Here’s the message from the Bike4Peace organizers:

Dear all,

I’d love to be the tour coordinator of this but I’ll be cycling and can’t be. If you want to coordinate the tour while we’re cycling, please let us know.

Malik Rahim has already left New Orleans on a separate route. We’ll all meet at the Capitol to celebrate World Car-Free Day, Wed-22-Sept. Please join us! Some ride across town, some across the state, and some across the continent. Some host riders along the way. Together we’re all Bike4Peace. http://b4p.bbnow.org/

We still have vacancies for hosting on the following dates. Dates where there are two days are rest days. Please let us know if you, family, or friends can host us overnight (or during the day on night ride days) in the following locations. Many thanks.

7/29/2010 Middlegate, NV

7/30/2010 Middlegate, NV

7/31/2010 Austin, NV

8/1/2010 Eureka, NV

8/2/2010 Ely, NV

8/3/2010 Baker, NV

8/4/2010 Baker, NV

8/5/2010 Milford, UT

8/6/2010 Panguitch Lake, UT

8/7/2010 Panguitch Lake, UT

8/8/2010 Escalante, UT

8/9/2010 Caineville, UT

8/10/2010 Hite Recreation Area, UT

8/11/2010 Blanding, UT

8/12/2010 Blanding, UT

8/14/2010 Telluride, CO

8/15/2010 Ridgeway, CO

8/16/2010 Cimarron, CO

8/17/2010 Cimarron, CO

8/18/2010 Doyleville, CO

8/19/2010 Poncha Springs, CO

8/20/2010 Howard, CO

8/21/2010 Westcliffe, CO

9/7/2010 Clay, KY

9/8/2010 Rough River Dam, KY

9/9/2010 Bardstown, KY

9/10/2010 Bardstown, KY

9/11/2010 ??, KY Five miles from Lancaster, KY perhaps we’ll go from Burgin to Berea that way instead of

9/12/2010 Buckhorn, KY

9/13/2010 Virgi, KY

9/14/2010 Rosedale, VA

9/15/2010 Rural Retreat, VA

9/16/2010 Rural Retreat, VA

9/18/2010 Vesuvius, VA

9/19/2010 Stanley, VA

9/20/2010 Middleburg, VA

–

http://dignity.ning.com/

http://www.enduswars.org

http://www.livestream.com/dignity

http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction

http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction

http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun

http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney

http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney

http://www.youtube.com/runcynthiarun

Silence is the deadliest weapon of mass destruction.

DAVE ZIRIN: I was speaking to [former Green Party Congressional candidate] Malik Rahim, who I know you’ve had on your show before, a former Black Panther Party member, someone who has been a community activist in New Orleans for thirty years. And I asked him about the role that the Saints are playing in the city. And I expected Malik to be a bit of a skeptic about it. But Malik said to me, “I haven’t seen people in the Ninth Ward or in Algiers this happy since Katrina. And I haven’t seen African Americans and working-class whites talk to each other so much in all three decades since I’ve lived in New Orleans.” And I think it’s really helped by the fact that, more than any other team in the NFL, players who play for the Saints, post-Katrina actually live in the city and are part of the rebuilding effort in the city. So there’s a real connection there between team and city that, honestly, you just don’t see anymore.

Congressman Joseph “Anh”Cao, a Republican, who defeated William “Bill” Jefferson [and Malik Rahim - Ross] is facing a recall petition because of his vote on the Barack Obama stimulus package. The recall has been initiated by a group of ministers.

Cao had indicated that he would be voting in favor of the controversial legislation but instead voted against it.

Papers have been filed with the Office of the Louisiana Secretary of State which started the process requiring sufficient signatures to force a recall election for the office held by Representative Cao.

Cao represents a majority African American community many who were outraged by Cao’s vote. Cao made national news with his victory over Bill Jefferson.

One elected official, State Representative Juan A. LaFonta, Democrat of District 96 told Bayoubuzz that he does not know about the existence of the petition but that he would sign it.

“We don’t need Cao to be Steve Scalise”, said LaFonta. Scalise is a Republican who represents a neighboring conservative Congressional District. “People are starving and Cao needs to represent the people of the district”, LaFonta said.

Cao is Vietnamese and has been hailed by many in the media as a new face of the Republican Party.

The group of ministers who filed the petition want to make sure that he faces a recall which could be a very daunting act, if not impossible act in Louisiana based upon the state’s history.

This year, we have seen at least two unlikely political newcomers attempt to enter their respective Black Caucuses. One is a newly elected “pro-environmental” “Republican” person of Vietnamese descent in New Orleans, Louisiana, Joseph Cao. The other is a newly elected “pro-labor” “Green” from Little Rock, Arkansas, Richard Carroll. Both are historic nominations.

