Puget Sound Liberals Weekly Newsletter #148

Enhancing Freedom, Opportunity and Cooperation in Puget Sound and Beyond

Through informing and networking Liberals and Liberal Organizations.

 

Our vision is hundreds of thousands of well-informed Puget Sound Liberals working together.

 

   2800 members                                                               November 14, 2008                                                                                                                  

 

 

 

 

                                                     

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                        Table of Contents  *Featured Articles

 

About Puget Sound Liberals

Communication, Opportunities and Petitions

 

Commentaries from Our Members

Dick Kroeger Has Died

Alan Durning: It’s the Worst of Times, Best of Times.

Jack Smith: Boldly Support Barack Obama

Valerie Tarico: Mutts Like Me

George and Patricia Robertson: Don’t Bailout GM

Bob Evans: Don’t Bailout Incompetent Automakers

K.C. Golden: Auto Bailout Should Set Conditions

 

Liberals and Democrats Links to the Beef

‘Louis Armstrong’ Tribute to Barack Obama.*

First Family Values

Lessons from Obama’s Campaign*

Were Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Right?

Make Sure Obama and Democrats Get It Right*

Whither Go the Republicans?

 

State and Local  Links to the Beef

Make Washington’s Tax System Fair for Everyone*

Bailing Out Our Washington State Government*

 

Nation and World  Links to the Beef

Bretton Woods II*

Chinese Stimulus Package*

 

Our Liberal Spirit

Recovering from Success

 

Recommended Books

 

 

 

 

Our Political Values

 

Our Political Priorities

 

·       Fair Clean Elections and Open Government

·       Fair Taxes and Competent Spending

·       Investment for Productivity

·       Quality Health, Education, Jobs, Income

·       Environmental Protection and Energy Independence

·       Security and Equal Rights

·       Justice and Peace Everywhere

·       International Cooperation and Leadership

 

Conservatives oppose all of these

 

     Let’s End Our National Nightmare

 

         Let’s Restore Our American Dream

 

More on Conservative opposition to our American Dream

 

Washington State’s 4 Major Needs

·       Federal Funding for Health and Education

·       A Progressive Income Tax

·       Public Campaign Financing

·       Replacing Republican Legislators

 

Quote of the Week

I know nothing grander, better exercise, better digestion, more positive proof of the past, the triumphant result of faith in human kind, than a well-contested American national election. Walt Whitman

 

Nothing fails like success.  Gerald Nachman

 

Each success only buys an admission ticket to a more difficult problem.  Henry Kissinger (1923- )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calendar of Events                           

 

King County Democrats - LD Meetings            Some 2008 Legislature Lobby Days

 

Thurston County Progressive Net                  Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

 

Alliance for Democracy                                Democratic Underground.Com                           

 

Sierra Club Cascade Chapter Calendar           Cool State Washington

       

Washington Public Campaigns Calendar          Town Hall Seattle Calendar

 

Washington State Labor Council                    Whatcom County Peace and Justice Calendar 

 

Wallingford Neighbors for Peace and Justice – Friday Night Movies      Liberal films on PBS

Conversation Cafe      Drinking Liberally          Seattle NOW          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Calendar of Events

Sign up for or host an End of Bush Party.

Saturday, November 15 at 8:30 at Westin Hotel (1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle) – Seattle King County NAACP celebrates 95 years of civil and human rights with a dinner and awards ceremony.  For more.

Tuesday, November 18 at 8 PM at Comedy Underground (109 South Washington Street, Seattle) – Fund Raiser for Washington Public Campaigns.  $12.  For more.

Tuesday, December 2 at 8 PM at Comedy Underground (109 South Washington Street, Seattle) – Fund Raiser for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.  $12.  For More.

 

Communication, Opportunities and Petitions

 

Communication with Our Members and Feedback

I have compiled all of my commentaries on our economy into one document which is posted on our website.  I believe one hour spent reading them will make you better informed than the vast majority of Americans, including many of our congress members.  Without understanding our economic crises, their causes and needed solutions, you are unable to act responsibly to correct the situation which affects all of us.  Or to improve your life financially (and in other ways).  Dave Thomas

Take a crash course (2½ hours) about our American economy (video).

 

Opportunities

Useful Websites: contacts, maps, community organizing tools, and more.

Access to jillions of political cartoons.

Download Sightline Institute’s climate policy primer ‘Cap and Trade 101’.  About Sightline.

Get your free commemorative Barack Obama sticker from MoveOn.

Donate $30 to the Democratic National Committee, receive a Obama-Biden victory t-shirt.

 

Petitions and Donations

Tell Barack Obama your priorities.

Tell Barack Obama to attend the December UN Climate Change Conference in Poland.

Tell Barack Obama to close Guantanamo and ban torture on day one.

Tell Barack Obama to take bold action on climate change.

Tell Interior Department Secretary to protect Yellowstone wolves.

Tell the Bush Administration to protect Oregon’s coastal forests.

Tell your senators to pass the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act.

Tell your King County Council members to preserve Public Health family planning and STD services.

Sign a pledge to support marriage equality.

 

Commentaries From Our Members

 

Dick Kroeger Has Died

 

One of my best friends, Dick Kroeger had a fatal heart attack while bird hunting.  He and his wife Amelia were priors at the Seattle Ecumenical Institute/Institute of Cultural Affairs Religious House when I interned there in 1976.  He gave the best witnesses I have ever heard, testifying to an experience and what it informs us about our broader world.  He was a spirit giant.

 

Dick had many passions: loving his wife for 46 years and his three sons, his work with liability insurance, driving a school bus, bird hunting, training hunting dogs, tending to their several acres which included Amelia’s marvelous vegetable and flower gardens, involvement in the Episcopal church, the Network of Spiritual Progressives (led by Rabbi Michael Lerner) and the Barack Obama campaign.  I visited them this last year and spent three days canoeing with Dick in the Boundary Waters.

