Political News Now

Outsourcing Intelligence: How Bush Gets His National Intelligence from Private Companies

2007-07-31T09:41:00.001-07:00

Private corporations are now a major staple of national intelligence and are heavily involved in producing the most important and most sensitive national security document -- the President's Daily Brief.

By R.J. Hillhouse
The Nation via AlterNet

The unprecedented involvement of private corporations in the Iraq War has been well documented. Private soldiers working for Blackwater USA, Triple Canopy and others provide security services against military-level threats, and they regularly engage in combat.

But what is not generally known is that the secret side of the Iraq War and the larger "war on terror" is also conducted by private corporations, fielding private spies. The reach of these corporations has extended into the Oval Office. Corporations are heavily involved in creating the analytical products that underlie the nation's most important and most sensitive national security document, the President's Daily Brief (PDB).

Over the past six years, a quiet revolution has occurred in the intelligence community toward wide-scale outsourcing to corporations and away from the long-established practice of keeping operations in US government hands, with only select outsourcing of certain jobs to independently contracted experts. Key functions of intelligence agencies are now run by private corporations. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) revealed in May that 70 percent of the intelligence budget goes to contractors.

For all practical purposes, effective control of the NSA is with private corporations, which run its support and management functions. As the Washington Post's Walter Pincus reported last year, more than 70 percent of the staff of the Pentagon's newest intelligence unit, CIFA (Counterintelligence Field Activity), is made up of corporate contractors. Read more...

Murtha to Push New Troop Withdrawal Plan

2007-07-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

By Anne Flaherty

The Associated Press via Truthout
Go to Original

Washington - A leading Democratic House Iraq war critic said Wednesday he'll soon push legislation that would order U.S. troop withdrawals to begin in two months and predicted Republicans will swing behind it this time.

A vote on Rep. John Murtha's proposal likely will come in September, when Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus delivers a long-anticipated assessment on the war and members of Congress weigh some $600 billion in defense spending requested by President Bush.

Under his plan, Murtha, a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said that he envisions troop withdrawals to start in November and take about a year to complete.

The House has passed similar proposals in the past, including one that Bush vetoed. But Murtha said he predicts this vote will be different because of mounting voter frustration with the war and a lack of progress in Iraq.

"This is big time," Murtha, D-Pa., told reporters of the upcoming war debate in September. "When you get to September, this is history. This is when we're going to have a real confrontation with the president trying to work things out." Read more...

Torture Tactics: Created by Psychologists, Approved by U.S. Government, and Oh, by the Way, Completely Ineffective

2007-07-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

In addition to being illegal and morally repugnant, there is also more and more proof that torture tactics are ineffective, even counterproductive. Now, in the latest Vanity Fair, a new report by Katherine Eban (which I first came across via The Raw Story) has discovered that the implementation of such tactics by the C.I.A. came as result of false information.

In April of 2002, al-Qaeda lieutenant Abu Zubaydah was captured by Special Forces after being shot, and subsequently revealed information about 9/11, when he was questioned. This information was reported by the C.I.A. as having been extracted from Zubaydah as a result of him being tortured. This resulted in torture tactics being approved for use in other situations. However, while Zubaydah was tortured, it happened in an effort to get him to reveal further information after he had already fessed up about 9/11 -- and it didn't work. This shouldn't have come as any surprise considering he actually divulged the 9/11 information after F.B.I. agents used rapport-building techniques with him, including tending to his wounds rather than inflicting more of them.

What Eban discovers about how these tactics were developed is perhaps most disturbing of all. The so-called SERE techniques were created based on the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape training program that trains soldiers to survive being prisoner of enemy forces who do not observe the Geneva Conventions. Part of the training includes being subject to torture such as waterboarding, forced nudity, extreme temperatures, sexual and religious ridicule, stress positions, and near starvation. And (here's where it gets especially disgusting) two psychologists, Bruce Jessen and James Elmer Mitchell, not only created the "JTF GTMO 'SERE' Interrogation Standard Operating Procedure" document that serves as an instruction manual for these abuses, they also participated in interrogations, instructing officers on exactly how to carry out such violations. All of this was approved by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. An excerpt from the article:

In a bizarre mixture of solicitude and sadism, the ["JTF GTMO 'SERE' Interrogation Standard Operating Procedure" document] details how to calibrate the infliction of harm. It dictates that the "[insult] slap will be initiated no more than 12–14 inches (or one shoulder width) from the detainee's face … to preclude any tendency to wind up or uppercut." And interrogators are advised that, when stripping off a prisoner's clothes, "tearing motions shall be downward to prevent pulling the detainee off balance." In short, the sere-inspired interrogations would be violent. And therefore, psychologists were needed to help make these more dangerous interrogations safer.

