Candidates Gone Wild – One Week Away!

Observe candidates in their unnatural habitat.

Every political delight you were afraid to have (but secretly want) is there for you at Candidates Gone Wild: Political Mischief. It goes down Monday, April 26th at the Aladdin Theater. Doors at 7pm. Grab that ticket, now.

So you think you’ve seen it all: Steve Novick impersonating Simon Cowell, Nick Fish reading beat poetry, Sam Adams making breakfast powered by Randy Leonard in form-fitting leather on a stationary bike (just a few tidbits from Candidates Gone Wild past).

But prepare yourself for all the madness you have yet to lay your peepers on.

Feel the raw Storm Large-ness of Storm Large.

Embrace the magical mysteries of your Metro government as Metro President contenders Bob Stacey, Rex Burkholder and Tom Hughes square off in a Celebrity Jeopardy so epic it’d send Sean Connery home in tears.

Immerse yourself in a sea of Multnomah County Commissioner-wannabes,Karol Collymore, Chuck Currie, Gary Hansen, Tom Markgraf, Maria Rubio,Loretta Smith, Paul Van Orden and will try to lie (and truth) their way into your hearts (and more?).

Also, Alex Trebek MIGHT be there.

It’s just one week out. So get your ticket.

Still on the fence, well enter yourself in a lottery to win a free ticket.

Alright, see you there.

Let me introduce you to Lennox…

The fourth installment in a series of awesome folks/things coming to Rebooting Democracy…

Rev. Lennox Yearwood: Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr, is the President and CEO of theHip Hop Caucus . He is one of the most influential people in Hip Hop Politics. In 2004 he was the co-creator of the Vote Or Die! campaign with P. Diddy, and he was Russell Simmons’ Political and Grassroots Director. He was also the Executive Director of Hip Hop Voices a program of Voices for Working Families at AFL-CIO. Rev. Yearwood is a nationally recognized activist and community organizer, known in particular for organizing for justice in response to Hurricane Katrina and for his fierce opposition to the war in Iraq.

BusLand, meet Larry. Larry, meet BusLand.

The third installment in a series of awesome folks/things coming to Rebooting Democracy…

Lawrence Lessig: Lawrence Lessig is the Director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University, and a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. He is a co-founder of Creative Commons and Change Congress. He’s spent his entire career as a champion of participatory culture, and most recently has turned his sights towards participatory politics. He’s been making serious waves in the political world with his recent article in The Nation as well as with his Change Congress campaign, both of which are focused on getting the most corrosive effects of special-interest cash out of Congress. (Oh, and he has a TED Talk , which means he’s really smart.)

Helllllllo, Heather!

The second installment in a series of awesome things coming to Rebooting Democracy…

Heather Smith: Heather Smith is the Executive Director of Rock the Vote. In 2008, she led Rock the Vote to achieve its highest voter registration numbers in the organization’s 20-year history – 2.2 million individuals used Rock the Vote’s tools to register to vote. During the historic election season, Rock the Vote ran the largest non-partisan voter registration campaign in history that saw 22 million young voters cast a ballot. Smith appeared on NBC News, the Today Show, FOX News, CNN, NPR, BBC and other major news outlets in the US and around the world. Prior to Rock the Vote, Smith founded and directed Young Voter Strategies (YVS), a nonpartisan effort supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts to re-energize our democracy through developing tools, data and information for political campaigns and organizations to effectively run their own young voter programs.

We Like Earl!

The first installment in a series of awesome things coming to Rebooting Democracy…

Congressman Earl Blumenauer: A lifelong resident of Portland, Oregon, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-3) has devoted his entire career to public service. While still a student at Lewis and Clark College, he spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age both in Oregon and at the national level. He was elected to the Oregon Legislature in 1972, where he served three terms and Chaired the House Education and Revenue Committee in 1977-78. Elected to the US House of Representatives in 1996, Mr. Blumenauer has created a unique role as Congress’ chief spokesperson for Livable Communities: places where people are safe, healthy and economically secure. Now a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the Budget Committee, Congressman Blumenauer also serves as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Women’s History Month Rocks!

March is a cool month. Spring starts, St. Patrick’s Day happens, it’s Women’s History Month AND it’s when PolitiCorps Director Caitlin Baggot gets to go to the White House and meet awesome people.