 

Amelia now faces the incompatible pulls of remembering their experiences together, of responding to immediate tasks, and building a life based upon her new life as a widow.  She is resilient and will thrive, albeit with much pain for awhile.  My love and best wishes are with her.  Dave Thomas

 

Alan Durning: It’s the Worst of Times.  The Best of Times.

 

Dear David,

 

The worst of times...
The worst financial crisis since the Depression. Unemployment surging. Foreclosures mounting. General Motors’ sales down 45 percent. Consumer spending falling “off a cliff.” Global stock markets down by almost half this year.

 

The best of times...
The highest-turnout US election since 1964—maybe 1908. A transcendent moment in the American history of race. National consensus on the need for a new energy economy. An unequivocal turning toward hope.

 

We're in an extraordinary moment in all of our lives, and I want to share with you the deep gratitude I feel. Your support enabled Sightline to contribute to decisive victories. I also want to share with you my profound optimism: enormous opportunities are now opening. 

 

Sightline's research and communications team helped decisively defeat two insidious ballot measures--Oregon’s Measure 63 and Washington’s I-985, proving that substance can trump soundbites. In Washington, our research and public appearances were key parts of a campaign that decimated an anti-transit initiative sponsored by Tim Eyman, crushing it by 20 points.

 

Climate, energy, transportation and green-collar jobs won big this week, too. Across the region and the United States, our strongest champions for sustainable solutions, such as Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, gained strength in the elections. “Green-collar jobs”—the phrase we coined a decade ago—is now a mainstream term in Washington, DC and across Cascadia. (Indeed, Van Jones' new book The Green Collar Economy is on the New York Times best-seller list.) The new conventional wisdom is, to paraphrase columnist Thomas Friedman, that the economic crisis shouldn’t be the end of green. Green should be the way we end the economic crisis.

 

Finally (and this is where I place immense personal hope), Cascadia is witnessing a convergence of what we used to call “green” and “blue” interests. Champions for the environment and champions for economic opportunity have not always viewed their paths to be the same. But today I feel optimistic about our ability to play a pivotal role in this fundamental shift from “greens” and “blues” to a diverse, blue-green movement for widely shared and durable prosperity.

 

Right now, we – you and I and the rest of the Sightline’s community – find ourselves before unprecedented opportunities. As treacherous as is the economic landscape we’ve entered, this juncture is, in a sense, the place we’ve been looking for. We’ve found the place where the gates of political possibility are open.  At Sightline, we’re not pausing to rest; we’re advancing now—and fast. I hope you’ll come too.  All the best, Alan Durning, Executive Director, Sightline Institute

 

Jack Smith: Boldly Support Barack Obama

 

I feel the following is a very important Opinion by David Sirota in today's Seattle Times.  I have been saying that our work begins on 11/5 which is passed. Yes, Obama must lead us boldly, BUT we must be willing to act boldly supporting him. In spite of our celebrations, Obama cannot be expected to do it alone. He needs active supporters. It is not as simple as doing what he says. Sometimes we will dissent, a condition George Bush would not allow. I have said that I believed that Obama would listen to our alternative beliefs. I still believe that is true, but we must put positive frame around our dissent.

Health Care is an area that almost everyone will agree requires major revision. Return of our Civil Liberties must be supported by most. Of course, there will be strong disagreement on the handling of the Middle East Wars. The question in my mind is will the disagreement be intellectual. rational and helpful or will it be angry and hateful viewing Obama as a corporate shill. These decisions belong to all of us. We have sought a president who would work with us for at least eight years.  Now, I believe we have one. Our job is to support him to encourage and in some cases to show  him how to "Govern Boldly."  No one ever said it would be easy.  Jack Smith

 

Valerie Tarico: Mutts Like Me

 

George and Patricia Robertson: Don’t Bailout GM

 

Let General Motors go. Yes, it is a lot of jobs, but someone will make cars, someone smarter, someone less enthralled with gas-guzzling, someone more competitive. Perhaps it will be lots of companies we haven't noticed, such as Quebec electric carmaker, Zenn Motor Co.

 

Incentives that give rise to many more diverse and innovative car manufacturers would be a lot smarter than a bailout to re-inflate GM.  George and Patricia Robertson

 

We have bankruptcy laws to deal with situations like General Motors.  Going into bankruptcy doesn’t stop the company from operating.  It often creates reorganization and new management, so the company can operate successfully. 

 

I agree with the Robertsons that we need more competition in automotive and many other industries.  Our government needs to return to opposing monopolies and supporting appropriate competition.  Dave Thomas

 

Bob Evans: Don’t Bailout Incompetent American Automakers

 

How depressing it is to watch the decline of the U.S. automotive industry. Over the past several decades, the Big 3 has ignored the request of the consumers and continued to manufacture cars they wanted to sell rather than manufacture cars the consumer wanted to buy. I have always considered U.S. engineers to be among the best in the world. Why then are the Big 3's cars plagued with complaints, including coarse engines, sluggish transmissions, poor fit and finish, poor mileage and unreliable quality, to name just a few?

 

The "offshore" auto manufacturers didn't take the market from the Big 3; it was handed to them. It appears the quality is getting better, as is the "green" technology, but it may be a case of too little too late. Now that the situation has deteriorated to the point where bankruptcy is a very real possibility, the automakers are getting in line for a government bailout along with the mortgage companies, banks and insurance companies.

 

I am tired of rewarding ignorance and greed with bailouts. Too often the bailout money will go only to feed the bloated bureaucracy that caused the problem in the first place.  Bob Evans

 

K.C. Golden: Auto Bailout Should Require Producing Green Cars

Excerpt of Guest Column published by Seattle PI on November 13, 2008

 

We should not rescue General Motors as we know it. But Congress could use the proposed bailout as an opportunity to begin building a new prosperity that can last. As part of any public assistance, GM should be required to help America reduce its oil dependence and tackle the climate challenge by producing the cars of the future.  To read complete commentary.

