The bus tour also builds on the success of the DNC's 50-state strategy and Senator Obama's commitment to running a 50 state campaign, and the belief that if Democrats show up and ask for people's votes, we can win everywhere. Throughout the tour Governor Dean will engage local leaders and grassroots activists in the effort to register new voters and talk about Barack Obama's strong message of change.

Starting Thursday, you can register to vote, find more information on how to register others to vote and follow the bus tour state-by-state at registerforchange.com.

"After eight years of George Bush and with John McCain promising more of the same on everything from the economy to Iraq to Social Security to health care, America is ready to join Barack Obama and Democrats to Register for Change," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "People are really struggling. They want different leadership, not more of the same failed Bush policies that John McCain will continue. So we'll be going neighborhood by neighborhood, door by door to bring more people into the process to elect Barack Obama and Democrats up-and-down the ticket to bring change that all Americans can believe in."

The Register for Change tour kick-offs of Thursday, July 17, in George W. Bush's backyard in Crawford, Texas - a clear reminder of John McCain's promise of a third Bush term on everything from the economy to Iraq to health care. The tour then heads to Austin, Texas for a Register for Change rally at noon before Dean speaks to the Netroots Nation Convention that night.

From Texas, the tour heads to New Orleans - a city that experienced the failings of Republican leadership in Washington firsthand - and then to Shreveport and Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Hattiesburg and Jackson, Mississippi. The second swing, July 25-26, will make stops in North Carolina and Georgia - two untraditional battleground states where voter registration efforts will help lead Barack Obama to victory in November. The tour will hit states in every part of the country, culminating in a swing through the Midwest on its way to the Democratic Convention in Denver.

Chat away...

Stateline columnist Louis Jacobsen writes:

Some Democrats hold out hope that Obama could actually win one of the six Southern states that he won so convincingly during the primary season — Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina — all of which have voted strongly Republican in recent presidential elections .

But while it’s an outside possibility in North Carolina, most analysts believe Obama’s likelihood of picking off any of the other five Southern states is a long shot.

More plausible, though, is a November scenario in which the voters Obama draws to the polls also pull the lever for Democrats up and down the ticket — in statewide posts, congressional seats, state legislative seats and even county positions.

Democrats in the region have been salivating over this possibility for months. Consider Waring Howe, a Democratic National Committeeman from South Carolina and, until recently, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party. When Howe first realized that Obama might become the party’s nominee, “I used that as a candidate recruiting tool. But I actually didn’t have to use it much, because a lot of the prospective candidates already felt that way anyway.”

During his last run for the presidency, in 1999, McCain supported the drilling moratorium, and he scolded the “special interests in Washington” that sought offshore drilling leases. Yesterday, he announced that those very same “moratoria should be lifted” and proposed incentives for the states “in the form of tangible financial rewards, if the states decide to lift those moratoriums.”

McCain caves, once again, to the special interest.

I’ll take a different approach. I will reform our tax code so that it’s simple, fair, and advances opportunity instead of distorting the market by advancing the agenda of some lobbyist or oil company. I’ll shut down the corporate loopholes and tax havens, and I’ll use the money to help pay for a middle-class tax cut that will provide $1,000 of relief to 95% of workers and their families. I’ll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we’ll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills. We’ll also eliminate income taxes for any retiree making less than $50,000 per year, because every senior deserves to live out their life in dignity and respect. And while John McCain wants to pick up where George Bush left off by trying again to privatize Social Security, I will never waver in my commitment to protect that basic promise as President. We will not privatize Social Security, we will not raise the retirement age, and we will save Social Security for future generations by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.

Read the full prepared remarks as Senator Obama discussed the job market, the national debt, college affordability and bankruptcy laws.

John McCain, meanwhile, vows to continue the same failed economic policies of the Bush administration. In fact, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina), a staunch McCain supporter, agrees.

McCain's idea of doing "everything"? Sending an e-mail to the state party's chair.