Soon, the reverse-engineered sere tactics that had been designed by Mitchell and Jessen, road-tested in the C.I.A.'s black sites, and adopted in Guantánamo were being used in Iraq as well. One intelligence officer recalled witnessing a live demonstration of the tactics. The detainee was on his knees in a room painted black and forced to hold an iron bar in his extended hands while interrogators slapped him repeatedly. The man was then taken into a bunker, where he was stripped naked, blindfolded, and shackled. He was ordered to be left that way
for 12 hours.

At the Abu Ghraib prison, military policemen on the night shift adopted the tactics to hideous effect. In what amounted to a down-market parody of the praise heaped on Mitchell and Jessen, Specialist Charles A. Graner Jr., a former prison guard from Pennsylvania, received a commendation for his work "softening up" detainees, according to the documentary The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. He appears repeatedly in photographs, smiling and giving thumbs-up before human pyramids of naked detainees. In 2005, he was convicted on charges of abuse. In their statement, Mitchell and Jessen said that they were "appalled by reports" of alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo and had not been involved with them in any way.

Execution Stayed Temporarily for Troy Anthony Davis

2007-07-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

With only 24 hours to spare before he would have been executed, death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis was granted a 90-day stay of execution. The state parole board will use the time to examine evidence in the case before making a final decision.

Davis, who is convicted of murdering police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, is hoping to be granted full clemency. Since he was tried, 7 of the 9 witnesses who implicated Davis in the killing, have recanted their testimony and admitted to being coerced by law enforcement. New witnesses have also come forward to claim the killer is someone else.

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"One of the witnesses, Tonya Johnson, has said that she saw the real killer run from the crime scene and stash 2 guns in an abandoned house information she says she initially withheld from authorities.

Johnson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the parole board asked her about the events of the shooting, and why she took so long to come forward with her story.

"I told them I was scared [about coming forward earlier]," Johnson said.

Johnson said a change of heart caused her to come forward and address the parole board today.
"It felt like a relief," Johnson said of her testimony before the board. "I hope there's a good turnout."

Davis has received support from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and Amnesty International USA, as well as U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who testified on Davis's behalf at the parole board hearing. Part of Rep. Lewis's testimony read:

"I do not know Troy Anthony Davis. I do not know if he is guilty of the charges of which he has been convicted. But I do know that nobody should be put to death based on the evidence we now have in this case."

"As a man of faith, I am sure I know what God wants you to do. Do justice. Commute the sentence of Troy Anthony Davis."

Iraq Summer Campaign: Opposing the Escalation

2007-07-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

Iraq Summer is a grassroots campaign created by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq opposing the current failing troop escalation. AAEI, a coalition of eleven groups, is working with veterans and military families across the country to encourage the public to oppose the war. They're organizing events to drum up support and gain media attention, as well as directly engaging lawmakers. Their Youtube channel features videos of these events and media coverage, as well as powerful footage of veterans' and their family members' confrontations with members of Congress. The dismissive and/or contemptuous responses these representatives give are truly disturbing.

