The Republican’s have called for a repeal of almost every piece of legislation passed by Democrats, which is, of course, no surprise.  But what about the Democrats own Progressive base?  As Chuck Todd says, why does each major legislative victory for Obama seem to push his poll numbers down and not create any political capital?  Progressive leaders continue to speak out against many legislations, arguing that they usually don’t go far enough.  Are Progressives expecting too much from Obama?  Is Obama letting Progressives down?  Is there a fight between the Democratic Party’s more moderate establishment wing against it’s left leaning base?

Chuck Todd fills in for Chris Matthews on today’s edition of Hardball and talks politics with Jonathon Alter from Politico and Katrina Vanden Heuvel from The Nation Magazine:

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As Chuck Todd says its never too early to talk about the 2012 presidential election and who will be the GOP nominee to run against Obama. Chuck Todd talks with Jonathon Martin of Politico and the always animated Chris Cillizza from The Washington Post on this topic next:

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East Bay Young Dems is elated to honor Assemblymember Nancy Skinner as the recipient of EBYD’s “Elected Official of the Year” Award and Nwamaka “Amaka” Agbo with our Kick-Ass Youth Advocate Award at our annual gala. Join us for celebration, food, and drinks at Soja Studio, a beautiful, remodeled yoga studio in the Jack London Square neighborhood.

The EBYD Gala will be held on Wednesday, July 28th at 7:00pm at Soja Studio, 550 2nd Street in Oakland. Please join us in honoring Assemblywoman Skinner and Nwamaka “Amaka” Agbo by purchasing a ticket or sponsorship. Proceeds will help us continue to engage young people into the political scene. We need your help to do this! If you are not a current dues paying member of EBYD or need to renew your membership, please take advantage of our discount for purchase of a ticket and membership; a savings of $10!

Individual Tickets
Member – $30.00
Non-Member – $35.00
Ticket & Membership – $50.00

Sponsorships
Advocate (includes 2 tickets) – $100.00
Mover ‘n Shaker (includes 3 tickets) – $250.00
Leader (includes 4 tickets) – $500.00
Champion (includes 7 tickets) – $1,000.00
Show your support today by purchasing a ticket online!

To purchase a ticket, click here

Special thanks to our event co-hosts!

Leaders:

Hon. Don Perata, Hon. Jesse Arreguin, UFCW Local 5

Mover n’ Shakers:

APA Democratic Caucus of Alameda County, Hon. Joan Buchanan, Hon. Abel J. Guillen, Cal Dems, Hon. Rebecca Kaplan, Andy Kelley, National Women’s Political Caucus-Alameda North, Oaksterdam University, Jennifer Ong, Hon. Courtney Ruby, Libby Schaaf, Melanie Shelby, Hon. Betty Yee

Advocates:

Hon. Sandre Swanson, George Beier, Rob Bonta, Hon. Keith Carson, ClearChannel Outdoor, Josh Daniels, Amy DeReyes, Sean Dugar, Hon. Elizabeth Echols, Frieda K. Edgette, Richard Fuentes, Ipsheeta Furtado, Hon. Loni Hancock, Hon. Ann-Marie Hogan, Hon. Edie Irons, Kiran Jain, Hon. Andy Katz, Hon. Royce Kelley, Vicky Kolakowski, Hon. Marlon McWilson, Elsa Ortiz, Shilen Patel, Rena Rickles, Hon. Joaquin Rivera, Hon. Ces Rosales, Rebecca Saltzman, Hon. Tim Sbranti, Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont, Hon. Tony Thurmond, Hon. Igor Tregub, Hon. Kriss Worthington, Hon. Joel Young

East Bay Young Dems’ trajectory has been as explosive on East Bay politics as that of our generation on the national scene. As the premier organization dedicated to engaging young working people in Alameda County into Democratic politics, we meet young people where they are and speak to them in a language that’s authentic. In the coming year, we seek to further refine and professionalize our club, focus our political capacity toward real budget reform, and diversify our membership base. We are strengthening our foundation and relationships for a more sustainable and inclusive tomorrow.

For more up to date information, please visit or Annual Gala page!

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November Preview

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Interview with Jerry Brown

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Prop 14 establishes an open primary in California. Essentially, it will be like having two general elections. The first general election is a “qualifying round” where only the top 2 candidates with the most votes in each race will face off in the November general election, regardless of party affiliation. So potentially two Democrats or two Republicans could battle it out in a November election for the their respective seats.