An attempt to enter a den created to protect the voting rights and issues of Blacks from political outsiders sounds almost comical, or naive at best. However, it is indicative of a more important trend, one that can lead to a better understanding between a community and its representative.As we have learned, corruption is restricted to neither race nor party. We need to look at the person. What is it the person wishes to accomplish? In districts where race and politics play hardball, finding open paths towards communicating is necessary.

For anyone who believes that there isn’t room for reconciliation, just look at the headline from the Arkansas Democratic Gazette: “Black Caucus Rejects Membership of White.” It was an editorial choice that belies what both the reporter and those involved intended. Rep. Richard Carroll of North Little Rock, Arkansas is Caucasian; his wife is Black. He is pro-Labor. And though formerly a Democrat, he rode on the Green ticket because the Democratic one was not open. While Carroll hasn’t committed to a party for a 2010 run, he has asserted that he represents the Green Party, despite some disagreements with its platform. He approached his state’s black caucus in an attempt to develop relationship. A representative of the Black Caucus said while the by-laws do not allow for a non-Black to be a member of the group, they are open to finding a way in which Carroll could interface with them. The sharply different tone of the headline exposes a bias in the media’s presentation of what happened.

In what was considered one of the biggest political upsets this last election, Jospeh Cao (R) won a Congressional Seat held by Democrats since the end of Reconstruction. Cao’s challenge, if he wants to retain his seat in 2010, is to prove to his mostly black constituency that he can deliver the services they need. His district includes areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina.

Cao, who ran as an independent in 2006, accepted the Republican ballot line for this last race in which he competed against incumbent William Jefferson ,Green Party Malik Rahim and Libertarian Gregory Kahn. Infused with an undisclosed amount of Republican Party dollars, his campaign easily overtook Jefferson’s before polls closed. Jefferson, who has been indicted on 16 charges of corruption, nonetheless held a grasp of the majority of Black voters who make up the majority of the 2nd district.

Malik Rahim, a Green Party candidate, came in a distant third with remarkably less campaign money, media attention and organizational support. However, his campagin infused the local Green Party with a new sense of purpose and we may be seeing more from them come 2010.

Dear Supporters of Malik,

We greatly appreciate all the hard work that everyone did for the campaign. However, just when we thought things were over, we discovered that due to an accounting error, the campaign owes $3,700 in unpaid debts to printers and a billboard company.

We in the Committee to Elect Malik Rahim and the Green Party of Greater New Orleans are committed to finding ways to pay this debt in the shortest amount of time possible. We are asking for your help to do this. Any amount of money will help. You can donate online at http://votemalik.com/contribute/

We thank you again for all of your work.

Christian Roselund
Committee to Elect Malik Rahim

Video found on the front page of the Green Party national webpage (Gp.org) and at Green Party Watch.

Video thanks to deesigns at Green Party Watch.

Dear Supporters of Malik Rahim for Congress:

Thank you for your hard work, monetary contributions, and dedication to Malik’s Green Party Congressional campaign. As Malik Rahim’s campaign manager, I really cannot thank you enough! As you have probably heard, Malik did not win in the 2^nd Louisiana Congressional District election held December 6, 2008. Malik finished a distant third, behind the Republican and Democratic Party candidates.

Although the results were disappointing, we learned many things. The most important lesson was that nothing replaces the hard work of relationship-building and organizing. Although Malik’s votes were low in the district as a whole, the campaign finished second in 32 precincts (beating Jefferson in some and Cao in others), and he received more than eight percent of the votes in 45 precincts (with a few precincts higher than 20%). It is no coincidence that the precincts we did well in were precincts where active Green Party members organized their friends and neighbors.

Because I want a chance for us to reflect on this campaign, I’m presenting my thoughts on the outcome. Below you will find political context on the race, campaign results (including what we did well and what we did not do well), and the lessons I extrapolate from this experience.

After reading my analysis, I hope supporters– whether in the District or out-of-state– will take seriously the old adage: “Don’t mourn, organize!”

Building a political party can help us to redouble our efforts and share our challenges and victories. We can build a challenge to the two-party duopoly based on war and profit and build a party that truly represents our values– the values that Malik’s campaign represented.

If you are not already a member of the Green Party, please join!

To find out more see www.lagreens.org, or, if you are not in Louisiana, please visit www.gp-us.org to find the website of your state Green Party.

Nationally, the Green Party needs resources to help us continue to organize between electoral cycles. Your donation at https://secure.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizations/Greens/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2317 will help the Green Party maintain it office and staff so that our organizing can continue to be supported and so that we can be better prepared next time, when YOU decide to demand fundamental change and run for office.

