Wednesday, May 9
7:00 pm
DL21C's Political Author Series continues with Terry McAuliffe
Former Chairman, Democratic National Committee
Discussing the 2008 Presidential race and his new book, What a Party! - http://www.whataparty.us/
at
Retreat
37 West 17th St. b/w 5th and 6th Ave.
1/2/3/B/D/F/V/N/R/Q/W to 14th Street http://www.retreat-nyc.com/
Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The CityDL21C Events: High Class ActsPublic message to Ms. Elizabeth Caputo, the DL21C mover shaker. Indiana, Harvard, Morgan Stanley, DL21C: that's four strikes in a row, you are supposed to be out at three. My saying I just might join DL21C was me paying compliments to what is obviously the leading political group in the city. I have no intention to join. If I join, I hurt my young company. Group dynamics is the primary thing I bring to the table for the company. I have to stay unencumbered. On the other hand, I do look forward to getting to meet a ton of political celebrities ("alligators, wild animals") through DL21C. And Pollak and Spitzer are so obviously going places together. Chairman Pollak. Chairman Mao.
I would have been flattered enough if Pollak just knew me, as in your name is Paramendra, and I have a face to your name. But this guy actually likes me. More important, he values the political observations I have to make. That second part does not surprise me though. I know what I know. I would go head to head with anyone in American politics today, Bill Clinton included, in terms of tactics and strategy. I already am. The Obama-Clinton tussle lets me play shadow boxing with the guy. And Bill Clinton is the biggest thing that has happened in the one person one vote framework in human history. To me he is Pele.
First time Pollak and I ever bonded was over our mutual excitement about Hillary 2008. To his shock, I now see that as B.O. Before Obama. I mean, I don't like Hillary any less now.
It was a Tom Daschle event aftermath. "Senator, I am from Nepal. I came here to thank you for the trip you made to Nepal. You spread hope when there was very little of that going around. Now we all know things are much better." His eyes went wet. "That country is very special to me."
Pollak, Caputo, Krebs, these are all the Harvard crowd. I have some appreciation for where Harvard stands in the American imagination. When Nepalis in America find out I went to Budhanilkantha, they are suddenly all ears. That is amusing to me because I have disowned that institution. I was number one in class there and Nuru was number two until the Bahuns and the British ganged up on me and stabbed a dagger into my thighs it felt like. Nuru went to Harvard.
Pollak, Caputo, Krebs are like the Panch Pandavs of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. I am their brother Karna, from a different father, hush hush. All of them instinctively liked me so much right away that I figured maybe I am some kind of a good looking guy. But they had to wait for my online autobiography to realize I am Karna.
Together we are going to do much good to the progressive cause going into the future.
Karna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPandava - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I am at a point in life where one third of me is this entrepreneur on the ground floor, waiting, working to take off. The second third is someone who thinks, strongly feels race is the number one issue in his life. I so want to get over it. Group dynamics is fascinating but racial politics is boring. Work on the online autobiography has helped. It has been a poor man's therapy. You talk about the past so as to liberate yourself from it. The final third of me is someone who came to NYC to work on his business idea but got sucked into working full time for the democracy movement in Nepal for almost two years, eating into my savings, swiping credit cards and now selling very, very small chunks of my company to investors: the YouTube guys had also maxed out their credit cards right before they got bought by Google. I did not have a choice. My house was on fire. Only in retrospect I realize this is the best work I have done so far in life. And it is going to get me the Nobel Prize if the Nobel Committee gets a grip of the mathematical theory called the butterfly effect. I am going to break the MLK record. If I win the Nobel, I want a seat on the Google Board and an honorary US citizenship, and I want round 1, round 2, round 3 investors into my company, on my terms pretty much, and I want my parents to come live in NYC. My constituency of choice is the Global South. And my company is the best thing I can do for them. The profit motive and the service motive do not clash. Otherwise my material needs are those of a monk pretty much. I do want a private jet though, speed is my idea of meditation.
I want the first third to become all of me. Further work on the autobiography will liberate me from the second third and the third third.
I am the father of the concept of a continuous movement in the Nepali context. The April Revolution was like the physical universe. There was no center. All parties and leaders who claim credit for the 19-day April Revolution were fundamentally opposed to the 21-day Madhesi Movement. I was the one constant between the two. The Madhesi Movement was April Revolution II. Ever since the king's coup in February 2005, there is a close correlation between what I have wanted happen in Nepal and what has ended up happening. My work is transparent. What I did, when, is well documented, and online for the world to see.
Obama-Spitzer Vs. Giuliani-RomneyAn Obama Spitzer TicketObama, Hillary, Spitzer7 Point Agenda For New York CityTwo Terms As GovernorWhat I like about DL21C is noone is trying to get you into retail politics.
The Matrix is the only retail politics I am interested in: I wrote to the leaders of all progressive groups in Manhattan recently saying, give me a million strong Matrix in NYC, and you are looking at a total spread of democracy by 2020. I have been prescribing the same to the Nepalis in the city, so far with little success. Every f_____g Nepali organization in the city thinks it is The Umbrella Organization. It has been quite an effort to launch a formal umbrella organization for all the 30 or more groups in the city. The idea is to earn voting rights for them in the city elections. Can you help? :-)
I have been rehearsing a few lines for my DL21C socializing.
"What do you do? Where do you live?"
"I am a Third World guy. Why are you asking me money questions?"
Alternate answer: "I am going to make more money than everyone in this room. Put together."
Long Walk To Freedom: Just A Third World Guy Dazzled By The CityTerry McAuliffe is a high energy packet. Hillary says he can light up a city, he has so much energy. I'd think the crowd is going to be huge. What should I tell him?
