June 2008 News

PRIMARY ELECTION 2008 EDITION

DAWN Report DEMOCRATIC ACTIVISTS FOR WOMEN NOW JUNE 2008

In This Issue: President’s Corner Historic year for women as Hillary Clinton runs a close race for President. Page 1 DAWN Elects New Board A new Board is elected at the May 18th brunch. Page 2

Emerge Trains Next Generation of Women Leaders

DAWN Endorses HILLARY CLINTON for President!

Successful program trains hundreds of Democratic women. Page 2 DAWN Endorsed Candidates & GOTV A full list of DAWN endorsed candidates and GOTV info. Page 3

HillaryClinton.com

President’s Corner: Closer Than Ever by Carol Garvey, President For Democrats 2008 has already proven to be an historic year of firsts. First and foremost: the emergence of a woman and an African American male as frontrunners for the Democratic Nomination for President after 24 states, including California, held primaries on “Super-Duper Tuesday” (Feb 5th). Since then I have traveled to both Texas and Pennsylvania to GOTV for Hillary in those state’s primaries. Between the two trips I ran to become a committed Clinton Delegate, coming in second to win the Clinton-Alternate Delegate spot. I’ll attend the Democratic National Convention in August in Denver, Colorado and am hard at work strengthening my biceps and triceps in case my hand-raising services are called for. Given all that has happened this election season with, to and for Hillary Clinton, DAWN’s endorsed candidate for President, it’s nail-biting time. Clinton is within spitting distance in the total delegate count (both pledged and Superdelegate): 1975 for Obama versus 1780 for Clinton with 2026 needed to win (2209 counting Michigan and

Carol Garvey, President of DAWN, canvassing for Hillary Clinton in Florida). Leaving aside Florida and Michigan for the moment there are still 200 uncommitted Superdelegates and another 81 up for grabs from among Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota. The DNC meets May 31st to decide how to seat the Florida(210) and Michigan (156) delegates; those two states have been entangled in a “test of wills” with the DNC since moving up their primaries ahead of the DNCimposed timetable Both the Obama and Clinton camps have spun the numbers to their advantage and though Hillary (affectionately called “La

Democratic Activists for Women Now | www.sccdawn.org | June 2008

Dama” or “La Mama” by Latino voters in Ft. Worth, Texas) is down, she is far from out. The Philadelphia Inquirer cited the six different versions of the Delegate vote count that “Real Clear Politics” keeps track of in it’s May 23rd editorial: “In most inclusive count, Clinton has the numbers”: They wrote; “To understand how razor-thin this majority is, consider that if the Puerto Rico turnout is slightly larger than we have imagined, or Clinton’s margin is slightly greater-then Clinton would finish the primary process leading in every conceivable vote count. With two million voters, a 28 percent victory would put Clinton over the top even in the count, which excludes Florida and Michigan and includes estimates for Obama’s caucus victories”. Citing other “close” races (Ted Kennedy, Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson and Jerry Brown) that were not nearly as close as this horse race Andrew Stephen (May 22, ’08 the New Statesman) wrote: “None of these male candidates had a premature political obituary written in the way that Hillary Clinton’s has been, or was subjected to such righteous outrage over refusing to quiesce and withdraw (cont. on page 3)

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DAWN BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Carol Garvey Executive Vice President Carla Collins Vice President Membership Joan Goddard Vice President Fundraising Parris Correa VP Political Action Noelani Sallings Secretary Alison Taylor Coy Treasurer Lee Sturtevant

Directors DenieseAlejandro Julie Lind, Barbara Boone, Bobbie Nipper, Jean Cohen, Ashley Roybal Darcie Green, Carole Kaye Burga Santiago, Deepka Lalwani

The DAWN Report The DAWN Report is published quarterly. It is the newsletter for the Democratic Activists for Women Now. DAWN is a Democratic club accredited by the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee. Newsletter subscription is included in $30/ $10 DAWN membership or may be purchased separately for $20 to DAWN, P.O. Box 6614, San Jose, CA 95150. Co-Editors Carla Collins & Jennifer Myronuk Design Jennifer Myronuk Database Bobbie Nipper Contributors Carla Collins, Carol Garvey, Jennifer Myronuk, Joan Goddard Web Site: www.sccdawn.org Email: [email protected]