Chances are, however, John McCain didn't even send the e-mail himself. John McCain told Politico's Mike Allen that he doesn't use a PC or a Mac, and described himself as an "illiterate" when it comes to computers. See below at about 32 seconds in.

John McCain's idea of doing everything he can: asking the intern to send an e-mail.

Updated: MSNBC's First Read has more:

On whether he has the ability to stop the NC GOP from running an ad with clips of Wright, McCain once again said that he had done all he can do, although he did admit that he has not personally tried to contact the state party and he does not plan on punishing the party if they go through with plans to place the ad on TV.

A couple things:

First, if John McCain did not "personally" try to contact the state party, this means he wasn't the one who sent the e-mail to the state party chair after all.

Secondly, apparently doing "all you can do" does not include making any "personal" overtures.

Another sign of the incredible energy expressed by Democrats are the record voter registration numbers.

The past seven states to hold primaries registered more than 1 million new Democratic voters; Republican numbers mainly ebbed or stagnated. North Carolina and Indiana, which will hold their presidential primaries on May 6, are reporting a swell of new Democrats that triples the surge in registrations before the 2004 primary.

"Sending an email will not end the war or provide relief for American families who are struggling to make ends meet," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney.  "If doing everything he can is sending an email, how can we trust John McCain to do everything he can to tackle the challenges America is facing.  Here's some straight talk: instead of sending emails Senator McCain could take real action to show he's serious by firing the state party chair from her position with the Republican National Convention and kicking the Republican party leaders who helped fund this ad off his campaign steering committees."

McCain Supporters Help Fund North Carolina Ad

Several Prominent McCain Supporters Including the Former Chair of the Party and the Current RNC Committeeperson Have Given Thousands to the North Carolina Republican Party.

In March 2007, Former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Ferrell Blount and Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot Joined the McCain North Carolina Steering Committee. A March 2007 McCain press release noted, "Blount and Vinroot will serve as state steering committee members for Senator McCain's presidential campaign in North Carolina. Ferrell Blount served as the North Carolina Republican Party's chairman for over three years. Prior to serving as chairman, Blount also represented the Tar Heel State as national committeeman where he chaired the Republican National Committee's (RNC) Resolutions Committee, as well as the RNC Committee on Call for the 2004 National Republican Convention. Richard Vinroot has an impressive record of public service, most notably serving as the Mayor of Charlotte from 1991 to 1995." [McCain Press Release, 3/8/07]

• Blount Has Contributed Over $22,000 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee Including $1,000 in 2008. Blount has contributed $22,562 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Vinroot Contributed $500 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee in February 2008. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Blount Gave $2,300 to McCain in March 2007. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Vinroot Contributed $1,000 to McCain's Campaign in March 2007. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

State Chair a Member of the Republican National Convention's Arrangement Committee.   "Linda Daves was elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in December of 2006 after being elected Vice Chairman of the Party in May 1999-2005. Prior to serving the North Carolina Republican Party, she served in several positions in the Mecklenburg County Republican Party including serving four years as Chairman after two years as Vice Chairman. Chairman Daves is also a Committee on Arrangements Member, 2008 Republican National Convention.' [NC GOP website, accessed 4/24/08: http://www.ncgop.org/leadership/ncgop.asp]

McCain Supporter, Linda Shaw, an Officer of the North Carolina Republican Party, Is a McCain Supporter and Donated Over $1,300 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee.  Linda Shaw, the RNC Committeeperson for North Carolina, has contributed $1,324 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee including $250 in October 2007. [McCain for President website, Accessed: 4/23/08; Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

McCain Supporter Senator Burr Has Given Almost $15,000 to the North Carolina Republican Party. Burr gave $14,570 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee in 2004. [McCain for President website, Accessed: 4/23/08; Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

If John McCain can't stand up to the North Carolina GOP swift-boat freaks, how can he stand up to al Qaeda?

