High debt plagues N.D.'s college graduates

From Amy Dalrymple's column in The Forum today...

Debt load heavy in N.D.
Amy Dalrymple, The Forum

North Dakota’s 2005 college graduates have the third-highest debt load in the nation, according to an analysis by The Project on Student Debt.

The report said the state’s graduates of public and private four-year colleges had an average debt of $22,682. New Hampshire and Iowa ranked first and second.

In an analysis of graduates of public colleges, North Dakota ranked second-highest in the nation with an average loan debt of $22,839. Iowa ranked highest.

Minnesota graduates had the sixth-highest loan debt with an average debt of $20,560 for public and private colleges.

Graduates of Minnesota’s public colleges had the 16th-highest loan debt with $18,393.

The rankings can be seen at www.projectonstudentdebt.org.

The Forum says more drought aid needed

Via The Forum's Web site...

Forum editorial: USDA aid package only a start
8/31/06

Federal drought disaster assistance announced this week by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns is welcome. Midwestern farmers and ranchers can take some comfort in that the Bush administration’s tardy recognition of the seriousness of the drought will bring a small measure of immediate relief.

But it’s not enough. It’s a $700 million gesture that can’t begin to address a multi-billion-dollar problem. Moreover, most of USDA’s package is a shift in dollars from other farm and conservation programs – kind of a rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul proposition.

The political consensus about the inadequacy of USDA’s drought package has been bipartisan. To no one’s surprise, North Dakota’s Democratic senators and House member said the administration’s response was short. “The amount of money... is going to leave many farmers and entire counties without any help at all,” said Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who is lead sponsor of legislation that would provide $4 billion in disaster aid.

Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., said USDA’s package is “like throwing a 5-foot rope to a man in a 30-foot hole.”

Added Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., “This...doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of rural America.”

Read on...

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

While the ink was still drying on an agreement between the U.S. Forest Service and the Eberts family to bring the historic Eberts ranch into public ownership yesterday, the man who once roamed that land on horseback was standing on a stage 150 miles away admiring a new U.S. coin bearing the image of the critter that first brought him here.

Two good news stories on the front page of the Bismarck Tribune brought a smile to my face early this morning. A nice way to start the day. The paper announced that the deal had been closed on the Eberts ranch, which sits directly across the Little Missouri River from Theodore Roosevelt’s historic Elkhorn Ranch, where the 26th president spent many evenings sitting on his porch admiring the broad sweep of the Little Missouri River valley.

In fact, humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson, who presented Roosevelt in character at the unveiling of the North Dakota quarter at the Bismarck Civic Center Wednesday, smiled wryly as he told the crowd the best view of the badlands was from the veranda of the log cabin at the Elkhorn Ranch. Jenkinson, a longtime supporter of the public acquisition and a friend of the Eberts family, didn’t know at the time that the deal had been sealed to protect that view in perpetuity through the purchase by the Forest Service.

But TR, whose first trip to North Dakota in 1883 was to hunt buffalo, would be pleased, Clay told me last night. Deee-lighted, in fact. And pretty pleased about the image of buffalo on the state’s new quarter, of which the government will issue and circulate about half a billion in the next year or so.

There are days, although not enough of them, when the federal government just gets things right. Yesterday was one of them, and North Dakota was the beneficiary. Good for us.

See you on the Trail. Maybe even on a badlands trail. With shiny new quarters in our pockets.

Jim

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Okay, I have a confession to make. We’ve been getting together most mornings for about 8 months now. I feel like we’re getting to know each other. So maybe we can get a little personal, share some secrets. For the greater good. So here we go.

I’m a member of the Sierra Club.

Have been for years. Agree with most of what they do. “Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet.” That’s what they do. That’s what I try to do. At least my little corner of it. There are a lot of us out here who are kind of closet Sierra Club members. I bet a lot of you are. We don’t hide it. We just don’t go around bragging about it.

I needed to tell you this, because I was reading the club magazine this past weekend and came across this wonderful interview with Al Gore, and I wanted to share it with you, but I couldn’t just drop an article from Sierra Magazine on you out of the blue, `cuz then you’d know I was reading the Sierra Club magazine and wonder why, and so I just figured it was time to come out of the Sierra Club closet.

Rick puts these morning writings on the blog, and I have a small Republican fan club there who beats the crap out of me on their own blogs every time I quote Rolling Stone magazine, so they’re going to have a field day with this one. Aw, just let ‘em. The Sierra Club does lots of good things. This interview is worth it.

At the beginning of this article, interviewer Pat Joseph writes:

Six years after a U.S. Supreme Court decision cost Al Gore the presidency, the politician once universally described as wooden is a genuine celebrity—a regular guest on late-night TV, a best- selling author, even a Hollywood leading man. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this transformation is that Gore himself hasn't really changed. “An Inconvenient Truth,” his acclaimed movie about global warming, is a continuation of the work Gore has been doing away from the spotlight for years: delivering slide presentations, for free, to anyone who would listen.

That effort, in turn, grew from the then-senator's 1992 book, “Earth in the Balance.” Like the companion book to “An Inconvenient Truth,” it was a best seller—but it also drew ridicule. During the 1992 presidential campaign, George H. W. Bush mockingly dubbed him "ozone man" and said, "This guy is so far out in the environmental extreme, we'll be up to our necks in owls and outta work for every American."

No plague of owls befell us during the Clinton-Gore years, only prosperity. Still, Gore's environmental passions were kept in check during the 2000 presidential campaign by risk-averse political consultants.

Here’s a sample from the interview:

Sierra: In your movie, you cite U.S. determination in World War II as an example of the kind of resolve we need to confront global warming. But it took the attack on Pearl Harbor to galvanize the country. Are we going to have a similar moment in this crisis?

Gore: Obviously, we all hope it doesn't come to that, but for hundreds of thousands of people in New Orleans, that moment has already been reached. And for millions of people in Africa's Sahel, that moment has already been reached with the disappearance of Lake Chad. For an untold number of species, it has been reached. The challenge for the rest of us is to connect the dots and see the picture clearly. H. G. Wells wrote that "history is a race between education and catastrophe." And this is potentially the worst catastrophe in the history of civilization. The challenge now is to seize our potential for solving this crisis without going through a cataclysmic tragedy that would be the climate equivalent of wartime attack. And it's particularly important because, by the nature of this crisis, when the worst consequences begin to manifest themselves, it will already be too late.