Check out this MSNBC video on the passage of Prop 14.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Interestingly enough, both the Democratic and Republican Parties both staunchly opposed this proposition and for good reason. Sure, it weakens the major parties and they have self-preservation to think about (especially the Republicans), but also because its really just a bad idea.

You all of a sudden have two general elections to run. Running campaigns in California is expensive and when you have to talk to everyone in the state, the numbers add up really fast. Primary elections are usually cheaper because they only target their party affiliates. But now they will have to do the entire state twice.

Now, some people think this may be a good thing because it will force candidates to moderate themselves to appeal to all of California, thus, becoming more democratic. But people are really only thinking of the big ticket races and don’t see how this is actually wholly undemocratic because it actually encourages deal making and a smaller candidate field.

Votes are a finite resource. There are only so-many votes in California to fight over and when you have everyone and their mother fighting for votes in an open primary, you essentially shrink everyone’s piece of the pie. You then end up with situations where there top 2 vote getters in a race only represent a small percentage of the entirety of the region or district. Now that youre thinking about that, think about this…

Picture a place like Orange County. We all know the OC is filled with Republican voters. Many more Republicans than Democrats. But in a place like this under this system, an election involving the OC in its district could easily end up going Democrat. Sure, as Democrats we would love to see this, but think about how un-democratic this is. If there were five candidates in a race, 2 Dems and 3 GOPs and votes were distributed roughly evenly among their party affiliates, you would end up with a situation where the top 2 vote getters in orange county are actually the 2 Democrats. Then in the November general election, the people of Orange County, a very heavily GOP county, would have no choice but to vote for either one of the 2 Democrats or not vote at all.

Do you see where i’m going with this? Better order another drink because the bar is closing.

This year, Oakland will host its First Annual Pride Festival since 2004.  Oakland has the third-highest concentration of LGBT people in the nation, only behind San Francisco and Seattle.  So why shouldn’t we have our own Pride?  There is a lot to be proud of in the East Bay, such as great weather with REAL seasons (i.e. Summer?).

Oakland Pride, Inc. (the business behind the festival) recieved a donation from the Port of Oakland in the form of 4,000 square foot office space in Jack London Square.  With only a few months to go, fundraising and last minute organizing has been in full swing to make this first festival one to remember and bring hope to continued festivals in the future.

Oakland Pride is also serving as the vanguard of a full-fledged fundraising effort to create the first All-Inclusive LGBT Community Center in Oakland in collaboration with City Councilmember, Rebecca Kaplan, the council’s only openly gay member.

The festival will be held on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 21st Street & Franklin in Uptown Oakland.  Everyone is encouraged to attend to celebrate the diversity of our city and promote equality.  There will be a sliding scale donation to enter the festival, facilitated by the Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence (The same sassy sisters who bring us “Pink Party” at SF Pride!)  I strongly encourage our members and supporters to attend and enjoy all that the festival promises to offer!

View Oakland Pride Festival in a larger map

Visit the festival’s official website at www.oaklandpride.org.

Become a fan of Oakland Pride on Facebook!

Follow Oakland Pride on Twitter!

Woot!  We are excited because President Obama is in town on a two-day trip to the Bay Area.  Yesterday, Obama lent a boost to Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is in a tight re-election campaign., speaking at a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.  You can watch KTVU’s report from that event here.

At one point during his speech, Obama was interrupted by a heckler who demanded Obama move faster on repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  Obama replied by saying that the man probably didn’t read the morning paper.

On Wednesday, Obama will promote green jobs at the solar panel manufacturing plant, Solyndra, Inc., in Fremont.  His visit also comes after the announcement that Tesla Motors, Inc. and Toyota teamed up and will re-open the NUMMI plant to build Tesla’s electric cars.  All very good news to the East Bay and we are happy to have POTUS highlighting the accomplishments.  We need to keep up our momentum as a hub for green technology and green jobs in cities like Oakland.  Watch his speech below:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Live in Fremont or other city in South Alameda County?  Interested in getting more involved with Young Democrats?  Please visit our sister organization, South County Young Democrats!

The Oakland mayoral race will probably be one of the more interesting races to watch in 2010.  As such, it is important that young voters get to know the facts about the candidates and learn the issues that important to each candidate.  Here at EBYD, we have not endorsed a candidate for this position (yet).  So here are the people running and places where you can learn more about what they want to do for Oakland.

***Oakland’s First Mayoral Forum***

There will be a mayoral forum in Oakland on Thursday, June 10th at the First Unitarian Church at 685 14th St. in Oakland.  You can RSVP at the Facebook page.