 

Also see: Thomas L. Friedman, “How to Fix a Flat Auto Industry”.  As we return to Earn, Conserve and Invest from Borrow, Consume and Speculate, we can expect to buy fewer cars less frequently.  So some downsizing of the industry must occur, with the loss of auto-making jobs, some of them American.  But we should retain a continuing reduced American auto industry.  As K.C. Golden expresses, any bailout of American automakers should include requirements that they produce environmentally friendly cars.  Hopefully, they will also reciprocate by supporting government paid universal health coverage.  Dave Thomas

 

Liberals and Democrats

 

You Must See This Wonderful ‘Louis Armstrong’ Tribute to Barack Obama.

 

First Family Values

 

 

The Obama family’s love and care for each other has been obvious.  Wouldn’t it be nice to be their puppy?

 

Lessons from Obama’s Campaign

 

Obama's Seven Lessons for Radical Innovators – Posted by Umair Haque on November 5, 2008 11:55 AM

 

It's a momentous day for America - and the world. Barack Obama is poised to take the reins of the Presidency.  So how did this unlikeliest of candidates do it? How did Obama utilize radically asymmetrical competition to shatter Washington's toxic, bitter 20th century status quo?  The most critical part of the story is the organization Obama built. Though conservatives are still arguing that Obama has little executive experience, nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Barack Obama is one of the most radical management innovators in the world today. Obama's team built something truly world-changing: a new kind of political organization for the 21st century. It differs from yesterday's political organizations as much as Google and Threadless differ from yesterday's corporations: all are a tiny handful of truly new, 21st century institutions in the world today.  Obama presidential bid succeeded, in other words, as our research at the Lab has discussed for the past several years, through the power of new DNA: new rules for new kinds of institutions.  So let's discuss the new DNA Obama brought to the table, by outlining seven rules for tomorrow's radical innovators.

 

1. Have a self-organization design. What was really different about Obama's organization? We're used to thinking about organizations in 20th century terms: do we design them to be tall, or flat?  But tall and flat are concepts built for an industrial era. They force us to think - spatially and literally - in two dimensions: tall organizations command unresponsively, and flat organizations respond uncontrollably.

 

Obama's organization blew past these orthodoxies: it was able to combine the virtues of both tall and flat organizations. How? By tapping the game-changing power of self-organization. Obama's organization was less tall or flat than spherical - a tightly controlled core, surrounded by self-organizing cells of volunteers, donors, contributors, and other participants at the fuzzy edges. The result? Obama's organization was able to reverse tremendous asymmetries in finance, marketing, and distribution - while McCain's organization was left trapped by a stifling command-and-control paradigm.

 

2. Seek elasticity of resilience. Obama's 21st century organization was built for a 21st century goal - not to maximize outputs, or minimize inputs, but to, as Gary Hamel has discussed, remain resilient to turbulence. What happened when McCain attacked Obama with negative ads in September? Such attacks would have depleted the coffers of a 20th century organization, who would have been forced to retaliate quickly and decisively in kind. Yet, Obama's organization responded furiously in exactly the opposite way: with record-breaking fundraising. That's resilience: reflexively bouncing back to an existential threat by growing, augmenting, or strengthening resources.

 

3. Minimize strategy. Obama's campaign dispensed almost entirely with strategy in its most naïve sense: strategy as gamesmanship or positioning. They didn't waste resources trying to dominate the news cycle, game the system, strong-arm the party, or out-triangulate competitors' positions. Rather, Obama's campaign took a scalpel to strategy - because they realized that strategy, too often, kills a deeply-lived sense of purpose, destroys credibility, and corrupts meaning.

 

4. Maximize purpose. Change the game? That's 20th century thinking at its finest - and narrowest. The 21st century is about changing the world. What does "yes we can" really mean? Obama's goal wasn't simply to win an election, garner votes, or run a great campaign. It was larger and more urgent: to change the world.

Bigness of purpose is what separates 20th century and 21st century organizations: yesterday, we built huge corporations to do tiny, incremental things - tomorrow, we must build small organizations that can do tremendously massive things.

And to do that, you must strive to change the world radically for the better - and always believe that yes, you can. You must maximize, stretch, and utterly explode your sense of purpose.

 

5. Broaden unity. What do marketers traditionally do? Segment and target, slice and dice. We've become great at dividing markets into tinier and tinier bits. But we're terrible at unifying them. Yet Obama succeeded not through division, but through unification: we are, he contended, "not a collection of Red States and Blue States -- We are the United States of America".

 

Obama intuitively understands a larger truth of next-generation economics. Unified markets are what a world driven to collapse by hyperconsumption is desperately going to need. We're going to need not a hundred different kinds of razors - and their spiraling costs of complexity and waste - but a single razor that everybody, from the slums of Rio to the lofts of Tribeca, is overjoyed to use.

 

6. Thicken power. The power many corporations wield is thin power: the power to instill fear and inculcate greed. True power is what Obama has learned wield: the power to inspire, lead, and engender belief. You can beat people into subjugation - but you can never command their loyalty, creativity, or passion. Thick power is true power: it's radically more durable, less costly, and more intense.

 

7. Remember that there is nothing more asymmetrical than an ideal. Obama ended his last speech before the election by saying: "let's go change the world." Why are those words important? Because the world needs changing. A world riven by economic meltdown, religious conflict, resource scarcity, and intractable poverty and violence - such a world demands fresh ideals. We must mold and shape a better world - or we will surely all suffer together. As Obama said: "we rise or fall ... as one people."

 

In such a world, forget about a short-lived, often meaningless "competitive advantage". It's a concept built for the 20th century. In the 21st century, there is nothing more asymmetrical - more disruptive, more revolutionary, or more innovative -- than the world-changing power of an ideal.

Where are the ideals in your organization? What ideals are missing - absent, bankrupt, stolen - from your economy, industry, or market? What ideals will you fight and struggle for - and live? Because the ultimate problem with industrial-era business was, as Wall Street has so convincingly demonstrated, this: there weren't any.

