ProgressOhio

Our family decided to make an occasion of it yesterday -- celebrated Claire's birthday with lunch at Latitude 41 (yummy, local food in an elegant setting), then on to Vets' Memorial, which Claire still remembers as the ACT staging area in 2004, when she was in charge of sending people out all over the west side that cold, rainy day. I think it was good to have a sunny day filled with positive experiences to superimpose on that bitter memory. As for me, I associate Vets' Memorial with the Eddie Bauer Warehouse sales staged there years ago (the girls always refused to come with us to those affairs -- back then they said it was one more place full of mulch colored clothes only parents would like!).

 Today was different for all of us. Claire wondered aloud if she would cry (voting for John Kerry made her tear up because the election mattered so much).

We Need You to ActBlue for David Robinson!

Dear Robinson for Congress Supporter,

This week we are undertaking a significant on-line intiative that we need your help with! We are asking each of you to go to the ActBlue fundraising page for David Robinson and make a contribution between now and this Friday.

http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18783

If enough supporters contribute to the campaign through ActBlue over the next 5 days, we will be placed in the list of the “Top 5 Hot Candidates of the Week” that appears on the ActBlue website front page. Making it to this list will place our campaign in the national spotlight and will expose us to funders throughout the U.S. You can help put Robinson for Congress in the national spotlight by donating once, or better yet, multiple times between today and Friday.

We have only 5 days to accomplish this goal. Please consider giving a contribution each day - the more contributions we receive, the higher our ranking will be. A $5.00, $10.00 or $20.00 donation will put us one step closer to our goal! http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18783

Together, through our collective energy, we can send a New Voice to Congress. So get BLUE and ACT today!

For more information on David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit www.robinson2008.com

David Robinson: Candidate for U.S. Congress, Ohio’s 12th District

David Robinson's opponent has raised one million dollars, mainly from special interests.

Robinson for Congress needs to raise one hundred thousand dollars from people like you. We need your help to launch A New Energy for Ohio, A New Voice in Congress.

Help us meet our goal of $100,000 by June 30, 2008. How YOU can Help: DONATE $25, $50, or $100

Please visit our website  www.robinson2008.com to show your support today! Your contribution will help send a new voice to Congress!

Robinson's Comments: "Now that the presidential nominating process has come to a close, I think it would be good if we paused and reflected for just a moment about the significance of what has just happened and how this sends a message not only to every American, young and old, but to the whole world, that the American Dream is alive and very well.

We have seen through this contest, which could easily have gone either way, that in America no matter your gender or your race, that with talent and hard-work there are no limits to what you may seek and achieve.

And this campaign, Robinson for Congress, is fortunate enough to be a part of this historical moment, to be a part of this hunger for change, or as Obama’s campaign says, Change We Can Believe In. And I do believe in it, because I believe in the ability of Americans—through ingenuity, hard-work, finding of common cause, and with good leadership—to do the most extraordinary things and to solve our problems in the most unexpected of ways.

But as you know, our current leadership in the White House, and all those in Congress who have supported them consistently through the years—as our opponent has—our leadership has failed us, has failed our nation. In less than eight years we have gone from Peace and Prosperity to an inconclusive war in Afghanistan, and an unprovoked, endless war in Iraq, and an economy marked by an embattled middle class and a poverty of opportunity for too many.

So what we face now is a contest for leadership, both at the presidential level and here in the 12th District. And as you know, John McCain is running for a third Bush term, but if that’s not bad enough, my opponent is running for a fifth Tiberi term! And we're not going to let that happen..."

-- David Robinson

For additional information about David and his campaign platform, please visit www.robinson2008.com

Launch a New Energy for Ohio and a New Voice in Congress with Us!
 
David Robinson for Congress Campaign Fundraiser
Wedgewood Golf and Country Club - Powell, Ohio
 
June 5, 2008
5:30-8:00 p.m.
Suggested donation - $25
 
Join David Robinson and other Robinson for Congress supporters to kickoff the summer season and rally into the the general election.  The Robinson for Congress campaign is forging ahead and it is time for ALL supporters -- ALL those desiring change, ALL those fighting for our district, and ALL who believe it can happen -- to come together.
 
Join us.  Join David Robinson for Congress.  Join us in sending needed change to Congress!
 
RSVP to: kickoff@robinson2008.com
Donations accepted at the door, evening of the event
 

Wedgewood Golf & Country Club
9600 Wedgewood Blvd.  Powell, OH  43065
(614) 793-9600

For more about David Robinson and his policy platforms, please visit www.robinson2008.com

This Memorial Day holiday will find many of us surrounded by loved ones at parades, picnics and long vacation weekends.  As we travel to these celebrations and welcome the long-awaited start to summer, let us honor first and foremost those for whom this holiday was meant to cherish -- the brave men and women who have gone before us for the sake of freedom.
 