All three candidates should be there and it would be a great chance to learn about all three and hear them debate on the best way to bring Oakland forward.

In the Oakland Mayoral Race, there are three main contenders for the city’s top position:

	Don Perata – Former State Senate President – www.perata4mayor.com Don Perata is a candidate from the “Old Guard”.  And i mean that in a loving way.  He has a lot of support from the business community and will likely fight Kaplan for support from Labor.  Don Perata has been working the neighborhood scene with gusto.  Almost every other week, he holds a neighborhood meeting or “town hall” (he likes to call them “community conversations”) to discuss his vision for Oakland.  Don Perata will hold his next community meeting on Wednesday, May 26th at 7pm in the Glenview/Diamond Heights District at 4101 Park Blvd., Oakland.  Visit his website for more info.
	Jean Quan – Oakland City Councilmember, District 4 – www.jeanquanforoakland.org Jean Quan is leaving her City Council position to run for Mayor.  She spent many years as a well liked member of the Oakland School Board.  She has been trying to distinguish herself as the “Education Candidate” in this mayor race.  She currently has no events in the coming weeks to speak of.
	Rebecca Kaplan – Oakland City Councilmember, At-Large – www.kaplanformayor.org Rebecca Kaplan has a wave of enthusiasm behind her.  She is young and a political newbie compared to the other two candidates.  Only recently (2008) was she elected to her current position as Oakland’s only At-Large councilmember.  Before that she served on the AC Transit Board.   Rebecca will have a fundraiser on Thursday, June 3rd at the Bench & Bar in Downtown Oakland.  The cost is only $25.  You can RSVP at her Facebook event page.

San Francisco is now trying do what AC Transit has been trying for years… build a Bus Rapid Transit system along one of their busiest traffic corridors: Van Ness Avenue.

Zennie Abrams’ San Francisco Blog takes a brief look at both BRT on Van Ness and in Berkeley.  His point is one that was by many others, including myself.  BRT has yet to provide opponents with any tangible evidence that BRT will hurt businesses.

Again, I see no example where businesses would be harmed in any way. Indeed, considering Bus traffic congestion along Telegraph Avenue and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, BRT’s the perfect solution to improve public transit performance.

Here is a video animation of what the Van Ness BRT will look like:

Lets Move Berkeley Forward!

As far as Berkeley is concerned, Zennie is correct in saying that more education is needed and the Berkeley City Council vote of 4-2-2 is hardly conclusive and there is still a chance to educate the City Council on BRT.  In the blog, Living in the O, Joel Ramos calls on supporters in North Oakland to push for better transit so that Berkeley’s decision will not harm those in North Oakland, who would be left out if AC Transit choses to build BRT and leave out Berkeley.

BRT supporters who live in North Oakland should see this as a “call to arms” for BRT in the Temescal, which may now be left out of the scope of the project if AC Transit decides not to build anything in Berkeley, and instead opt to turn BRT around at either Macarthur BART or at the Uptown Transit center.

To help in that fight, join a group of North Oakland BRT supporters by contacting Joel Ramos of TransForm at joel@TransFormCa.org or contact Councilmember Brunner yourself (jbrunner@oaklandnet.com) and let her know of your continued support for BRT with bike lanes and dedicated lanes in the Temescal.

Those living in Berkeley should contact our own City Councilmembers and urge them to support BRT and improve conditions on Telegraph.  If you need some talking points, read my previous post on BRT in Berkeley.  BRT runs directly through Kriss Worthington’s district and you can contact him at kworthington@cityofberkeley.info.  Another Councilmember to contact is Jesse Arreguin, who abstained in the Council’s vote.  You can reach Jesse at jarreguin@cityofberkeley.info.

“Once again, Nummi, like a cat, proves it has nine lives,” said Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.

Keith Carson received EBYD’s Elected Official of the Year award in 2009.

Read the full story at SF Gate

Only one day after the announcement from Tesla and Toyota, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced President Obama will travel to Fremont on Wednesday, May 26th to tour the Solyndra facility and speak on jobs and the economy.  Solyndra make solar panels.

This is great exposure for Fremont and the East Bay.  Solyndra sits just south of the NUMMI plant and shows just how committed we in the East Bay and Bay Area are to green technologies and green jobs.  Not to mention, Solyndra is expanding is operations in large part because of grants is secure from the Recovery Act.

Read more about NUMMI and Obama’s visit at KTVU News

Live in Fremont and want to get more involved with Young Dems?  Check out our sister organization: South County Young Democrats!