To read the entire interview, which I recommend, you need to go here. Careful, though. This is George Bush’s America. Once you’ve been to the Sierra Club website, Karl Rove is gonna know it, and you’re gonna be on one of his lists. And those aren’t good lists.

Oh, and since they’ve already got you, you might as well jump in with both feet. For more information about Al Gore's film and book, An Inconvenient Truth, go to climatecrisis.net . See you on the Trail.

Jim

Pomeroy: Drought aid not enough

A press release from Rep. Pomeroy's office...

Washington, DC – Following the announcement today by Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, Congressman Earl Pomeroy released the following statement:

“While we appreciate the gesture, this is like throwing a five foot rope to a man in a thirty foot hole. North Dakota farmers and ranchers are in desperate need of real help and the Administration is barely making a drop in the bucket.

I hope that today’s announcement is a signal that the Administration is finally coming around to the realization that large scale disaster assistance is needed and needed now. I will continue to push for the help that our farmers and ranchers need because the days are running out.”

North Dakota is at the epicenter of one of the worst droughts on record. Farmers and ranchers across the state have been suffering with record dry conditions.

Sticks and stones...

Via the Associated Press...

Republicans' comments may hurt at polls
By ERIN TEXEIRA, AP National Writer

One Republican senator described his house painter as a "little Guatemalan man." Another called an Indian man a "macaca," a type of monkey.

Just as the GOP is pushing for minority voters, the two recent gaffes have fed the perception among some blacks, Hispanics and Asian-Americans that Republicans are out of touch with the changing face of the nation.

"There is disconnect at some level," said Michael K. Fauntroy, a professor of public policy at George Mason University. "The country is becoming browner and new voters, particularly new immigrant voters, don't respond favorably to (offensive) comments.

"They may have already missed the boat on this."

Reports surfaced last week that Sen. Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, called his house painter a "nice little Guatemalan man" during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. It turns out the worker is legal.

Earlier this month, George Allen, a Republican senator from Virginia, twice referred to an opponent's volunteer using a term for a monkey, considered by some to be a racial slur. "Let's give a welcome to Macaca here," Allen said. "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

Read on...

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

I’m not a big blog reader, although I probably should be. It’s a function of time. Rick Gion, our party’s communications director who edits this report every morning, five days a week, 52 weeks a year (he’s nothing if not persistent), reads lots of blogs daily and sends me highlights.

Dan Hannaher, our former Party chairman from Fargo, follows a couple, and sends me highlights as well. One that he reads, and we should as well, is a site called The Democratic Daily. You can find it by going here.

At the top of their site is the following introduction:

Drowning out the Noise Machine, with a liberal dose of news, national and local politics, progressive commentary and opinions, and commonsense conversation, because “Truth is the American bottom line.”

Today, the blog points out, that of the $110 billion in hurricane aid approved by Congress since Hurricane Katrina struck a year ago, just $44 billion has been spent. The Bush administration has released $77 billion to the states, reserving the rest for future needs.

“Hopefully that’ll work. Hopefully that’s enough,” Bush said yesterday. “It’s certainly enough to get us through the next period of time.”

Senator John Kerry, our presidential candidate from 2004, had some comments on President Bush’s remarks on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. They’re worth repeating. Senator Kerry said yesterday:

“Today President Bush said that step one of Gulf Coast recovery - removing debris - is almost complete. One year later, just moving one step forward is really taking two steps back when so many steps remain. During my visits to the Gulf Coast, I’ve talked with small business owners about what they need to rebuild and recover. They’re disheartened at the response of the federal government. More than half of those who applied for disaster loans have been denied help from Washington and left with nowhere to turn. The majority of businesses have not yet reopened and they keep wondering how they are going to survive.

“Right after Katrina, Senator Mary Landrieu and I proposed getting grants and bridge loans out to residents immediately. We suggested working with bankers and other experts right away to get loan applications processed immediately. We sought to increase business opportunities for small local firms by establishing that they get 30 percent of federal contracts and 40 percent of subcontracting dollars. But the Bush Administration has been blocking these proposals at every turn.

“President Bush said optimism is the only option. The most successful business people in America will tell you that optimism alone doesn’t keep their doors open. Photo ops won’t get the Gulf Coast back in business. Action is the only option. There’s no excuse for continuing to delay real, bipartisan solutions.”

Wearing rose-colored glasses, and telling us we should also wear them, doesn’t solve the problems facing America and the world today, although Bush seems to think so. This is just another example of how far out of touch our president is. Scary, isn’t it?

You can read more of Bush’s remarks and Kerry’s response by going to the link above.

See you on the Trail.

Jim

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

Okay, it was bound to happen.

The Public Service Commission is a three-headed monster, and there’s a bunch of big Republican heads up there high in the Capitol. Susan Wefald, Tony Clark and Kevin Cramer.

Susan and Kevin are nice enough people. I don’t know Tony, but he’s running for re-election this year, so I suppose I’ll get to watch a few of his TV commercials. And read about him in the paper, or see him on the 6 o’clock news.

It was indeed one of those attempts to get on the 6 o’clock news that started the fireworks last week in the PSC chambers. Tony got wind of a phone “slamming” scam going on in the state and dashed off to Fargo to call a press conference and announce it, and forgot to tell Susan. Well, heck, it’s an election year . . .

Kevin, meanwhile, took advantage of a nifty little $11,000 radio contract by hopping down to a studio and recording a radio spot warning people to call 811 before they dig a trench. And, of course, he forgot to tell Susan . . . (Kevin, Tony’s the one running this year. You could have made some real points with him if you had given him that $11,000 worth of exposure!).

Well those two things just ticked Susan off, so she called the press in and proceeded to take the two of them to the woodshed. Just like a mom sitting down with two unruly children and giving them a stern “talking to.” It made for pretty humorous reading in Saturday’s papers.

Hey, guys, remember the old saying, “Hell hath no fury . . .”

You can read the Forum article about this whole brouhaha below.

This is a busy final week of summer. The “official” campaign starts next Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. The candidates, the party staff and the party officers will be traveling the state on a pretty steady basis starting next week. I look forward to seeing you on the Trail.

