Here is a summary of what I have been reading and thinking of late


What's at issue with the Florida and Michigan delegations and the nominating process?

The states held their primaries earlier than allowed by the Democratic National Party Rules, leading the party to strip them of their delegates to the nominating convention. Neither candidate campaigned actively in the two states. Obama was not even on the ballot in Michigan, and Clinton won the most votes in both states. A notable not, this was done by the Rules Committee, but guess what. Its not the rules committee that allows or bars delegations to the convention, it is the credentials committee, more on that in an upcoming blog entry.

Primary Results:

Florida:    Clinton 50% , Obama 33% , Edwards 15%
Michigan: Clinton 55% , Uncommitted 40%

What's happening now to seat the delegations? Got any ideas?

Party leaders and the campaigns are searching in earnest for a way to seat the barred delegations from Florida and Michigan. The issue is now being seen as potentially vital in influencing who wins the nomination. The party and the candidates seem to be united in the realization that we have no choice but to find a solution and are even open to another round of voting.

Obama says "I’ll leave it up to the Democratic National Committee to make a decision about how to resolve it, but I certainly want to make sure that we’ve got Michigan and Florida delegates at the convention in some fashion."'

Aides to Mrs. Clinton, signaled that they were open to a revote under certain conditions. However, this type of change in the electoral and psychological dynamic could work against Obama in a new election in Florida and Michigan.

The Obama campaign has floated the idea of allocating the delegates from the two states 50-50, which would erase Mrs. Clinton’s hypothetical advantage and essentially make the two states meaningless in the competitive delegate count. It would, however, allow Michigan and Florida delegates to participate in the national convention.

Another option floating is let the results of the two primaries stand and award Obama delegates won by "uncommitted" on the Michigan ballot. If this happens Clinton would pick up around 64 more delegates than Obama toward the 2,209 needed to secure the nomination.

Why not just have a re-do?

It is estimated at a cost of $18 million in Florida and $10 million in Michigan. Neither the National nor the State party wants to foot the bill. They both need that money to support the eventual candidates in the national and state campaigns.

Howard Dean , chairman of the National Democratic Party, has said it is up to the states, not the national party, to come up with a solution. He also told Florida Senator Bill Nelson, it is legal and allowed to use "soft money" to fund the re-do. So if you know a billionaire would you ask him, "Hey buddy can you spare $18 million?"

How about GAME OVER?

Florida Senator Bill Nelson said "If we don’t do anything, we’re looking at a train wreck, I’m hoping reasonable heads with prevail and will see the Democratic Party doesn’t want to be at the convention in Denver two months out from the general election and having a major intraparty fight with two of the biggest and most important states in electing the next president."

What about these Edwards Delegates?

I hope all is settled and we go to the convention with a nominee who has a clear majority. That is the best scenario. However, let’s look at me and a nominee selection on the convention floor.

I plan to be at the convention in some capacity either as a Edwards Delegate or if there is a re-do, I could get allocated or required to re-pledge to either Clinton or Obama. FYI, I am still neutral on these candidates.

The delegate seekers will be attempting to sway the Super Delegates toward their respective candidates. My support of Mr. Edwards could also make me look attractive to these delegate seekers. To them I say, I do like Lobster Dinners! But seriously, at that time I will do what I consider best for the nominee selection process.

Your support is what has carried me so far, and now I need your perspectives and welcome a dialogue on who is the best candidate. Keep in mind that there is no doubt either Obama or Clinton can, must, and will lead us out of the mess we are in. Leaning one way or the other is healthy and necessary. 

Being anything other than totally united in the end game, is just doing the work of the opposition.

Peace out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Folks

Have you ever had or known someone who said "I had a teacher in High School that said, you should do that someday"

Well that is me. I had a teacher Mr. Deneweth who said "someday you should attend the Democratic National Convention."

Yesterday my friends came throughout Florida's U.S. Congressional District 15 and elected me as the one delegate representing John Edwards at the National Convention.

Every Presidential election year I watch the speeches and say, I wish I was there. In 2008 I WILL BE ! We will be, Michele and I will be at the convention in Denver.

OK OK, what's the buzz, will Florida be seated? I hear Florida broke the rules and won't be seated.

OK OK , what's the buzz, John Edwards is not even running anymore, what's his delegate going to do, why is there even Edwards delegates at all?

Well Mr. Deneweth you will just have to subscribe to this blog and follow me on the road to Denver.

Thanks so much to my friends who came to support me at the delegate caucus. Some of you drove 40 miles to the only polling place in the district. It is humbling to have such a great set of friends.

The common comment from everyone at the caucus was, "wow this is exciting, there is such a positive feeling in the air."  Folks it does not get anymore grass roots than this. People are starting to realize that there is a DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN BREVARD, and we are it! YES I AM TALKING ABOUT BREVARD!

Subscribe to the blog and follow Michele and I to Denver and you will find out what's the buzz.

Check out this article from todays paper.

Michele and I are off to the San Jose Rock-n-Roll 1/2 marathon. We had such a great time last year (its inaugural) we signed up for this year at the expo BEFORE we ran the course. The weather promises to be great.