I join my fellow citizens in remembering the valiant bravery of the people who have given their lives so that we may live in freedom.  Let us also honor the thousands of men and women who served alongside these patriots who survived the perils of war and those who still wait in support from home.  And finally, lest we forget, we must do all we can to recognize their stewardship of freedom by keeping our commitments to them as veterans.
 
This Memorial Day, we stand united.  It is not the day to express dismay about ill-begotten wars and conflicts with which we agree or disagree.  Nor is this the time to make anti-war or pro-war speeches.  There is nothing political about it at all.  It is a day we draw upon the strength we have as Americans -- our unity.  A day to recall the poignant words of writer Peter Collier, to remember "those who had given all their tomorrows, as was said of the men who stormed the beaches of Normandy, for our todays."
 
 --David Robinson, Candidate, Ohio's U.S. 12th Congressional District  www.robinson2008.com

David Robinson's Congressional Campaign Website has been updated and relaunched with a whole new look!

The revamped website includes the new logo for the Robinson campaign and a new slogan... "A New Energy for Ohio, A New Voice in Congress".

Also new to the site are two videos and a photo gallery.

Check it out at www.robinson2008.com

The Orchestra, the Arts, Our Community -Submitted to The Other Paper by David Robinson on 5/5/08

The well-publicized and documented troubles facing the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) are part of an even bigger picture that I find troubling. The CSO is a key contributor to our quality of life in Columbus, well beyond the seasonal performance schedule. The education programs and outreach, and our accomplished Youth Orchestra, bring music and more to our children.

In terms of the business case for our Orchestra, many writers and economists emphasize the importance of the creative class as a central driver of the new economy. The CSO employs significant numbers of artists who live here, raise their families here, and spend their money here. Perhaps most importantly, for businesses small and large trying to attract and retain talent, the CSO represents an important part of our cultural fabric and our image as a great American city. Simply stated, no symphony, no great city.

The root of the symphony’s problems is our ailing economy. Working families in Central Ohio are being pinched at every turn for time and money. When one is forced to choose between food, fuel, and the finer arts, it is the latter which will suffer first. And without an audience, our performing arts organizations will need additional support from the same sources everyone else is tapping: individual donors and the business community.

So where are we investing in the creation of tomorrow’s jobs? Where is the support for innovation? Our region needs leadership and a long-term development strategy to help us take action and improve the things that matter.  Yes, I need food to live, and fuel to travel, but I need the arts to make the journey worth taking.

_____________________________________________________ 

Robinson is the Democratic candidate for Ohio's 12th U.S. Congressional District running against incumbent Pat Tiberi this fall. For more information on David Robinson and his policies, go to www.robinson2008.com.

David Robinson, 12th Congressional District Candidate, will be attending a Dublin house party at the home of Lucy and Al Gabel, located at 7190 Coffman Road on April 29, 2008 and beginning at 7:00 PM.

This event is open to all that wish to attend.

Suggested Donations: Sponsors-$200, Guests-$50

Please RSVP, by e-mail to agabel7190@aol.com or call 614-889-8282. Please include your name and telephone number with your RSVP.

Directions: Exit at 17A from 270, Rt. 33, 161. Go East to the first light. Turn left onto Post Rd. You will go going West over 270. At the first light, turn right onto Coffman Rd. Proceed North to 7190 Coffman Rd.

For more information about David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit http://www,robinson2008.com

Join the Robinson for Congress Grassroots Team

With less than 200 days to go until Election Day, now is the time to start telling voters about David Robinson and why he is the best choice to represent the 12th District in the U.S. Congress.

Over the next several weeks, the Robinson Campaign will be pulling together a Grassroots Team – a group of committed and energetic Robinson supporters who are willing to spend a few hours on the weekend, or a few hours during the week, reaching out to voters at the door or on the phone.

No Experience Required! "If you can walk, you can canvass. If you can talk, you can phone bank." Training will be provided.

We are going to win in November with good, old-fashioned hard work; and the Grassroots Team will be a critical part of our success.

If you would like to be part of the Team, RSVP to Jed Thorp, Grassroots Coordinator at jedthorp@hotmail.com or 617-553-0541.

For more information on David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit www.robinson2008.com

The Licking County Pro-Active Citizens (LICOPAC) will be hosting a breakfast for David Robinson this Saturday March 29th, 9:30 a.m. at the Bake-n-Brew restaurant, 1821 W. Main St. in Newark. http://bake-n-brew.com

For more information about David Robinson or to volunteer for his campaign, please visit www.robinson2008.com .