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement calling on McCain to exercise real leadership and pull the plug on this ad:

"This is a test of leadership for John McCain. If he can't pick up the phone and make members of his own party stop airing a television ad he claims to oppose, how can he lead our country through an economic crisis or the war in Iraq?  After shifting his positions on gun control, immigration and tax cuts throughout this campaign, McCain should not equivocate on this issue.  Making a show of releasing your emails to the press is not leadership. If he is serious, he will get this ad pulled."

McCain Supporters Help Fund North Carolina Ad

Several Prominent McCain Supporters Including the Former Chair of the Party and the Current RNC Committeeperson Have Given Thousands to the North Carolina Republican Party.

In March 2007, Former North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Ferrell Blount and Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot Joined the McCain North Carolina Steering Committee. A March 2007 McCain press release noted, "Blount and Vinroot will serve as state steering committee members for Senator McCain's presidential campaign in North Carolina. Ferrell Blount served as the North Carolina Republican Party's chairman for over three years. Prior to serving as chairman, Blount also represented the Tar Heel State as national committeeman where he chaired the Republican National Committee's (RNC) Resolutions Committee, as well as the RNC Committee on Call for the 2004 National Republican Convention. Richard Vinroot has an impressive record of public service, most notably serving as the Mayor of Charlotte from 1991 to 1995." [McCain Press Release, 3/8/07]

• Blount Has Contributed Over $22,000 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee Including $1,000 in 2008. Blount has contributed $22,562 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Vinroot Contributed $500 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee in February 2008. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Blount Gave $2,300 to McCain in March 2007. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]
• Vinroot Contributed $1,000 to McCain's Campaign in March 2007. [Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

State Chair a Member of the Republican National Convention's Arrangement Committee.   "Linda Daves was elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in December of 2006 after being elected Vice Chairman of the Party in May 1999-2005. Prior to serving the North Carolina Republican Party, she served in several positions in the Mecklenburg County Republican Party including serving four years as Chairman after two years as Vice Chairman. Chairman Daves is also a Committee on Arrangements Member, 2008 Republican National Convention.' [NC GOP website, accessed 4/24/08: http://www.ncgop.org/leadership/ncgop.asp]

McCain Supporter, Linda Shaw, an Officer of the North Carolina Republican Party, Is a McCain Supporter and Donated Over $1,300 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee.  Linda Shaw, the RNC Committeeperson for North Carolina, has contributed $1,324 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee including $250 in October 2007. [McCain for President website, Accessed: 4/23/08; Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

McCain Supporter Senator Burr Has Given Almost $15,000 to the North Carolina Republican Party. Burr gave $14,570 to the North Carolina Republican Executive Committee in 2004. [McCain for President website, Accessed: 4/23/08; Political Moneyline, FEC Filings]

Volunteers from across the state hit the road, working with local activists, helping people to register to vote, canvassing, doing community service projects, meeting with candidates and elected officials, and listening to the ideas and concerns of eastern North Carolinians.

Young, College and Teen Democrats will team up with folks from the NC Democratic Party, including NCDP Chairman Jerry Meek.

Here is a synopsis of what we encountered and achieved:

8/10, Lumberton: We sent groups out to most of the major neighborhoods of Lumberton to do a listening canvas. All over the city people talked about healthcare concerns, usually with other concerns (education, housing, jobs) woven into their story. We got some of these responses on video. As we drove out the bank clock blinked 107... 4:05pm... 108.

8/10, Clinton: Despite lightening, hard rain, and what Ben Akroyd described as "tornado sky," we sent groups out to canvas middle income neighborhoods. Because of the intermittent storms, people invited us into their homes so they could register to vote. Ben and Tara Ilsley met a man who was forced to have some surgery. The surgery cost $74,000. To pay it off, he faithfully sends a check for $20 every week. He said he was 66 years old, and if he lives to be 110 he'll have finally paid off his "debt" (his word, not ours). He went on, "I never have considered myself poor, but I've always thought the government ought to do more for people in a worse shape than I am." While canvassers were hitting the neighborhoods, Jerry met with over 40 local party leaders from Sampson and neighboring counties.