 

It's great to have great people in our lives. First Michele is a great travel companion, besides being an overall super partner. We have a neighbor taking care of our ageing and somewhat ailing pets, and our team mentors are keeping our marathon trainee peeps in line.

We feel so blessed sometimes it’s hard to describe. I often blog about our friends and their loss, but this time in honor of all our friends I want to lift up them for making our lives so great.

That is what it takes to be successful, great friends and great partners. Right now I feel like I couldn’t be more successful.

Maybe I'll post..post 1/2 marathon.. Good thing I don't have to type with my feet!

 

I keep saying I am going to update this blog more often, it seems I only come here when I feel the need to honor a patient hero or lost angel.

Well it is another one of those times. I saw my good friend Eric this week, he showed up at a 5k that benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He came wearing his Team in Training T-shirt. It was only after he left that I realized this was Chris's, Sean's mom's first mother’s day without her son and this is the week he would have graduated high school.

I titled this entry 5 minutes, we can't let these things come and go. The impact is much more than a passing 5 minute thought, there comes a time you cannot ignore that we can do better, whenever we combine our efforts.

We can't just think about it for 5 minutes, because in 5 minutes another person in the U.S. receives a blood cancer diagnosis.

We can't stop saying "we are thinking of you and your loss." We think it will open old wounds; we don't want to upset the person who lost such a treasure. The truth is probably not more than 5 minutes pass without their thought going to the one they lost. Like they didn't cry that morning or have a happy thought of the times they were together. Not for 5 minutes do they ever forget, nor should we. 

I ask you to honor Sean and take your first 5 minutes and read the following article and watch the video. It will be the most important 5 minutes you spend today.

Check out the article and the link below to a video honoring Sean Hargreaves.

May 14, 2007

Classmates remember lost pals

BY J.D. GALLOP
FLORIDA TODAY

Alyssa Esposito gently blew the tiny bubbles into the warm afternoon sky, in remembrance of a friend known as much for his team spirit as his sense of humor.

The tribute for 18-year-old Sean Hargreaves came at the end of an hourlong baccalaureate service Sunday for Melbourne High's Class of 2007. Hargreaves, who would have graduated this year, was a soccer player who lost a long struggle with cancer in December.

"It was good to have everyone out there with the bubbles," Esposito said after the service. "I think he would have laughed if he saw us blowing bubbles." About 175 people turned out for the religious service, including about 50 students in cap and gowns, at First United Methodist Church.

Twenty-one-year teacher Denise Dabrowski-Buchanan was one of several speakers. She talked about life lessons during the service; later, as she watched the bubble drift by, she remembered students who had died.

"It never gets any easier," she said. "We try to tell the kids to enjoy every year."

click Sean's Video click

 

In San Diego this year I met a NCAA Division I athlete, who is a lymphoma survivor. She has written a great book, called "Dancing with the Enemy" It is essentially a diary of her experience from prediagnosis, through a stem cell transplant and onto a full remission. It is awesome to read her story and feel so close, just like she was a member of my family, opening up and communicating just how she really feels.

I sent her a letter here it is, maybe you should check out her book

www.megbrown.org

Meg

You may (or may not) remember me. I spoke to you in San Diego at the expo, my sister is a Gleevec patient. I also spoke to you in Balboa Park and again on the RNR course. I was the guy that took a tumble and had a bandaged arm. Ouch!

Anyway, I read your book on my way to and from the San Jose ½ marathon last week. Thanks so much for sharing such a personal journey. I work diligently as a TNT coach and a LLS Board Member. While my wife and I love coaching, our real mission is to comfort those that are being treated with useful & truthful information. You book really helped.

When someone asks me about a loved one who is undergoing a BMT, I can relate and say, well this is how Meg felt.

I am the public policy advocate for our chapter and I visit Washington D.C each year to tell those folks in D.C to get their priorities straight. Better treatments and beating this cancer thing is the war we should be fighting. It is the enemy we should fear, and one that attacks and puts each American in harms way. Last year we encouraged them to pass a budget with an additional $10 billion dollars in funding for health and human services. We hoped that once in the budget; we could work on getting a portion of it allocated to the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Health. You see the president's budget essentially reduced funding at the NCI and NIH. I told them respectfully, we had spent over 300 Billion in 30 months in Iraq, we want just one month that's all.

This year I think I may take a couple copies of your book, with pages ear marked and paragraphs highlighted to tell them, this is a war that is worth fighting. Tell them to look at the severe nature of this treatment option. Even though it can be successful, and we thank God for that, even though, we can do better. Better treatments are out there, cures are out there, we just got to focus our resources and we will win this battle once and for all.

If by chance you come to the WDW marathon this year, we are the host chapter. We would love to have you visit the Space Coast, visit our beaches and run with my team here in Brevard County, Florida
 
Regards

Barry Birdwell

I have been working with Team In Training Heroes for nearly 5 years. Early on I met Jessi Gay a teenager with leukemia. She was so sweet, I could relate to her more than I could the real young kids. You know kids; they just run around like nothing is wrong even though they know adults are treating them different. Only adults know the true nature of the path ahead.  It is so strange to see them at such a young age, not knowing that going to the hospital, getting treatments that make them feel sick, is just a normal thing. Loving them with unrelenting compassion is natural.