Robert Caldwell Campaign Manager Committee to Elect Malik Rahim

POLITICAL CONTEXT

Saturday’s election was a mix of low turnout and a very high level of polarization along race and class lines around the question of reelecting Bill Jefferson or replacing him. Our volunteers were told by Jefferson supporters that Malik’s campaign would help elect a Republican. Joseph Cao’s supporters screamed that we were going to help re-elect a criminal (Bill Jefferson is under indictment for bribery). Those that voted felt like the stakes were high. Our candidacy was ignored by the local media—including our only local newspaper, the Times Picayune, who had previously sang praises of Malik and Commong Ground– deemed marginal. The Times Picayune heavily supported Joseph Cao.<

The numbers show that working class and poor African-American voters were loyal to Bill Jefferson, in an expression of determination to preserve a concrete symbol of Black political power in the city¹. Whites (even white “liberal” Democrats), Vietnamese, and middle-class black voters, mobilized to cast a vote against corruption by selecting former independent, Joseph Cao². Desire to unseat Jefferson was so high in white and middle-class areas that signs that simply said “Anyone but Jefferson” even appeared in the neutral ground.

The underlying story of this election- and that of the 4^th Congressional District in Northwest Louisiana– is that the Republican Governor and Secretary of State moved the election date to a time favoring Republican candidates. In both cases, there was low voter turnout, and in both cases Republicans won. In the New Orleans area, a low voter turnout (less than 70,000 voters) gave Joseph Cao (a newly minted Republican who took thousands of dollars in Republican contributions but downplayed his new party affiliation, including in his literature) a decisive advantage over Jefferson. Now the 2^nd Congressional District- a “majority-minority” district- has the first Vietnamese-American Congressman, and perhaps the only Republican of any “majority-minority” district in the United States.

MALIK’S RESULTS:

The results were undoubtedly disappointing: 1880 people cast their ballots for Malik- just under 3% of voters. Although low in the district as a whole, the campaign finished second in 32 precincts (beating Jefferson in some and Cao in others), and received more than eight percent of the votes in 45 precincts. With focused outreach (mailers, door knocking, follow up phone calls and emails to supporters in those areas), it is possible that Greens could turn the top ten “hot” precincts solidly Green in future elections. Malik favored much better in Orleans Parish than Jefferson Parish, and somewhat better on the East Bank of New Orleans than in Algiers. This was a surprise to most of us, since many of Malik’s family and some key volunteers were from Algiers and the West Bank of Jefferson Parish.

WHAT WORKED

Canvassing worked. The campaign door knocked 1600 households primarily in the Bywater, Marigny, St. Claude, 7^th Ward/St. Bernard and parts of Mid City. We dropped literature at least 6,000 additional households in the Bywater, Marigny, St. Claude, St. Roch, 7^th Ward/ St. Bernard, Mid City, and various Uptown neighborhoods.

Door knocking and real conversations with voters happened in every precinct where Malik got over 15% of the vote. Social relationships were present- and leveraged (people made concreted asks of their friends and neighbors)- in those precincts as well. Six of the top eight reporting precincts had local resident supporters that canvassed and/or encouraged their neighbors to get active with the campaign. Neighborhood infrastructure worked well where there was both a committed neighborhood captain and a critical mass of volunteers or supporters.

The treasurer kept our filings on time, the media coordinator did excellent advertising work, and our electronic communications coordinator built an excellent web site and online presence. Sign builders did an enormous amount of work affixing signs to reclaimed wood and wire stakes. Social events worked well. The two larger campaign parties were organized with less than a week notice and had 75 and 45 motivated attendees, respectively. Volunteers also enjoyed the sign making party where they were able to hand paint large reused signs and silkscreen additional lawn signs.

Green veteran campaigners mobilized to help us on the ground in New Orleans. Special thanks to Pat LaMarche of Maine and Pete Karas of Wisconsin. Over 100 others participated in the remote phone banking system, calling district voters. Thanks to Marnie Glickman of Green Change, Hugh Esco of the Georgia Green Party, and the dedicated phone banking volunteers.

Lastly, the national fundraising strategy leveraged over $20,000 in national support, mostly in small donations, to meet the campaigns’ overall fundraising goal of $30,000.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

Voter confusion worked against us. Some thought that after two elections Bill Jefferson had won reelection. In the week leading up to December 6, 25% of the voters we spoke to didn’t know Dec. 6 was an election day. Moreover, the campaign’s focus was interrupted by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav with most of September and part of October lost. The on-again, off again hurt us. When people didn’t see signs out in late October and voters didn’t’ see Malik on the November ballot, rumors flew that Malik dropped out of the race. It was difficult to communicate amidst the presidential contest, but we could have done better to communicate to voters.

