OYE: Time for some posters!

Jesus' General, in conjunction with other folks at Operation Yellow Elephant, has launched a contest that I think a lot of Drake Democrats would be interested in.

In case you haven't heard of it, Operation Yellow Elephant (OYE) is a reaction to pro-war wingnuts who demand sacrifice to some kind of "noble cause" that is the Iraq War. What OYE is trying to accomplish is getting these Republicans to sign-up and join the ranks of America's armed forces. We're facing a recruitment crisis in our armed forces, and if they have time to sit at their keyboards and support the war, or to attend Campus Republican activities and blabber on about supporting the troops, why not sign up and really help out?

The details are below:

Description

Create signs relating to Operation Yellow Elephant's mission to expose the hypocrisy of hawkish College Republicans and other young conservatives who are too cowardly to fight in the war they demanded. Post these signs near roadways and pedestrian pathways on or near college campuses. Photograph your work and send it to me. I'll post them here. In early October, the OYE Contributing Writers and the Freeway Blogger will pick a winner.

How to Make Your Sign

It's always a good idea to learn from the masters.

How to Win

Send us a photo featuring a sign with a great message and lots of people or cars traveling past it. If it generates press, it wouldn't hurt to send us a url or a clipping.

Rules

1. Signs must be placed near roadways or pedestrian pathways on or near campus.
2. Photos of the signs must demonstrate that the sign can be viewed by many people (people or cars in the foreground)
3. Submit your entries here no later than September 30, 2005.

That's it, folks! Make your posters, take pictures, host them at Flickr or your preferred hosting service, and then drop a comment with a link here!

Wes Clark in Iowa; a question on values

Today, as Jason mentioned below, former 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, and possible 2008 candidate, General Wesley Clark is touring northern Iowa with IDP Chair and Lt. Governor Sally Pederson. It is a good trip for Clark to take, considering he neglected Iowa during primary season, and it will help him get his name recognition up among Iowans.

It also helps when he makes posts like this over at TPM Cafe, where he is guest-blogging this week at their Table for One.

The post tackles the tough issues of faith and values and how Democrats should address them, particularly among the folks in the Heartland and in states like Iowa. To me, his post seems a bit vague in specifics, but has a good overall message.

So, here's my question for anyone interested, particularly Drake Dems: How much of a role should values and faith issues (not religion, but moral stuff) play when it comes to elections and politics?

And as a follow-up, I guess: How do we frame this stuff so that we win?

Drop a comment below, we'd love to hear your thoughts and to get the discussion going.

Hurricane Katrina

As I'm sure you're all aware of, Hurricane Katrina has struck the Gulf Coast of the American southeast and unleashed catastrophic and, dare I say, biblical destruction in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Miscommunication between leaders and the fact that President Bush stayed on vacation have not helped the situation at all.

But instead of turning it to a political debate here, let me just make this plea:

Give what you can to the Red Cross right now. Click here to donate.

It is imperative that these people get help. The Coast Guard and the Navy are already in their way in to help because the LA National Guard is in Iraq right now. Civilian assistance through volunteering and monetary means is desperately needed.

And finally, if you're a person of faith, pray for all of those affected by this horrendous natural disaster.

Labor Day Parade

I just got this email from Tamyra Wissmiller of the Polk County Democrats and thought I'd pass it on to any Drake Dem interested:

Reminder:

The Labor Day Parade is next Monday, September 5th. The start time is 11am (not 10am as in a previous email). Line-up is on the east side of the Capitol (Lucas Building lot). We will be trying to coordinate the arrival of vehicles so we will be in line with the Boswell and IDP groups.

If you would like to join us, please arrive no later than 10:30am. We will however need help decorating the vehicles that morning and encourage anyone willing to help to show up closer to 10am.

If you have trouble locating the groups when you arrive, you can call Chris at 515-865-8740 to find out where they are located.

After the parade, be sure to come by the 4-H building and visit all the booths and grab a bite to eat. Polk County Democrats and Congressman Boswell will have booths out there as well as many others.

The Labor Day parade is always a fun one and a good time. Definitely check it out if you can!