Jim

Republican run N.D. Public Service Commission having a spat

Via the Associated Press...


Regulators argue about phone slamming warning, radio ad
DALE WETZEL
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. - North Dakota's public service commissioners squabbled about an alleged telephone scam and a radio ad, with Commissioner Susan Wefald saying colleagues Kevin Cramer and Tony Clark excluded her from discussions about them.

Wefald said Friday that Clark, who is running for re-election this fall, held a news conference on Thursday in Fargo about a possible telephone "slamming" incident without notifying her or Cramer about the case.

Slamming is a telecom industry slang term that refers to the switching of a customer's service provider without his or her consent.

The Qwest telephone company informed Clark of the incident Tuesday. Wefald said she believed it was serious enough to notify all three commissioners, but Clark did not mention it at the Public Service Commission's regular business meeting Wednesday.

Read on...

Proactive renewable energy plan for Fargo will be on the ballot

Via the GF Herald Web site...

Renewable energy measure headed for vote in Fargo
Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. - A requirement that at least 20 percent of electricity sold in this city come from renewable energy sources by the year 2020 is headed for a vote in November.

Representatives of the South Agassiz Resource Council have turned in 3,677 signatures to the city auditor's office to get the issue on the Nov. 7 election ballot. About 2,850 signatures were needed, Auditor Steve Sprague told city commissioners in a memo.

The City Commission will be asked Monday to accept the petitions and approve the ballot language.

The amendment to Fargo's Home Rule Charter would require that at least 20 percent of all electricity sold in the city come from renewable energy sources by the year 2020 and at least 30 percent by 2030.

Renewable power sources include solar, wind, biomass, liquid fuels, geothermal and hydrogen. At least half of the electricity would have to be generated in North Dakota.

Read on...

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Nice picture, eh? President Bush's approval numbers range from the mid-thirties to low forties nationally. Let's just say people don't like what he's done to this country.

What does that say about our governor being in this photo?

P.S. Go to Google and type in the word failure and hit search.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

We buried another Democratic warrior this week. Neil Leigh of Minot, long active in Democratic-NPL Party politics and Minot city government, died last Friday. His funeral was Wednesday in Minot.

Neil served on the Minot City Council as 2nd Ward alderman for more than 27 years and was in a leadership role, especially when it came to economic development. He represented the city council on the Minot Area Development Corporation Board of Directors for more than 10 years.

He was a strong supporter of the MAGIC Fund, which has brought more than 3,500 jobs to the Minot area. Neil was also active in numerous other community activities as well and was an avid fundraiser for these organizations.

Neil’s wife, Linda, was the District Chair in the old District 41 when I served as executive director of the party back in the 1980’s. But while Linda carried the title, it was truly a team effort, and it was one of the best organized districts in the state in those days. They helped us elect a couple of Democratic-NPL Senators, first Jerome Walsh and later Jim Maxson, and they were a big part of the host committee for the 1984 Democratic-NPL Convention in Minot that helped set the stage for our sweep of the State Capitol that year.

Jim Maxson served four sessions in the State Senate (he’s one of the few, maybe the only, Democratic- NPL Senator who never served in a minority) and is now our Democratic National Committeeman. Jim delivered a eulogy for Neil. Here’s a note he sent me yesterday that I want to pass along to you this morning.

“Experiencing both honor and sorrow, yesterday I gave a eulogy at the funeral of my good friend and political guru, Neil Leigh. Neil was a long time Minot city alderman whose wife Linda was the party chair of District 41, later District 3 of Minot during my two successful campaigns to the North Dakota State Senate in 1986 and 1990. The ground work they both did for me was extraordinary. It was like being a running back on the football team with a great offensive line. When the big hole opens up that is large enough to squeeze through a Mack truck with a sleeper cab, your job as a running back is to not fumble the ball or trip over your own feet.”

“People like Neil and Linda don't get the glory they deserve. Boots on the ground and hard work by the troops are needed to win elections. Any candidate who doesn't thank and appreciate his or her "boots on the ground" doesn't get it. I feel like an old running back who just buried his all-star offensive tackle. The camera never is on the guy with the dirt and the blood on his jersey when a touchdown is scored, but without him there wouldn't have been a touchdown.”

“Neil never asked me for any favors. He played for love of the game. I told his kids that I wished I could have found a scientist capable of cloning him before he passed away. If only we could duplicate people like him. He liked to win and he didn't care who got credit. It doesn't get any better than that.”

Our thoughts and prayers are with Linda and her family this week.

More On Ted Nace

Fargo Forum political reporter Janell Cole was good enough to pass on to me yesterday a note that says that the Ted Nace book “Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy.” is actually available free online. Ted wanted everyone who couldn’t afford to buy it to be able to read it, so he posted it on his website. You can go there, download it and print it if you want. Just put a new ink cartridge and a ream of paper in the printer. It’s 307 pages.

A Couple Of Links

People send me stuff. I got two interesting e-mails yesterday. The first was from Fargo activist Ron Saeger, who sent me a link to Neil Young’s powerful music video “Families.” You all know I’m a Neil Young fan. This video, just a couple minutes long, shows you scenes from the Iraq War that President Bush doesn’t want you to see. Watch it here.

The second came from Dan Hannaher, a former Democratic-NPL Party chairman, who sent this link that keeps a running tally of the cost of the Iraq War, and what the money could be better spent on.

Thanks to both of them. Hope to see them, and you, on the Trail.

Jim

Right wing blogger against helping North Dakota's farmers and ranchers

Rob Port, who runs the extreme right wing sayanythingblog, posted a very disturbing piece about helping our farmers and ranchers with drought relief. He does not support helping them in their time of need.

He said:

First off, where do these farmers get off "demanding" drought aid? Seems to me that droughts are a part of doing business in the agriculture industry. Why should taxpayers have to fork over money because these farmers weren't prepared to deal with a season of adverse weather conditions? Farming is business, and every type of business has risks associated with it. In farming weather is one of those risks.

First of all Rob, how do farmers prepare for drought relief?

How can they save enough to prepare for a natural disaster?

Also, farmers and ranchers are the soul of North Dakota's economy, does it make sense to let them go bankrupt?