Our early planning was backward. We planned based on what resources we had or anticipated at the first few campaign meetings, while we should have planned from our desired results on election day backward. This would have cued us in on the need for poll watchers in every precinct we thought we could win, sign holders at major intersections near polling places with heavy driving, and election day voting card (”ballot”) distribution³ in precincts with those who tend to walk to the polls. Perhaps we would have worked more systematically to provide or refer voter transportation to polling places⁴.

We were unable to recruit key positions to fill out the basic campaign infrastructure, including a local volunteer coordinator, canvassing coordinator (the campaign manager took on this work) area coordinators for most of Uptown and the Jefferson Parish precincts (most of this work was left undone), and a scheduler for Malik (he scheduled himself with consultation with the Media Coordinator and Campaign Manger).

Recorded “robocalls⁵” helped us identify out of service phone numbers for our phone bankers but we could have spent more time refining the messaging for our target audience and improving the sound quality of the recordings.

The campaign over-relied on Malik’s name recognition with Common Ground and conflated the positive feedback we were getting from potential voters with turn-out to the polls and votes on election day. For example, we overestimated the enthusiasm in the Bywater (a diverse section of the Upper Ninth Ward), where nearly 30% of the doors knocked and 2 of 3 calls placed were saying they would vote for Malik on election day. While we did get 3 of the 4 highest percentage precincts and some of the highest absolute votes in the Bywater, some voters never made it to the polls and we failed to win those precincts.

Perhaps most importantly, we grossly overestimated Malik’s organic base in Algiers and the Lower 9^th Ward, assuming positive name recognition in those areas would translate to levers pulled on election day. While we did implement a ratings system for voter identification, we lacked comparables for Algiers and the Lower 9^th Ward because the campaign was highly decentralized, with those in charge of Algiers and the Lower 9^th Ward dismissing the importance of door-to-door canvassing.

CONCLUSION

We should have organized for six months to a year in advance of this election. The candidate and campaign waited far too long to begin serious campaigning. Once we did, we could have had clearer priorities for the campaign and better time management of the candidate. Once financial resources flooded in during the second half of November, it was too late to hire field organizers so we put most of those resources into advertising.

The campaign could have done much more- and much earlier- to recruit volunteers and to secure endorsements of prominent local supporters. Endorsements of real people-if leveraged- could have translated to votes on election day. More volunteers would have meant more canvassing and outreach capacity. By contrast, the media blitz- radio, electronic billboards, tv, and newspaper ads- helped moralize the base but didn’t seem to translate to votes.

The Green Party has a long way to grow in New Orleans and Louisiana. In hindsight, we lacked enough critical infrastructure or boots on the ground win this election. We needed a lot more to overcome the popular “horse race” mentality of the media and voting public that has odds on the Republican or Democrat. Joseph Cao’s candidacy was a perfect storm that rained on our parade. Our volunteer base was 50 people at its broadest, and should have been ten times that. We also needed a much larger core campaign staff working on the election. There is no quick fix to our mistakes: the answer is patient party-building, relationship-building, and support of the social movements between electoral cycles.

Precincts 20% and over:

9-14 (Bywater): 25.6%
5-6 (Back of Treme): 25.0%
4-6 (Mid City): 23.6%
9-12 (Bywater): 20.3%

Precincts with percentages between 15 and 19.9%: (4)

5-11 (Mid City)
8-1 (Marigny rectangle)
8-4 (St. Roch)
9-15 (Bywater)

1 The AFL-CIO and some nonprofit leaders also supported Jefferson in an attempt to hold onto a Democratic Party district.

2 Cao ran a sophisticated campaign that relied heavily upon Helena Moreno (Jefferson’s opponent in the Democratic primary) supporters and other Democratic Party factions hostile to Jefferson, and downplayed his Republican Party affiliation—his party was not included on his literature.

3 New Orleans has a functional illiteracy rate of over 30% and many people depend on voting cards and/or candidates’ ballot numbers to assist their voting.

4 The campaign received over 10 phone calls asking for transportation on election day.

5 Everyone hates robocalls, but they seem to be effective. I received 7 robocalls from Cao supporters, none from Jefferson. I received one human phone call from the Cao campaign.

In Congressional District 2, the votes received by Green Malik Rahim and Libertarian Gregory Kahn made up more than the margin of difference between indicted Democratic incumbent “Dollar” Bill Jefferson and congressman-elect Joseph Cao.

Of course, this does not mean that the election would have turned out differently had Rahim and Kahn not been in the race – only that it is possible.

The same held true in District 4, where independents Gerald Bowen and Catfish Kelley easily outweighed the difference between the big party contenders.