 

That seventh lesson is the starting point for tomorrow's radical innovators - because it's the thread that knits the others together. And it's where you should start if you want to use these seven rules to start building 21st century institutions - whether businesses, non-profits, social enterprises, or political campaigns.  As a young brown American, I couldn't be more deeply or powerfully inspired by the "defining moment" of an Obama presidency. Yet, the seeds of a new challenge have been planted by that victory: for us to harness the lessons of his quiet revolution - our quiet revolution - to seed many, many more

 

How Obama Became CEO of the USA.  What It Means for CEOs Everywhere. – Posted by Bill Taylor on November 5, 2008 11:44 AM

 

It's the morning after one of the most miraculous events in memory, so it seems slightly uninspired to look to yesterday's election for lessons about leadership, competition, and change. But what is a presidential election, ultimately, then a nationwide exercise in leadership, competition, and change?  So this morning, still bleary-eyed from a late night of watching concession speeches, victory celebrations, and nonstop punditry from all points on the political spectrum, allow me to offer a few insights about how Barack Obama ran his campaign to lead our country -- and what it means for how we should think about how we run our companies and lead our organizations.

 

The first lesson is that being different makes all the difference. It's remarkable, really, how similar so many of our first 43 presidents have been to one another. It's not just that they've all been white males, but that so many of them have been cut from the same personal and political cloth. Lawyers. Military service. Many years (if not decades) entrenched in the political scene.

 

Other than the lawyer part (hey, we can forgive one shortcoming!), Barack Obama simply does not fit the traditional mold--and not just because of the color of his skin. Born in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya. Raised largely by his grandmother. A period of his childhood in Indonesia. A community organizer. A constitutional-law professor. And don't forget that scary middle name!

 

Early on in the campaign, the pundits warned that Obama's unusual background made him too "exotic" to win the Presidency. In fact, it is that which made him different that made him so unstoppable. Obama didn't win despite the fact that he is so different. He won precisely because he is so different.  Americans seemed to sense that the stakes are too high, the problems too severe, to settle for politics as usual. Much the same can be said of business today.

 

Think of all of the best-performing and most-beloved companies and brands, from Southwest Airlines and Apple Computer to Zappos and the Geek Squad. What do they all have in common? They are outliers, innovators, weirdoes -- they don't look, talk, act, compete the same way as everyone else in their industry does. They are as "exotic" in their field as Barack Obama is in his -- and they, like Obama, are winning votes that the competition isn't.  Seth Godin, everyone's favorite marketing guru, once wrote a funny line that I take pretty seriously: "Tastes like chicken," he cracked, "is not a compliment." That's what's wrong with how so many of us compete today, whether it's in business or politics. We are comfortable in the middle of the road, playing the game the way everyone else does. We all "taste like chicken"--and then we wonder why so few people get excited about what we have to offer.

 

There's a second lesson we can learn. Just because you're different doesn't mean you can't be disciplined. What struck me so strongly about the Obama campaign was, from the very first day, how ruthlessly "on message" it stayed, no matter the twists, turns, and psychodramas from the other candidates or the media gasbags. Bill and Hillary Clinton took some tough shots at Obama during the Democratic primary, and he never took the bait. John McCain and Sarah Palin unleashed some truly unkind and unhealthy assaults on Obama's character and patriotism, and he never got down in the gutter with them -- even when Clinton's advisors, whom Obama's campaign had vanquished in the primaries, urged him to fight back.

 

Obama didn't take the bait because, again, unlike the political establishment, he didn't spend most of his time thinking about the competition. He spent most of his time thinking about how to connect with his core constituencies. He was less concerned about what other candidates were saying about him than what he was saying to voters -- and he didn't let the "noise" on the campaign trail interfere with the "signals" he was sending to his supporters.

 

What a contrast with John McCain, a noble leader who seemed to change personalities, let alone campaign tactics, on a weekly basis. Again I am reminded of some wisdom from a management guru, this time Jim Collins. "The signature of mediocrity," he likes to say, "is not an unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency."

 

It was "chronic inconsistency" that took a difficult challenge for McCain and made it impossible. The same goes for so many companies. They lurch from one strategy to the next, one consulting fad to another, because, deep down, their leaders don't really understand what makes them different, better, special. When you do understand that, it gives you the confidence to stick to your message and strategy -- no matter what your rivals say and do.  Don't trust me, or Seth Godin, or Jim Collins on that score. Henry Ford put it best many decades ago: "The competitor to be feared is the one who doesn't bother about you at all, but goes about making his own business better all the time."

 

Sure, it's more complicated than that. But these simple principles seem pretty darn powerful to me. Embrace what makes you different, don't apologize for it. Develop a message that sticks, and stick with it regardless of what your rivals say and do. Above all, stay focused on your constituents rather than your competition.

It's a formula that helped Barack Obama become CEO of the USA, and it can help you become a more effective leader in your organization. Not sure you can do it? Yes you can!

 

How Better Marketing Elected Barack Obama – Posted by John Quelch on November 5, 2008 11:40 AM

 

When the book is written on this election, it should not be titled "The Making of a President," but "The Marketing of a President." Barack Obama's campaign is a case study in marketing excellence.  True, it was always going to be a Democratic year. An unpopular war, an incumbent Republican president with rock bottom approval ratings, and many Republican incumbents retiring from Congress as a result all meant that change was in the air. Add to that the economic meltdown that decimated millions of 401K retirement plans and undercut any Republican claim to be the better steward of the economy.

But, even so, for an inexperienced single term African-American senator tagged with the most liberal voting record to defeat the heir apparent in his own party and then go on to hold off the much-vaunted Republican machine is a truly remarkable achievement. Much of it has to do with Obama's instinct for marketing.

First, Obama's personal charisma, his listening and public speaking skills, his consistently positive and unruffled demeanor and his compelling biography attracted the attention and empathy of voters.

Second, Obama converted this empathy into tangible support. More citizens volunteered time and money to help the Obama campaign than any previous presidential candidate. Indeed, he attracted more donors than the entire Democratic or Republican party nationwide. Almost half of Obama's unprecedented $639 million in funds raised from individuals came from small donors giving $300 or less.