I don't think Rob's argument holds any weight as it is just partisan rhetoric.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

I mentioned yesterday the Century Club reception we had last Friday night in Minot, at the home of Rep. Kari Conrad and her husband, Irvin Lee. I mentioned it because it is typical of the kinds of activities going on in our party right now as we head into the fall election campaign season.

Some of the party regulars were there, including former Minot-area Legislators Larry Erickson, Gary Williams, Tom Lautenschlager, Bruce Anderson and Lee Snyder. It was good to see old friends again. But what was even better was making new friends. The house was full of unfamiliar faces, and as I visited, I again realized how people are being drawn to the Democratic-NPL Party these days.

Century Club memberships don’t come cheap, starting at $125 We hold receptions around the state during the year for new and existing members to socialize and talk politics. At least half a dozen new members signed up Friday night. They were made to feel welcome by the hosts and Senator Kent Conrad, our special guest for the evening. And they’re now committed to helping us win this fall. They have an investment in our party and its candidates, an investment they’ll want to protect by joining in the hard work at the end of the campaign which puts candidates over the top. We welcome them to the Century Club. And if you’d like to join them, you can do that online by just clicking here and spending about two minutes filling out the membership form. What a nice way to start your day!

Iraq Lessons

A number of you called and e-mailed yesterday after reading Hendrik Hertzberg’s column from the New Yorker, which we printed here yesterday. Reader Betty McCommon said:

“I read with interest this morning the article from the New Yorker and how we are babysitting democracy. Funny, at a funeral yesterday, the talk was about us pushing democracy on countries. My take was we can't push something to people who don't want it and my son, a history scholar/graduate said, "The only successful democracies were ones that went through the Enlightenment and all the stuff that went with it. The only exception is Japan. And it went through a similar thing with the Meiji Reformation." Yet our so-called leader seems to think we can force it on every country in world. Guess he didn't pass history either.”

And former North Dakota Democratic-NPL State Chairman Dan Hannaher (who notes that the New Yorker is also his magazine of choice) wondered if I had also read the story in the same issue by Seymour Hersh on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Hersh, you may recall, is the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who first uncovered the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War and more recently the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. His article in the New Yorker this week hints that the Bush administration (read Dick Cheney) was up to its ears in the recent Israel- Hezbollah conflict as a possible run-up to a confrontation between the United States and Iran.

Hersh wrote: “The Bush Administration . . . was closely involved in the planning of Israel’s retaliatory attacks. President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were convinced, current and former intelligence and diplomatic officials told me, that a successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign against Hezbollah’s heavily fortified underground-missile and command-and-control complexes in Lebanon could ease Israel’s security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American preemptive attack to destroy Iran’s nuclear installations, some of which are also buried deep underground.”

“According to a Middle East expert with knowledge of the current thinking of both the Israeli and the U.S. governments, Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah—and shared it with Bush Administration officials—well before the July 12th kidnappings. ‘It’s not that the Israelis had a trap that Hezbollah walked into,’ he said, ‘but there was a strong feeling in the White House that sooner or later the Israelis were going to do it.’”

“The Middle East expert said that the Administration had several reasons for supporting the Israeli bombing campaign. Within the State Department, it was seen as a way to strengthen the Lebanese government so that it could assert its authority over the south of the country, much of which is controlled by Hezbollah. He went on, ‘The White House was more focused on stripping Hezbollah of its missiles, because, if there was to be a military option against Iran’s nuclear facilities, it had to get rid of the weapons that Hezbollah could use in a potential retaliation at Israel. Bush wanted both. Bush was going after Iran, as part of the Axis of Evil, and its nuclear sites, and he was interested in going after Hezbollah as part of his interest in democratization, with Lebanon as one of the crown jewels of Middle East democracy.’"

You can read the entire article by clicking here.

See you on the Trail.

Jim

Help our farmers and ranchers

There is a rally at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Bismarck Civic Center in support of receiving immediate drought relief for our farmers and ranchers from the federal government. The event is being hosted by our congressional delegation.

If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by to send a message to the Republican dominated leadership in Washington, D.C. that folks here need help now.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

I was going to write this morning about the great Century Club reception we had Friday night at the home of Irvin Lee and Kari Conrad in Minot. But I sat down to read the New Yorker over the weekend, and what I read just about knocked me off my chair. If ever there was an analysis of the current state of affairs in the world that just absolutely captures where we’ve been and where we are today, the New Yorker published it this week. So, tomorrow I’ll tell you about Minot.

For today: If you only read one thing today, this week, this month, this year, read this commentary by Hendrik Hertzberg. It is so good that I am going to reprint the entire column right here in this space. I don’t think either Hendrik or the New Yorker will mind if I do this just once.

On February 27, 1968, Walter Cronkite, the longtime anchorman of the CBS Evening News and the gruff but kindly voice of what was then called Middle America, signed off his broadcast on an unusual note. Freshly returned from Vietnam, where the Tet offensive had just ended, Cronkite offered what he called “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, subjective.” “We have too often been disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders, both in Vietnam and Washington, to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds,” he said. “To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic yet unsatisfactory conclusion.” Like the famous issue of Life devoted to photographs of a week’s worth of American dead, Cronkite’s polite demurral came to symbolize the long migration of opposition to the war in Vietnam from the fringe—the campus firebrands, the radical clerics, the flowers-in-gun-barrels hippies, the papier-mâché puppeteers—to the wide, upholstered center of American political life.

The center of American politics is no longer as roomy (or as comfy) as it was then. The fringe, now luxuriant only at the rightmost edge of the political prayer rug, has gone online and wired itself for AM radio and cable TV. And nowhere in the cacophonous, atomized “media environment” of today is there anyone capable of deploying the wall- to-wall avuncular authority that was Cronkite’s stock- in-trade. Even so, in this August of 2006 a palpable, ’68-like shift in sentiment is in the steamy air. Among foreign-policy élites and the broader public alike, it has become the preponderant conviction that George W. Bush’s war of choice in Iraq is a catastrophe.

