The Facts Machine

"And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide"

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

CAMPUS DEMS, THE RETURN

Went to this year's first meeting of the UCSB Campus Democrats last night. Easily the highest-attendance I can remember in my time with the group, at least 150 people packed into a relatively small room. Probably more, I'm not generally that good with crowd size measurements.

A number of local candidates came to speak at the meeting. The first was State Senate candidate Paul Graber. I'm pondering volunteering for him, for one reason and one reason alone: He's running against Tom McClintock. Graber spoke briefly about the nature of the race, mentioning that the voter registration advantage Republicans have in the Senatorial district has shrunk by more than half this year. I doubt he can win, but it's nice to know that Ahhnuld probably won't be stumping for Tom. I'd like to see some high-profile California Dems offer their coattails to this guy; Boxer doesn't have much to do lately, given the ease with which she'll win reelection (god I love saying that). And besides, if McClintock lost, he wouldn't mind, since it would free up a lot of time for him to sit on a well-placed lawn chair in San Ysidro with a high-powered assault rifle in his hand.

The other major candidate to speak last night (after a candidate for Goleta's school board did her thing) was Pedro Nava, running to fill the outgoing Hannah Beth Jackson's seat in the State Assembly. He's an engaging speaker and a scourge of the corporate behemoths, so I'll go to bat for him.

But the real star of the night was a life-size cardboard standee of Big John Kerry, next to which people posed, measured their height, etc. Sadly I was cameraless last night. Also, Professor Eric Smith, of PS155 fame (mock congress, the Best Class In The Entire University) was in attendance.

I schmoozed with fellow club members for a few minutes, but due to other committments I had to depart relatively quickly. But if you want more Campus Dem fun, be sure to join us at the Hub in the University Center (UCen) at 6:00 tomorrow evening to watch the first presidential debate!

Also, it looks like I'll be going with them to Arizona in a few weekends to do the things volunteers do in swing states, and it's all pre-paid by our Congresswoman, Lois Capps.

Ok, that's enough for now, GO DEMS!

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