MOMocrats™

Live Blogging the CA Women's Conference: Opening Session

MOMocrats is in Long Beach today, covering the California Women's Conference.

The session began with a short video by Maria Shriver, welcoming the attendees to Long Beach. Shriver said that for the first time, an estimated audience of one million will be able to view the conference via live streaming webcast on the official site.

A color guard presented the flag and Marilyn McCoo sang the National Anthem.

Deborah Norville is emceeing this session.

Says it's OK for women to have it "not figured out." Even Maria Shriver feels that way. And that's what this event is all about.

Norville mentions how quickly this event sold out: just three hours.

Then she ran down what will occur during today's general sessions.

Asked if anyone is worried about the economy - then announced that Warren Buffet will be here soon for a discussion with Governor Schwarzenegger and Chris Matthews.

Also: Condoleeza Rice will be here at lunch to talk with Maria Shriver and Campbell Brown.

Just in Time for Rosh Hashanah

As Obama surges in the national polls, it's apparent that the race may hinge again on the same swing states as the last few elections.

Today's polls indicate some good news: Obama is currently ahead of McCain in Ohio and Florida. But there's plenty of margin of error in the polls.

Comedian Sarah Silverman would like to see Obama increase his lead in in Florida, and has made this video appeal to young, Jewish voters (or really, anyone whose grandparents live in the Sunshine State). Try it, you'll like it:

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

(Thanks to Cynematic for the link to this video!)

Donna Schwartz Mills  (SoCal Mom) is hoping for a real L'Shana Tova on November 4.

The MOMocrats Throw a Party for Our Honorary Little Brother

Loooooocckkkshin.  What it do?

(Matt Lockshin, our favorite pesky little brother, surrounded by MOMocrats love; to his left, Donna/SoCal Mom, and Julie of Using My Words, is on his other left)

A birthday song for you, Lil' Bro Lockshin.  From the MOMs who made you rethink mom-jeans.

DNC 08: A Look at Obama's Foreign Policy Team

Yes, we know the Republicans are having their convention, and we're watching it with great interest. It's reminding us of how much more positive and inclusive our OWN convention was last week.

We still have a LOT of material from Denver that we've yet to share with you. So we hope you'll allow us to bask a little longer in the DNC's light. We think it will be a nice counterpoint to the bile we're hearing out of St. Paul.

John McCain's supporters have argued vociferously that Barack Obama has too little foreign policy experience to be an effective President in an increasingly dangerous world. (At least, that was their argument before McCain announced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate).

I have always thought that the foreign policy argument was rather fallacious. A President is only as good as his or her team of advisors. Our last two Presidents were state Governors, elected without diplomatic experience.

The important thing to consider is who is on a candidate's advisory team.

Bill Clinton appointed Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright as his Secretaries of State and famously listened (and listened and listened) to his staff before he acted. World opinion of Clinton remained high through both his terms, even when his poll numbers suffered at home for the Lewinsky affair.

George W. Bush ignored the advice of first-term Secretary of State Colin Powell while pursuing a dangerous agenda set forth by neo-cons like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle.

We know how well that has worked: We've overloaded our military in Iraq (at the expense of the real work we have yet to do in Afghanistan, and our homeland security). We've lost support of international allies and much of our influence throughout the world, as well as the moral authority to champion human rights.

John McCain continues to support that agenda, by advocating a continuation of Bush's policies; even flip-flopping on the subject of torture. His top foreign policy adviser is lobbyist Randy Scheunemann, a former aide to Donald Rumsfeld and president of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

But what agenda would Barack Obama bring to the Presidency? That was the subject of a panel I attended Thursday at the National Democratic Institute's International Leaders Forum, held the final day of the Democratic Convention.

The DNC: Denver with the MOMocrats is a Riot

Donna: I was a little worried about coming to the Democratic National Convention with only one press credential. What would the other nine MOMocrats do while just one of us got to be part of the action on the floor?

As it turns out, there was quite a lot for the rest of us to do. So much, that at 6:00, the four of us stationed in the Big Tent were feeling kind of tired. We decided to go back to the hotel, have a sensible dinner and get organized for the next day.

Steph: I was hauling the MOMocrats in my stylin' minivan ...

Julie: The Taurus SUV... which is kind of an oxymoron because SUV is supposed to be kind of hip and minivan is a mom car, which is kind of perfect for us.

Steph: So, I was driving the "Miss Daisies" when I noticed a mob of motorcycles with flashing lights zooming towards us in the rear view mirror.

Twitterstream: Just got overtaken by half a dozen motorcycle cops w/sirens blaring. Something's happening          about 3 hours ago from txt

Steph: I think I said "Oh shit"...

Julie: I think I was screaming "Holy God almighty"...

Deb: I think I was saying "Camera, Camera!"

Twitterstream: All hell is breaking loose in downtown denver                 

Building a New US Healthcare System: A Look at Best Practices in Western Europe

Last month, the Democratic party encouraged ordinary people all across America to hold Platform Meetings in their own communities for input into the document that states what the Democrats stand for in this election. The outcome of these meetings will be reviewed by party’s Drafting Committee as it creates the final Platform.

At the recent BlogHer conference in San Francisco, the MOMocrats held a Platform meeting of our own, at the brunch we co-hosted with the Silicon Valley Moms Bloggers. Ours was a different kind of event, as it included about 40 mothers from all over the country - and not all of us in attendance were Democrats. We had input from a fair number of Republican and Independent women, too.

It’s probably not surprising that the one issue the entire room of mothers agreed upon was the need to improve our nation’s health care system. We may not all see it evolving in the same manner - but we are all dismayed at the rising cost of keeping our own families healthy and the number of families and individuals who do not have access to affordable medical care in our country.

The discussion was led by founding MOMocrat Glennia Campbell, who urged us to think outside the box and to look at what’s been successful elsewhere. By opening our eyes and seeing what’s working in other countries, we might adapt some of the best practices to the unique culture and needs of the United States.

That’s why I’ve been so fascinated by Health Care for All: NPR's series of in-depth reports on the state of health care in western Europe. If you think (as I did) that it’s all about socialized medicine and higher taxes, you would be wrong (as I was).

Take Germany.

According to NPR, the Germans have enjoyed universal health benefits for over 100 years. Their system sounds actually sounds a lot like ours, as it health coverage is provided by insurance companies, with employers and employees splitting the cost of the premiums. But there is one big difference with the German system: It works. 

More Campaign Finance News: Obama Now Courting Big Money Donors

NPR reported this morning that after their joint "unity" campaign stop tomorrow, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will hold a private meeting with Clinton's top fundraisers for a twofold purpose: (1) to help HRC settle her $10 million campaign debt to vendors and (2) to see what they can do to help the Obama campaign.

This comes just one week after announcing that "the public financing of Presidential elections as it exits today is broken," and urging his supporters to "declare our independence from a broken system, and run the type of campaign that reflects the grassroots values that have already changed our politics and brought us this far."

So why is he now courting Clinton's big money donors?

MOMocrats Podcast: From Red to Blue

Join host Julie Pippert and MOMocrats Donna and Stephanie this Sunday, June 22 at 6 pm Eastern/3 pm Pacific for a lively discussion of the week's news, some insight on states going from red to blue in November, and an inside view of the Virginia and Texas State Democratic conventions.  Listen live and participate in our live chat by siging in over at Blog Talk Radio.

If you missed the last podcast, click on the Blog Talk Radio button on the right sidebar to hear our last show.

The Book Club Discussion podcast of Arianna Huffington's book Right is Wrong with Joanne Bamberger has been postponed to July 13.  Stay tuned for more information on that, and start reading, if you haven't already!

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