U. S. Representative, 2nd Congressional District 492 of 492 precincts reporting
31,296	46.82%	William J. Jefferson (D)
1,880	2.81%	Malik Rahim (G)
548	.82%	Gregory W. Kahn (L)
33,122	49.55%	Anh “Joseph” Cao (R)
U. S. Representative, 4th Congressional District 640 of 640 precincts reporting
44,141	47.69%	Paul J. Carmouche (D)
44,497	48.07%	John Fleming (R)
675	.73%	Gerard J. Bowen, Jr. (I)
3,245	3.51%	Chester T. “Catfish” Kelley (I)

In the Second District race, won by Republican Anh Cao, Green Malik Rahim received 1,880 votes (2.8%) and Libertarian Gregory Kahn 548 votes (0.8%).

In the Fourth District, where Republican John Fleming seems to have won by a plurality of 356 votes, independent Chester Kelley received 3,245 votes (3.5%) and independent Gerald Bowen Jr. received 675 votes (0.7%).

Highlight:

Good news in just the title of the latest AP story. There are pages of google news articles from media outlets that published the AP headline: “Indicted Louisiana congressman tries to get re-elected” (That refers to Malik’s opponent, the Democrat incumbent who is facing corruption charges, partly for having $90,000 in cash in his refrigerator.)

The other good news in the AP article is that turnout is low. That should help the chances of all the challengers, including Malik Rahim. That’s because the person to beat is the incumbent, because he is in the party with the highest enrollment, and has the benefit of incumbency, so low turnout is bad for his chances.

The AP reports: “By midday, voter turnout was light.”

Because of Hurricane Gustav, the congressional election was delayed until today. Polls are open until 8 PM, and nationwide phone-banking is going on until 7 PM. Anyone can volunteer here to make calls from their home to potential voters in New Orleans. Clear instructions, a script, FAQ, information about the campaign, and anything else you would need are provided.

The following is an email sent out by the Malik Rahim campaign earlier today:

It’s Election Day in New Orleans. It’s crucial that we make as many calls as we can today to get out the vote for Malik Rahim. If you haven’t made any calls yet, today is the time to start.

The Times Picayune is reporting that there is low turnout expected. http://network.greenchange.org/news/3509-low-turnout-expected-in-today-s-election

That means the outcome will be determined by a small number of votes. If we want to make history today, we need to get every one of Malik Rahim’s supporters to the polls.

Take a minute to think about what’s at stake. With your help, we can show America that people have the power to take government back from corrupt politicians.

Today we’re switching from voter ID calls to get-out-the-vote calls, meaning you’ll find a new script when you log in today. Your calls today will be shorter, easier and more fun – all you have to do is remind Malik Rahim’s supporters to vote.

We’ll be calling supporters until 7pm EST, 6pm CST, 5pm MST and 4pm PST.

If you run into any problems, just get in touch with me or one of our volunteer coordinators:

[Names and contact info provided in email]

Peace,

Marnie Glickman
Executive director
Green Change

Voting Hours Are From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Louisiana’s elections laws provide for voting on election day at designated polling places from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

A Reminder to Voters – Take Picture ID to Polls

When you go to the polls to cast your vote in an election, be sure to take a driver’s license, a Louisiana Special ID, or some other generally recognized picture ID. Voters who have no picture ID and bring only a utility bill, payroll check or government document that includes their name and address will have to sign an affidavit furnished by the Elections Division in order to vote. Should any problems or questions arise, the principal office of the Registrar of Voters in each parish will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on election day.

Districts 2 and 4 have their election tomorrow (December 6), delayed due to Hurricane Gustav.

Both districts have alternative and independent candidates in the running: Green Malik Rahim and Libertarian Gregory Kahn in the 2nd, and independent candidates Gerald J. Bowen, Jr and Chester T. “Catfish” Kelley in the 4th.

In the years following the collapse of the federal levees after Hurricane Katrina, activist Malik Rahim was busy organizing one of the most influential recovery organizations in the Gulf South. The organization he founded and currently leads, Common Ground Collective, was gutting houses and providing medical and legal services to tens of thousands of New Orleans residents.

His work was so prolific that it was featured on 60 minutes, ABC News, Democracy Now!, and a host of other shows.

“I’m from New Orleans, and I stayed here after the flood to serve my community, at a time when neglect from the federal government was as chilling as it was apparent,” said Rahim.

Even the local paper in New Orleans the Times-Picayune featured him in an article after the storm, stating that his work was “so far-reaching that it has brought over 10,000 volunteers to New Orleans since the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.”

But the media coverage ended once he decided to run for office this fall.

Malik Rahim is one of three challengers to face incumbent Democratic Congressman William Jefferson, who, despite facing 16 counts of bribery and being caught with $90,000 in marked bills in the freezer of his Washington home, is poised for re-election on December 6.

The other two challengers are Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao and perennial Libertarian standard-bearer Gregory Kahn.

In an effort to unseat Rep. Jefferson, the paper has waged a campaign to promote Mr. Cao while imposing a blackout on any coverage of Mr. Rahim by referring to him in passing as a “little known” or “minor” candidate.