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DAWN Elects New Board at May Brunch by Carla Collins, Executive Vice President On May 18, DAWN members gathered to elect the DAWN Board and learn more about Emerge California, an organization creating the pipeline for democratic women to elected office. By unanimous acclaim Carol Garvey was reelected President. Elected to the DAWN Board are Carla Collins, Executive Vice President, Joan Goddard as VP of Membership, Parris Correa as VP of Fundraising, Noelani Sallings as VP of Political Action, Alison Taylor Coy as Secretary, and Lee Sturtevant as Treasurer. Ten of the twelve Directors seats were also filled by Deniese Alejandro, Barbara Boone, Jean Cohen, Darcie Green, Carole Kaye, Deepka Lalwani, Julie Lind, Bobbie Nipper, Ashley Roybal, Noelani Sallings and Burga Santiago. The slate was elected for a 2-year term. As the Brunch Keynote Speaker, DAWN was excited to have Executive Director Gretchen Schoenstein from Emerge California. We learned about their successful initiatives to increase the number of Democratic women in appointed and elected leadership positions. Since 2002, Emerge has given Democratic women the skills and tools to run for office. From December to June the participants meet for one weekend a month to learn what it takes from experts to run successful local and statewide

campaigns. The women get intensive training, mentorship and a network of support that is paying off: 114 graduates have garnered over 60 appointments to boards and commissions, 21 runs and 13 victories for public office. And these numbers are expected to rise with the today’s class as over half are currently running for office. Emerge classmates are all women, all Democrats, and all interested at some level in running for office. They range in age from 25-70 years and half of all graduates are women of color. They also represent a variety of educational and socio-economic levels because Emerge recognizes that government is stronger when it reflects the people it is designed to serve. The need is great. Gretchen noted how term limits have hurt women in office but that when women run they often win. In order to get more women to run Emerge has expanded to six other states and by 2016 Emerge America plans to be in 20 states. The Republican party has a similar program that has been around a bit longer and is currently in 16-18 states. For more information, visit www.emergeca.org

Community Invited to Celebrate Harold Riddle’s Life This coming Sunday, June 1, services for Thomas Harold Riddle will begin at 2 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1957 Pruneridge Ave., in Santa Clara. A reception will follow at the Italian-American Heritage Foundation, 425 N. Fourth St., San Jose. Donations in his memory may be directed to San Jose State Alumni Association Student Scholarship Fund, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA 95192-0126.

Beloved community members, Loretta and Harold Riddle at a recent DAWN event. Harold passed away on April 26, 2008 and will be greatly missed.

Democratic Activists for Women Now | www.sccdawn.org | June 2008

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DAWN ENDORSED CANDIDATES: ELECTION 2008

Hillary Clinton (and Carol Garvey)

Get Out The Vote: CA Primary Election ‘08 June 3, 2008 sccdawn.org

Barbara Sprenger

Otto Lee

Emily Reilly

President of the US:  Hillary Clinton  www.hillaryclinton.com

CA Assembly District 21:  Ira Ruskin (inc.) www.iraruskin.org

Congressional District 11:  Jerry McNerney (inc.) www.jerrymcnerney.org

CA Assembly District 22:  Paul Fong www.paulfong.org

Congressional District 14:  Anna Eshoo (inc.) Annaeshooforcongress.com

CA Assembly District 23:  Joe Coto (inc.) www.joecoto.org

Congressional. District 15:  Mike Honda (inc.) www.mikehonda.org

CA Assembly District 24:  Jim Beall (inc.) www.jimbeall.com

Congressional. District 16:  Zoe Lofgren (inc.) Lofgrenforcongress.com   CA State Senate Dist 11:  Joe Simitian (inc.) www.joesimitian.com

CA Assembly District 27:  Barbara Sprenger – Dual www.sprenger2008.com Emily Reilly - Dual www.emilyreilly.com

CA State Senate Dist 13:  Elaine Alquist (inc.) www.alquist4senate.com

PRESIDENT’S CORNER: Hillary Makes History (cont. from page 1) refusing to quiesce and withdraw obediently from what, in this case, has always been a knife-edge race”. This longer view, written from a journalist in England argues that the “blatant” and “unashamed sexism” spewed nightly by major news networks’ pundits about Hillary Clinton has served to undermine her campaign. I’ll be a yellow-dog Democrat until the day I die and pledge to work hard to elect whichever candidate wins the nomination in August. This race has brought home to me the importance of DAWN and the work we do to mentor and support progressive women candidates for office. The board’s recent decision to partner with Emerge by offering two scholarships to the next Emerge Leadership Training Program is a good step in furthering the mission of DAWN in Santa Clara County. Emergetrained women are better equipped to handle every aspect of running for office, and the percentages of electeds among their graduates proves it. Democratic Activists for Women Now | www.sccdawn.org | June 2008