“It is now obvious that we are not midwifing democracy in Iraq,” Thomas L. Friedman wrote, in the August 4th edition of the Times. “We are baby- sitting a civil war.” Friedman may not be another Walter Lippmann (just as any number of Stewarts, Olbermanns, O’Reillys, and Coopers don’t quite add up to a Cronkite), but he is the most influential foreign- affairs columnist in the country, and from the beginning he has been a critical supporter of the war. His defection is a bellwether. “The Administration now has to admit what anyone—including myself— who believed in the importance of getting Iraq right has to admit,” he wrote. “Whether for Bush reasons or Arab reasons, it is not happening, and we can’t throw more good lives after good lives.” In a Washington Post column a day earlier, the relentlessly centrist David S. Broder, citing his colleague Thomas E. Ricks’s new book, “Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq,” admitted that “the hope for victory is gone” and deplored “the answer from Bush,” which he characterized this way: “Carry on. Do not waver. And do not question the logic of prolonging the agony.”

That same week, a summing-up confidential cable by William Patey, the departing British Ambassador to Iraq, found its way into the newspapers. “The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy,” Patey wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair. “Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq—a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror—must remain in doubt.” Asked about Patey’s assessment during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, General John P. Abizaid, the over-all American commander in the Middle East, replied carefully (Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was sitting next to him), “I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it, in Baghdad in particular, and that, if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war.” Last Monday, in an interview with ABC News, General George Casey, the top commander in Iraq for the past two years, agreed, saying that “the six last weeks or so have been the highest levels of sectarian violence that I’ve seen since I’ve been here” and that “a countrywide civil war” is “the most significant threat right now.” (At a news conference that same day, President Bush himself weighed in on the subject: “You know, I hear people say, well, civil war this, civil war that.” Well, at least he’s listening. Or maybe just hearing.)

Three and a half years ago, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, commentators across the board agreed that the coming war would be a gamble—“the greatest shake of the dice any President has voluntarily engaged in since Harry Truman dropped the bomb on Japan,” Thomas Friedman called it. The metaphor came up again and again as the war approached. “This is the biggest gamble any President has taken in my lifetime,” a foreign-policy specialist at the Heritage Foundation said. “By accident or design, President Bush has allowed Iraq to become the gamble of a lifetime,” the Washington Post noted. Some viewed the gamble with apprehension. “Whatever this war’s effect on the region, globally it may be an even bigger roll of the dice for the United States than either its proponents or critics have argued,” Charles W. Freeman, Jr., who was the first President Bush’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, wrote. Others were thrilled by the audacity, the swagger, the sheer “High Noon” moral clarity of it all. “This is Texas poker, with the President putting everything on Iraq,” a Republican senator told the columnist Robert Novak, with relish.

It is in the nature of gambling that the gamble may lose. The dice have now been well and truly rolled, and they have come up snake eyes. The war’s sole real gain—the overthrow of the murderous Saddam Hussein regime—is mocked by the chaos and suffering that have overwhelmed millions of Iraqis, whose country is again a republic of fear. The concrete losses are horrific: nearly three thousand American and “coalition” troops killed; thousands more maimed; scores of thousands of Iraqi civilians dead; a third of a trillion dollars burned through. So are the less tangible ones: the unprecedented levels of anti-Americanism throughout the Muslim world and Europe; the self-inflicted loss of America’s moral prestige; the neglect of real nuclear dangers, in Iran and North Korea, while chimeras were chased in Iraq. The neoconservative project of a friendly, democratic Middle East, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, is worse than a charred ruin—it is a flaming inferno.

After the defeat of Joseph Lieberman in last week’s senatorial primary in Connecticut, spokesmen for the Bush Administration and the Republican Party sought to portray the result as an expression of opposition to the struggle against Islamist terrorism. It was not. Virtually all those who voted against Lieberman, and many, probably most, of those who voted for him, oppose the Iraq war, as does a solid majority—sixty per cent, according to a CNN poll released last Wednesday—of the American public. But they oppose it because, among other reasons, they believe that it has harmed, not helped, that larger struggle. At the end of the week, after British authorities foiled what was evidently a large-scale plot to destroy transatlantic airliners and murder thousands of passengers, President Bush called the plot “a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom.” But the war in Iraq is wholly irrelevant to the means chosen by the London terrorists, and the means that thwarted them— dogged police work, lawful surveillance, international coöperation—are precisely those which have been gratuitously starved or stymied on account of the material, political, and human resources that have been, and continue to be, wasted in Iraq. Why not change the game to one that relies less on gambling and bluff and more on wisdom, planning, and (in every sense) intelligence?— Hendrik Hertzberg

No further comment is needed. See you on the Trail.

Jim

N.D. senators rank first and third in approval

Senators Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan received high marks from North Dakotans in the latest SurveyUSA poll.

Conrad ranked first in the country at 74 percent in overall approval. Dorgan ranked third in the country at 72 percent.

Net approval numbers rank Conrad at number one in the country and Dorgan at number two.

The numbers show how effective these two are for the people of North Dakota.

Click here to check out all the numbers.

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

While I was working in Fargo last week, I ran into a young man working on the Fargo Coordinated Campaign canvassing team who just joined Century Club. What’s the big deal you ask? Well, he’s 17. His name is Grant Hauschild, and he’s a senior at Fargo South High School.

I sat down with him for a short interview for this column. When asked why he joined Century Club, he gave me some solid answers.

“I want to get involved when I’m older, so I figured I’d start now,” Hauschild said. “I became a Democrat when I was young, that’s why I wanted to be a part of it, and that’s why I’m a canvasser too.”

My favorite quote he gave me was, “I think youthful people like Democrats more than Republicans.”

Hauschild plans on going to college at NDSU or UND, and after graduation, says he will stay in North Dakota.

Get your book signed

Senator Byron Dorgan is going on a book signing tour for his new book "Take This Job and Ship It" in North Dakota this week.

Come out and congratulate Senator Dorgan on his new book and get your copy signed.
Here are the stops on his tour:

7 p.m. Today at Barnes and Noble in Bismarck (565 7 St. S.)

4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Great Stories Book Shoppe in Jamestown (101 1 St. W.)

7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Barnes and Noble in Fargo (1201 42 St. S.W.)

4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23 at the UND Bookstore in Grand Forks (775 Hamline St.)

Help our farmers and ranchers

There is a rally at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday at the Bismarck Civic Center in support of receiving immediate drought relief for our farmers and ranchers from the federal government. The event is being hosted by our congressional delegation. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by to send a message to the Republican dominated leadership in Washington, D.C. that folks here need help now.