8/11, Greenville: We assembled care packages with Give 2 The Troops. The Program Director repeatedly stressed the point "you can support the troops without supporting the war." We assembled over 50 boxes containing books, toiletries, dvds, and girl scout cookies. Read the article in the Reflector here.

8/11, Kinston: Jerry had a breakfast meeting with about 20 local party leaders from Lenoir and surrounding counties. They discussed ways the State Party can help local parties achieve their goals.

8/11, Windsor: We met Bertie County Chair Penny Thompson and County Commissioner L.C. Hoggard at the Heritage House Restaurant in Windsor. They then took us out canvassing, which was a blast. Thompson and Hoggard both know every single resident by face and name, and many residents greeted Thompson with a hug rather than a handshake. The canvassing went so quickly that we exhausted the doors, so Melissa Price and Teen Democrats President Jennifer Wadsworth started flagging down cars in order to register the drivers to vote.

8/11, Conway: Without planning to, we were honored to meet the widow of the Representative Howard J. Hunter who passed in January. We got slightly delayed when we helped a man register to vote and he took the initiative to call up friends from the next town over so that they could register as well.

8/11, Ahoskie: Jerry met with party leaders from a number of counties at Catherine's Restaurant. A number of leaders expressed the importance of bringing young people into the party. Halifax chair Kathy Knight stayed late to have dinner with us.

8/12, Winfall: We went to the service at Melton Grove Baptist Church, where we were warmly received. The farm next door had a huge "NO OLF" sign on it.

8/12, Elizabeth City: We toured and weeded a community garden specifically designed for the disabled and those suffering from dementia. They had the garden beds elevated to make them wheelchair accessible. We then took grass shoots from the garden and planted them at a Habitat for Humanity project. The grass is a special species that requires little water and little mowing, ensuring that the new home owners will have a hassle free and environmentally friendly yard.

This trip will be remembered as a historic event for the North Carolina Democratic Party. Not only did we connect with thousands of families, we also energized the local leadership and created a buzz in the community. This trip is the starting gun for North Carolina Democrats to reinvigorate and strengthen our party infrastructure in the east.

You will soon be hearing about our next trip, and we'll do our best to make sure you can be a part of it. You can also see the pictures in our Flickr album here.

(Jerimee Richir is Online Communications Director for the North Carolina Democratic Party)

State parties will publish their delegate selection rules and clearly explain how to participate in the summer of 2007.

North Carolina Democratic Party
220 Hillsborough St
Raleigh, NC 27603
919-821-2777
919-821-4778 (fax)

District-Level Delegates: 77
At-Large Delegates: 26
Pledged Party Leader & Elected Official (PLEO) Delegates: 12
Unpledged Delegates: 19
TOTAL Number of Delegates: 134

Alternates: 19

TOTAL DELEGATION SIZE: 153

System type: Primary

State convention page: Available
State plan: Plan Available (PDF)
State filing form: Not available online. Please contact the state party to receive a copy.

** This information is prepared by the DNC's Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection and may be subject to change. For more information, please call 202-863-8000.

Second, Rudy Giuliani continues to change his positions on key issues. After changing his position on the federal abortion ban last week, he made a 180-degree turn on civil unions. Yesterday, he expressed his opposition to New Hampshire's civil unions law despite previously signing the law in New York City that established civil unions. [New York Sun, 4/27/07]

"Rudy Giuliani needs to answer for his recent inconsistencies. How can voters trust a man who has not explained why he failed to prepare New York City for a second attack and why he continues to change his position on issues that voters care about?" said DNC Spokesperson Amaya Smith. "Rudy's rhetoric sounds like more of the same misleading leadership we've had to suffer for the past six years."