PolitiCorps Director Caitlin Baggot, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Rock the Vote Director (and Rebooting Democracy speaker!) Heather Smith

That’s right. Two of the coolest ladies in youth organizing in America with the first woman Secretary of State in American history. Pretty rad, no?

Caitlin represented BusLand as an invitee to a celebration of Women’s History month at the White House this past Monday where the Obamas flirted openly and the strength and progress of women in our nation was applauded. All in all, pretty awesome.

Happy weekend, BusLand!

p.s. If you want to spend more time with ladies (and gents) as awesome as Caitlin–we hear awesomeness is contagious!–you should nominate yourself for PolitiCorps. The first deadline is March 20th, don’t miss it!

School’s In? School’s Out? Who Knows?

What the heck is going on with Portland Public Schools?

We’re all wonderin’ what’s going to happen with education of the young here in PDX. There have been murmurs and whispers and shenanigans of all kinds but it still seems more confusing than calculus before lunchtime so we’re going to try to figure it all out tonight at…

Join us tonight at 7pm at Backspace for a review session on what’s happening, who’s involved and how it can be fixed.

Don’t be tardy and don’t skip class!

Stay studious, BusFolk

Holy March 1st, BusLand!

There are a number of days that will go down in the history books, to be honored and revered for years to come:

July 4, 1776 : Declaration of Independence is adopted

September 22, 1862 : Lincoln signs The Emancipation Proclamation

August 18, 1920 : Women’s suffrage becomes a reality with the 19th Amendment

July 2, 1964 : LBJ signs the Civil Rights Act

July 20, 1969 : Armstrong and Aldrin walk on The Moon

November 4, 2008 : Young People get out the vote like never before

March 1, 2010 : Online Voter Registration starts in OREGON!

It’s true, folks! The day has finally come! You can now register to vote ONLINE. New to Oregon? Register for the first time! Moved recently? Change that ole address right here!

We here at the Bus have been waiting a looooooong time to bring voter registration into the 21st century and we’re so happy that Oregon’s one of the first states to jump on the bandwagon.

Happy Registering, democrateers!

The Ultimate Volunteer Recruitment Tool!

We present to you: Hipster Puppies

Never in the history of the internet have two more Oregon things come together with such comedic prowess. Here in The Beaver State, we love our dogs and we love our have a lot of hipsters. This here tumblr puts them together on the same screen. Our only concern is, we didn’t come up with it. But really, folks, think of the political capital we’d have if we had little hipster pups at some of our events, nay ALL of our events. How does “Re-puppy-ing Democracy” sound? Trick or Puppy? Perhaps, Politi-pups?

So, BusLand, don’t judge us as we toil away looking for ways to bring you the ultimate in doggie-dress-up, coming soon to a Bus Trip near you!

Big News ’bout Rebooting Democracy!

Where can you find 3 red-hot awesome speakers, all in one place?

Rebooting Democracy, the Bus Project conference for people-powered politics, promises many things:

• Tip-top-training for politics-changing
• Workshops that get so deep into innovative policy you come out the other side
• Contests to set policy priorities through a big dose of “little d” democracy
• The rockin’-est network of new leaders west of the Atlantic
  

Those bullets alone should get you nominating folks to come to Rebooting Democracy (in Bend from March 26-28th). But, if that’s not enough, we’re bringing you somethin’ even baddassier: our speakers.

Larry Lessig is one of America’s foremost leaders on creating a culture of participation. He founded Change Congress (a campaign to bring some serious hands-on democracy to D.C.), Creative Commons (the first shot in the battle for free online content) and is a Harvard Professor to boot. His recent column in The Nation has sparked a wildfire of enthusiasm on changing the role of money in politics. Click here to watch his TED talk (which is about creativity, not politics, but should give you a sense of his badassery).

Rev. Lennox Yearwood is President & CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, one of the most influential people in Hip Hop politics. You may remember him as the co-creator of Vote or Die! with P. Diddy or for his nationally recognized work organizing for justice in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Heather Smith is Executive Director of Rock the Vote (you may have heard of it). In 2008, she led the biggest non-partisan voter registration drive in American history and founded Youth Voter Strategies, which works to engage a nation of young people by giving organizations and campaigns the tools they need to engage new voters.