“Its been shockingly egregious—even for those of us in the Green Party accustomed to being ignored by the mainstream media,” said Christian Roselund, Media Coordinator for Malik Rahim. The reporters assigned to cover the congressional campaign have refused to acknowledge Mr. Rahim’s work—and have even gone as far as to selectively report on his fundraising totals to undercut his support.”

Roselund points to a recent Times Picayune article reporting that Mr. Rahim had raised only $2,000 by early October and that some of it was from corporations. In fact, Mr. Rahim’s campaign had raised more than $20,000—all of which was from individuals since the Green Party does not accept contributions from corporations.

A reporter from the Times Picayune admitted that for Mr. Rahim, they only included the donations of $250 or more in their calculations, leaving out tens of thousands of dollars. For the Times Picayune-endorsed candidate, Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao, they included all donations, including loans he made to himself, to inflate his totals.

“Like Barack Obama’s campaign, we’ve raised a tremendous portion of our funds from individual donors making small contributions,” said Robert Caldwell, campaign manager for Malik Rahim. “Selectively ignoring donations for Malik, while counting that same level of donations for another candidate isn’t just sloppy reporting. Its intentional distortion.”

The Times-Picayune’s sister website, Nola.com, even published a “story” that Joseph Cao had joined Facebook, the social networking website. It then published the content of Cao’s first message: an invitation to a fundraiser for him, complete with details of the event and the website where readers could RSVP.

When Caldwell wrote a letter to the editors at the Times-Picayune regarding the suppression of Malik’s campaign, they rejected it on the grounds that it was too supportive of a particular candidate.

“It’s not just bad for democracy,” said Robert Caldwell, Campaign Manager for Mr. Rahim. “Its bad for the profession of journalism. The Times-Picayune could write an editorial every day promoting Cao—but to intentionally dismiss Malik who had been featured prominently in the same paper prior to running for office is disgraceful and a violation of journalistic ethics.”

Caldwell said that the campaign would focus in the final days of the campaign to mobilize supporters to flood Times Picayune’s reporters and editors. “But we’re not losing sight of our main goal,” he added. “We’re in this to build the Green Party and offer voters a credible alternative to a corrupt machine Democrat or a Bush-McCain Republican. The stakes are high in New Orleans.

Caldwell said that grassroots supporters are outraged with the poor
reporting of the Times-Picayune, but the campaign would not lose sight of its goal. “We’re in this to build the Green Party and offer voters a credible alternative to a corrupt machine Democrat or a Bush-McCain Republican. The stakes are high in New Orleans.”

For more on Malik Rahim’s Congressional campaign, see http://www.votemalik.com.

Bias and Media Distortion in the Times-Picayune

All of the Times-Picayune articles on the December 6 race attempt to margninalize the Malik Rahim campaign. “Candidates offer alternative views” ignores Green Party candidate Malik Rahim, called him and his candidacy “little known,” “lesser known,” even “without a base”! The Times-Picayune has not endorsed a candidate or written editorials in support of Cao, but instead use their “news” (see this gem on Times-Picayune sister site NOLA.COM http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/12/2nd_congressional_district_can.html) to covertly support him at the expense of the Malik Rahim campaign.

Factual inaccuracies in the Times-Picayune

On Friday November 28, The Times-Picayune ignored basic journalistic ethics and reported factual inaccuracies, maligning the Malik Rahim Campaign in favor of their favorite candidate, Joseph Cao.

The Times-Picayune reported that Cao raised $58,900 from individuals and corporations plus $7,000 from national Republican groups.

However, the FEC reports that he raised a total of $39,681 from individuals. The remainder of his $110,281 in total receipts was from loans.

By contrast they state that “Rahim reported that he collected about $2000 from individuals and corporate donors…” when in fact, the FEC report clearly shows $7,985 in individual contributions

The Malik Rahim campaign does not accept corporate contributions, and to date has raised well over $25,000 dollars.

Times-Picayune Refuse to Publish Letters to the Editor, citing that they don’t publish letters that support a specific candidate.

Until the Times-Picayune and the Republican Party “made” Cao, Malik was by far the most well known of Bill Jefferson’s challengers.
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

PLEASE CONTACT THE TIMES PICAYUNE AND LET THEM KNOW THAT THEIR BIAS AND CONTINUTED DISTORTION IS UNACCEPTABLE AND THAT THE MALIK CAMPAIGN DESERVES BETTER COVERAGE

Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3312

Times-Picayune Editor Jim Amoss can be reached at jamoss@timespicayune.com or 504-826-3475 (phone) or by FAX at 504-826-3357

Managing Editor Dan Shea and Peter Kovacs can be reached at dshea@timespicayune.com and pkovacs@timespicayune.com respectively.