Candidate? Clark to Visit Iowa

General Wes Clark, who ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2004, has been touring the country since then and will be visiting Iowa next week. It is not clear whether he will be making a run again in 2008, but it seems certain that if he does, he will definitely have enough time to compete in Iowa this time around.

August 31st - September 1st: General Clark will be in Iowa
Start: Aug 31 2005 - 8:00am
End: Sep 1 2005 - 9:00am

General Clark will be at the following events in Iowa. For more details please call the Iowa Democratic Party at 515.244.7292.

August 31st:
- 7:30AM Breakfast at the Hotel Winneshiek, Decorah
- Luncheon in Mason City
- Event in Emmetsberg
- 6:00PM Dickinson County Fundraiser, Okoboji

September 1st:
- 7:30AM Breakfast at the Holiday Inn, 701 Gordon Drive, Sioux City

Activities Fair & A Few Clarifications

I hope everyone is having a great first week, we've been doing quite well with the Drake Dems so far. The Activities Fair last night went very well; we actually had more people sign up this year than last year (despite not having any big elections coming up). So we're all very excited that we're going to have a great year with a lot of new students getting involved.

We nearly sold all of the buttons we had left over from next year and we know that there's still a lot of people who want some. We will try to make more before the Ice Cream Social to sell then, but we may just not have enough time - we'll make more for sure in the next few weeks though. If you didn't see them last night, check out the fundraising section on the Drake Dems website.

Now importantly - a clarification on e-mail communication: just because you got an e-mail from the Drake Democrats facebook group for the ice cream social, doesn't mean you're on the Drake Democrats e-mail list. We're using facebook to advertise events, but there's also a lot of important stuff that will be in the e-mails that you won't get through facebook. So sign up for the official e-mail list at the social, or e-mail ptr003@drake.edu with your name and e-mail address.

Hope to see you all Saturday at 3:00! And for first-year students who may not know what Pomerantz is, it's the stage area in the Olmsted building where they've been having the poster sale the last few days.

-Patrick Rynard
President, Drake Democrats

Ice cream social!

Make sure all of you wonderful Drake Democrats come to the Ice Cream Social this Saturday at Pomerantz Stage at the Olmsted Student Union, 3 PM. Nothing like a bunch of liberals and ice cream chatting it up and planning for the semester.

You all better come. Be there or be a Republican!

2005 Harkin Steak Fry

First of all, welcome back to Drake. Enjoy the 2005-06 school year; study and party hard.

Now, I've got some fun information. You're all invited to the 28th Annual Harkin Steak Fry at the Warren County Fairgrounds in Indianola, Iowa. The steak fry will be on Sunday, September 18, from 1 PM to 4 PM. For information on tickets, contact Citizens for Harkin at (515) 277-9966 or visit TomHarkin.com.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Student tickets with ID are $15. I'm not sure if we'll be getting free tickets, but that's definitely something I'll be investigating with some folks soon. I'm sure they'll also have volunteer opportunities for some students soon, I'll get you contact information on that sometime soon.

Volunteer with Polk County Democrats

Howdy fellow Drake Democrats! Since the 2005-06 school year is almost upon us, I figure its time to start gearing up again for another busy (though, hopefully not as much as last year) year in Democratic action.

I just got an email from the Polk County Democrats and they're looking for volunteers to help man a booth/table at the Latino Heritage Festival in downtown Des Moines on September 17th. Here is all the vital information:

Sept. 17th Shifts

• 10a - noon,
• noon - 2p,
• 2p - 4p,
• 4p - 6p
• 6p - 8p
• 8p - 10p

See you at the Latino Festival downtown!!

General Information

Date
Saturday, September 17, 2005

Hours
10am to 11pm

Admission
Adults: $3.00
Children 12 and under: Free

Location
Downtown Des Moines, Iowa
Court Avenue Bridge
Walnut Street Bridge

Volunteers do get in free, and when you're done with your shift, its an excellent chance to indulge in the Des Moines area's latino heritage. Trust me, I've been before and its a great time.

If you can volunteer at any of those times, please call (515) 281-0639 or (515) 285-1800. You can also email a confirmation to this address polkdems@polkcountydemocrats.org with "Volunteer for Latino Heritage Festival" as the subject.