, Santorum has little money or organization. But conservative voters like him.
For many, the bottom line is that Romney just hasn't been able to connect. He is seen as out of touch, too scripted and even aloof.
Think about the infamous $10,000 bet he offered during one debate or his comment that he's not that worried about the very poor.
Think about how he likes to fire people and his wife's two caddies and the elevator in his new home for his vehicles and how the trees are just the right heigth or the piddling little amount he made giving speeches ($347,000). This man is ill equipped to relate to normal working people.
Furthermore, it's not really clear what Romney's message is, other than attacking President Obama. As Howard Kurtz writes in the Daily Beast, Romney "lacks an animating idea that would bring voters to their feet."
Romney is still the likely Republican nominee. However, with low voter turnout and a lack of enthusiasm among Republicans, there are signs that he might not fare that well against Obama.
Mitt is Obsessed with being President. Mitt has thrown awy over 50 million dollars of his own money chasing the position and several times that of rich supporters money. Voters just aren't that fond of Mitt and it is well known that he will say anything to pander to an audience.
THE MITT ROMNEY CRISIS transcends the seven straight national polls showing Rick Santorum in the lead. It goes
beyond the embarrassing reality that the son of an auto executive and two-term governor has been behind in every Michigan poll conducted since Groundhog’s Day. Even more devastating for Romney is that elite Republicans have begun to conclude that he cannot, if nominated, beat Barack Obama. About the only argument that still works for Romney among GOP insiders is that he would be less of a drag on the ticket than the strident Santorum
or the mercurial Newt Gingrich.
Newt owned the red neck, right wing, cracker, bigot vote lock stock and barrell. This voting block is also known as the republican base.
With the exception of Mike Dukakis (what is it about governors of Massachusetts?), it is impossible to recall a top-tier presidential contender who aroused such little passion among the voters. Perhaps Bob Dole in 1996—but if the Bobster didn't inspire awe in Republican voters, he could at least count on their respect.
Compared to Dole's status as a former vice-presidential nominee, Senate leader, and war hero, Romney's boasts about the 2002 Winter Olympics and his single term as governor suffer from transparent grade inflation.
Of course, other major presidential contenders have faced the political abyss and managed to rebound to win the nomination. But no one has ever quite faced Romney’s particular double whammy of problems: that he's not very well liked by voters while
NOT Mitt's Dog Seamus
Bill Clinton (1992). Roughly one million male babies were born in America between August 1946 and March 1947. Among them, it is hard to imagine two that had less in common (other than high IQ’s) than Romney and Clinton. In 1992, facing furors over both Gennifer Flowers and his Vietnam draft record, Clinton begged New Hampshire voters for a second chance telling them, “I’ll be with you until the last dog dies.” If Romney tried to turn on
the charisma in an effort to morph into the Comeback Kid, it would come out as something wooden like: “Well, gosh. I will be with you using the job-creation skills that I learned in the private sector until we get Seamus off the car roof.”
I could not believe the lies GW Bush told about me. GW and Karl are both scum.
George W. Bush (2000). After John McCain won the New Hampshire primary in a 19-point landslide, Bush was in danger of losing not only his aura of inevitability but also the nomination itself. McCain had a potent issue (campaign reform) while Bush had his family pedigree and bromides about “compassionate conservatism.” With Bush facing potential defeat in the South Carolina primary, Karen Hughes pulled off one of the most brazen acts of political repackaging in recent history. At a South Carolina rally, Bush was suddenly proclaimed as the "Reformer With Results" even though he had displayed scant interest in campaign reform as Texas governor. This adroit blurring of McCain’s message played a major role in the Bush bounce back.
Romney might admire the cynicism of the Bush gambit, but the man from Bain Capital has already gone through more costume changes than the Royal Shakespeare Company. Each time Romney claims to be something he isn’t, he excavates deeper into his personal credibility gap. At CPAC earlier this month, he boldly tried to recast his moderate record as Massachusetts’ governor as a bit to the right of Calvin Coolidge. But Romney was not satisfied with his speech text claiming to have been a “conservative governor.” So, with his unerring instinct for insincere bombast, Romney ad-libbed that he was a “severely conservative governor.”
The solution to many problems of political authenticity is for the candidate to abandon the dictates of his handlers and just go with his instincts. The problem for Romney is that the doctrine of “Let Mitt Be Mitt” would probably produce a candidate with the warmth of a business consultant and the inner conviction of a market-based algorithm. In short, hiding behind that Mitt Romney mask is (yikes) another Mitt Romney mask.
John Kerry (2004). Unable to compete with Howard Dean’s antiwar fervor and John Edwards’ ersatz populism, Kerry was flailing in the weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Despite rivaling Romney with his frosty demeanor (what is it about Massachusetts?), Kerry prevailed by convincing Democrats that his war record offered the party a formula for victory in November. After his back-to-back victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Massachusetts senator romped to the nomination as a rare modern candidate whose calling card was his purported electability.
Kerry boasted an advantage in the 2004 race that Romney lacks—a 20-year record of ideological consistency. Like all of his rivals except for Dean, Kerry erred in initially voting for the Iraq War. But Kerry, who made his initial reputation as a soldier turned Vietnam critic, never had any major problems convincing party activists that he was a liberal who had made an isolated mistake.
Romney, in contrast, went into this campaign offering Republican activists little more than the promise that he would be the strongest candidate against Obama. But as Romney’s scorched-earth campaign tactics drive down his general-election poll numbers and his campaign-trail awkwardness jeopardizes his argument for electability, he is left without a rationale for his candidacy. If Republicans don’t feel good about Romney and don’t think he will win in November, then why would they vote for him in the primaries?
The brutal truth is that there are some business-school problems that are as hard to solve as Fermat’s Last Theorem. A new marketing campaign or a clever slogan cannot save a dog food that the dogs don’t like. So too is it with the Romney campaign. At this point, his only hope is to prevail by using about the oldest argument in politics: “The other guys are worse.” And considering the caliber of his opponents (the Three Horsemen of the Republican Apocalypse), Mitt Romney may just get away with it in the primary. But this is not the stuff that promising general election campaigns are made of.
ACV Democratic News
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