Here is my official Launch and the launch of the new website.

[Andy_Stephenson]

Please puruse my site and let me know what yall think.



SUBJECT:
Andy Stephenson Announces Candidacy for Secretary of State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date Tuesday November 24th, 2:00 pm
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andy Stephenson, [e-mail]
Gentry Lange, Campaign Manager, [e-mail]

Andy Stephenson Announces Candidacy for Secretary of State

Immediately calls for Sam Reed to justify his position on Black Box Voting, and his apparent support for a paperless unverifiable computer system

SEATTLE - Seattle Subway owner, Andy Stephenson came out swinging 14 months ago as one of several researchers for Bev Harris, a Seattle based writer who broke the story on Diebold's voting machines and the inherent lack of security in paperless voting machines currently being installed throughout the United States.


"Most people don't realize this is very much a state issue," said Andy "Katherine Harris was the Secretary of State of Florida. Diebold machines threw the election. And King County is already famous for using these machines for doing end-runs around the official vote tallies. These machines have the capability of being manipulated built-in, pure and simple.""

"It is imperative that the American public know about this issue, and how it absolutely politicizes the position of Secretary of State in every State of the Union, starting now, here, in Washington."

"Today I announce my candidacy for Secretary of State. I pledge to prevent the theft of the election by government forces that are colluding with industry officials as we speak to install these machines throughout the country. I pledge to keep elections free in Washington, and I challenge you, the public across the country to rise up and support candidates for Secretary of State in your state who pledge to fight these paperless voting machines, that have ability to steal your vote. "

"I believe the right to a secret secure ballot is the most important right we have. I decided to run for Secretary of State because of that belief. Thomas Paine said it best: 'The right of voting for representatives is the primary right by which all other rights are protected. To take away that right is to reduce man to slavery.' I wonder if Sam Reed, the current Secretary of State, believes the same.

Sincerely, Andy Stephenson

www.andystephenson.com

[arcane1]

1. sweet!!!

:toast::toast:

when is the actual election there? I still have a donation to send ya!!!

:kick:

[Andy_Stephenson]

3. Nov 2004

but I will be the front runner very very soon.

I have a feeling about this.

[arcane1]

9. kick them in their asses, GB&C!!!!

:kick:

[HootieMcBoob]

2. Good Luck

:toast:

[UrbScotty]

4. Run, Andy, run!

:toast:

[greatauntoftriplets]

5. Yippeeee!!!!!

You are now officially a candidate. Congratulations, my friend.

[La_Serpiente]

6. Woohooo

Awesome

Cheers :toast:

[La_Serpiente]

7. Your opponent

won't be able to handle the facts against this technology. He will be mindboggled because you are an expert on the issue.

[madrchsod]

8. cool ..

and you sell subway sandwiches,i`d vote for you but i`m in il.

[BootinUp]

10. Go for it Andy

This is certainly one of the most important issues right now, and you can see that the major media is bought and paid for.

Where are the stories about this problem with Diebold and other voting machines!


I like the website...Good Luck man!

[Andy_Stephenson]

11. Jeez...I have had 3 press outlets call me

Bam Bam Bam...right in a row. I don't want to be famous. I am just a guy trying to make a difference.

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. Hey! Now the press is beating down your door!!!!

More great news.

[Andy_Stephenson]

15. Yes indeed.

and I am meeting with a state rep today and will ask for her endorsement.

[bpilgrim]

39. congratulations!

:toast:

peace

BTW: GFP: Had your announcement posted as well but i can't find the link now... i will post when i fing it.

[theivoryqueen]

12. congrats and good luck!

nice photo and site

[nostamj]

13. go andy!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bombtrack]

16. you should get in contact with Krist Novoselic (Lt governor candidate)

he was the bassist for Nirvana and he is also probably running for statewide office in Washington state. See my post about it in GD

[Andy_Stephenson]

17. I have been trying

Got his phone number?

[Bombtrack]

20. no, but you should contact politics1.com

they don't have you up as a candidate but they do have your 2 democratic opponents, and they do have a link for krist

http://www.politics1.com/wa.htm

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:
Brad Owen (D)*
Krist Novoselic (D) - Ex-Nirvana Band Member & Election Reform Activist

SECRETARY OF STATE:
Sam Reed (R)* - (Campaign Site)
Laura Ruderman (D) - State Rep. & Microsoft Program Manager


mailto:[e-mail]

[AWD]

24. Don't do that, Andy!

Krist is viewed in two ways....(1) a novelty candidate and (2) somebody who is running against an incumbent Dem.

Align yourself there this early and it could taint your reputation.....something you need to be clean when you're just starting out.

Hold off and wait before you do any aligning with Novoselic. PLEASE think long and hard about it.

[Bombtrack]

26. a "novelty" candidate? How is any more of one than Arnold?

or Sonny bono? or Jesse Ventura?

[AWD]

29. Because he's a Dem, that's why

..and despite your horrific attempt at English, the fact still stands that Andy can't afford to be aligned with somebody this early who will eventually (1) be attacked by the right for his connection to a dead heroin addict and (2) attacked from the left as someone running against an incumbent Democrat.

Novoselic is being warned by the Washington Dem party to be careful....whether they are right or not in doing this, anybody that aligns themselves with him this early will not be spared so easily. Andy needs to create his own reputation and then he can afford to go high-profile with his friends.

