An easy way to register to vote!

Voter registration rocks, yes? Yes. Well, now there is a new way for us to register ourselves and our friends: www.harvarddems.com.

Yes, friends, the logo that says register to vote is indeed an application that helps you register to vote! Fill it out online, print it, and mail it in! Granted, it would be awesome to be able to do it all online, but at least we're one one step closer.

If you just want to email a link to a friend, feel free to use this stand-alone one: http://www.registrationbyworkingassets.com/register/?api_key=zDg_txrqH1Y2mIWXZ7ivn2UjaQg

Voter registration is important, for reasons both partisan and non. Voter registration is civic engagement and a sign of a healthy democracy. Voter registration is how your team wins. Voter registration rocks. Register a friend. Double your democracy. Democracy thanks you.

Final Endorsed Iraq Position

Here is the final endorsed position voted on last week. I will send out a talking points version over Dems-talk and Dems-exec.

The Harvard College Democrats support a plan to withdraw almost all US combat forces from Iraq within one year (by spring 2008). We believe our presence is fueling the insurgency and that the key work to help the Iraqi government and militia take charge of the situation can be done within one year. In accordance with the recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, some of the forces currently deployed in Iraq could continue to be deployed in units embedded with Iraqi forces, in rapid-reaction and special operations teams, and in training, equipping, advising, and search and rescue operations.

Even though all troops would be strategically redeployed to other areas of the region or brought home, we believe the United States cannot completely abandon the people of Iraq and leave them in a mess we created. We must remain in advisory role, because at this point the solution to the quagmire is political in nature and cannot be achieved by military alone. We must launch a “diplomatic offensive” in the hopes of convincing neighboring countries that an end to the sectarian violence is in their best interests as well. It is also the moral imperative of the United States to commit generous resources to rebuild Iraq. Finally, if we are to truly treat Iraq as a sovereign nation, all non-military and non-diplomatic contractors should be under Iraqi oversight and Iraqi law.

We believe that a global problem like fundamentalist terrorism requires a global response, and that the immediate focus of the US should be on groups like Al Qaeda, and in places like Afghanistan, where we have yet to finish our mission.

We oppose the surge as being “too little, too late” and support the proposal of the Democrats in Congress to slowly draw down our presence, even if that requires binding enforcement through appropriations.

The elected Maliki government wants us out, a majority of the generals want us out, the Iraqi people want us out, and the American people want us out. It is time to respect their wishes.

Blog gossip!

Wonkette picked up somebody's impressions of the Kucinich event in their "gossip roundup" section:

Dennis Kucinich spoke to students at Harvard on Friday [4/13]. His wife came too, and she’s hot! Literally twice his height with long red hair. Looks like the girl from That 70’s Show. He took offense when people asked him what candidate he would support in the general election, insisting he did in fact think he could win the nomination.

Tips for Debate and Public Speaking

As some of you may know, I have issues waking up by alarm clock. Today this problem manifested itself in my missing our skills summit. As I was scheduled to lead a workshop on debating and public speaking, I am instead posting my notes here on the blog. Please email me with any questions.

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Harvard Dems Programming

It is going to be so painfully obvious why I'm writing this that I might as well post the link here.

The charge recently levelled at the Harvard Dems would have merit, and I would probably be the first one to complain about our organization, if it were true. Basically, the story goes that the Dems on campus, now that they have built up a strong organization and have national control, have become so focused on 2008, they have neglected their alternate duties.

Let us analyze the Harvard Dems. There are seven committees: Communications, Events, Finance, Legislative, Membership, Political, and Campaigns. Out of those seven committees, exactly one - Campaigns - has anything to do with 2008. Communications and Political are working on a joint Iraq Awareness Project, about to kick off in a few weeks. Legislative (my committee) has been working for the past month on a Workers Rights project, on an Energy Policy Paper, on op-eds (such as the one recently published in the Crimson), and on debates (Iraq last week, China tomorrow). Events is working hard planning the Gala and the Conversations with the Candidates, in addition to poker nights, dinner discussions and the like. Membership is working to boost diversity in the Dems and keep the broader community involved. Finance is hard at work milking alumni money.

It is true that as of late, the email lists seem to be dominated by the heads of "Student For" groups trying to boost attendance at their meetings or fill cars for trips to New Hampshire. Yet, simply because they have been as of late the most public face of the organization does not mean they represent the entire organization. In fact, many of the active members, including board members like myself, do not have a so-called "horse" in this race. I only know that I'm not supporting John Edwards, Mike Gravel, or Dennis Kucinich. Beyond that, I can't for the life of me decide between Hillary, Obama, Richardson, Dodd, or Gore (if he enters). I have not gone to NH or helped any "Students For" groups with anything, and I believe I represent a large faction of the Dems.

Of course, when the 2008 primary season is condensed and front-loaded (it will probably be over by February 5), the craze starts early. I hate it as much as you do, and wish money wasn't such a big part. But rather than blaming the system for the frenzy, some have blamed the Dems, who as an organization have only created the structure that passionate students with a candidate in mind can use to fulfill their wishes.

"Students For" groups are not the focus, or even largest part of what the Dems on campus are doing. Don't want to join them? You don't have to. You can come help me write about cellulosic ethanol instead. You can help Garrett and Jill collect goods to send to our brave troops in Iraq. You can even work with Campaigns committee on non-2008 things (i.e. canvas for Council Candidate Mary Cooney in Southie).

This whole thing probably sounds defensive, but if criticism is unfounded and untrue, it merits response.

I Hate Hippies

There is a David Brooks column worth reading. You need a New York Times Select membership to read it. I'm not going to post it, since it would be in violation of the New York Time's (silly) copyright policies or something. I managed to read the article through a post on the Dems-Talk (thanks Jarret). If you can't get a copy of the Times however, the basic gist of Brook's argument is that the extreme political polarization (i.e. name calling and mud slinging) of the past few years has made the current crop of young Americans "practical, anti-ideological, modest and centrist (maybe to a fault)."

I also suspect that we have a stronger sense of irony and a dryer sense of humor as well.

Regardless of what you think of David Brooks himself however, I think this article is dead on. It's a pretty good description of my political views and those I hang around with. If I ever run for office, my campaign slogan would be "shut up and do it." Maybe. Unfortunately, the political process seems to be favor selection of the ideologues (see immediate mockery of Brooks for things unrelated to article), so I don't expect a huge drop in the number of vapid airheads on the airwaves or in the blogosphere anytime soon.

Although I guess you could argue that David Brooks is a vapid airhead himself ... hrmmm ...

I will add, however, that I enjoy being around extreme conservatives. They're rather funny. If I didn't know better, I'd almost argue that they were politically incorrect hypocritical caricatures mocking the conservative movement -- in the same way that Borat's Jew bashing is really a mockery of anti-semites.

Extreme liberals on the other hand (read: hipipes) are just annoying. Hippy-bashing, however, is hilarious.

Dems v. HRC Debate Liveblog!

Jeanne Shaheen has done her intro, Chris Lacaria is up doing his thing and we're about to get going! Read the comments for my liveblog!

update:  there was lots of comment spam coming in off this post, so I disabled comments.  If you want to put something up here, facebook me and email me.

Skills Summit Redux

The Harvard Dems and the DNC hosted a kick ass skills summit this Sunday. My reactions and summaries after the jump.

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This just in...

Just posted on harvarddems.com, two campaign updates complete with photo galleries. Click on "photos" under the "Links" column.

Got your own pictures to share? Let me know.

(Good work, Rob.)