Full byline below.
OffTheBus Special Ops members who reported on local Democratic Party platform meetings are sending in attendees' responses to the Platform Draft. The Draft was approved by the full Democratic Party Platform Committee this past weekend.
"Upon a thorough reading, I am ultimately satisfied with how much impact our platform meeting had as most subjects that my meeting's attendees focused upon were covered in some fashion. While the exact wording of our results was not necessarily used in most cases, I can only believe that our beliefs, put together cumulatively with the beliefs of others, had enough of an impact to convince the Platform Drafting Committee to cover such topics.
Do you think these meetings made an impact? Judge for yourself -- listed below are the "planks" that our meeting submitted to the Platform Drafting Committee (sentences in bold), followed by where I believe these planks are referenced within the Draft of the 2008 Democratic Platform (sentences in italics)."
-- Edward Rotchford, Continue reading "Reflecting on the Platform Draft: Algonquin, Illinois."
"The Democratic Platform Draft succeeds in reflecting the views and opinions of the Obama supporters who met in Oro Valley, Arizona. The first priority of this group was attention to the economy, and all in attendance agreed that fixing the economy could only succeed if it was tied to a significant change in our foreign policy (specifically, ending the war in Iraq and diverting the billions of dollars supporting that war effort to domestic spending)."
-- Marlene Phillips, Continue reading "Reflecting on the Platform Draft -- Oro Valley, Arizona."
"The Draft clearly reflects the thoughts and tone voiced by the 18 attendees, who spent more than an hour discussing the energy crisis, environment, health access and affordability, education and human rights. Other areas included economics, war, labor and workers rights, national security and foreign policy as top issues."
-- Mary Ann West, Continue reading "Reflecting on the Platform Draft -- Scotts Corner, New York."
"Now that we're evaluating the 2008 national Draft document, the members of the Calabasas group range from reasonably contented to frustrated and disappointed about how well the national document matches our desires. Many in the group agree with me that the national Platform Draft reflects the spirit of our local meeting, but some are more frustrated than others about particular national planks that are less ambitious than those we fired-up Californians proposed."
-- Joan Easley, Continue reading "Reflecting on the Platform Draft -- Calabasas, California."
"After eight long years of a complete disregard for civil rights and liberties that freaked out the otherwise unflappable Molly Ivins, reading these sections on civil liberties was inspiring. It's an unmistakable commitment to return to the rule of law. The Draft Platform makes use of the comprehensive approach Get FISA Right took on the issue of Constitutional rights and the theory of unchecked unitary executive power, which is the appropriate response to the wholesale attack on our liberties.
However, there are a few unanswered questions.
Although the draft language on wiretapping says all the right things, it leaves the door open for those -- including various Democratic Senators -- who claim that under the FISA Amendments Act wiretapping is under judicial oversight and in keeping with the Constitution. It's also unclear as to whether or not this constitutes a pledge to reform the flawed FISA Amendments Act passed this July."
-- Ronit Aviva Dancis, "Continue reading "Reflecting on the Platform Draft -- Get FISA Right."
OffTheBus members who contributed to this reporting include: Heather Alarcon, Constance Bair-Thompson, Fai Borowiec, Beth Borzone, Stuart Brann, Harmon Brody, Carol Anne Burger, Kellie Cameron, Betsy Cazden, Natasha Chen, Denise Chiang, Thomas Cochrane, Ed Cohen, Donna Corey, Bill Dagg, Peter Daly, Cathlyn Daly, Bruce Daniels, Victoria DePaul, Timothy Dillenbeck, Dr. Art Donart, Esther Drew, Patrick Duncan, Joan Easley, Natalie Elmore, Ataa Elnaccash, Maiko Emi Adachi, Chad Ernest, Robyn Ewing, Taye Foster Bradshaw, Suzana Frasheri, Deb Gianola, Lynne Glasner, Anton Goustin, Andrea Graham, Janice Guider, Franklin Gurganus, Sara Haile-Mariam, Janet Hamilton, Cathy Harned, Susan Hass, Bill Hay, Greg Hodur, M.E. Holden, Bette Holmes, Karen Hoving, Pamm Howard, LD Janakos, Cameron Johnson, Rosalyn Johnson, Christopher Johnston, Hazel Kahan, Mary Kenez, Saba Kennedy-Washington, Natasha Kotecki, Henryk Kowalczyk, Jonah Lalas, Chuck Lasker, Erik Lassi, Steve LeMay, Clara Listensprechen, Thyra Lowe, George Manos, Deanna Martin, Sandra Mayse, Nora McDonald, Jan McGirk, Darrell Miller, Sarah Moglewer, Browne Molyneux, Atia Moore, Greg Moran, Amanda Morris, MaryBeth Morrissey, Dean Mougianis, Jay Mucha, Sonya Myers, Marianna Nash, Trish Nater, Albert Nickerson, Daniel Nolte, Charmaine Nygaard, Michael O'Donnell, James O'Gallagher, Ahu Ozyurt, Roy Pearson, Brian Pendleton, Virgilio Perez Pascoe, Lisa Phelps, Marlene Phillips, Deborah Plummer, Rachel Port, Vidya Pradhan, Ted Radamaker, Daniel Raymond, Kristina Reaume, C Roebuck Reed, B.G. Rhule, Pax Riddle, Edward Rotchford, Nancy Ryle, Greg Schwartz, Merry Selk, Karen Sellars, Susana Short, Erica Slead, Rona Smith, Paul Solyn, Dr. Shauna Springer, Jeff Stepper, Jensea Storie, Ruth Stroud, Gale Teschendorf, Crystal Thompson, Garland Thompson Jr., R. Trecker, Sandra VanderVen, Craig Vaughan, John Walsh, Teddiye Walton, Theresa Weathers, Marie Weingarten, Kathleen Wells, Mary Ann West, Joan Wile, Adrienne Williams, Kim Womantree, Jaime Yarbrough, Adam Young