GIULIANI FAILED TO PREPARE NEW YORK AFTER 1993 WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK

Giuliani Decided to Put Emergency Command Center in Vulnerable World Trade Center. Giuliani who became mayor after the 1993 World Trade Center attacks, according to Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins' Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, made "the infamous decision to place the city's emergency command center on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center because he didn't want to schlep to a more secure, better-protected Brooklyn location from City Hall. When the planes hit the trade center, OEM's bunker-in-the-clouds was rendered useless, and Giuliani was forced to embark on his dusty journey through lower Manhattan, scattering the city's command structure." [South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 10/1/06]

Giuliani Failed to Put In A Clear Chain of Command for Emergency Workers. "Giuliani and his top aides did not put in place a clear chain of command for police officers and firefighters." [Washington Post, 8/17/06]

Giuliani Did Not Implement Fire Department Recommendations. Giuliani, according to Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins' Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11, "failed to fully implement a single recommendation made by the fire department official who identified crucial emergency response failures after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Nor did he seriously attempt to address the issue of inter-operability between police and fire department radios until late in his term." [South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), 10/1/06]

GIULIANI DOES A 180-DEGREE TURN ON CIVIL UNIONS

Now Giuliani Opposes Civil Union Law. Responding to the passage of New Hampshire's civil union law, the Giuliani campaign said "This goes too far and Mayor Giuliani does not support it." [New York Sun, 4/27/07, http://www.nysunpolitics.com/article/30]

Giuliani's Position Is A Startling Flip-Flop. "In a startling departure from his previously stated position on civil unions, Mayor Giuliani came out to The New York Sun yesterday evening in opposition to the civil union law just passed by the New Hampshire state Senate." [New York Sun, 4/27/07, http://www.nysunpolitics.com/article/30 ]

Before: Giuliani Said Civil Unions Are The Right Answer And Touted That He Signed Two Civil Union Laws. Giuliani said, "I signed the law in New York City that created civil unions and I signed the second one that strengthened it, because I believe that we shouldn't discriminate against gays and lesbians. People have views of conscience, religion about this. We should respect all of them, but we shouldn't discriminate against people, and I think that's the right answer." [Meet the Press, 8/29/04]

Giuliani Lived with Openly Gay Couple During Marital Spat And Said He Would Marry Them If Gay Marriages Were Legalized. "Howard Koeppel, half of the gay couple that Giuliani lived with during his marital spat, said [Giuliani told] us that if they ever legalized gay marriages, we would be the first one he would do." [New York Times, 8/04/01]

Overlooked: What's The Matter With NC?

NC is the only southern state which holds its GOV elections during presidential election years. This would presumably be a boost for most GOP GOV nominees, yet NC hasn't elected one since '88, while every other southern state has had a GOP governor at some point over the past 6 years.

As it happens, Democrats in NC are rockin' the 50-State Strategy! Way to go North Carolina! Keep up the good work!

2006 brought some early success stories for the Strategy. Blue states became bluer. Red States are now tinged with purple. In places where the Democratic Party had been a long time gone, it's back and it's thriving. In parts of Utah, Idaho, Nebraska, Georgia, Wyoming, Mississippi and North Carolina, Democrats have made gains.

Not all of these gains can be measured by the win/loss column for Congressional elections. In some states, those gains manifested themselves as higher turnout, greater numbers of registered Democrats, a newly formed county Party organization, a revived group of grassroots activists or a win at the local level. All of these small successes are the keys to achieving larger victories.

North Carolina is a state that had some note-worthy successes in 2006 up and down the ballot. And those successes came, not just at the federal level, where Democrats elected Heath Shuler to Congress, but at the local level, where Dems took control of county commissions and Sheriff's offices.

From the News Observer:

Margaret Johnson was worried on election night that the walls would literally come tumbling down at the Democratic headquarters in the small North Carolina foothills town of Columbus.

Two hundred and fifty rain-soaked people jammed into the 1940s-era building -- a converted church -- to celebrate Democrats' near-sweep in what has been a strong Republican county.

...Such were the dreams of Howard Dean and Jerry Meek when they became chairmen, respectively, of the national and state Democratic parties last year.

