Starting the good fight

Am currently on vacation but want to start my to do list for the coming term of our Democratic presidency. Last election, the cohort of Obama supporters, the Democratic-led Congress and the Obama administration itself was blind-sided by Dick Armey's astroturfed Tea Party insurrection at the mid-terms. I will do my damnedest to make sure that doesn't happen again.

There are some critical preparations that must be attended to in advance of the 2014 mid-term elections:

1. The drive to register new voters and convince inactive Democrats to get to the voting booth; there can not be another off-year election in which the New Democratic Coalition is outnumbered at the polls by the aging, predominantly white Republicans.
2. Activists must work at the state and local levels to right all previous efforts to disenfranchise minority voters both fraudulently and strategically. We need to get ahead of efforts that, even in defeat, are regenerating new efforts to further cage out identifiable Democratic voting blocs.
3.  At the national level, we must be aware of initiatives being undertaken by the Obama Administration and remain in touch with the grassroots Dashboard tools and other partisan organizations such as MoveOn, Occupy Wall Street and congressional Democrats' messaging.
4. We must identify & prioritize the issues about which we care most deeply and form coalitions to get Congress on board with our agenda. We must be insistent without disparaging. Clear with proposed legislative ideas that can be enacted with proper push.

Among my personal goals are addressing such issues as improving Veterans' services, economic fairness, combating climate change, drug enforcement equity and prison reform. I'm sure there are many others and depending on input both on Twitter and in the comments here, they may change depending on the way our coalitions shape up.

I will update this blog after I return from a much needed rest but wanted to jot down some basics while they are on my mind.

Welcome to the good fight and I look forward to working with you stalwarts. MKSinSA

Join the #RollingJubilee: “You Are Not A Loan” ow.ly/fpfVJ via @prwatch #OWS
— Occupy Wall Street (@OccupyWallStNYC) November 19, 2012

Can't keep a good man down .. but you CAN keep a bad party in disarray. 2014 is close at hand. Are you registered? rockthevote.com
— MKSinSA (@mksinsa) November 19, 2012

SimCoach: a new way for Vets and their families to find expert help & support services for #PTSD.braveheartveterans.org/SimCoach
— Ls (@pettybooshwah) November 20, 2012

Hail to the Chief: President Obama 44 + 4!

And the other winner is ...

Meet Nate Silver

"The FiveThirtyEight blogger had correctly predicted 49 out of the 50 states in the 2008 presidential election. But Silver may do even better than that this election. Not only did he predict Obama’s victory, the statistician still has a chance of going a perfect 50 for 50 provided Florida, which had not been called as of early Wednesday morning, goes the president’s way."