Welcome to the Rhinebeck Demogram, a newsletter bringing you information and commentary about current issues, candidates and events. Published by the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee for all the people of our community.

PLEASE NOTE: Our new email address is demogram@rhinebeckdemocrats.org As always, we welcome comments, questions, suggestions and corrections.

No. 8, October 2004

IN THIS ISSUE

LOCAL

GUEST COLUMN: Voter Statistics Are Changing Rapidly
by Warren Smith

There persists a common misconception that Rhinebeck township and Dutchess County are Republican and that Republican voter registrations outnumber Democratic registrations by a wide margin. In fact, this is utterly untrue. In Rhinebeck, registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans in 4 of the 7 election districts, and the overall registrations for Rhinebeck show 1562 Democrats and 1527 Republicans as of 7 July 2004.

Where are these Democrat-leaning districts? The village of Rhinebeck and the hamlet of Rhinecliff lead in Democratic registrations, while the eastern areas of the town lag. Although it is only within the last year that the balance has been tipped, Democratic registrations continue to outpace Republican registrations year after year, in both Rhinebeck and county-wide. Board of Elections statistics show us that both first-time voters and those relocating to this area are more apt to register as Democrats.

In Dutchess County as a whole, Republicans still have an advantage in registrations. But as the county and town continue to attract new residents, the trend is clear, and within the next decade, if not sooner, Dutchess will become a Democratic county, as has Westchester before us.

Editors’ note. ‘New’ Democratic registrants in Dutchess County have almost doubled within the past year (‘new’ registrants have never before registered in the county, therefore residents changing addresses within the county or changing affiliation are not included in this statistic). Specifically, new Democratic registrants in 2003 (January through December) totaled 2,437. In the current year, from January 1 through September 28, a total of 4,395 new Democratic registrants have joined the rolls.

DUTCHESS DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S CAUCUS HOLDS ITS INAUGURAL

On Sunday, September 26, 125 women and a few intrepid men from Dutchess County gathered at the Poughkeepsie Day School for the inaugural meeting of the Dutchess Democratic Women’s Caucus.

Clare Brandt, DDWC president, opened the meeting with an outline of DDWC’s mission and plans, and then introduced the main speaker, Judith Hope, Chair of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee

Ms Hope spoke of the dearth of women in political leadership positions in the United States (which ranks 60th in the world in this regard, behind such countries as Sierra Leone and Rwanda) and the importance of supporting and electing women to public office.

A reception following the meeting was notable for good political conversation and the spontaneous founding of at least one local women’s committee.

DDWC will hold its first workshop, ELECTION 2005, on Satur day, December 4, from 9:00 to 12:30. (Site to be announced; snow date December 5). The workshop will focus on strategies for identifying and recruiting candidates in local elections, and on organizing campaign staffs, volunteers, and fundraising efforts.

All interested Democrats are invited to attend. Please go to www.ddwc.org to sign up. General information about DDWC is also on the website, as well as the opportunity to become a member.

GET OUT THE VOTE: MORE ELECTIONS ARE LOST ON ELECTION DAY THAN AT ANY OTHER TIME.

Bowing to this piece of conventional wisdom, your Demogram editors are organizing a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) effort in Rhinebeck on Election Day, November 2.

RIDES TO THE POLLS will be available all day. Call 876-6581 or 876-6128 on November 2. Or, to reserve a ride ahead of time, call 876-8841.

Starting at 5 pm, a phone bank will begin calling Democratic registrants who have not yet voted. (Our Democratic Election Inspectors and/or Poll Watchers will check Democrats off as they vote throughout the day.)

If you would like to join this effort, please call 876-8841 and specify which shift you prefer: 5-7 or 7-9. Please plan to bring a cell phone, if possible.

NATIONAL

GUEST COLUMN: We Should March, by Gina Fox

When my children asked if we could go to New York City to protest the Bush agenda during the Republican National Convention I didn't hesitate. I am alarmed at many of the policies coming out of Washington.

As a substitute teacher I deal with children left behind due to the underfunded "No Child Left Behind" act. As a chiropractor, I treat some of the 44 million Americans who are uninsured but still deserve health care.

We should march when the fish we catch from the Hudson River are no longer safe to eat.

When Dutchess county has some of the worst air in the state, with asthma deaths climbing, we should march.