For more information about AAEI, and to sign up for e-mail updates, visit their website. Definitely check out the reports page. Their two most recent reports compare the current war situation to the conditions at the beginning of the insurgency (specifically, the date of Bush's "bring 'em on" declaration), four years ago. Some of the staggering statistics:

Multiple Fatality Bombings
(Brookings Institute, Iraq Index; http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)

0 (on date of "bring 'em on")

1,429 (since "bring 'em on")

U.S. Military Fatalities Caused By IEDs
(Brookings Institute, Iraq Index; http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)

0 (on date of "bring 'em on")

1,391 (since "bring 'em on")

Size of Insurgency
(Brookings Institute, Iraq Index; http://www3.brookings.edu/fp/saban/iraq/index.pdf)

0 (on date of "bring 'em on")

20,000-30,000 (since "bring 'em on")

Electronic Border Behind Schedule, Over Budget

2007-07-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

CorpWatch.org has a new report on the progress of a high-tech border security initiative issued by the Department of Homeland Security. This project, Project 28, named for the 28-mile stretch along Arizona's border that would be electronically sealed, was awarded to Boeing in September of last year and was scheduled to be finished in June of 2007. However, it hasn't been finished, there's no word on when (if?) it will be, and it is fantastically over-budget. According to the report, "the estimated cost of securing the southwest border has gone from $2.5 billion to an estimated $8 billion" in just a matter of months. Part of the problem is Boeing's conflict of interest in having selected all the sub-contractors, and in being the only ones overseeing the project.

The House of Representatives Oversight Committee has already cited Boeing for wasteful spending and mismanagement. (See/ Dollars, Not Sense: Government Contracting Under the Bush Administration/, US House Oversight Committee Report, June 2007.) Also noted in the article is one committee member's take on the situation:

"The last time I saw this type of model for managing a project was 'the Big Dig' in Boston," said Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Steven Lynch referring to a highway rerouting mega project that included a 3.5-mile long tunnel under Boston. "This is exactly what they did. They fused the oversight function with the engineering and construction function. Everybody was in the same tent. Nobody was watching out for the owner, who in this case is the US taxpayer. This is a terrible model and I see a lot of it. Generally when this model is in place, we see colossal failures and huge cost overruns."

Read the rest of the report, with insights into the overwhelmed Arizona legal system and problems with privatizing deportation, here.

Execution Alert

2007-07-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

Please take a moment to consider the life of Darrell Grayson, who is schedule to die on July 26th. Even if you do not oppose the death penalty this case should compel you. Darrell does not remember the night he supposedly committed murder. Two men with him that night have stated he was blacked out and could not have committed the crime. DNA evidence that could clear him has never been tested. Darrel, an African-American, was convicted by an all white jury, and was defended by a divorce attorney with no experience with capital cases.

While in prison Darrell has gotten his GED and Associates Degree, become an accomplished writer and poet, and become chairman of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty. Read more about Darrell case, and read his poetry here. Read more of his writing here. Please contact Governor Bob Riley of Alabama to help save Darrell. There are many ways to make your voice heard:

Call: (334)242-7100. All you need to say is that you wish to be counted as having asked the Governor to halt Darrell Grayson's Execution. The person answering will not be hostile or ask you to elaborate.

Send a fax : 334 242 0937

Contact the Governor through his website: www.governor.state.al.us

Send an e-mail: http://www.governor.state.al.us/contact.htm

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty has an execution alert posted for Darrell with a pre-written note . You just provide your information and send the e-mail. To do so click here.

Thank you for your consideration.

NY Times article on Clinton's faith lacks sources for those who question her "sincerity" (Media Matters)

2007-07-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

A July 7 New York Times article by reporter Michael Luo exploring how Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) Methodist faith "intertwines" with her "political life" asserted that Clinton "has been alluding to her spiritual life with increasing regularity in recent years," and that those references "have come under attack, both from conservatives who doubt her sincerity ... and liberals who object to any injection of religion into politics." Yet the article cited only one named conservative source attacking the "sincerity" of Clinton's faith -- Weekly Standard senior editor Andrew Ferguson, whose comments were taken from a separate interview on MSNBC, previously noted by Media Matters for America -- as well as unnamed "conservative bloggers."
By contrast, in addition to interviewing Clinton about her faith, Luo cited numerous sources -- including those close to Clinton, Republican candidate for president and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (himself a Baptist minister), theologians, and other religious experts -- asserting in a variety of ways that Clinton is, as John C. Green, senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, was quoted as saying in the article, "a person of deep and sincere faith."