Jessi is different because she directly communicates to us just how important it is to do what we do. She is able to thank us like no scientist can for supporting their research, like no family member can for caring for their child or loved one. And she did, she did thank us in a way that only a patient can. And she still does.

 

Jessi's sister Kelly, is giving the mission speech this weekend at the Dave Scott Triathlon in Texas. She gets to share her sisters feelings about TnT, about being a teenager with cancer and she gets to brag about her sister, the way only a sister can.

 

Kelly you are awesome and Jessi is a Real Hero a Real Fighter, through you and through all of us.

Thanks for letting me post your speech.

Kelly 's mission speech to Team In Training Participants at the Dave Scott Triathlon in Texas.

I felt like posting this speech, I don't take credit for it, nor will I say who gave it. So often in today's polarized political environment we don't listen to the words. We just shut out the messenger. It saddens me to see our country turning so intolerant and so blind to see what is happening to us. If you want to know who gave this speech, email me. Here is an excerpt "I believe we need national leadership capable of raising hopes and inspiring trust, not raising fears and demanding blind faith. We need to marshal all our resources -- military, diplomatic, economic, and moral -- and first and foremost always tell the truth to the American people."<< MORE >>

Susan Butcher lost her battle with leukemia on Saturday. It affected me, in that I have ran a marathon in Alaska, and love the saying "Alaska where men are men, and women win the Iditarod"


Alaska is full of beauty and that included Susan. She was a real pioneer, another unfair, innocent victim. Who amongst us do not believe that a cure can be found, if we only focus?

Check out the video and honor her life, and stay or become committed to making this world a better place.

peace out

Honor Susan click here

 

People used to ask June Carter how she was doing, and she used to say -- "I'm just trying to matter."

Isn't that a goal most of us have, live a good life and make work that means something to somebody. 

I didn't know how to start this blog; I've barely ever read anyone else's let alone write my own. So I chose a phrase that really struck me. I heard that phrase when Reese Witherspoon quoted it as she received an Oscar for her role as June Carter.

That phrase, that thought process has really stuck with me, I use it often when someone hits me with the all too common 'how ya doing?'

Shortly after starting the blog with June's wisdom, I got the following e-mail forward from a colleague. Colleen and the rest of the staff, who works like me, in the fight against blood cancer. It was good news from a patient’s mom.

Hi, Team!

I know that recommitment is upon you all & you might be feeling some pressure.  I want to tell you about this last week for our family.  I hope it inspires you to continue doing what you have started to do.

This week was a particularly special one.  Collin, Jay & I went to Memphis TN for Collin's END OF TREATMENT testing.  Yes, as you may have already been told, Collin has completed his chemotherapy treatments.  Monday & Tuesday were a blur of tests for Collin.  (Xrays, dental exam, CT scan for bone density, ultrasound of the testes [because leukemia cells like to hide there], blood work, spinal tap & bone marrow aspiration.)  Tuesday afternoon was a time of recovering from a busy schedule & awaiting test results.  Finally, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we started to get them, including the most important ones.....Collin's spinal fluid & bone marrow showed no sign of leukemia! 

Wednesday was a day of celebrating!  We went back over to the hospital so that the staff could sing the 'No Mo' Chemo' song to Collin & spray him with silly string!  That evening we went out & spent the most enjoyable evening riding go karts (Jay & Collin both first-timers!), putt-putting, playing video games & bumper-boating.  Jay & I had the biggest grins on our faces!  (Bigger than Collin, I think.)

Today, we got the last & most important test result.  Collin's MRD (minimal residual disease) test came back negative.  This test is finer than a standard 100 cell slide....it looks at 10000 cells at a time!

Now, why did I just tell you all of this?  Because I want you to know that what you are doing is making our son's life possible!  The LLS has supported research performed at St. Jude.  That research has led to the development & implementation of more effective, less toxic treatments for childhood cancers.  That research has led to the development of MRD testing, which St. Jude & others are now using to guide treatments for children with cancer.  None of that research would be possible without selfless, committed individuals like yourselves & your donors!

So, from the bottom of my heart, and on behalf of Collin & Jay, I thank you!  Thank you for taking a step to improve the lives of people affected by leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma & other blood diseases.  Without your help, this road would not be as far along as it is today...closer to the cures!

May the wind be at your backs & the sun shine on your faces!  (But, don't forget the sunblock!)

Love,

Collin's mom

When any of us get these messages, of good news or even when the news is not so swell we need to be happy regardless, because the work matters, it makes the difference. Sometimes it makes ALL the difference.

I wish everyone that works and gives unselfishly, no matter what, would simply sit back and reflect on that simple everyday question How ya doin’? and when asked , even if you do not want to say it out loud, you can know it in your mind, and feel it in your heart.

How am I doing? I’m making the difference, what I do matters, I matter, that’s how I am doing.