-Rick

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

We had a fundraising picnic with Senator John Edwards in Bismarck last Wednesday, and we got rained on. We had a fundraising picnic with National Democratic Chairman Howard Dean in Fargo last Saturday and we had to move inside because of rain. We had a fundraising picnic in Williston last night with Senator Conrad and we had to squeeze under the Gazebo in the park to get out of the rain.

I mentioned these things last night and someone in the crowd commented “You should have started having fundraisers in June!” Anybody need rain? Just give me a call and we’ll schedule a picnic.

In Williston last night, Senator Conrad helped us raise a bunch of money for the campaigns of Former Senator Jim Yockim and Former Representative Dan Gerhardt, who are running for seats they held in the 90’s before taking a hiatus from the Legislature. Let me tell you what a treat it is to have them back in the race. I’ve not seen anyone take command of a crowd so easily as Jim Yockim does in his hometown. When Jim is in front of a crowd, he just instills the confidence that the leadership qualities he displayed in his previous tenure are back. This man will be in the Legislature in January. You can just feel it in Williston. He knows how to campaign, and he knows how to win, and there’s a palpable feeling in the air when he moves through a crowd. We’re so lucky to have him back.

I drove home from Williston to the farm north of Gladstone last night, and shortly after I arrived, the sky opened up and it rained much of the night. A full inch in the rain gauge this morning, which, added to the 90 hundredths we received earlier in the week brings us to almost two inches this month. A little late, but welcome. The grass in the yard, which had gone brown and dormant in early July, is turning green this morning and I’ll need to get the mower out this weekend for the first time in many weeks. Darn!

Actually, Lillian will get the mower out. I’ll be in Minot tonight for the big Minot Century Club reception at Kari Conrad’s house (Kari, I bet if we move it out to the yard, we can make it rain!) and then on to Fargo, where our statewide candidates will be shooting their TV spots all weekend. You won’t see Bill, Cheryl, Brent or Kristin on the Trail this weekend, unless you’re in eastern North Dakota, where they’ll be dashing from location to location for their film shoot.

The most heartening thing I’ve seen in this campaign is the way this team of candidates works together. By hiring the same film crew, and shooting on the same weekend, they’re saving a bunch of money and continuing the camaraderie that’s developed among them. These people really like each other, and are each other’s biggest cheerleaders, and I expect we’re going to elect them this fall in what will be recorded as the biggest political upset year in North Dakota history. They all have websites that accept contributions, and they all need more money to put the spots they’re shooting this weekend on the air, so please consider going to their sites and making a contribution. You’ll find links to all their sites on the Democratic-NPL Party’s website. Please help them out today.

See you on the Trail.

Jim

Falling like a rock...

The newest Zogby Poll says that President Bush has a 34 percent approval rating. There are some interesting pieces to the poll as well. Read the excerpt from the poll results below.

President Bush’s job approval rating dipped two points in the last three weeks, despite the foiling of an airline terror plot and the adoption of a cease–fire deal between Israel and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows.

The survey was conducted Aug. 11–15, 2006, included 1,018 respondents, and carries a margin of error of +/– 3.1 percentage points.

The numbers continue to reflect erosion in the President’s political base – just 62% of Republicans give him positive marks for his job performance, while 38% give him negative marks. Even among weekly WalMart shoppers – a demographic group identified by Pollster John Zogby as a critical support group for Bush – just 45% now give him positive job marks, though his numbers among those shoppers have improved 10 points since early June.

More than three out of four – 76% – of weekly WalMart shoppers voted for Bush over Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, earlier Zogby polling showed.

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

A couple more notes on the joint fundraiser in New Rockford on Tuesday night for Districts 15, 23 and 29. I bumped into Senator Conrad Wednesday and he again commented on the strong slate of candidates we had in those districts. All gave a short speech (although Kent didn’t get to hear the full stump speech from the District 15 candidates, because I urged them to cut it short because the evening was getting long and the Senator had another commitment) and the Senator (and all those in attendance as well) were pretty impressed. “We’re going to elect a bunch of legislators up there,” Kent told me Wednesday.

In all the excitement Tuesday, I forgot to publicly thank our District 23 Chair, Sue Bergquist, for putting the event together on such short notice. When I called her on August 1, I told her the Senator would like to do a fundraiser up there, but his schedule had been crazy and he was just now able to commit to being there. I asked if she could put it together in two weeks. “Heck we did the last one in one week,” she replied. To be sure, she had plenty of help, but it takes one person to pull together the organization to make it all work, and Sue did it. Thanks, Sue!

Lest anyone doubt Senator Conrad’s commitment to electing Democrats all across the state this year, Kent has let us fill up his schedule this week while he is home on a short Congressional recess. Kent will be in Williston tonight as the headliner at an ice cream social in Harmon Park in downtown Williston at 5:30 for District 1 Legislative candidates Jim Yockim and Dan Gerhardt, and tomorrow night he’ll be in Minot at 5:00 to help us raise Century Club dollars at the home of his cousin, Rep. Kari Conrad and her husband, Irv Lee. If you’re in one of those towns, please join us.

And speaking of doubts, let there be none about who is going to be the next Tax Commissioner of North Dakota. Yesterday, Brent Edison came into my office at about 8:30 after reading about the state’s huge budget surplus. “When I first started this campaign back in January, they said the budget surplus was going to be $100 million,” Brent said. “Then by spring, it turned into $250 million, and now they say it’s going to be $526 million. By November it’s probably going to be $700 million.” Brent said something needs to be done with that surplus.

By 2 p.m. Brent was standing in front of the TV cameras proposing a four point plan to bring property tax relief to North Dakotans.

“I think it’s shameful to overcharge taxpayers to the extent we have,” he said. The surplus’ expansion compared to expectations “just goes beyond what you can explain.”

Brent proposed a combination of property tax roll- backs, more state funds for education, expanded homestead tax credits and a halt in double-digit tuition increases.