Notwithstanding Luo's assertion about "attack[s]" on Clinton's "references to faith" from both conservatives and liberals, the article did not quote -- either by name or anonymously -- any "liberals who object" to Clinton's "injection of religion into politics." Read more...

Congressional News

2007-07-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Anti-War Liberal Jan Schakowsky (The Washington Post)

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Before the Oct. 10, 2002, House vote to authorize the war, with the Democratic leadership prepared to support President Bush, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and other liberals formed an opposition movement. Quietly, they went from lawmaker to lawmaker "asking people how they would vote, and if they were unsure, convincing them that they would be far from alone if they vote no." In the final tally, 126 Democrats, or about 60 percent of the caucus, sided with Schakowsky.

Three years later, Schakowsky helped found the Out of Iraq Caucus, which has grown to about 75 members. But when Democrats won control of Congress, her longtime friend and fellow liberal Nancy Pelosi of California became speaker, and Schakowsky was named a chief deputy whip, a crucial vote-counting post. From her new perch in leadership, the war debate has become more complicated than a simple rallying call. Read more...

Clinton leads in congressional endorsements (The Hill)

By Jeremy Jacobs

Six months into the 110th Congress and approximately six months before the first primary vote is cast, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is the favorite presidential candidate among members of Congress.

Of the 196 lawmakers who have already decided who they think should be the next president, Clinton has garnered 51 endorsements, the most of any candidate. Read more...

Presidential Campaign 2008: Democrats

2007-07-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Dodd Pins Hopes on Early-Vote Miracles (The Washington Post)
Trailing Badly, Senator Presses Hard in Iowa

By Anne E. Kornblut

DYERSVILLE, Iowa, July 5 -- Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) is not the first candidate to visit the eastern Iowa spot where the legendary movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed. But as he tossed a baseball around with his wife and two young daughters here on Thursday, Dodd seemed to embrace the movie's enduring line: "If you build it, they will come."

Dodd, 63, is running for president in a 2008 Democratic field crowded with heavy hitters who have used up most of the oxygen in the race so far, leaving him as something of an afterthought. Skimming the bottom of most of the polls, ranking near the end of the list of Democratic fundraisers, Dodd is pinning his presidential dreams on the possibility that either the front-runner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), will stumble or that the next two leaders, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and former senator John Edwards (N.C.), will fail to live up to expectations in early-primary states.

In the meantime, Dodd is slowly building a campaign organization around his main credential -- his substantial experience in government, particularly on foreign policy and education issues -- while tapping his network of Democratic colleagues around the country. Read more...

Senator accuses Bush of being 'brain dead' (The Raw Story)

Will Menaker

At a campaign stop in Des Moines, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had some tough words for the President, along with two GOP presidential candidates. "This guy is brain dead," Biden said of Bush, eliciting a chorus of laughter from his audience. Known for his slips of the tongue, Biden added, "I know I’ll be quoted, I’ll be killed for that.”

Speaking of Bush's decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby, Biden stated, “This is a guy who is on the balls of his heels, here’s a guy who is lower off in the polls than any president in modern history and he goes ahead and he does something that just flies in the face of the sensibilities of the American people.” Read more...

Presidential Campaign 2008 News

2007-07-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

Politics spices July 4th celebrations in Iowa (Reuters)

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

CLEAR LAKE, Iowa (Reuters) - Presidential politics spiced up Independence Day celebrations across Iowa on Wednesday, as Bill and Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney competed for attention in the same parade and four other 2008 candidates blanketed the state.

Crowds jammed front lawns, porches and sidewalks in Clear Lake for a chance to see Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and her husband, the former president, as well as Republican Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

The Clintons, on the last leg of a three-day tour of the critical early-voting state of Iowa, marched several hundred yards ahead of Romney in the town's July 4th parade. The three had a brief, cordial chat before the parade kicked off.

Area residents began staking out space along the route with blankets and chairs as early as Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, the route was full, residents said. Read more...

Man with knife arrested by Obama's hotel (Yahoo! News)

By JAMES BELTRAN, Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa - A man with a large knife was arrested Wednesday outside presidential hopeful Barack Obama's hotel in southeast Iowa, police said.

