In This Issue

• Bulletin Board
• Minutes of the 2004 Annual Meeting
• Chair's Corner: Bush TV Commercials
• A Candidate for the 9th District Congressional Seat
• The 9th District's Delegates to the National Convention
• Wedding Planned
• Comparing The Presidential Candidates

Bulletin Board

Berkley Democratic Club Meeting
April 22, 2004
Anderson Middle School
Media Center
Beginning at 8:00pm

Your participation is needed to develop a plan for the November 2, 2004 election.

- Ralph Conklin

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Minutes of the 2004 Annual Meeting

As required by the Club's by-laws, the members present elected the officers for the 2004 membership year.

• Chair - Phil O'Dwyer
• Vice-Chair - Marilyn Stephan
• Secretary - Treasurer - Ralph O. Conklin
• Trustee - Scott Wolfson
• Trustee - Marty Sauer

Chair O'Dwyer announced that the number of Precinct Delegates has been increased three delegates for each precinct with the exception of precinct four. If you would like serve in this position, call the club Secretary-Treasurer to receive an application. All you have to do is to complete the form and have it notarized by a Notary Public. Your completed application is to be filed with the City Clerk before May 11th at 4:00pm.

State Representative Andy Meisner discussed the legislation that is being considered by our state legislative branch. He were into detail explaining the problems of Oakland County Intermediate School District. It was his opinion that State Representative Ruth Johnson of Holly has served two terms as a repesentitive and can not seek the office again. She is using the crusade to establish credentials and state wide name recognition so that she can win a seat on the State Board of Education. Education can do without her kind of representation.

- Ralph Conklin

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Chair's Corner

Bush TV Commercials

Students of the art of communication are familiar with the strategy: highlight the positive and obscure the negative. Carnival criers specialize in the this skill as they peddle products that "slice and dice" etc. They repeat positive expressions with such enthusiasm that few will notice that one could easily loose a finger just preparing dinner.

So it is with the marketing of the President. The Bush organization is good, well financed and not to be underestimated. If you doubt its effectiveness "remember Florida." The man lost the state vote and still won it, lost the national vote and still became president. But even better, made the country feel "its sour grapes" if you talk about it. Once appointed he made it "unpatriotic" to question any of his decisions. By any measure Bush is going to be difficult to beat despite a stagnant economy , a disastrous foreign policy and a pervasive parade of exposed lies. Why? Because his people are disciplined and follow the prescribed script. Those who don't are punished quickly and decisively.

Consider the TV advertising campaign. It is used by the Bush people to support "the talking points" that are emailed daily and are topic specific. For example, when any local Republican politico is interviewed in any part of the country they are given "the talking points" and they follow them. Just listen to CSPAN. Bush advocates coast to coast, use the exact same words.

The most recent example is their response to White House Counter terrorism expert Richard Clark's book. The chorus of similar comments makes the argument seem credible to the uninformed viewer. Besides, it is all geared to less than 20% of the electorate. 40% are "hard Dems" and 40% are "hard Republicans" and neither group will change no matter what is said or done. It may well be as low as 12% of the electorate that will determine this election assuming the base support gets out to vote.

Bush commercials blame 911 for the economic difficulties and his tax cuts for the so-called recovery. The terrorism issue was caused by Bill Clinton's inaction and the Medicare plan provides secure healthcare and the promised prescription drugs for the elderly. Our troops are bringing freedom to the appreciative Iraqi people. The education plan leaves no child behind. Life is good! In contrast there is John Kerry depicted as a left wing liberal photographed "working with Jane Fonda," at best a communist sympathizer guilty of consorting with the enemies of the country. He can't be trusted with the security of the nation.

By the way, in his first 100 days he will raise your taxes by $900 billion and increase the price of gas by 50 cents a gallon. He is "even" more liberal than Ted Kennedy. He has no principles and is on both sides of every issue. All done so nicely, wrapped in the flag and nuanced for each state. No doubt the "fair and balanced" media will offer an accurate appraisal of these commercials and the public will understand. No! The media are neither fair or balanced. They are bought and paid for!

