Here's the text of Asheville City Council member and congressional candidate Cecil Bothwell's Nov. 23 email newsletter. Click the link at the bottom to see newsletter in its entirety.


Newsletter of the Bothwell for Congress Campaign

Occupy the Future

The Occupy movement has galvanized political discussions across the country and around the world. Whereas Washington had run aground on a trumped up debate about the debt ceiling, the conversation has shifted to where it must be if we are to effect meaningful, systemic change in our nation.

Corporate influence and the role of major wealth in our election campaigns will have to be curbed if we are going to reclaim government by the people, the real people. The perverse decision by the Supreme Court in the Citizens United case must be overturned, corporations are not people. And we must implement public financing of all electoral campaigns, with no "issues ads" funded by any outside players.

As reported by Zaid Jalani in Think Progress, "In one of the greatest signs yet that the 99 Percenters are having an impact, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, today introduced an amendment that would ban corporate money in politics and end corporate personhood once and for all.

"Deutch’s amendment, called the Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy (OCCUPIED) Amendment, would overturn the Citizens United decision, re-establishing the right of Congress and the states to regulate campaign finance laws, and to effectively outlaw the ability of for-profit corporations to contribute to campaign spending."

When I'm elected, I will become a co-sponsor of the Deutch bill.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours,

-Cecil Bothwell

Campaign progress

The campaign has continued to grow during November, with short term and long range planning, the creation of committees focussed on Communications, Finance, Operations and Volunteer coordination. We've now taken the campaign to almost 100 events in 14 counties, while Cecil has participated and been principal speaker at others in Raleigh, Greensboro and Washington, DC.
We've raised close to $29,000 from hundreds of donors, we have yard signs and banners, and will be opening our first campaign office during the first week of December.

Where we've been, click here.

Volunteer Opportunities

Nov. 30: Bill McKibben, on climate realities. UNCA, Humanities Lecture Hall 5:30 p.m., Lipinsky 7 p.m. We'll be there to greet the crowd.

Dec. 3: Help Cecil build playground furniture at the Lonnie Burton Head Start school (behind the Reid Center, on Livingston Ave., Asheville 9 a..m. - 4 p.m.)

Dec. 5: Holiday parade in Waynesville. We need walkers and float riders. We'll be handing our stickers for kids and business cards for voters.

December: We need to outfit an office with tables and chairs. If you have a potential loaner or donations for outfitting the office, or an unused computer we can borrow, let us know!

New Year's Eve: We'll hold a candlelight vigil in every county to celebrate the end of the Iraq War. IN Buncombe it will be at Pritchard Park. Talk to your friends about holding one in your town or county.

TELL A FRIEND! Pass this newsletter along, call five friends and tell them about the campaign, or write a letter to the editor. Any and all ways to spread the word, person to person, are essential to a grassroots campaign. And thanks for all you do.

We're pinching every penny until Abe Lincoln yelps, but we still need those pennies. No donation is too small. And thanks so very much to the hundreds of you who have already pitched in. You can create your own monthly plan on ActBlue,donate through PayPal, or mail a check.

Donations: The inconvenient truth

Because I won't accept corporate donations, or corporate PAC money, this campaign depends on you. We are running a very spare campaign, but there's no way around the need for printed material, advertising, and travel funds.

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