Political strategist Dan Carol is a long-time pioneer of new generation, network politics and the catalyst and co-founder of The Apollo Alliance, one of the country's most promising, new political initiatives. Carol's writings and commentary have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Alternet, Salon, and Boston Review. Get more at www.kumbayadammit.com

Blog Entries by Dan Carol

Found Art From Chicago

Posted July 27, 2008 | 10:10 PM (EST)


Found in Chicago:
2008-07-28-graph.jpg

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Barack Next

Posted July 10, 2007 | 01:23 PM (EST)


Short Prelude: Last summer and fall, I wrote a couple of HuffPo columns suggesting that if Gore and Hillary weren't willing to team up and run together as the two Democratic titans, then the idea of Barack Now seemed pretty darn good. Some college students on Facebook agreed...

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Stepping It Up After Compact Fluorescent Bulbs: Is Food Next?

Posted May 14, 2007 | 11:06 AM (EST)


While a scaled response to the climate challenge is still far off, we have certainly seen real breakthroughs in the last year in first identifying the climate mess and now, through excellent campaigns like Yahoo's 18seconds.org, the emergence of the compact fluorescent bulb as an early, easy thing that...

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Dear John Murtha: It's Your Turn Again

Posted December 6, 2006 | 11:41 AM (EST)


Like many of us, I have been struggling with the tragic fact that if we leave Iraq we leave a horrible mess behind, but if we stay, the mess will probably get worse due to the problems caused by America's military presence.

Now the Iraq Study Group is saying...

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Iraq: The Escrow Exit Strategy

Posted December 4, 2006 | 05:01 PM (EST)


Like many of us, I have been struggling with the tragic choice that if we leave Iraq we leave a horrible mess behind, but if we stay, the mess will probably get worse due to the problems caused by America's military presence.

So how about this approach:

1-acknowledge...

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Scary Voting Machines: The Last Word

Posted November 4, 2006 | 05:05 PM (EST)


I know we are all crossing our fingers that Diebold and voter fraud X-files don't haunt this election, and god bless 'em, teams of volunteer lawyers and videographers are standing by to tape bad behavior, file injunctions, and keep polls open if necessary. As are operators: 1-866-OUR VOTE is...

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Barack Now?

Posted October 16, 2006 | 08:44 PM (EST)


So with Mark Warner dropping out last week, Barack Obama's book coming out Tuesday with an Oprah boost, and with Richard Greene's good post yesterday, it seemed like a good time to review the bidding on 2008.

The polls show John McCain at the top of most heaps,...

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Frank Luntz: U Ready to Take the Apollo Challenge?

Posted June 29, 2006 | 05:32 PM (EST)


After a year or more of dogging by yours truly and others for him to get real on where political spin stops and patriotic duty begins, I was thrilled today to read that GOP spin doctor Frank Luntz has finally come around on global warming. This is a big...

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Al and Hillary '08: It's Kumbaya Time, Dammit

Posted June 9, 2006 | 04:04 PM (EST)


So there is all this chatter lately about a possible Gore v. Hillary bloodbath over the Democratic nomination -- but what about Gore AND Hillary? Together. For 2008. Running in remarkable tandem to win the whole presidential enchilada.

Yes I know it's a pipe dream. They have all kinds of...

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Clearing Up the Myth of 1994's Contract With America

Posted April 23, 2006 | 09:43 PM (EST)


So there is this ongoing, either/or, and most importantly FALSE debate going on in Democratic and progressives circles as to whether Democrats should be "for" something or run a "Seinfeld strategy" and essentially be "about nothing" like that old TV show since Bush and the Republicans are imploding.

False...

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The New WWF – Wrestling With "What (W) We're (W) For (F)"

Posted March 26, 2006 | 11:44 PM (EST)


We all know that we can't fight something with nothing -- and that saying no to Bush, to the Iraq war, and to conservative cronyism does not a message make.

Yet when Democrats and progressives sit down to decide what we're for (WWF), we often put the other WWF...

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Censure This!

Posted March 15, 2006 | 05:52 PM (EST)


Earlier this week I wrote a long post both complimenting the great new book Crashing The Gates and laying out some strategic choices I'd love to see the emergent Netrooters like Kos and MyDD address, or shape, moving forward.

Then came the Feingold imbroglio -- which aptly illustrates exactly...

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Dear DD and Kos: Here's A Draft Outline for Your NEXT Book, Cuz We Need It SOON

Posted March 12, 2006 | 06:26 PM (EST)


I read your new book Crashing the Gates over the weekend and I will be recommending it highly to my 230 friends. As someone who's been barking semi-successfully about a lot of this stuff here and there for a while, it's great to see both a solid...

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Dear Rahm Emanuel and Howard Dean: Don't Take The Bait

Posted March 6, 2006 | 11:20 AM (EST)


So here comes Adam Nagourney in the New York Times today goading national Democrats' failure to do better together and somehow come up with a winning "national message" like the Republicans did in 1994. To which I say - Roger Rabbit style -- pu-LEEEZE don't take this bait. We'd do...

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Drip Drip Drip

Posted March 1, 2006 | 11:06 AM (EST)


Is that the sound of Greenland's glacier melting -- or the hearts and minds of our political elite in Washington? One can only hope.

Another good week of glacial like progress unfolded this week as the National Governors Association gathered. While NYT's Thomas Friedman keeps beating the good, sensible drum...

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Welcome to Mr Lee's Greater Dubai -- or Can You Say Snowcrash?

Posted February 27, 2006 | 01:16 AM (EST)


Watching the Dubai controversy story unfold I couldn't help but think of Neil Stephenson's brilliant 1992 sci-fi-cyber novel Snowcrash -- which prophetically paints the post-modern world we now see of dying nation states, United Arab Emirates, and of course, Olympic dancers on ice skates.

OK, so maybe I kind of...

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Bush's Energy Policy 12 Step Program

Posted January 31, 2006 | 11:47 PM (EST)


You know our long-term national security and economic situation must be bad when even George Bush admits we have an oil addiction. Well, as they teach folks in Alcoholics Anonymous, it all starts with admitting that you have a problem.

So as a long-time advocate of doing something major here...

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The Politics of NSA: We Playing It Smart?

Posted January 24, 2006 | 10:18 PM (EST)


Let me run something by you all.

Karl Rove is out there saying in public last week to the Republican troops, and I more or less quote, that it's really smart to tap phone calls that Osama and his buddies make from their caves into the US because we don't...

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Wishes for 2006

Posted December 31, 2005 | 12:06 AM (EST)


Here are my top ten resolutions, hopes and musings for better progressive politics in 2006.

1-On the personal front: I hope to develop the inner calm and personal grace to be less sanctimonious and judgmental in my postings about what others should do. But hey, that's next year, and right...

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2006 Dating Guide: Voters Wanna Go Slow

Posted December 5, 2005 | 02:49 AM (EST)


I have had a hard time lately articulating clearly why we DON'T want the Democrats to make a big hoo-hah this year with a Democratic Contract with America and some big marketing campaign designed to nationalize the House and Senate races by offering the "Democratic can-do alternative." It's hardly compelling...

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