Tuesday June 19, 2007 Take Back America Conference - It's 94 degrees and the sidewalks are sizzling here in DC where 2000 plus attendees, progressives all, just joined the labor unions for a giant rally in front of capitol hill. We marched for the right to organize, the right to health care, and now with a Democratic majority in Congress we felt our voices were heard.
The sense of unity and purpose came from the two speakers that preceded: Barak Obama and John Edwards. Both spoke of hope, of commitment and an an end to the war in Iraq. That was expected. What was not expected was the sincerity that showed through when they spoke of the the power of the grassroots, of the activism that gave us civil rights, that ended another war, forty years ago, that ignited an environmental movement, and most important, that one year ago, gave us a Democratic Congress.
Bill Richardson was here earlier in the day and made a great showing. The two points that scored the highest were his track record in alternative energy and his most aggressive approach to bringing the troops home -- and leaving none of them there to occupy Iraq.
I'm learning lots about what other states are doing to achieve universal health care, and more about a national drive to remove us from our dependence on foreign oil One thing that comes through loud and clear.... you can't be for leaving Iraq without pushing for an aggressive alternative energy policy of the type proposed by the Apollo program, a national movement that models itself after the one that put a man on the moon in a decade. And that's an issue that few disagree with. Promising, no?
Stay tuned for more from the Take Back America 2007 conference later in the week. I'm bringing it all back home.
-- Sen. Dede Feldman
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