Davit Zakaryan, 24, was searched and apprehended after Obama's security crew allegedly saw him loitering outside a Fairfield Inn in Ottumwa before the Illinois senator was about to leave for a busy day of campaigning.

Police said they did not know why Zakaryan was outside the hotel with the knife, and they cautioned against making any assumptions until he was questioned further.

"This is not an earth-shattering" arrest, Lt. Mike McDonough of the Ottumwa Police Department said. "He made no threats toward the senator." Read more...

Clinton slams Bush over Libby maneuver (Yahoo! News)

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

KEOKUK, Iowa - Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton drew a distinction between President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby — which she has harshly criticized — and her husband's 140 pardons in his closing hours in office.

"I believe that presidential pardon authority is available to any president, and almost all presidents have exercised it," Clinton said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "This (the Libby decision) was clearly an effort to protect the White House. ... There isn't any doubt now, what we know is that Libby was carrying out the implicit or explicit wishes of the vice president, or maybe the president as well, in the further effort to stifle dissent." Read more...

White House News

2007-07-04T16:48:00.000-07:00

Analysis: Libby decision shows worst in politics (MSNBC)
Veteran reporter says the hypocrisy is unpardonable

By RON FOURNIER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The hypocrisy is unpardonable. President Bush's decision to commute the sentence of a convicted liar brought out the worst in both parties and politics.

In keeping I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby out of jail, Bush defied his promise to hold wrongdoers accountable and undercut his 2000 campaign pledge to "restore honor and dignity" to the White House. And it might be a cynical first step toward issuing a full pardon at the conclusion of his term.

Democrats responded as if they don't live in glass houses, decrying corruption, favoritism and a lack of justice.

"This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

It was a brazen statement from a woman entangled in many Clinton White House scandals, including the final one: On his last day in office, President Clinton granted 140 pardons and 36 commutations, many of them controversial. Read more...

Bush defends military buildup in Iraq (Yahoo! News)

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - President Bush defended his Iraq war policy in a patriotic Fourth of July talk, saying that while he honors the sacrifice of U.S. troops, now is not the time to bring them home.

Bush said victory in Iraq will require "more patience, more courage and more sacrifice."

"If we were to quit Iraq before the job is done, the terrorists we are fighting would not declare victory and lay down their arms. They would follow us here," Bush said at the West Virginia Air National Guard.

A small anti-war demonstration was under way on the other side of the state in Charleston. But the friendly audience here cheered the toppling of Saddam Hussein as well as the president's decision in January to send 28,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq to tamp down the violence and encourage the Iraqis to reach political agreements among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Read more...

Presidential Campaign 2008: Republicans

2007-07-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

Giuliani tops Romney, McCain in quarterly fundraising (CNN)

From Mark Preston
CNN Political Editor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- If cash is king when it comes to presidential politics, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has had a good quarter. He tops his two leading GOP rivals in total fundraising for the past three months.

Receipts also indicate Senator John McCain's 2008 presidential bid may be in trouble.
Giuliani raked in $17 million in campaign funds in the second-quarter, his campaign said Monday.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced he had raised $14 million in the same time period and had lent his campaign an additional $6.5 million of his own money.

Romney's campaign said the $14 million raised was all for the GOP primary campaign, while a Giuliani campaign aide told CNN that $15 million of the former mayor's take can be spent on the primary. Read more...

Analysis: McCain must return to anti-establishment message (CNN)

By Bill Schneider
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The latest news from the McCain campaign is not good.

John McCain started this campaign as the establishment candidate. He's running in a party that usually nominates the establishment candidate. McCain made peace with his old rival, George W. Bush, and recruited some key Bush operatives and contributors for his campaign.

What happened?

"We believed that we would raise over $100 million during this calendar year and we constructed a campaign that was based on that assumption," McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson said in a conference call. "We believe today that that assumption is not correct."

The McCain campaign raised a disappointing $13 million in the first quarter. That put McCain last among the six major contenders in both parties. Watch CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider explain why Sen. McCain got into trouble »

The second quarter results? Worse: $11.2 million.

What's next? Cutbacks. Read more...

