Monthly Archives: October 2010

(Community Matters) Carla & Jack McDonald hosted Jackson Browne & his partner, Diana Cohen for a friendraiser for the Plastics Pollution Coalition – a nonprofit global alliance of individuals, organizations and businesses working together to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals and the environment.  My husband cares a lot about this issue – glad to know of this organization – we’ll support.

Lots and lots of friends including: Suzanne & Marc Winkelman, Andra Liemandt, Kate & Robert Hersch, Ian Davis, John Gorman, Turk & Cristy Pipkin (just back from Kenya – the high school is open) and Michael Barnes, Will Wynn and lots others . . .

Nice conversation with Jackson about Haiti and the efficacy of the agencies there. had to have been one of the gathering of Austin’s most beautiful – geez, I should have dressed up .

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) Looking forward to tonight’s Art House grand opening – proceeded by drinks (missing the dinner) at the Marc & Carolyn Seriff new swanky Austonian abode.  Bummed Steven will be late returning from San Francisco and missing both.  Lucky me – Amy Rudy & Kip Keller as stand in dates 🙂

(Community Matters) Virginia Thomas as Lillian McEwen’s publicist – yeez

(Community Matters) I’m very proud and appreciative of Pres Obama for making this video – and thanks to White House LGBT Liaison Brian Bond for getting it out

Vodpod videos no longer available.

(Community Matters) Nate’s updated 538 forecast to D’s: 206.6  Rs 228.4, and though he gives 3 out of 4 odds of Rs taking the House, he acknowledges that the volatility in these races is very high.

AP is reporting that early voting is breaking toward Ds.  I had DNC Chairman Tim Kaine & OFA Texas Statewide Director Luke Hayes on the Talk on Tuesday radio show – both are optimistic.  Luke believes the fact that we’re contacting and mobilizing 2008 first time voters (not included in likely voters in current polls) will result in a favorable break our way.

RCP forecasting 179/214/42 toss ups

(Community Matters) Can’t believe Gold’s Gym would give $2mm to Karl Rove’s political operation, American Crossroads. I know too many LGBT and other progressive Americans who do business with Gold’s.  I hope they’ll consider canceling their contracts. Story here

same story also notes that Texas builder Bob Perry gave nearly $8mm – that’s on top of $3.5mm he reportedly donated to the Republican Governor’s Assoc last quarter

(Community Matters) reading the Oct 14 issue of Rolling Stone as Steven drives from Marfa. Matt Taibbi’s article (Tea & Crackers) on the Tea Party.

One paragraph which have to cite:

Scanning the thousands of hopped up faces in the crowd, I am immediately struck by two things. One is that there isn’t a single black person here. The other is the truly awesome quantity of medical hardware: Seemingly every third person in the place is sucking oxygen from a tank or propping their giant atrophied glutes on motorized wheel-scooters. As Palin launches into her Ronald Reagan impression – “Government’s not the solution! Government’s the problem!” – the person sitting next to me explains.

“These scooters are because of Medicare,” he whispers helpfully. “They have these commercials down here: ‘You won’t even have to pay for your scooter! Medicare will pay!’ Practically everyone in Kentucky has one.”

“Vast forests have already been sacrificed to the public debate about the Tea Party: what it is, what it means, where it is going. But after lengthy study of the phenomenon, I’ve concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They’re full of shit. All of them. At the voter level, the Tea Party is a movement that purports to be furious about government spending – only the reality is that the vast majority of its members are former Bush supporters who yawned through 2 terms of record deficits & spent the past two electoral cycles frothing not about spending but about john Kerry’s medals & Barack Obama’s sixties associations.”

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/210904

(Community Matters) Steven and I enjoyed hosting Talk at Ten on Marfa Public Radio this morning.

Great guests called in for interviews – thank you each.  Mayor Bill White (running for Tx Governor), Elena White (Bill’s daughter campaigning from the Valley), David Corn (DC bureau chief, Mother Jones & columnist, Politics Today.com), Gov Tim Kaine (DNC chairman), Luke Hayes (Tx Statewide Dir, OFA) & Susan Combs (Tx State Comptroller).

KTRS GM, Tom Michael sat in the booth with us and kept us on track and on time.  We’re looking forward to dinner with him and Katherine Shaughnessy Michael at Cochineal.

sorry, I just like this one of us

(Community Matters) Great article on Laura Ricketts, one of the owners of the Cubs and my co-chair on the DNC’s LGBT Leadership Council

(Community Matters) Considering buying mucho Euros – well, mucho in my small slice of perspective – as expect significant downward pressure on the dollar from the Fed soon and have a couple of weeks in Germany & UK coming up.  Hmm, I gotta work out these numbers and compare to transaction & inconvenience costs.  And hearing growth stocks are deeply discounted – we out of risk of double dip recession?

(Community Matters) today on RCP US House: 179 D/212R/44 toss up

On 10/13 this was 185/211/39

Today on Gallup: Republicans lead by 5 percentage points among registered voters and by either 11 or 17 points among likely voters, depending on turnout, in Gallup’s tracking of the generic ballot for Congress. Gallup trends from the past four midterms offer no clear guidance on whether those figures are likely to change or hold.

Five Thirty Eight: 10/15 Ds: 207.7  Rs: 227.3 0.0

(Community Matters)

Hat Tip: Joe.My.God