CA Assembly District 28:  Anna Caballero (inc.) www.annacaballero.org Santa Clara Co BoS Dist. 2:  George Shirakawa - open  * www.georgeshirakawa.com

Rose Herrera

Paul Fong

Richard Hobbs, - *open www.hobbsforsupervisor.com Santa Clara Co BoS Dist. 3:  Otto Lee www.ottolee.org San Jose City Council D2:   Ash Kalra ashkalra.com San Jose City Council D4:   Kansen Chu (inc.) www.kansenchu.com San Jose City Council D6:   Pierluigi Oliverio (inc.) San Jose City Council D8:   Rose Herrera www.roseforsanjose.com San Jose City Council D10: Nancy Pyle (inc.)

www.nancypyle.com *Open Endorsement: Though DAWN has not officially endorsed either candidate in this race, our members are free to endorse and support either candidate.

Remembering Rita: It is my sad news to report the passing of Rita Sowash Duncan, a founding member of DAWN and one of our early Treasurers. As school nurse and mother of six (and like Nancy Pelosi but with a "mother-of-six" voice) Rita exercised a practical approach to child-rearing.  This included just just one rule: one hour max of TV per week per child.  Anything over that would lead to a 25 cent-per-hour fine deducted from the offending child's allowance.   Needless to say, her children excelled in school.  During her time on the DAWN board and on the Central Committee Rita advocated tirelessly for Choice and Gun Control.  During interviews she held candidates' feet to the fire until she was satisfied they they were giving an honest answer.  Rita was also famous for her dry sense of humor and her persimmon cookies. I also want to send my deepest condolences to Loretta Riddle as we celebrate her beloved husband Harold Riddle’s life on Sunday, June 1. Their shared love of people, politics, travel, culture and community inspired generations of local leaders, myself -- and countless others -- included. 3

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Calendar of Events: June - July 2008 Saturday, May 31:

Tuesday, June 10:

Cardea Center for Women Annual Women’s Leadership Forum. 2 - 5 PM, San Jose Public Library - West Valley Branch Library, 1243 San Tomas Aquino Rd. in San Jose. Please RSVP:[email protected]

Fundraiser for Ira Ruskin with Gavin Newsom. 6pm 9pm. Sheraton Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA. RSVP to Stefanie Roumeliotes (415) 402-0303.

Saturday, June 21: Sunday, June 1: Memorial Service and Celebration of Harold Riddle Sunday. Services for Thomas Harold Riddle will begin at 2 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1957 Pruneridge Ave., in Santa Clara. A reception will follow at the ItalianAmerican Heritage Foundation, 425 N. Fourth St.,

6pm, Lt. Jose A. Santiago Memorial Foundation present it's 2nd Annual Fundraiser~Dancing Under the Stars.  Location Santiago/Taylor Residence, 2322 Hoya Ln, Gilroy, CA 95020. Live Music, Paella Dinner, Wine Tasting and Raffle Prizes.   Suggested Donation: $100. RSVP (408) 655-4737.

Monday, June 2-3:

Sunday, June 22:

Get Out The Vote activities, varied by campaign.

Tuesday, June 3: Primary Election Day

Rev. David Bruner of the San Jose Center for Spiritual Living will perform a marriage ceremony for all same sex couples. This service is a gift from the church, there is no fee. For more information, please call Mat Lindstedt at 408 832-3800, or [email protected]

Sunday, June 8: Voice for Change Fundraiser & Awards. Planned Parenthood Advocates, Mar Monte. 2-4pm in Los Altos Hills. For more information, please contact Joan at (408) 297-9255 x226, or [email protected]

Democratic Activists for Women Now

Saturday, July 26: Save The Date! 4th Annual Democratic Club's picnic at Rainbow Park. Free for members of any local democratic clubs and $10 for non-members.  

June 2008

Be sure to check the date above your name on the mailing label below. That is when your DAWN dues must be renewed. Don’t let your membership lapse, especially during this important election year! Only members current for at least 30 days can vote for endorsements and other DAWN voting issues. Renew now: www.sccdawn.org

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