Both pushed for spending more money and effort on organizing in Republican-leaning areas such as the North Carolina mountains. Call it their "Leave No Democrat Behind" program.

The election was so good for the Democrats that they hung a banner from the porch of their headquarters in downtown Raleigh that read: "NC Democrats Kicked [and there is a drawing of a donkey]."

And from AP:

For Democrats in western North Carolina, there was more to celebrate on election night than Health Shuler's victory against eight-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Charles Taylor in the state's marquee race.

In county commission votes and races for sheriff, Democrats did well across the ballot in a part of the state where Republicans have historical links dating to the Civil War and an advantage in voter registration. In Ashe County, for example, Democrats now have a majority on the county commission and the sheriff's post for the first time in about 15 years.

"It had been a long time since we had won anything," said Melba Jones, chairwoman of the county Democratic Party. "We've been the minority and we just haven't had anyone in power in a long time."

Party activists say there was more to how the west was won than a national wave of anti-Republican sentiment spilling out of Washington. The party started work last year, spending time and money to hire staff and organize volunteer efforts to persuade unaffiliated and Republican voters in the region that Democrats better reflected their values.

"The Democratic Party is well-organized and fired up," said Ashe County Sheriff-elect James Williams, who beat his Republican opponent with 51 percent of the vote. "I think everybody worked hard. ... Folks were just ready for a change."

Along with Shuler's win, which gave the party a majority in North Carolina's congressional delegation, Democrats added four western district seats in the state Legislature, part of their overall pick up of as many as seven seats. State Democratic officials also said they picked up 16 seats on county commissions in the western third of the state, earning majorities in five new counties.

The party also won sheriff's races in Ashe, Polk and Watauga counties, where the incumbents were all Republicans.

So what's their secret?

Republicans have had a strong voter base in much of the North Carolina mountains since the Civil War, when farmers tended to support Abraham Lincoln and preserving the union over the cause of Confederate plantation owners. Democratic state party chairman Jerry Meek made the region a priority after his election in early 2005.

"I never thought western North Carolina was out of reach," Meek said.

Meek hired a western regional staff director before the Democratic National Committee agreed to pay for three regional leaders as part of national chairman Howard Dean's "50-state strategy." He also assigned a task force to look at ways to improve the party's fortunes in the area.

But the key was reaching out to voters.

Party volunteer working on a "marginal voter project" made contact with people in five state House districts - most in western North Carolina - who had previously voted only in presidential years.

Ashe County Democrats canvassed neighborhoods for the first time that Jones could remember. They got training from Democrats in Watauga County, which Meek and others hold up as a model. Even though Republicans hold a 6 percentage point advantage in Watauga County in voter registration, Democrats now hold all five commissioner's seats, both legislative seats and the sheriff's office.

"From day one, we surrounded ourselves with bright, energetic people who worked hard," said Steve Goss, a retired Southern Baptist minister and coach who upset heavily favored David Blust in the 45th Senate District, which includes Watauga County.

With the help of Appalachian State University students, the Democratic Party in Watauga County contacts voters year-round to remind them the party is working on local problems. And when they have a success at finding a solution, Meek said, the party lets voters know about it.

Blust, who lost by about 320 votes, said scandals and out-of-control spending by Republican in Congress hurt voter perceptions of the GOP and kept the party faithful at home. But he acknowledged the Democrats' activity swamped him and other Republican candidates in the west.

"All over the mountain area, the Democrats were organized," Blust said. "They smelled blood two years out. They outworked Republicans, no question about it."

"They outworked Republicans." That's the secret. Showing up, doing the hard work, and win or lose, getting up and doing it all over again. People power is the heart of the 50-State Strategy, and when the people believe in the need for a new direction, and believe in a better vision for our county, a little support can go a long way. It's the driving force behind the 50-State Strategy and it's not going away anytime soon!

North Carolina Democrats know it, and so do Democrats in every other state.