The Times-Picayune toll free number is
1-800-925-0000. The news room FAX number is 504-826-3007. Letters to the editor can fall on deaf ears at letters@timespicayune.com

Gerald J. Bowen, Jr is the first one. He is running on a platform of accessibility to one’s Congressperson, balancing the budget, and reducing the size of government. He is a veteran and works in the medical field. Bowen is also advertising an offer for a gift certificate if you donate $200 or more to his campaign ($50 will buy a radio ad, he says). Bowen explains why he is running the following way:

Welcome to my campaign web site. I decided to run for office for two main reasons. 1. If we keep sending the same type of people to Congress we will keep getting the same results. 2. I have always loved my country and my state and since Hurricane Katrina I have an even deeper appreciation of the things about Louisiana that are so unique. I want to help preserve these things and make Louisiana even better for our future generations.

The second independent is Chester T. “Catfish” Kelley, whose website’s name bothpartiesarescrewingyou.com is one of the best I have seen. He wants voters to “send an angry man to Washington.” Kelley is a real estate broker and the CEO of an internet publishing company, and he is also a “proud veteran of the Vietnam war.” He is a Unitarian, involved in multiple local organizations like the Rotary Club, and is known around town for the free catfish he gives to veterans each Veterans’ Day. His platform is as follows:

1. Kelley will work to make sure our military receives the support they need and deserve before, during, and after their battles;

2. Kelley will work to stop all efforts to create a North American Union (a concept that was considered a conspiracy theory in the 90′s and now commonly recognized as fact) beginning with the absolute requirement to secure our borders;

3. He will work to stop the transfer of wealth out of our country caused by the outsourcing of American jobs to foreign countries and our dependence upon foreign oil;

4. Kelley will work to stop the “New Welfare” which is the transfer of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the fatcats of Wall Street who have come to expect multi-billion dollar government bailouts of even their most atrocious fraudulent schemes; and

5. Kelley will demand the IRS answer the simple question, “what is the law that makes the average hard working American worker liable for the income tax?”

During this campaign, Kelley will state the hard facts and ask the hard questions, beginning with the plain and simple fact that both political parties are screwing the American People.

ELECTION WEEK What you can do to help

The campaign is shifting to high gear. We have placed 800 lawn signs, 260 t-shirts, expanded our radio ads, and the campaign is featured on three digital billboards. Teams have canvassed uptown and downtown neighborhoods in the district. We have print ads in the Louisiana Weekly (largest Black paper) and Gambit Weekly (arts and entertainment paper), distributed over 17,000 push cards and volunteers continue to distribute literature. Selfless volunteers from around the country are phone banking to bring Malik’s message of hope and progressive social change to the District’s voters. Despite all of this, Malik is still being ignored or disparaged by the local media.

What we do- what each and every one of us does- in the next five days will decide the election. Please tell everyone you know that there is an election on December 6 and Malik Rahim is the candidate to support!

If you can phone bank from home (if your home is in district or even out of state), please sign up to phone bank at: http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1488/t/689/signUp.jsp?key=2078

If you are in the area and would like to participate in campaign events, please see the following schedule:

TUESDAY 12/2 (9^th Ward & Downtown)

*Westbank events- contact Sylvia at 504-810-4053 or the campaign headquarters at 504-368-8162

*Eastbank sign holding 8:00-9:30 AM at St. Claude and Elysian Fields and 12-1 and 4- 5:00 PM at Claiborne and Elysian Fields. Contact Robert at 504-301-8210 for more information.

WEDNESDAY 12/3

*Westbank events- contact Sylvia at 504-810-4053 or the campaign headquarters at 504-368-8162

*Eastbank sign holding holding 8:00-9:30 AM and 12-1 at Gentilly and Elysian Fields and 4- 5:00 PM at 610 & Elysian Fields. Contact Robert at 504-301-8210 for more information.

THURSDAY 12/4

*Westbank events- contact Sylvia at 504-810-4053 or the campaign headquarters at 504-368-8162

*Eastbank sign holding around district. Contact Robert at 504-301-8210 to RSVP or for more information.

FRIDAY 12/5- REMIND YOUR NEIGHBORS TO VOTE!

Get Out The Vote calls: REMIND EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO VOTE! WE WILL BE DOING A CARAVAN. Contact campaign headquarters at 504-368-8162.

SATURDAY 12/6- ELECTION DAY

We need campaign workers throughout the district all day long. Contact your area coordinator, precinct captain, or the campaign at 368-6897 or Robert Caldwell at 504-301-8210 or show up between 8 AM-6 PM for sign holding and lit reminders in key locations:

Algiers 1: DeGaulle and Shirley (Nevin)

Algiers 2: Newton & Landry (Benn)

Downtown: St. Claude/Claiborne &Elysian Fields (Joanna)

Mid City: Canal & Carrollton/ Jeff Davis (Shawn, Angela)

Uptown: Claiborne & Carrollton (Derrick)

12/6- 7-10 PM VICTORY PARTY! CRAIGE CULTURAL CENTER. 1800 Newton Street in Algiers.

