We Dems in Ulster County are about to TAKE OUR COUNTY BACK!

[Dems Will Win]

The REpubs have screwed things up so bad, we will certainly take this county (Ulster in NY) over next year.

I plan to pull everyone together after the win and go on a binge of good government, including:

1. Creating a regional plan so there is eco-friendly SMART GROWTH instead of the DUMB GROWTH from the Repubs, based on PRISONS and CASINOS!

2. Starting an Innovation Drive to save money and speed projects within the government.

3. Open Government (they never heard of that here)

4. Fire all the dumb fucks we can within the department heads that have built up over 32 years of Republican rule.

BTW, the Dems were down 25-8 in the County Legislature. Last year we soared up to 16 seats while the Repubs sunk to 17 seats--and now they just announced an additional 24% county property tax hike, equaling 55% over a few years!

How did we win? We made our own campaign newspaper, told the truth in 40,000 copies, something the County had never seen. 3 more issues of that paper in 2005 and this county is ours and there is nothing the Rs can do. After all, taxes are up so much, even the Republicans around here are dying to get rid of the Republicans.

Ulster County is a metaphor of what will happen in the US as a whole over the next 4 years. It all happened so quickly.

The newspaper, we believe, was key to the whole thing happening as it did, although we no doubt would have won more seats anyway.

Make your won newspaper, RECRUIT GREAT CANDIDATES, use computerized voter lists, start organizing on the local level and Take Your County Back!

We will also have Burma Shave signs this year, saying:

THE REPUBLICANS HAVE YOUR

CREDIT CARD AND

KNOW HOW TO USE IT!

LET THEM BACK IN --

AND THEY'LL REALLY ABUSE IT!

They are really cheap and go off like a tactical nuclear device in the republican's face as everyone drives by and starts repeating them because they are funny. It's a campaign JINGLE that won't go away!

What would you do with your own county? Open to suggestions...

This session of "Republicans For Breakfast 101" is now over.

[KurtNYC]

1. Good stuff!

[Downtown Hound]

2. My county, Humboldt, in Northern CA, is pretty blue

so I don't have to worry about it too much. I do worry about some of the counties in Southern CA that are very red and growing at a rapid pace. If we don't start to make inroads there soon, California may not be blue forever. Any ideas on how to combat this?

Good work by the way! Excellent news!

[Dems Will Win]

3. Priority List for any county or district:

Get a great set of candidates

Start pestering the Rs now, hound them with the truth until Election Day.

Point out the bad economics of what they vote for.

Make your own campaign newspaper (only $1,000 to print up 10,000 1-color 4 page paper!). People believe almost everything if it's printed on newsprint in a paper format and throw everything away that's given to them on glossy lit (glossy lit actually loses votes)

LAUGH THEM OUT OF OFFICE! Remove their dignity with Burma Shave signs and non-mean humor. Make your point with humor and several sets of Burma Shaves. Buy the book The Verse By the Side of the Road, which has all the Burma Shave signs ever made for inspiration.

Cost of newspaper: $1,000 per 10,000
Cost of Burma Shaves: PRICELESS!

[Downtown Hound]

5. Thanks! This is something I do want to work on

The Dems like to take CA for granted, but the truth is, there is a real GOP threat here. The state is almost entirely red except for the coast. Fortunately, the bulk of the population is on the coast, but that is changing. There is expected to be huge growth in some of these red counties in the next 10-20 years that could offset the balance if we don't build up a liberal foundation in them. I want CA to be blue up and down.

[Nicholas_J]

4. One election in Florida

And another in New York thatwere very close have recounts with the Democratic candidates now winning when initial vote placed REpublican as the winner.

I was at a Party meeting (a friend of mone was given the choice of setting up a new comitting for 2006 strategy asked me to be a comittee member) and one ofthe people there has relatives running Democrat in FLorida and New York told us that the recount resulted in a change of winners from REpublican toDemocrat, both in counties that wre heavily Republican until this years registration drive. I was not paying enough attention to get the name of the counties, or the positions. One may have been mayoral, the other in the state legislature. I may be wrong about the state legislatuire, It may have been a House seat, as the recount had an over 3900 advantage to the Democrat once the recount was done. I certainly hope that this gets people looking to recount the presidential votes in those counties and others.

[H2O Man]

6. At first I thought

you meant the Old Sod!

The state's economy has indeed been focused on prisons and casinos for far too long. I believe that I am correct in saying they are the only two "growth" industries in the state since 1980. It's a shame. (The only other one that might be considered close is solid waste management; the offset from clean-up costs, etc, has made it close.)

There is very little opportunity for college graduates to get good jobs in upstate New York, unless their parents own a business or have a good connection. And it isn't because of Mario Cuomo.

[Dems Will Win]

7. H20 Man! I'm going to be helping to run this place soon!

What do you suggest for starters?

[H2O Man]

8. Very good news!

Glad to hear that!

I've got to say that I think in the next four years, there are going to be significant positive changes in the make-up of the state government. That will allow for a more coordinated effort to bring some jobs to this part of New York. Obviously, thereis a huge problem on the national level.

In my county, I try to get people to realize there is no single answer to our prayers. No large industries are moving in. So we need to use our combined talents and imagination, and start with small businesses, and creating as attractive an environment as possible. Of course talk is cheap, and I haven't said anything that others don't realize. But if the best educated young adults have to leave the area, we're not going to improve the prospects.

That is great news, though. That's really what democracy is about: people doing things at the local level.