David Robinson accepted an invitation to speak at the Central Ohio Peace Network's (COPN) commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the Iraq war. This event was held the evening of Wednesday, March 19  at the Ohio Statehouse Atrium.  The following is a transcript of Robinson's speech.  

Blessed are the Peacemakers, David Robinson, 3/19/08

Thank You. It is good and it is right that today, here in our state's capital, on the fifth anniversary of our nation's launching of the Iraq War, we are giving voice and visible testimony to both our grief about the war and our hope about the prospects for peace. By giving voice and witness to our beliefs we are declaring our determined opposition to the endless stay-the-course-and-we-can-win policies of the current administration.

As you know, silence and invisibility are enemies of truthfulness, justice, human rights, and yes, peace. In the case of the Iraq war, those that precipitated it, those that would perpetuate it, seek to hide it from the public—no taxes are paid to fund it—, and to sanitize it—no caskets are seen to show the cost of it. They seek to hide the realities of the war in order to continue a policy that the clear majority of Americans, after sober reflection, now reject. And so it is good that we break this official silence, giving witness here and now to the will of the people.

The reasons for protesting the continuation of this war are many: foremost of all is the direct loss of human life, both American and Iraqi—lives lost and lives shattered through wounds of both body and mind;

and beyond this immeasurable human toll, there are the unknown consequential costs of this war, future tragedies that well may spring, in part, from hatreds born of this war, for violence begets violence, and cruelty is contagious;

further, there is the financial cost to us, now estimated to be hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars—these costs may be measured in terms of "what could have been" had we spent the billions elsewhere on schools, health care, energy research, or even, with enlightened leadership, peace initiatives in the Middle East; or these financial costs may be understood in terms of the staggering addition to our crushing national debt, further constraining the opportunities of our young;

and, finally, even in terms of enhancing our nation's security, the war has cost us much and may be judged an unprecedented American strategic failure as it has dissipated our military, enhanced Iran's influence, and diverted our attention from what I, and perhaps some of you, believe was a legitimate use of arms in Afghanistan.

In my judgment, these costs—human, consequential, financial, and strategic—are each reason enough to demand an end to this war-torn occupation. And so I believe it is time to issue a clear and definitive statement that we will not construct or sustain permanent bases, and that we will soon commence a definitive yet responsible withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq, in accord with our own assessment of the security needs of our remaining troops and the Iraqi people, and not according to a timeline held hostage to the Iraqi politicians' own interests in a continued American presence.

While effecting a responsible withdrawal, it is incumbent upon us to safeguard—through immigration here or elsewhere if necessary—those Iraqis who have helped us and would face violent retribution once we leave. Further, it is imperative that we embrace returning veterans—through full funding of VA benefits, explicit and robust public acknowledgment of their service, and educational and jobs-related programs designed to reintegrate them productively back in to civilian life.

And yet a critique of the specifics of the current war is not enough, for if we left matters there I believe we would be overlooking the central fact as to why this war, and any future war of choice, is a profound mistake. It is my conviction that the wars of the 20th century, and the advent of the nuclear age, held lessons for humanity that indeed war is not the answer, and that we must—if we are all to survive—we must develop institutions, traditions, and mechanisms for restraining our warring impulses and for employing peaceable means for solving our inevitable conflicts.

The Geneva and Hague Conventions, the League of Nations, and the United Nations, were all born out of the human desire to outgrow our ancient cruelties to one another. In scripture we read that "there is a season and a time for every matter under the sun," including "a time for war and a time for peace." But it is precisely this sense of fatalistic inevitability that humanity has struggled to overcome, guided, for some, by a different biblical imperative, "blessed are the peacemakers." It is the latter devotion to which I adhere.

And so this war of choice is not only an act of aggression, but is an act of regression on a national scale, conceivable only to those who have failed to understand the primary lesson of our parents' and grandparents' generations: that war itself is the common enemy of man, that our shared fate rests on our ability to abolish it from Earth, and, until that day, war is justifiable only as a last-resort and in self-defense. These lessons of our forebears must now be reaffirmed by our nation as we move forward to end this war and forestall any that would follow.

To do so, we must recognize the fragility, and defend accordingly, our democratic form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people; this means a reassertion of constitutional checks and balances, the protection of civil liberties, and the regulatory support of a diverse media and net neutrality. These are our safeguards against the demagogue's rush to war.