When soldiers are still fighting and dying in Iraq, we should march.

That the Republican National Committee (RNC) felt that New York City was theirs to exploit sealed the decision for me. New York, where George Bush stood and promised much and has given little.

To my family the experience of protest was priceless, but was it worth the $80 million spent by the City on security alone? Money that could go a long way for New York education, health clinics or veteran's benefits? The RNC’s choice of an overwhelmingly Democratic city to host their convention was a poorly conceived and imperious idea. With the gaping hole at Ground Zero still painfully obvious, where is the money George Bush promised New York City three years ago? How much more are we expected to give while getting less and less in return?

REGULATIONS REDUX. The Bush administration has been focusing the public’s attention on the terrorist threat and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while it quietly changes U.S. regulations regarding health, automobile safety, worker safety, product safety and environmental security. These changes overwhelmingly benefit business and industry at the expense of consumers, workers, patients, the elderly and other interest groups. For example, on April 21, 2004 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ‘published’ a regulation forbidding release of some data relating to unsafe motor vehicles, on the grounds that the information would cause “substantial competitive harm” to manufacturers. Consumer groups squawked, but the attention of the media and the public was directed to events in the mideast and the protest died for lack of support. (NY Times, 8/14/04, pp. A1,A10).

Visit the Natural Resources Defense Council site (www.nrdc.org, click on “The Bush Record”) for a report on the 150 environmental regulatory rollbacks perpetrated by the Administration between January 2003 and March 2004. They represent significant policy revision, without congressional review, which is endangering our environmental national security.

NUMBERS THAT COUNT

537. . .
. . . votes was the “official” Bush margin in Florida during the 2000 election, and we all know how suspect that margin was. The point is that very small numbers can make a huge difference. The Gore margin in New Mexico was only 365 votes and the margin of victory in Indiana, New Hampshire, Oregon and Wisconsin was less than 8,000 votes in each state. In 2000 there were also numbers that were much too large. For instance, 15.2 million of the eligible voters between 18-24 years of age stayed away from the polls, and a whopping 56.8 million eligible voters of all ages didn’t vote. (MoveOn.org, 9/29/04)

20.07. . .
. . . mpg (miles per gallon) is the average fuel economy for all vehicles in 2004. Sounds good to you? Compare it to 22.1 mpg overall in 1987. Despite technological advances, fuel economy has fallen within the past 17 years because vehicles in the U.S. have gotten bigger and heavier. (Car and Travel, Magazine of the New York Automobile Association, September 2004, p. 6)

more than 1 million. . .
. . . jobs lost since March 2001, despite the creeping improvement in the jobs picture reported by the Labor Department in recent months. This means that Bush will end his term with his claim to the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover intact, despite the fact that the Bush tax cuts were justified primarily on the grounds of job creation. (The Progress Report, 9/3/04 progress@americanprogressaction.org)

824 . . .
. . . individual lobbyists were employed by the drug industry in 2003. And, according to The Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, the industry spent 108.6 million on lobbying activites, apart from the tens of millions it spends yearly on campaign contributions. Need we spend time wondering why the administration and congress fail to enact price controls or other programs designed to redress the power imbalance between drug producers and consumers? For more information, visit Public Citizen’s Health Research Group at www.citizen.org/hrg

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Of all the shortsighted policies of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, none have been worse than their opposition to energy conservation and a gasoline tax. If we had imposed a new gasoline tax after 9/11, demand would have been dampened and gas today would probably still be $2 a gallon. But instead of the extra dollar going to Saudi Arabia -- where it ends up with mullahs who build madrasas that preach intolerance -- that dollar would have gone to our own Treasury to pay down our own deficit and finance our own schools. In fact, the Bush energy policy should be called No Mullah Left Behind.”

Thomas L. Friedman, op ed article, NY Times, 10/7/04

YOU’RE RIGHT TO VOTE

ABSENTEE BALLOTS. If you are reading this after October 8, it’s too late to register to vote in person in the November 2 General Election. However, if you plan to vote by absentee ballot, there are important deadlines in your immediate future:
-- October 26: the last day to postmark an application for an absentee ballot;
-- November 1: the last day to postmark an absentee ballot;
-- November 2: the last day to deliver an absentee ballot in person to the Board of Elections (47 Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601-3270).