Third, his fundraising prowess was aided by his appreciation and use of all communications media , notably the Internet, to engage voters. Obama picked up where Howard Dean left off. He leveraged his website, the blogosphere, and even user-generated content (remember Obama Girl) and video games to engage not just donors and volunteers but all citizens. From the imaginative campaign logo to the thirty minute infomercial, Obama's communications were professional without being slick, attention-getting without being in-your-face.

Fourth, Obama reached out to all citizens. He targeted his message beyond previous or likely voters. He built a coalition that energized young, first-time voters and registered thousands of previous non-voters. His organization encouraged early voting by Democrats to build well-publicized poll leads and to reduce the chances of supporters being discouraged from voting by long lines at polling places on election day. This policy of inclusion meant that voting records were set in the general election and the primaries.

Fifth, his advertising messages and his tone and demeanor throughout the campaign consistently communicated his upbeat themes of hope and "change you can believe in." The emotional appeal was buttressed with solid and specific policy details. The ability to combine emotional with functional benefits and the discipline to be consistent in positioning and message delivery are core to all successful branding campaigns. Ads that dealt with specific policy issues, even ads criticizing McCain, all continued to communicate the core themes.

Sixth, he anticipated and outsmarted the competition. Throughout, he showed respect for Clinton and then McCain, even as he successfully tagged a McCain administration as Bush's third term. But he and his advisers managed the political chess board brilliantly. Early on, he anticipated and defused negative criticisms by admitting to past indiscretions his autobiography. His campaign rebutted the criticisms in a hostile biography point-by-point before they gained traction. Negative advertising by his opponents was countered quickly, not only in ads but on the internet as well.

Seventh, he fought the ground war as brilliantly as the air war. Building on Howard Dean's 50 state strategy, he built his primary delegate count by investing time in Democratic caucuses in red states; the organizations he built for the primaries in these states set him up to win several of them in the general. In the closing weeks, he put McCain on defense in multiple red states, making it tough for the Republican to focus his efforts. Having relied on public funding, McCain ended up having to make some tough trade-offs regarding where to go and where to spend his money. Obama did not.

Finally, Obama chose an excellent marketing and campaign team, and managed them well. From start to finish, there was no public dissension. He chose a non-controversial, experienced Senator as his running mate who complemented his lack of foreign policy skills. McCain only assembled a smooth-running campaign team late in the day. And the maverick made a surprise choice of an unknown running mate that, in the final analysis, undercut his ability to tag Obama as inexperienced and called his judgment into question.

Like any great brand, Obama has built up a bond of trust with the American people. His election has also given the US the opportunity to reestablish its moral leadership around the world. But like any brand, he has to deliver now on his promises, both actual and perceived. In the current economy, that will not be easy.

 

How Obama and Clinton Stack Up as Managers – Posted by Barbara Kellerman on March 4, 2008 9:22 AM

 

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The conventional wisdom on leadership and management is clear: the first matters more than the second. Warren Bennis’s classic On Becoming a Leader is typical. In a lengthy comparison between leaders and managers, he describes leaders as luminaries and managers as mere mortals. For example:

• “The manager administers; the leader innovates.”
• “The manager is a copy; the leader is an original.”
• “The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing.”

My own Center for Public Leadership (at Harvard’s Kennedy School) testifies that the now countless courses, seminars, workshops, institutes and centers devoted to this general area prefer to boast of teaching “leadership” – for leadership is hot and management is not.  Yet we have just been reminded of how important, indispensable, is the role of the manager, even in contrast to that of the leader. For while the stunning success up to now of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is a tribute to his promise as a leader, it provides evidence of his capacity as a manager.

 

Managing Money
Obama not only raised money the smart way (large numbers of relatively small contributions via the Internet), he spent it the smart way. While Hillary Clinton threw as much as $25 million at the early Iowa caucuses and then ran out of money later in the race, Obama carefully calculated costs all along. He did not spend his money frivolously – on everything from outrageously expensive consultants to outrageously expensive catering costs – nor did he have to drain his own bank account as did Clinton to keep the show on the road.

 

Managing People
If Obama’s choice of campaign manager is any indication, he can pick a good team. David Axelrod has proven to be a master political strategist and tactician, putting together a string of primary and caucus victories on behalf of a candidate who seemed at the start to come out of nowhere. As New York Times columnist Frank Rich put it, “The Obama campaign is not a vaporous cult; it’s a lean and mean political machine that gets the job done.” Meanwhile in February, after a series of stunning defeats, Clinton’s campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, bit the dust.

 

Managing Expectations
Was it Clinton’s idea to claim victory before victory was in hand - or was it one of her handlers? No matter. Either way, it was a managerial mistake for her to declare in November (to interviewer Katie Couric), “It will be me.” And it was a managerial mistake to declare weeks later (to interviewer George Stephanopoulos), well before Super Tuesday, that by February 5th the race would “be over.”

 

The point is that of the three leading candidates for president right now, that is, McCain included, it is Obama who has proved much the best manager. Whether he would prove the best leader necessarily remains an open question. But of his managerial skills – which have been and still are of paramount importance - there can be scant doubt.

 

Also see Nelson Mandela’s 8 principles of leadership.

 

Were Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Right?

 

We were upset about the 2000 presidential election results, devastated when President Bush won a second term in 2004, and chagrinned when after taking control of congress in 2006, Democrats didn’t successfully establish time tables for withdrawing from Iraq, or consider impeaching Bush and Cheney.

Now we have won big in 2008.  We can’t be sure what would have happened if our congress has been refused to pass a budget without timetables for leaving Iraq.  It might have resulted in a quicker withdrawal from Iraq and even greater wins in our 2008 election.  Or it might have united the Republicans and alienated public opinion, such that John McCain won.  Would we be willing to go back and replay history to find out which would have happened?  I am happy with the present outcome, and would hate to risk it.