12/6- After Party: Support “Grassroots! Hip Hop Showcase” with TRuTH UNIVeRSAL & Special Guests Dragon’s Den 435 Esplanade Ave. $5

Shahid Buttar: Defending Liberty: How to Shift the Center

Elect Malik Rahim to Congress on December 6 (or Donate to His Campaign)

The greatest near-term opportunity for progressives around the country is the December 6 congressional election in New Orleans.

The incumbent, William Jefferson (D-LA), won a run-off against fellow Democrats in the November election. Yet he faces federal corruption charges on at least eight counts of bribery, supported by the FBI’s seizure of nearly $100,000 in marked bills from an undercover informant that Jefferson stored in his freezer. It’s not merely that Jefferson is electorally vulnerable — he’s also a liability to his own party. Jefferson’s ethical problems have become the target of GOP attacks and a saving grace for a corrupt Republican party infrastructure that found in his indictment evidence that corruption in Washington affects both parties.

Beyond Jefferson’s faults, the race happens to include a strong Green candidate, progressive activist & organizer Malik Rahim. Rahim is no politician. Described as “the living embodiment for post-Katrina reconstruction,” he is a leader who took it upon himself to step in where the Bush Administration failed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And his presence in Congress could pave a road for others to follow.

The Common Ground Collective, which Rahim co-founded the year before the hurricane, ran the first health clinic in New Orleans after Katrina struck. It also mobilized well over 10,000 volunteers to clean up devastated neighborhoods ruined by flooding. Rahim had previously founded a separate organization to promote affordable housing, as well as a program for ex-offenders that has helped over 1,000 former inmates find their place in society.

While inundated with volunteers, his campaign is (predictably, given his hostility to corporate interests) starved for cash. Yet Rahim is poised — with enough support from progressives outside his district — to win the Green Party’s first congressional seat.

Start Preparing for 2010

While Rahim’s election to Congress would not likely prove transformative in itself, it could illustrate the range of fronts on which a significant Green presence would challenge the artificial consensus that impedes meaningful change in Washington. He has assertively called to repeal the PATRIOT Act, bring the troops home, establish universal healthcare, address the affordable housing crisis, and fix the school-to-prison pipeline.

After electing Rahim to represent New Orleans in DC, the next step for Greens, Libertarians, and other marginalized parties will be to begin collaboratively preparing for the 2010 mid-term elections. Recruiting candidates in Democratic strongholds, building grassroots volunteer & fundraising networks, and creating national online and other infrastructure are key.

America showed the world last month that “anything is possible,” but the range of opportunities to achieve real change are unfortunately limited by the persisting array of institutions in DC that continue to confront and impede change. Progressives around the country have an opportunity to translate last month’s presidential election into meaningful change, by supporting the Rahim campaign this week, and then minor party fusion candidates over the next two years.

2004 Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb started the call off. He was very excited about the campaign and said that in this race “conditions have never been more ripe” to get a Green Party member into Congress. If this happened, he continued, “this would be bigger than anything we’ve ever done.”

Next up was Robert Caldwell, Malik Rahim’s campaign manager. He started off by saying the campaign “is in high gear,” with over one thousand yard signs being placed, radio ads running on four stations (one black talk radio station and three music stations), and over 20,000 pieces of literature having been distributed already. He did say, though, that he would have liked to distribute ten times that amount. He also complained about the coverage that the Times-Picayaune has given Rahim, calling it “shoddy” and meant to “marginalize” the candidate.

The final speaker was Hugh Esco, who designed the program used to guide volunteers through making the calls. He mentioned that this was the first time it was being used in the US and that the first time it was ever used was for Elizabeth May in Canada, who ran a very close race as the Canadian Green Party’s masthead. He was hopeful that by Saturday – when the election is being held – volunteers could place at least 2,000 additional calls. He added that “live human conversations…with human beings can make a difference” and called the campaign “winnable.”

Before questions were taken, two aspects of the campaign were reviewed. First, the targeting of the phone calls. Various zip codes were targeted that include precincts which Rahim hopes to win. They are heavily African American and Malik has been a presence in them for at least part of his life, whether it is through growing up there or organizing Common Ground, which brought over 13,000 volunteers to New Orleans after Katrina. Secondly, the organizer of the call pointed out that donations can still be made to the campaign. “Every dollar counts,” she said, and “22 dollars buys a TV ad.” She also concluded that, “We will report to you on Saturday night via email how the election returns are going.”