Since an original signature is required on all absentee ballots (as it is on voter registrations), they may NOT be faxed to the Board of Elections. If you have any questions about absentee ballots, call the BOE at 845-486-2473.

VOTER IDENTIFICATION. The requirement for voter identification under the new election law, HAVA, has caused much confusion. It is still possible that, by November 2, election inspectors at some polling places will not have a clear understanding of the issue. The Dutchess County Democratic Committee and the Board of Elections advise us that only FIRST-TIME VOTERS WHO HAVE REGISTERED BY MAIL are subject to ID checks. “First-time” indicates both new voters and those voting in a particular polling place for the first time. Requirement of ID at the polling place does not apply to registrants who have submitted their completed forms in the course of a voter registration drive. In such a case, those conducting the drive hand deliver all forms collected to the Board of Elections.

If ID is required by the election inspector in your polling place, acceptable forms should be a driver’s license, student/employee ID, pistol or hunting permit, and much more. To avoid interruption in your voting process, we recommend that every voter, old or new, take photo ID to the polling place.

GETTING TO THE POLLS. On November 2 the polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you are in line at 9 p.m., you are entitled to vote, even if the line extends outside the building. Do not let anyone turn you away.

If you live in Rhinebeck town or village and need transportation to and/or from your polling place, there are volunteers waiting to drive you. If possible, call before November 2 (876-8841 or 876-6581/6128). On November 2, day or evening, call 876-6581/6128.

PROBLEMS. If you, or anyone you know, encounters difficulties in voting, call the Dutchess County Board of Elections (845-486-2473) as soon as possible. The BOE will be open for several hours after the polls close. Ask for the Democratic Commissioner or one of her assistants. It is vital that they be informed as quickly as possible of any errors or irregularities at the polls.

BRIEFS

A TEAM OF ELEVEN. It’s especially important this year to do everything in our power to effect a Democratic sweep. Before you leave the voting booth on November 2, please make sure that you have voted eleven times, for all of the following:
U.S. President/Veep: John Kerry/John Edwards
U.S. Senate: Charles Schumer
U.S. House of Representatives, 20th CD: Doris Kelly
NYS Assembly: Kevin Cahill
NYS Senate: Judy Malstrom
NYS Supreme Court, 9th Judicial District:
----Joan Lefkowitz (incumbent)
----Alfred Weiner
----Bruce Talbert
----Les Adler
----William Giacomo
----Kevin Griffin

1000 LIGHTS OF HOPE. If you passed through, or walked by, the traffic light intersection at Montgomery and Market Streets on September 9, you would have seen 75+ residents with candles or flashlights crossing from corner to corner with the light changes. They were part of the “1000 Lights of Hope” observation sponsored by the Kerry Campaign to signal the desire for change as Bush was delivering his acceptance speech at the Republican convention. This was not the only protest, even within Rhinebeck township. Some residents gathered on their lawns, with lights, to signal their disapproval of President Bush and their hope for positive change.

BUTTONS, BANNERS, AND BUMPER STICKERS. Since August 22 the Rhinebeck Democratic Committee (RDC) has been near the Farmers’ Market each week, offering Kerry/Edwards buttons, bumper stickers and yard signs. The public response has been more than heartening. As of October 8, 295 buttons, 55 bumper stickers, and 80 yard signs had been distributed. In addition to Rhinebeck residents, donors came from Massachussetts, Los Angeles, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, among other states. If weather and supplies permit, the effort will continue through the month. Proceeds from donations received will go to to RDC’s support of the Kerry campaign.

PROTECTING BUSH’S SECRET GOVERNMENT. Did it escape your notice or did the media undercover the fact that this past summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, for the time being (until after the election), the Bush administration can shield the identities of energy industry representatives who met with Vice President Cheney’s energy task force in 2001? To uncover more unpleasant facts, visit Public Citizen’s site www.bushsecrecy.org

FAIRGROUNDS FOLLOWUP

There was significant positive response to our article in Demogram #7 about the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, and at least two specific suggestions about further research. We would like to keep this issue on the table, maintaining, as far as possible, a balanced approach. But we need your help. If you have any experience in the field of tax law, please contact us. If you have any anecdotal information, positive or negative, to share, send this to us also. No information will be attributed to any individual without that person’s express permission.

CALENDAR