I am hopeful that the United States will remember lessons once learned, and now learned again, that war is not the answer. By giving voice to this truth tonight, we advance the cause of peace.  And that is good, for blessed are the peacemakers.
 

___________________________________
For more information about David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit www.robinson2008.com

Robinson for Congress - Campaign Kick-Off Organizational Meeting

If you are interested in getting involved in David Robinson's campaign, please join us for this initial, general election organizational meeting.

Date:      Sunday, March 30

Time:      2:00 p.m.

Location: Real Living Training Center 773 Brooksedge Plaza Drive Westerville, Ohio

Directions: The facility is just off of I-270 & Westerville Road/Rt.#3 exit and to the north - turn at first left onto Heatherdown Drive and go to dead end-turn left. You can follow our signs from there. 

Purpose: First meeting to organize the general election Campaign Corps of the Robinson For Congress Campaign. Meet David Robinson/Hear him speak./Hear about the Primary/Plan the General.

Agenda: Welcome, District/Primary Campaign Briefing, David Robinson-Lessons Learned comments, General Election Overview/Discussion/Planning.

Groups of volunteers are being formed in the following areas: 1. Finance-Fundraising/Accounting 2. Grassroots-Literature Distribution/Door-to-Door/Yard Signs/Targeted Phone Calling 3. Media-Press Relations/Letters-to-the-Editor 4. Website-All things Website & Internet related/Database Management/Interface with Media Team 5. Special Events-House Parties/Parades/Festivals  6. Administration-Communication/Clerical & Administrative Work/Reception Duties/Scheduling 7. Advance-Candidate Aids/Facility Research & Event Preparation 8. Policy-Issue Development/Opponent Research/News Tracking  9. Special Projects- Debates Campus Coordination, Endorsements, Design/Artwork/Photography, Voter Research & Targeting

For more information on David Robinson and his campaign platform, please visit  www.robinson2008.com

DAVID ROBINSON REACTS TO CONGRESSIONAL NOMINATION WIN

Central Ohioans living in the 12th Congressional District now know the choice they will have two hundred forty-five days from now in the general election. David Robinson has been chosen as the Democratic candidate who will run against incumbent Republican Pat Tiberi this coming fall.

"Our campaign is grateful to the voters for responding to our message about positive change and what we can do when focused on common goals," Robinson said upon learning of his victory. "My two democratic colleagues, Aaron Dagres and Russ Goodwin, waged honorable and hard-fought campaigns and I have nothing but admiration for both of them," he continued. "It is my full intention to remain focused on positive plans and programs that actually address the major concerns of the people of the 12th District."

During the last two months, Robinson's campaign saw significant momentum after a well-planned and assertive grassroots effort. Voters responded to key messages including his February 22nd announcement of his "Apollo II Program," countless discussions with voters and a strong effort to spread the message of his thoughtful leadership skills.

Robinson's campaign now turns its attention to developing more detailed position statements on central issues, such as education, health care, veterans' affairs, and of course national security. Further, the campaign is busy preparing a statement of values about how the campaign itself will be conducted. "The way a campaign is run tells you a lot about the person in charge of it. I intend to keep focused on policy and plans that will make a real difference. There's no time for negativity when you're focused on helping the public."

"We intend to maintain our momentum by staying in touch with the voters—in their churches, at their homes, at their festivals and fairs—from now until election day."

"I have fully enjoyed meeting some of the voters of the district during the last few months, from north to south to east, and many places in between. People have been real honest with me about what they expect from their Congressman. Whether we talked about schools, jobs, or the war, they are ready for change in a new direction."

"This is the beginning of a campaign in which the voters of central Ohio will be given a clear choice about two different visions for our future," Robinson said. "We can either pursue the policies of the past, or choose a new way of doing things." More on Robinson and his policies may be found at http://www.robinson2008.com.

CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER.

David Robinson ran an amazing campaign, in the face of an endorsement of Russ Goodwin by Franklin County's Democratic Party, and last minute Ohio Democratic Party funding for Goodwin slate cards, to come out victorious.  David Robinson has run a clean and positive campaign from day one, and it is now time to rally behind Mr. Robinson as we head towards our ultimate goal of removing Pat Tiberi from office. David Robinson has shown that he is our party's best shot in November.

I want to thank all of the wonderful people that I have encountered along this long journey that begun back in October. To all of the volunteers and contributors that dedicated their time and funds to this campaign, I am forever indebted to you. I am truly proud of the hard work that so many people have put into seeing this campaign through.

I urge you all to throw your full support behind our candidate for the OH-12, and our next Congressman from Ohio's 12th congressional district, DAVID ROBINSON.

www.robinson2008.com