White House News

2007-07-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

Bush commutes Libby prison sentence (Yahoo! News)

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak investigation Monday, delivering a political thunderbolt in the highly charged criminal case. Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush's move came just five hours after a federal appeals panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. That meant Libby was likely to have to report soon, and it put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison." Read more...

Putin Tries Anew to Stop Missile Shield (Comcast News)
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine - Russian President Vladimir Putin sought anew Monday to bat down U.S. plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, proposing that the system be expanded and largely Russian-based.

Neither President Bush nor his aides reacted definitively to the surprise idea, Putin's second in less than a month on the topic that has sent U.S.-Russian relations into a tailspin. Read more...

Clinton vs. Obama, Polls vs. Fundraising

2007-07-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

Clinton Most Positively Rated Candidate Among Blacks, Hispanics

Blacks rate Obama positively by 8-to-1 margin

by Jeffrey M. Jones

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Of the leading candidates for president from the Democrat and Republican parties, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton easily has the highest favorable ratings among blacks and Hispanics. That helps to offset a net negative view of her among non-Hispanic whites. Blacks rate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama extremely positively, though about one in four are not familiar enough with him to give a rating. Blacks and Hispanics do not rate the Republican presidential candidates that favorably, but the two groups do rate former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani positively. Generally speaking, Hispanics show a substantial lack of familiarity with nearly all the candidates, including New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who is himself Hispanic.

The poll was conducted June 4-24, 2007, interviewing 2,388 adults nationwide, including 868 non-Hispanic whites, 802 non-Hispanic blacks, and 502 Hispanics. The total sample is weighted to reflect the proper proportions of each group in the U.S. population. About one-quarter of the interviews with Hispanics were conducted in Spanish, with the remainder conducted in English. Read more...

Obama Taps Internet, Small Donors to Top Clinton's Fundraising

By Kristin Jensen

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is dominating presidential fundraising, raising the most money and bringing in far more contributors than rivals such as Hillary Clinton, who leads in national polls.

The Illinois senator yesterday reported contributions of at least $32.5 million in the second quarter, compared with about $27 million raised by New York Senator Clinton. Obama raised about $31 million for the primary elections compared with an estimated $21 million for Clinton. Read more...

Be an Einstein at Advocacy: Five Tips From Grassroots Geniuses by: Stephanie Vance

2007-07-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

The American Society of Association Executives' Government Relations School in late June boasted a veritable who's who in grassroots advocacy. Following are five important tips that came out of the conference for use by anyone who wants to achieve advocacy greatness.

Number 1: Clarity of Mission Trumps Party Politics

In what some might consider an "Odd Couple" pairing, Jay Timmons from the National Association of Manufacturers and Wayne Pacelle from the Humane Society of the United States joined forces on a panel looking at how political changes can impact grassroots advocacy efforts. Some might think of NAM as a traditional "conservative" organization and the HSUS as a traditional "liberal" organization. Turns out it wasn't such an odd pairing after all, since Jay is a leader in DC humane society issues and Wayne, well, uses manufactured things a lot.

In terms of tactics, both panelists agreed that focusing on your organization's mission as opposed to party politics generates much more long term success. HSUS, for example, has done a great deal to support Republican members who agree with them on specific animal welfare legislation. NAM is beginning to focus on a members' support for sectors of the NAM agenda (trade vs. health care, for example) in an effort to recognize Democrats. The point is that almost every issue can cross party boundaries. From an advocacy perspective, your focus should be on achieving your mission -- not who does it.

Number 2: "Praise support where you can. Express disappointment where you have to" (Jay Timmons, NAM)

Perhaps I'm showing my California roots here, but the basic premise of this message struck a chord with me because it puts the emphasis on the positive. In other words, in dealing with anyone, whether it's elected officials, staff, spouses, kids or your local Starbucks barista, our "default" should be to offer thanks to those who are supportive. Disappointment in an elected official's actions should be expressed only when necessary to make a point.

This really is a new way of thinking for many of us. Too many advocates start the conversation thinking "I know they're going to say "no" or not even pay attention. I don't know why I'm asking." Wouldn't it be more powerful (or at least more pleasant) to enter into any discussions thinking "I'm looking forward to a positive conversation." Sure, your "positive conversation" may have you gritting your teeth every once in a while, but at least you're starting from a more constructive place.