That’s a bold proposal, and a program that all I think all Democrats can support, and it should be the centerpiece of our campaign this year. Thanks to Brent for taking the lead on this critical issue. People all over the state are about ready to stage a property tax revolt because of what the Republican controlled Legislature has done in recent years, and now, because of terribly inaccurate forecasting, we’re finally seeing that they could have prevented those huge property tax increases by adequately funding education. North Dakota taxpayers have been overcharged, and it’s time to give that money back. We don’t need a half a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money sitting in a government bank account while property taxes go through the roof. When you see Brent, thank him for taking the lead on this critical issue.

See you in Williston, or Minot, or somewhere else on the Trail.

Jim

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Fellow Democrats,

In New Rockford last night, about 75 Democrats (and a couple Republicans) gathered to welcome Senator Kent Conrad home for the August Congressional recess. The Senator didn’t disappoint us, with a fiery speech about the Iraq war and budget deficits. It’s good to have him back on the stump. He knows how to fire up a crowd.

We also got to hear from eight Legislative candidates at the joint fundraiser for Districts 15, 23 and 29. Joan Heckaman, Ben Vig and Ed Brownshield from District 23, Joe Lawson, Bev Honkola and Russ Pearson from District 15, and Ellen Linderman and Clarence Daniel from District 29 brought us up to date on local politics. They were all good, but if there is a rising star on the Legislative stump right now, it is Ellen Linderman, who gave us a touching glimpse into her constituency by talking about the people she has met in her campaign so far and the issues they face. She and Clarence announced they had knocked on every door in LaMoure County in their district (except a few Republican homes they had been warned not to bother with) and even picked up support from the aunt of one of their Republican opponents. Look for some big Republican timber to fall in District 29 this fall. In fact, what was interesting about this event is that it featured three districts which right now have only two Democrat legislators among them, Senators April Fairfield and Mike Every, neither of whom is seeking re-election. But if I had to make a prediction right now, I’d say we will send five or six Democrats--maybe even more—to Bismarck from these three districts next January. I say that because we have really good candidates there, and they are running really good campaigns. Mark my words. Let’s count on November 8th.

We also got to visit with a bunch of former Democratic-NPL Legislators in New Rockford—Bill Starke, Odell Flaagen, Charles Linderman, Dale Linderman, Byron Langley and Bruce Larson. This is a part of the state steeped in the Democratic-NPL tradition, and the dominance of Republicans there right now is a temporary blip. We’ll be sending a pack of Democrats to Bismarck next year. Say a little prayer this week for Bruce Larson, who is in chemotherapy fighting cancer. Bruce looked fine, even when he took off his cap to show me he’d lost most of his hair. I commented that 82-year-olds aren’t supposed to have that much hair anyway. Bruce is 82 going on 50, and his voice still booms across the room when he excitedly greets fellow Democrats. I suspect he’ll be around for a while longer.

Remember in your prayers today also one of the grand old men of the Democratic-NPL Party just down the road from New Rockford, in Harvey, former Representative Bert Miller. Bert, who served three terms in the Legislature from the old District 14 in the 1970’s, died Monday at the age of 96 years and three days. Anyone who ever knew Bert will miss him. He never quit being an active Democrat. In fact, he took one last run at the Legislature in 1998, at the age of 88. I was in Harvey that fall for the wedding of my widowed mother-in-law. We married her off at St. Cecelia’s and then retired to the church basement for a traditional wedding supper. The supper line was long, and I was at the back, and as I finally reached the buffet table, there was Bert, standing beside the plates and silverware, handing out his campaign cards to those attending the wedding. “Biggest gathering in the district tonight,” Bert said. “Pretty good food here at St. Cecelia’s too,” he noted as the two of us made our way to a back table. Ah, Bert. I bet he’s handing out Democratic-NPL guidecards at the gate already. And looking for a buffet line.

Headline of the Day

“Johanns says U.S. will help rebuild Iraqi agriculture” says the headline in the Bismarck Tribune this morning. Hmmm. That from an administration that cares little about helping agriculture in our own country, threatening at every turn to veto a disaster bill to help U.S. farmers. Let’s see what the Republicans in Congress have to say about that. And U.S. farmers.

Quote of the Day

Frank Deford is Public Radio’s sports commentator. This morning, he was commenting on the U.S. government’s crackdown on offshore sports betting websites. Americans, Deford notes, love to bet on sports, and they have found a way to do that online until recently. Instead of shutting down this practice, Deford, reasons, we should legalize it and tax it, just like we do other sins, like tobacco and alcohol. Tens of millions of Americans have no health insurance, and people can’t survive on the minimum wage, Deford says. Considering our budget deficits, a pretty big revenue source. Pretty sound logic. I don’t bet on sports (although I’ve been known to wager a few beers on the outcome of elections with my best Republican friend Bob Martinson—I consider politics the best spectator sport in America), but I really liked Deford’s closing comment: “Maybe it’s a sin to gamble, but it’s an even greater sin not to accept the fact that we are sinners.”

I’ll be in Williston tomorrow night for an ice cream social with Senator Conrad and the District 1 Democratic-NPL candidates, Jim Yockim and Dan Gerhardt, and in Minot Friday night for a big multi- district Century Club reception. See you there, or somewhere else on the Trail.

Jim

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

Have you picked up Sen. Byron Dorgan’s new book yet?

“Take This Job and Ship It” has received many positive comments lately from media members both nationally and locally. Check out some of the musings by a few prominent figures in the media.

Lou Dobbs-CNN talk show host: Senator Byron Dorgan is one of the few elected officials of either party who have consistently and unwaveringly defended the interests of American working men and women and their families. His commitment to our country and the truth is inspiring. His book is a trenchant and timely examination of America’s so- called free trade policies and the exorbitant cost to our middle class and our nation.

Jack Zaleski-The Forum’s editorial page editor: It’s vintage Dorgan. His populist voice is at its best – sometimes strident, sometimes funny, always indignant or flat-out outraged, but effective. His examples of greedy corporate practices and government complicity resonate because they focus on products Americans thought were American but no longer are made in America: GM auto parts (China); Huffy bicycles (China); Fig Newton cookies (Mexico); La-Z-Boy (China); Levi’s (Mexico, Bangladesh); Fruit of the Loom (China); airline maintenance (El Salvador); Radio Flyer wagons (China).

Dorgan will be holding book signings around the state next week.