Novoselic may win based on his profile amongst younger people, but he certainly won't win over the old-school Dems. Andy can pick up the young and 20-somethings based on a tie with Krist, but if the first things that Washington voters hear about Andy is that he's connected to Novoselic, then that could end up being a hard struggle to overcome.

Wait on it, Andy.....take it from somebody who is in the game with you. Align with VERY serious, well-respected people first. THEN you can afford to reach out to more fringe-based people.

I cannot stress it enough....wait on it.

[ShaneGR]

36. Ooops

Missed the fact he was running against a Dem.
Kind of bizarre he would choose to run as a Dem in a Dem Primary against a Dem opponent.

[Andy_Stephenson]

37. I am running against a Republican.

The Dem in the primary is the Corporatist who cares little about the voting machine. She is running for Secretary of State because she has a "Passion for Democracy and the Democratic process".

[ShaneGR]

38. No, no.... I was talking about Krist not you.

Krist is running in a primary against a Dem incumbent.

[Andy_Stephenson]

44. Oh ok

Duh. I must be tired.

[Pastiche423]

18. Clean, classy and concise website!

I believe you are going to win too.

Thank you for all of your hard work in this important battle, Andy!

[Andy_Stephenson]

19. Thank you....

Gentry, my campaign manager, had it put together. Big things coming...stay tuned.

[WilliamPitt]

21. OUTSTANDING

:)

[Andy_Stephenson]

22. Coming from you

That means alot!

[greatauntoftriplets]

23. Kick so all can see!

:bounce:

[proud patriot]

25. Wow all the updates look great

I'll pass this along to friends in WA

[no name no slogan]

27. Looks very good! Awesome site!

However, just one small nit-pick as a webdev geek: you probably want to change the link colors on the right side of the page-- right now they blend into the background: either change the color in the <font> tags, or set up a separate class for those links via a cascading style sheet declaration (pm me if you want gory details). :D

And best of luck to you in your campaign! BBV is a great issue to run on for secretary of state!

[Andy_Stephenson]

32. Your suggestion is already in the works.

that was my one critique as well.

[Ficus]

28. Good Luck

nt

[Insider]

30. run andy run!

best wishes for your campaign

[zeemike]

31. Good luck Andy

[RedEagle]

33. Back Up

Kick!

[ibegurpard]

34. Your site looks great!

Best of luck to you!

[AP]

35. I wouldn't frame my entire campaign around diebold or compture voting.

You need to put forward a broader argument about what you stand for, and then you have to fit electronic voting into that theme. I click through your link and the first thing I see is a diebold machine? That's not right. What if the state gets rid of diebold's contract before the election? Then you're left with nothing.

You have to say that you're running because you feel that to many of citizens rights are being sold to the highest bidder, and sometimes not even the highest biddger, but the bidder who has the closest connection to the people running government. You have to say that crony capitalists have to stop looking at government as an opportunity to pad profits. And then, under that umbrella, you can talk about electronic voting. You can talk about it just as much as you want to, but you need to tie it to a broader identiy. You need to draw the outline of your indentity so that people can fit within it severl issues, whether you talk about them or not.

If I know only that you're against electornic voting, I know nothing else about you. But if I know that you're not selling of government activiites to the highest bidders through contracts which aren't even open to public review, then I can probably project about 30 more policy positions, in addition to electonic voting.

Know what I mean?

And where's your biography? You need a biography so that people can look at it and say, hey, this guy's just like me!

[eridani]

40. Best get used to the fact--

that people who run for public office tend to get called 'politicians'!

You go, guy. I'll be sending some signatures and money right along.

[RandomUser]

41. Good Luck

Best of luck with your campaign. We definitely need more progressive voices heard.

[VeniceBeat]

42. Get Your Blog Set Up for Comments! Start Blogging!

I'd be interested in your take on the http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=784912">Vote Fraud in Russian Georgia.

We need a pre-emptive Velvet Revolution-- let's stop any more purchases of touchscreens!

Go, GBC, go! To the Statehouse!

[Judi Lynn]

43. Good luck, Andy

A lot of people will be pulling for you.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

45. T'DAY KICK!

:kick:

[Bushfire]

46. Two spellin' mistakes found

Under...

Events: greet not great

About Andy: publicize not publicise

other than that, it looked great to me. I'll be sending a small donation shortly. Best of luck from the cheddar state.

[Bushfire]

47. Is Andy checking this thread anymore? n/t

[Andy_Stephenson]

48. Yes he is why?

I always check threads I start.

[Bushfire]

49. One spelling mistake still on website

Under the 2nd event with Bev et all.

Volunteers to help work the event, pass out literature, great people who comes, answer questions, sign people up, and take donations.

I thought you might appreciate someone pointing these out for you.

grammer wise I would change "people who comes" to "people who arrive".

[Andy_Stephenson]

52. The Web guy is skiing until

Sunday. I am hamstrung until then.

[stevedeshazer]

50. See you in Vancouver

I'm dialed in.

[Andy_Stephenson]

51. Awesome!

Can't wait to meet you there.

[jab105]

53. The essence of what democracy SHOULD be...

all the best to you Andy!!

[He loved Big Brother]

54. Fellow Seattlite wishing you the best of luck!

:thumbsup:

[Terwilliger]

55. kick

[jpgray]

56. Two DUers in public office would be great! Good luck! (nt)