Number Three: Applying the Right Method of Persuasion to the Right Purpose

One panelist offered some interesting research into the effectiveness of various methods of persuasion (grassroots versus professional lobbying versus PACs, for example), and the results opened up to me a new way of thinking about grassroots. Turns out that while professional lobbyists have an important role to play in the development of legislation, grassroots approaches are considerably more effective than any other method when it comes to passage of legislation. We know this intuitively, but the research really bears this out. This is an important point to make to advocates, who sometimes think that everything in Washington, DC (or your state capitol) revolves around arcane legal doctrines that only a special few can understand. In fact, those special few are important for crafting language, but they are far less powerful than regular old citizens in terms of moving it through the process.

Number Four: Two Advocacy Speeds

At some point during the day I had an epiphany, and here it is. Almost every grassroots organization on the planet has two advocacy speeds: "Panic" and "Doldrums". We operate at the "panic" speed when there's a perceived threat to (or extremely valuable benefit for) our livelihood and the livelihood of our members. We operate at the "doldrums" speed when there's nothing really all that exciting going on. If we're concerned about the health of our grassroots program, it's almost always because of how it operates during the doldrums. More people than I can count asked some variation of "well, last year when we had a major bill everyone participated, but that's really slacked off. How can we get back to last year's level of participation?"

The simple answer is to have some sort of legislative crisis. But no one really wants that, right? My point is that our goal shouldn't be to have a "panic" level of activity when there's no reason to panic! While there certainly are ways to boost participation on a day-to-day basis, why use the panic mode as your benchmark for grassroots activity? Effective organizations will develop standards for at least two, if not four speeds. In fact, if you're feeling extra fancy go ahead and get yourself a five-speed network.

Which leads me to my last point, which is:

Number Five: Quality versus quantity

Quick, what's more effective? Getting 1,000 people to click and send a form letter or getting 10 people to conduct a site visit? In fact, if you pick the right 10 people talking to the right 10 members, the "quality" approach will win every time.

Many organizations out there are seeking ways to boost responses to their action alerts. Unfortunately, the focus is often on boosting the quantity of responses without considering the quality of those contacts. Those that do seek additional personalized letters or meetings are often disappointed at how few members are willing to step up to the plate.

Here's the good news: it's often both easier and more effective to spend your time and energy generating fewer high-quality responses than it is to generate scads of form letters. So go ahead and focus on that small percentage of your network that really WANTS to participate. You might be surprised at just how powerful they can be.

About The Author
Stephanie Vance, the Advocacy Guru, is author of “Government by the People: How to Communicate with Congress” and a former Capitol Hill veteran. She lives and works in Washington, DC, offering workshops and advice on effective advocacy. Find out more at http://www.advocacyguru.com/
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'08 Can't Come Soon Enough

2007-07-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Turns out Romney treats some people even worse than he treats his dog.

Romney, Torture, and Teens

The former governor's connections to abusive "tough love" camps

Maia Szalavitz June 27, 2007

When Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he’d support doubling the size of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, he was trying to show voters that he’d be tough on terror. Two of his top fundraisers, however, have long supported using tactics that have been likened to torture for troubled teenagers.

As The Hill noted last week, 133 plaintiffs filed a civil suit against Romney’s Utah finance co-chair, Robert Lichfield, and his various business entities involved in residential treatment programs for adolescents. The umbrella group for his organization is the World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WWASPS, sometimes known as WWASP) and Lichfield is its founder and is on its board of directors.

The suit alleges that teens were locked in outdoor dog cages, exercised to exhaustion, deprived of food and sleep, exposed to extreme temperatures without adequate clothing or water, severely beaten, emotionally brutalized, and sexually abused and humiliated. Some were even made to eat their own vomit.

But the link to teen abuse goes far higher up in the Romney campaign. Romney’s national finance co-chair is a man named Mel Sembler. A long time friend of the Bushes, Sembler was campaign finance chair for the Republican party during the first election of George W. Bush, and a major fundraiser for his father. Read more...