 

We can still be unhappy with our congress if they refuse to cooperate with Barack Obama’s reforms.  Or be even happier if they steer him to quicker more comprehensive reforms.  Let’s let our congress members, no we support the latter.

 

Make Sure Barack Obama and Democrats Get It Right.

 

Enhancing Our Earnings

They should quickly pass increases in our minimum wage; earned income tax credit; Employee Free Choice Act; appropriations for increased teacher salaries particularly ones working in schools with culturally deprived students, and increased training and salaries for caretakers.

 

Job Creation

Well paying JOBS.  JOBS which increase our productivity and solve other problems:

·       Maintaining and improving our physical and social infrastructure. 

·       Conserving energy and other resources, which we presently waste.  For more.  For more.

·       Creating alternative energies, which uses sustainable resources and doesn’t produce pollution.  It should not produce greenhouse gases which produce global warming pollution.  For more.

·       Creating and implementing new technologies relevant to our health, education, housing and other needs. 

·       Preserving and improving our social safety net and improving our human resources.  Universal access to quality health care.  Universal access to quality education.  For more.

·       Create concentrated housing, especially affordable housing near jobs.  To reduce the damage to our environment.  To reduce the cost of providing utilities.  To reduce the amount of commuting, fuel consumption, congestion and pollution.  To increase the time that people have to spend with their families, civic activities and other interests.

 

Right Sizing Our Credit and Consumption

They should avoid making it too easy for Americans to continue to borrow and consume cars, houses and other products, especially luxury items.  We need enough credit, but not too much which allows people to go deeply in debt and fuels an oversized financial sector of our economy.

 

Universal Health Care and Prescription Medicines

They should confront private insurers to provide government provided universal health coverage (including prescription medicines) paid directly to providers (single payer/Medicare).  They should bargain with pharmaceuticals and other health care providers.  With lots of people’s movement contributions, they should be able to counter Harold and Louise type advertisements.  They should obtain increased support from people and businesses paying high private insurance costs and providers who suffer from insurance paperwork and interference in their decisions.  If necessary, they should begin by forcing unsubsidized private insurers to compete with public insurance such that the latter prevails.  For more.

 

Reforming Our Military-Industrial Complex

Recognizing that no foreign country can invade our country. they should greatly reduce our military industrial complex.  We should cooperate internationally to prevent and capture terrorists.  We may need to punish countries which harbor terrorists; but we don’t need to invade and occupy them.  Arms sales should be curtailed.  Nuclear weapons should be reduced and made more secure. 

 

Global Governance

They should seek to enhance our global governance, making it more democratic with more resources, to protect people and our environment from abusive governments and businesses.  Even if this results in decreasing our power to control global governance decisions.

 

Israeli Occupation

They should promote secure states for both the Israel and Palestine, including the Israeli vacating of West Bank settlements without destroying them.

 

Restoring and Enhancing Our Civil Liberties

They should restore habeas corpus, ability to confront witnesses and evidence, protection from unfocused wiretapping and other civil liberties, gravely transgressed by the so-called war on terrorism.

 

Other Reforms

There are other reforms which may be delayed, such as better regulation of currently illicit drugs (and better prevention and treatment of addiction).  And maintaining separation of church and state through requiring civil unions for heterosexual or homosexual couples to obtain tax and other legal benefits.  Churches can also provide marriages, which have no legal status.

 

Some of these measures may be adopted quickly, others adopted progressively, and others delayed to pass higher priority measures.  But we should push Barack Obama and our congress to go in the right direction as fast and far as possible.  They should also provide necessary educational leadership to prepare our public and gain their support concerning these issues.  For more.  For more.  For more.  For more.

 

Whither Go the Republicans?

 

In the aftermath of defeat, Republicans are debating what direction they should go to turn their fortunes around.  Some are arguing that they should return to President Reagan’s and Newt Gingrich’s Conservative principles of smaller government with less deficit spending.  They should eliminate their corrupt alliance with K Street.  This approach is supported most by Republican congress members, now concentrated in the South, the plains states and the Northern mountain states.  Note also that the South is split between hardcore Conservative areas in Appalachia and other areas where Obama did better than Kerry.

 

Others argue they must adopt a Liberal Lite agenda, protecting our environment and showing compassion through supporting our safety net and social infrastructure.  This approach is supported by some Republican governors, such as Mike Huckabee.  For more.  But many Republicans still don’t understand the need for competent government leadership.  But due to support by the Conservative Political Infrastructure and the elimination of blue state Republicans, the Traditional Republicans will win over the Liberal Lite Republicans.

 

Presenting himself as non-partisan, Washington’s 8th District Congressman Dave Reichert has narrowly won again.  Let’s prevail upon him to support all of the Democratic proposals.  Let’s also find some experienced legislators to run against him in 2010, unless he doesn’t run again or becomes a Democrat.  For more.

 

Here’s the Beef

You Must See This Wonderful ‘Louis Armstrong’ Tribute to Barack Obama.

America has had a non-violent revolution.

Virginia trends blue with both national and state races.

High income Americans voted for Obama, in spite of his intention to raise their taxes.

Get to know John Podesta, leader of Center for American Progress and Obama’s transition team.

Who’s who in Obamaland?  Thirty prospects.

Obama restricts lobbyists on transition team.  What about the administration and congress afterwards?

Barack Obama’s team is identifying Bush’s executive decisions to be quickly reversed.

Barack Obama’s radio address focuses upon improving our economy now and long term.

Obama will quickly push tax cuts and tax increases.

Some global warming legislation will come quickly and other will come slower.

Can Barack Obama do what Franklin Roosevelt did?

‘The most Liberal’ Barack Obama elected.  Is the term ‘Liberal’ redeemed?  Must we still do something?

Finally we can struggle to realize our values, instead of struggling to oppose Conservative actions.

Unlike President Clinton, Barack Obama must maintain our people’s movement to support Change.

Barack must act to transform America, not to make Bill Clinton like incremental changes.

