Memories Of Labor Day Wiffle Ball

Here's my fondest childhood memory of Labor Day.

I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. Each Labor Day, my grandma would host a family barbeque in her backyard. Jerry Lewis would be on the television. And the afternoon would always...always...feature a Wiffle Ball game between the kids and the adults.

This is a well-timed Wiffle Ball story by NPR.

Sarah Palin: Third-Party Candidate

The media keeps asking Sarah Palin when she is going to decide whether to run for the Republican nomination for President.

I'm surprised that, after speeches like today in Indianola, Iowa, the media doesn't inquire as to whether she'll run as a third-party candidate. She can declare as an Independent and wage war on the "political ruling class" in both parties. She'd be wisely taking advantage of the overall disgust with Washington D.C.

She's thinking about it...

The Waffle House Disaster Index

When I served in the Iowa Legislature, I once talked to the manager of a grocery store who told me that he was always aware of the state of the economy well before national economists became aware of current economic conditions.

His store gave consumers the choice of buying many items within a certain price range: "high end," mid-priced, and low-priced generic.

If high-end items were selling well, the economy was in great shape. If consumers shifted to mid-priced items, there was uncertainty. If the biggest selling items were generic: uh-oh.

Following that same theme is the Waffle House Index, which measures the severity of storm damage in an area. A Waffle House serving a full menu indicates things are good; a limited menu reflects moderate damage, and a closed Waffle House in a town = yikes!

Tara will tell you that I was drawn to this story because I love me some Waffle House (h/t The Corner).

Let's start the FAMILY FEUD!

Y'all know I think John Deeth just about hung the moon. That guy is great--his blog is influential and fun to read, he's right on the issues, and he's hilarious. So when he picks a fight, I already know for whom I'm likely to be cheering.

And I am. Deeth's been taking on the tactics of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement ("CCI") and landing some solid blows. And people are noticing...the Iowa Democratic Party, for one, and now Tyler Kingkade in the Huffington Post. It's worth your time to catch up on this brewing battle, because it's about the kind of thing that our opponents on the Right LOVE to exploit.

The Republicans can't pick a Presidential nominee, the Tea Party inexplicably continues to hold sway...conditions are good for us to unify and organize to make sure that we don't lose seats we should hold...and that we pick up a few from the other side. You do that by making the phone calls, reporting on opponents' events (not by becoming the news story after the event!), and getting voters to support your candidate and go to the polls. John Deeth is absolutely right about that.

Wellstone Action has a number of guides that CCI would do well to review and understand (just check out the graphic below for one among many examples).

I remember hearing Senator Paul Wellstone talk to a group of us trainees at a Camp Wellstone one year. He said that he got elected and went to Washington, DC, ready to take on all comers (remember, the guy was a star wrestler). He showed up and made scenes wherever he could. He yelled and ranted...and got nothing accomplished. So what did he do? He regrouped. He learned the rules of the Senate, and resolved to know them better than anyone else. He made friends. He listened. He talked and persuaded and asked people for their support. And he built a campaign organization that was full of devoted and committed volunteers and staff, and he knew how to energize us. He didn't let us run amok. He used humor to make points. And he was as effective a Senator as progressives might hope to have. Was he perfect on every issue I cared about? No. But I worked for him, made calls for him, knocked on doors for him...along with thousands of others.

CCI may be "C-for-counterproductive," as John Deeth states. But I think they are also "I-for-injurious" to the progressive cause. Let's stop looking like loons (that's for the Tea Partiers these days) and go win some elections.