The rest of the world is aghast that we are so gullible as a people. We are actually not gullible but suffer from a more troubling characteristic "if it doesn't directly affect me, then I'm not that interested." It is our job to help our neighbors and coworkers understand how the Bush policies actually impact them, their children and their grandchildren. Kerry commercials need to depict Bush as devoid of credibility and therefore, if he lied to get us into war he will lie to get elected. The Bush portrayal of Kerry is as fraudulent as the case made for war. There is a fine line between negative advertisements and telling the truth.

On the positive side the Dems are united like never in our history, we have the best technology that exists, and we are debt free with new national offices. On balance, National Chairman Terry McCauliffe has done a good job. We are ready to educate the public that the Kerry vision for change is the answer to Bush's failed record.

- Phil O'Dwyer, Chair

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A Candidate for the 9th District Congressional Seat

Steven W. Reifman came to our March 26 meeting to inform the members present of his candidacy for the 9th district seat. He is a resident of Farmington Hills. Most of the communities in Oakland County are contained within the 9th district.

If nominated in the August 3rd primary, Reifman indicated that he would run a "grass roots" campaign. His greatest problem is name recognition. This means that he would rely on club members to take an active part in his efforts to win the congressional seat.

The Republican incumbent is well-known for a conservative philosophy with a voting record which always follows his party's line. His voting record has illustrated his contempt for women's issues, seniors' needs, job creation and public education support. There are many other areas where he has failed to provide support to legislation that would benefit the middle class.

He has however supported The Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, and the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act. These acts have great names, but have poor content. At the present time, the press, citizens, school board members, and the professional staff are attacking No Child Left Behind Act because the exemplary schools in Oakland Country are found to be on the failing list. For all the above reasons, Representative Knollenberg must be defeated.

It is believed that Reifman will have competition in the August primary. At this date, no addition has contacted the officers of the club.

- Ralph Conklin

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The 9th District's Delegates to the National Convention

On Saturday, April 3, 2004, precinct delegates and state party members met in convention of the 9th congressional district for the purpose of electing two males and three females and one female alternate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. As reported in this newsletter, Cathy King, a member of our club, was one of the many candidates for these positions.

To reach this goal, it was necessary to get the support of other club organizations within the district. From these contacts, a unity slate was developed composed of the following individuals.

Dean Caucus

• Female Delegate - Sheila White-Smith

Kerry Caucus

• Male Delegates - Frank Stuglin and Rich Wallace
• Female Delegates - Sigrid Grace and Colleen Ochoa Peters
• Female Alternate - Cathy King

The entire slate was elected. It will be an exciting time for all the elected delegates. The Berkley Democratic Club congratulates all of the slate members elected. We will look forward to a report of Cathy's experiences in a future newsletter.

- Ralph Conklin

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Wedding Planned

Congratulations to club members Nancy Hahan and Scott Wolfson, who will be married on May 22, 2004. We wish them a long and happy married life. At the same time, the club officers are sorry to hear that they are leaving our community and moving to Birmingham.

- Ralph Conklin

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Comparing The Presidential Candidates

Sen. Kerry's Vision for Change

1. End every single tax credit that gives corporations breaks for moving jobs offshore.
2. Proposed creating jobs through a new manufacturing jobs tax credit.
3. Keep the middle class tax cuts that Democrats fought for in 2001 and 2003.
4. Repeal Bush's special tax breaks for the wealthy, cut excesses in government and end out of control spending.
5. Protect the increases in child tax credit, the reduced marriage penalty and the new tax bracket that helps people save $350 on their first level income.
6. Give Americans access to the same healthcare plan as members of Congress.

Pres. George Bush's Failed Record

1. Over 202,000 Michigan jobs have been lost since Bush took office. Nationally, over 3 million jobs have been lost.
2. Under the Bush tax plan 2.1 million Michigan taxpayers will get less than $100 in 2004 with the richest 1% getting $48,381.
3. 183,000 seniors pay more under the Bush Medicare plan.
4. 282,000 Michigan children were abandoned by Bush when they were left out of the child tax credit.
5. 1.2 million Michigan residents have no health insurance, up 12.5% under Bush
6. Michigan families face a rising share of the national debt, $25,183 over the next six years.

- Ralph Conklin

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