Barack Obama must use civic activism to work toward our common good.

Liberals must support Obama’s efforts to realize our vision for America.

Eight immediate major changes Obama can make.

Rahm Emanuel’s address to our 2008 Democratic Convention.

What Rahm Emanuel brings to Obama’s administration.

Peace organizations are ready to stimulate Obama to act for peace.

Union of Concerned Scientists tells Obama to restore scientific integrity to government.

Economists tell Obama to borrow if necessary to invest in restoring our economy.

What changes do business want from Obama and what changes will the resist?

Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection tells Obama to upgrade our electric transmission grid.

Some questions Barack Obama should ask at his intelligence briefings.

Liberal groups recognize that action on social issues may be delayed.  But must occur.

Supporters of marriage equality react against Mormon role in passing California proposition 8.

Our Democratic Party still will have to earn the allegiance of Mainstream America.

Lots of possible replacements for Obama’s Senate seat.

 

State and Local

 

Make Washington’s Tax System Fair for EveryoneTo my knowledge, only two advocacy organizations have publicly argued that we need to substitute a progressive income tax for some of our regressive sales, excise and property taxes  Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN) and the Economic Opportunity Institute.  The following appears on Washington CAN’s website:

 

Washington State has the most unfair tax system in the country. And it doesn’t raise enough money for good schools, healthcare, transportation, and more.  Our state has faced budget deficits for four of the past five years — because the tax system does not bring in enough money to run vital and necessary state programs. The tax base is unstable—when the economy slows and people need state services the most, there is less money coming in and no reserved savings.



Washington State’s current tax system is unfair, inadequate, and unsustainable.  Our elected officials need to be courageous and stand up for what is right for the long term health of the WA State economy AND ITS TAXPAYERS—a tax system where everyone pays a fair, but not unreasonable, share. We need a permanent solution to current revenue shortfalls and budget crises. This will only come from a long-term, voter-driven campaign for reform. Our state needs to get serious about finding ways to fix the recurring budget crises and pay for our burgeoning health, education, safety and economic needs. Our lawmakers need to stop looking at short term fixes and accounting tricks.

 

We are demanding that our elected officials commit to tax reform to create a system that is:

FAIR— Taxes are based on one’s ability to pay. People and businesses with higher incomes are asked to pay their fair share.

SUFFICIENT— We need enough revenue raised to promote a healthy economy and meet the public needs of our citizens, including education, health, and human services.

STABLE— There must be a stable stream of revenue during times of economic growth and economic recession.

ACCOUNTABLE— Government is accountable to the people. All spending, taxes and tax exemptions should be publicly disclosed, and reviewed and evaluated to ensure they provide public benefits.

 

To reach these goals we support a tax reform package that includes:

·       Disclosing and evaluating all tax exemptions so the public can determine whether they meet public goals.

·       Eliminating some tax exemptions to bring in needed revenue and ensure that everyone is paying their fair share.

·       Lowering the sales tax rate to reduce taxes on middle- and low-income families.

·       Establishing a personal income tax, so taxes are related to how much people make and wealthier people pay their fair share.

·       Reforming business taxes to reduce taxes on small and new businesses.

·       Extending the sales tax to some professional and consumer services so our taxes keep up with the changing economy.

 

Tell your elected officials that you want them to be courageous and do the right thing. Tell them you want them to stand up for tax reform in Washington State that will make our system fair, sufficient, stable and accountable.

 

Make Washington's Tax System Fair for Everyone!

Did you know that Washington State has over 500 tax breaks on the books? Many of these tax breaks were created decades ago and have never been reviewed or evaluated. Many of these tax breaks include NO requirement for reporting so that the state can evaluate their effectiveness. Washington CAN! actively participates in a Tax Fairness coalition working to better our tax system. Each week during the 2005 legislative session Washington CAN! members lobbied in support of 2 House Bills that would have required consistent accountability across all tax breaks. While neither of these bills were passed, we know that our participation was an important step in ensuring that Washington State holds businesses accountable for their responsibilities to the communities of Washington.

See all of our Washington Tax Reform Commentaries in one document.

 

Bailing Out Our Washington State Government

 

Let’s hope that President Obama will quickly provide state and local governments with money for infrastructure projects, including Washington State with $½ to 1 billion for each of the next two years.  Then provide universal medical coverage.  Then provide additional support for education, including higher pay for teachers, especially those working in culturally deprived neighborhoods.

 

These measures would greatly ease Governor Christine Gregoire’s and our legislature’s task of balancing our budget without decimating our public services.  These would also hasten the redevelopment of our Seattle viaduct and SR-520 bridge.  It will make it easier for us to continue to elect Democrats.  Unfortunately, it will reduce the pressure to reform our regressive tax code by substituting a progressive income tax for some of our sales and property taxes.

 

Unfortunately, some of our supposedly Liberal organizations supported Republicans, including Attorney General Rob McKenna, positioning him to run for Governor.  Let’s hope our Democratic Governor and Legislature earn a reputation for fiscal responsibility, which makes it easy to defeat Republican contenders for governor or other offices.

 

I am chagrinned that our Washington State Democrats did so little to help David Spring and other Democratic Candidates in our 5th Legislative and other Districts.  Why do they raise so little money?  1.5 million people voted for Governor Christine Gregoire.  Why aren’t at least 10% (150 thousand) of these paying an average of $30 year to support our Democrats. 

 

What are the Washington State Democrats’ priorities for electing Democrats?  Assistance should be given to Democratic candidates who oppose incumbent Republicans (even before the primaries if only one candidate exists) and incumbent Democratic Candidates facing strong challenges.

 

I do not blindly support Democrats.  I would like Washington to adopt measures such as instant run-off voting and fusion voting which would allow other Liberal Parties to thrive as role models and pressure groups to make Democrats consistently Liberal, without giving Republicans any advantage.  Dave Thomas

 

Here’s the Beef

Read the draft Puget Sound Cleanup Plan.  For more.

