Why primaries matter
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/27/2006 - 23:48On the most basic level, the answer should be obvious. It is how people in the United States are given choices, are given the chance to express their opinions about who should represent them.
Yet, this evening over dinner, I was struck by another aspect of why primaries are so important. I am visiting with friends in Washington DC who I met through Gov. Dean’s 2004 Democratic Primary campaign. I have made friends through the primaries. I have learned through them.
I am in Washington for the New Organizing Institute training. This is a group of around forty people who have become excited about being involved in politics. I don’t know how many of them became involved because of the 2004 election but I know that there are people who were involved in the campaigns of Gov. Dean and General Clark.
Adoption
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 02/26/2006 - 18:04I’m tired. I was up late last night, and then Kim called this morning while I was still sleeping. Perhaps this makes me a little more sensitive than usual. So, as I worked on my notes for me session on tracking the local blogosphere for the New Organizing Institute, I stumbled across this blog and got horribly distracted.
Dawit is a young boy from Ethiopia that a couple here in Connecticut has just adopted. It is a wonderful blog. Please take a little time to read it. It is written by GaiaGal. (See earlier posts here.)
New Organizing Institute
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 02/26/2006 - 14:18Sunday afternoon. I am at a friend’s house in Washington DC. Yesterday, I did a training at the New Organizing Institute. This is “a unique grassroots training and research program created by experienced online organizers and technology professionals in politics in conjunction with MoveOn.org”.
Over 700 people applied to be part of their first training. They accepted 40 whom they split up into six teams. Each team will build a campaign for a fictitious candidate. I trained one team in setting up a campaign website using CivicSpace. For those who don’t know, one of my various ventures is to set up low end campaign websites through SmartCampaigns.
R.I.P. Rocky Hynes
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/22/2006 - 10:23I still feel a need to look over my shoulder and see if Rocky is okay. There is an empty spot there. He would have been 15 years old this summer. In dog years, he was about 102 when he died.
Random stuff:
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 02/20/2006 - 21:37We gave Rocky some rimadyl this afternoon. He has gotten a bit perkier and even ate his dinner. He still cannot stand up. He peed on a pad we had put down, and we’ve changed the pad. While we don’t expect to see him running around anytime soon, this is the most promising things have been since he collapsed.
I’ve added a link to my CTChallengers page on Act Blue. I’ve updated the link to Freedom to Connect in my upcoming events page.
Up in Vermont there is an interesting discussion going on. Apparently someone set up a blog anonymously with the pretense of having a neutral point of view. Now, it appears the blog was started by “Jeffrey Bartley”, a paid staffer of the Tarrant campaign. (I talk about my current roles in this post)