Here are the stops as of now:

7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21 at Barnes and Noble in Bismarck

4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22 at a location yet to be named in Jamestown

7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22 at Barnes and Noble in Fargo

4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23 at the UND Bookstore in Grand Forks

-Rick

Bush's Approval Matches All-Time Low

Check this out via the Associated Press...

Bush's rating drops on nearly every issue
AP
8/11/06

WASHINGTON - Republicans determined to win in November are up against a troublesome trend - growing opposition to President Bush.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May. His handling of nearly every issue, from the Iraq war to foreign policy, contributed to the president's decline around the nation, even in the Republican-friendly South.

More sobering for the GOP are the number of voters who backed Bush in 2004 who are ready to vote Democratic in the fall's congressional elections - 19 percent. These one-time Bush voters are more likely to be female, self-described moderates, low- to middle-income and from the Northeast and Midwest.

Click here to read on...

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

Last week was a good week for Democrats in North Dakota.

The visits by Howard Dean and John Edwards energized and invigorated our base.

Democrats packed (151 people) Tim Purdon’s backyard in Bismarck to have a backyard barbeque with Edwards. In the Fargo Civic Center’s Centennial Hall, Democrats filled every chair (450 people) to get a chance to see Dean.

Did anyone notice that along with these two came much needed rain?

There was much excitement in the air, and we all need to thank everyone that was involved in making these events happen.

The thing I want to emphasize with you today is the message these two great men brought. This message needs to be reiterated in every city and every town here in North Dakota.

That message is: Democrats have a plan for a better America. They have a plan to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. They have a plan to lower gas prices. They have a plan to put honesty and integrity back in government. And they have a plan for affordable healthcare.

The Republicans don’t. Look at what’s happened with $3 gas, corrupt Republican led government and sky rocketing healthcare costs.

Also, there are a few interesting facts about Dean which play into the Democratic platform.

Did you know he was endorsed by the NRA multiple times? Did you know that in Vermont he took the budget from huge deficits to a $100 million surplus?

Are Democrats against guns? No. Are Democrats tax and spend? No.

On the other hand, the Republicans are borrow and spend. Do you really like having an $8 trillion debt? That money is owed to multiple countries around the world. I’ll paraphrase a passage out of Sen. Byron Dorgan’s new book by saying that massive debt doesn’t make a lot of sense to the folks in Regent or any place in North Dakota. And it doesn’t make a lot of sense that Republicans are letting other countries own us.

It’s time to take a stand and tell people that Democrats are for a better America, and we have a good plan to make it happen. I’m sick of incompetent Republican leadership. Dean and Edwards both agree that together America can do better.

-Rick

Rick Gion's News from Headquarters

Fellow Democrats,

With DNC Chairman Howard Dean's arrival tonight in Fargo, I thought I'd give you a little background on his past. It's very impressive. This biography comes from the DNC's Web site.

As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Gov. Howard Dean is making the Democratic Party competitive in every race, in every district, in every state and territory, while integrating national and state party operations and standing up for Democrats' core values. His election to this post on February 12, 2005 is the most recent chapter in a life dedicated to shaping the future of the Democratic Party.

Most recently, after achieving national prominence in his bid for the Democratic nomination for president, Governor Dean founded Democracy for America in 2004 to build on the groundswell of support and the wave of new energy sweeping the Party. And since that time, Democracy for America has been working with the grassroots to elect fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates to all levels of government -- local, state, and federal -- all over the country.

The breadth of Governor Dean's political experience has given him a unique perspective. He began his political career in the early 1980's as the Chittenden County (Vermont) Democratic Party chair. In 1983, Dean was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives. He was then elected lieutenant governor in 1986 and was re-elected in 1988 and 1990. He became Vermont 's governor upon the death of Governor Richard A. Snelling on August 14, 1991.

Elected to a full term in November 1992, Governor Dean was re-elected four more times and created a record based on fiscally conservative principles that promoted equality and opportunity for all the citizens of Vermont. Under his leadership, Vermont paid down its debt and by 2001 enjoyed a $100 million surplus. Through his innovative health care plan, 96 percent of Vermont's children now have health care coverage and more than a third of Vermont's Medicare recipients receive state help in paying for their prescription drugs. His 'Success by Six' program ensures that more resources like day-care and home nurses are available to parents if they need them. And with strong support from Governor Dean, Vermont officials instituted an Interactive Learning Network that wired almost all the state's high schools, even in the most rural areas.

Governor Dean's successes prompted Governing magazine to proclaim him "Public Official of the Year" in 2002.

Dean's leadership roles also include turns as chairman of the National Governors' Association, the Democratic Governors' Association, and the New England Governors' Conference.

Before entering politics, Dean received a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City in 1978. Upon completing his residency at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, he went on to practice internal medicine in Shelburne, Vermont.

Tickets are still available for the Campaign Kickoff Picnic with Chairman Dean at the Fargo Civic Auditorium. The price is only $15 per ticket. You can call (701) 235-1747 for tickets or for more information.

The event was moved indoors, because of weather concerns. It will be in Centennial Hall on the East side of the Fargo Civic Center.

-Rick

Jim Fuglie's News from the Trail

Good Morning, Fellow Democrats,

Well. It was quite a day for Democrats in Bismarck Wednesday. Your party staff spent much of the day helping coordinate events around the visit of former Senator and Vice Presidential Candidate John Edwards. These kinds of days are treats for the staff—Pat Schultz, Matt Pearce, Rick Gion, Renee Cooper and Ashley Andrews—an escape from the routine of data entry, letter mailing, press release writing and bookkeeping, and they fire us all up as we prepare to swing into the fall campaign.

It’s a real treat for Pat and I, both grandparents, to watch these young people (no two of whose ages add up to either Pat’s or mine) and know that they are the next generation of leaders in our party. It’s great for them to be exposed to national leaders like John Edwards, who will motivate them as they move on with their lives after this campaign to stay involved in party politics and public service.

And they work so hard! While the rest of us are socializing at events like this, they are setting up, tearing down, collecting checks, writing name tags, and tending to the million little details necessary to pull off successful events like this.

We partied last night in the back yard of Tim Purdon and Carmen Miller (we call her Saint Carmen for all she does to coordinate events like this after Tim volunteers her home and her services) and it was a huge success. Senator Edwards knocked our socks off. His youthful energy (