New irrigation system will help fish and farmers.

Governor Gregoire proposes $300 million for economic relief.  Let’s get the Feds to pay for this.

Local agency which assists defaulting homeowners is losing it’s funding.

More money is needed for cleaning up Hanford.

PSE is struggling against increased pressure to convert to public power.

Legislature should ban BIAW from using Retrospective Rating Fund for political purposes.

Pollster Stuart Elway says Gregoire – Rossi race was never close.

Encourage Jason Osgood to run for King County Elections Superviser.

 

Nation and World  

 

Bretton Woods II

 

During July 1944, delegates from all 44 allied nations met in Bretton Woods, NH to establish regulations and institutions for the international monetary and financial order.  The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (presently known as the World Bank), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were established.  In 1995, the World Trade Organization replaced GATT.

 

Since 1975, the heads of major industrialized countries have been meeting as the G6 Forum, then the G8 Forum.  The G8 is intended to be an informal forum.  It lacks an administrative structure and a permanent secretariat, or offices for its members like those for international organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Bank.  The presidency of the group rotates annually among the member countries, with each new term beginning on 1 January of the year. The country holding the presidency is responsible for planning and hosting a series of ministerial-level meetings, leading up to a mid-year summit attended by the heads of government. Japan held the G8 presidency in 2008, and Italy will be president in 2009.

 

The ministerial meetings bring together ministers responsible for various portfolios to discuss issues of mutual or global concern. The range of topics include health, law enforcement, labor, economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior, terrorism and trade. There are also a separate set of meetings known as the "G8+5", created during the 2005 Gleneagles, Scotland summit, that is attended by finance and energy ministers from all eight member countries in addition to the five "Outreach Countries": Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

 

At the invitation of U.S. President Bush, leaders of 20 countries will meet on November 15 to consider a coordinated response to our international financial crisis.  President Elect Obama will not attend, but has designated two representatives to meet with the leaders. Although little may be accomplished, this may be the beginning of the establishment of new regulations and institutions for our international monetary and financial order – a Bretton Woods II.   More Democratic regulations and institutions relevant to our present international economy are much needed.

 

Chinese Stimulus Package

 

For 30 years, the Chinese economy has grown by 10% per year or more.  Such growth is necessary to provide jobs for the many farmers who are seeking other employment.  Due to the global slowdown, China is exporting less.  Economic growth has declined to 9%, the lowest in 5 years.

 

In response, the government has adopted a stimulus package costing $586 billion, which equals 9% of China’s gross domestic product (GDP).  By comparison, U.S. and German stimulus packages equal about 1% of their GDP.  China’s stimulus package includes money for low-cost housing, rural infrastructure. water, electricity, transportation and improvements in the environment.  The plan also includes 120 billion yuan in tax cuts, enabling businesses to deduct for capital goods and research and development.  These are mostly investments, oriented to helping lower income Chinese. 

 

How different from our stimulus package, which gave much money to middle income people to enhance their consumption.  While we have been encouraging China to increase its people’s consumption, China’s government focuses upon investing to increase productivity. 

 

Here’s the Beef

Goodbye to our borrow, consume and speculate mindset.

Even if credit was more easily available, many people are too indebted to borrow more.

Will we regulate $684 trillion (yes, trillion) derivatives casino market?  Let’s virtually eliminate them.

Companies are ceasing to contribute to speculative 401(k)s.  Good let’s enable social security add-ons.

A recovery program, including stimulus, investment and discipline.

Fiscal discipline in the long run, but Keynesian fiscal stimulus is now needed.

Henry Paulson argued for urgent acceptance of his bailout.  Now he changes it.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, higher taxes correlate with increased economic growth.

Our government is not revealing enough about it bailout: to whom with what conditions?  For more.

Job Losses are adding to mortgage defaults and foreclosures.

At least half of our states can produce their own energy without transmission from elsewhere.

Regardless of whether oil production has peaked, we need alternative fuels to avoid global warming.

What will happen to oil and gasoline prices?

Due to declining oil prices, our negative trade imbalance has decreased.

What Al Gore proposes to obtain independence from fossil fuel.

Supreme Court accepts fallacious argument that harming whales is necessary to protect security.

What’s happening in various states concerning equal marriage and other rights?

Why markets don’t produce competition to lower health care costs.

Five thousand physicians advocate single payer public health coverage.

Senator Max Baucus (chair of finance committee) is pushing toward health coverage reform.

There are two Americas, one smart and the other dumb.  Brains are back.

Newt Gingrich suggests we abolish irresponsible adolescence.

 

Our Liberal Spirit

 

Recovering from Success

 

So now, finally, we have won.  Now we can begin to Reclaim Our American Dream.  We can begin changing from a Borrow, Consume and Speculate lifestyle to an Earn, Conserve and Invest lifestyle.  We reflect upon how we won and celebrate our journey together.  We are filled with joy about our improved expectations for the future.

 

Like the football player after a gain on the field or imposing a loss on the other team, we must immediately focus on the next play.  Like the football player who wins a game, we cannot focus upon winning the super bowl.  We must focus upon the challenge of winning the next game.  Celebration is both an end and a beginning.  It is a milestone on our journey.

 

Our task now is to understand our new situation.  Our Obama Administration.  Our Democratically Dominated Congress.  The mindset of our public.  The intentions, resources and strategies of our opposition.  We must decide what we can achieve (even at some risk).  We must decide how we can best work with others to overcome the obstacles and achieve our visions.  We must dedicate ourselves to the necessary struggle.

 

The best recovery from a success (or failure) is to prepare ourselves and work toward another success.

 

Recommended Books – See our list of books for liberals

 

Rahm Emanuel and Bruce Reed, 2006, The Plan, Big Ideas for America

 

Have no doubt that Rahm Emanuel is a Liberal.  Some Republican leaders are whining that he is too Liberal and partisan.  Hopefully, they will open their eyes, see the light and join with the Obama administration to restore our economy and American Dream. 

 

 

 

 

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