I missed Bill Richardson. I did not mean to. I don't remember why I missed it. Was there another event somewhere else?
Mike Gravel. Charlie Rangel. Wesley Clark. Chriss Dodd.
I was watching the South Carolina debate on YouTube (
South Carolina Debate) and I was thinking, I met Gravel and Dodd at DL21C events and they are on stage. I have also met Hillary, but those have been Hillary fundraisers, a few of them.
My rehearsed line for her was, "Senator, I just want you to know I am a very happy New Yorker," but then she stared into my face and I forgot the line.
"Mr. Chairman. Terry. You light up this city as well."
"Mr. Chairman. Terry. You gave us some big victories in the roaring 90s. Thanks."
"Chairman Terry. I got the money, if you got the alligator! And I am so Indian too."
There is always the banal, "It is such an honor to meet you," which is what I ended up saying to Hillary. That was an anticlimax. But I was okay the next time. I teased her. "First Nancy Pelosi, then Hillary." That was B.O.
I might be the only person to show up for these high profile DL21C events who actually does homework, like reading up on the guy.
OpalOn The WebWhat a Party! Book. Terry McAuliffe's must-read memoir is the ...Terry McAuliffe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from February 2001 to February 2005. ...... McAuliffe then served as Finance Director of the DNC and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, National Finance Chairman of the Gephardt for President Committee, National Finance Chairman and then National Co-Chairman of the Clinton-Gore re-election committee. ........ Chairman of the 53rd Presidential Inaugural Committee and as Chairman of the White House Millennium Celebration..... In 2000, McAuliffe chaired the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles -- the convention that helped give the Democratic ticket a 20-point bounce in the polls ....... Under Chairman McAuliffe’s tenure, for the first time in Party history, the DNC was debt-free and outraised the RNC. The DNC shattered all fundraising records by raising over $535 million. ...... McAuliffe built a new headquarters, and created a computer database of more than 2.7 million grassroots donors; increased email addresses from 70,000 to over 4 million; built a database of more than 175 million individuals. McAuliffe presently serves as Chairman of the Clinton for President Campaign Committee. ........ started his first business, McAuliffe Driveway Maintenance, when he was 14 years old. ....... He has successfully started over two-dozen companies in the fields of banking, insurance, marketing, and real estate. McAuliffe served as Chairman of the Federal City National Bank by the age of 30. ........ On January 23, 2007, his book, "What A Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals" was released and debuted at #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list and #1 on the Washington Post's list. Terry McAuliffe - Leading Authorities Speakers BureauMcAuliffe Is Dems' Comeback Kid (washingtonpost.com) an unheard-of $70 million in the bank -- and on the cutting edge of high-tech politics. ....... "Serving as chairman of the party when you don't have the White House, and you don't have the House, and you don't have the Senate, is the toughest job in the country" ....... Zack Exley, an Internet aficionado who worked at MoveOn.org, set up a Web site in 2002 that declared: "Don't blame the American people! Blame the Democratic Party leadership. Terry McAuliffe is an idiot." ....... We went through a very tough time in 2002 after the midterm election ...... the DNC now has a voter list with information on more than 170 million people, which allows the party to develop its own direct-mail donor list. ...... The new headquarters ... is wired to run an operation increasingly dependent on the Internet ........ McAuliffe first gained attention in the presidential election of 1980, wrestling an alligator on a fundraising prospect's dare. ........ McAuliffe has become the champion of the direct-mail and Internet small giver. .... McAuliffe expects that when his term ends in early 2005, "I am going to walk off the stage and everything we said will have been accomplished. . . . The new chairman, whoever it might be, will take over a party financed by millions of dollars that will automatically come in at the touch of a button, new facilities, no debt and voter files. This party is now secure for 25 years." Byron York on Terry McAuliffe & Business Past on National Review ...Jeffrey St. Clair: The Political Business of Terry McAuliffeTerry McAuliffe News - The New York TimesInterview: Terry McAuliffeUSATODAY.com - Democrats, once again, are the party of 'the plain ...Terry McAuliffeTerry Mcauliffe - WonketteOn Point : Terry McAuliffe on the Democrats - Terry McAuliffe on ...TERRY MCAULIFFEMcAuliffe: Hillary May Drop Outdump terry mcauliffeDaily Kos :: DiariesQ&A with Terry McAuliffe - Campus NewsTerry McAuliffe, DNC Chairman, Makes $18000000 Profit On $100000 ...Talking with Terry McAuliffe - KJZZ 91.5 FM - Your NPR News StationHotline On Call: What A Party: Terry McAuliffe's Years And YarnsThe Daily Show: Terry McAuliffe - TV.comRhode Island’s Future » Terry McAuliffe LectureDaily Kos: Terry out. Get Howard in.Flirting with Obama risks Clinton's wrath / The message to donors ...Tammy Bruce: Gay Arafat Makes a Play For Terry McAuliffeTerry McAuliffe: The Manchurian Chairman? Hugh Hewitt says Dem ...dotCommonweal :: General :: Terry McAuliffe on ImmigrationPower Line: A message from Terry McAuliffeRising Hegemon: Terry McauliffeThe Terry McAuliffe Syndrome - WSJ.comMcAuliffe denies involvement in memos flap - Nation/Politics - The ...Comedy Central: Daily Show: Terry McAuliffe Pt. 2What a Party! Book. Terry McAuliffe's must-read memoir is the ...Barnes & Noble.com - Book Search: Terry McAuliffeThe Texas Blue | Interview with Terry McAuliffeVOA News - Fundraiser Extraordinaire McAuliffe Lives Life with Gusto Terry McAuliffe is 50, looks 40, and has the zest of a 20-year-old. ...... McAuliffe made his first fortune -- a few hundred dollars -- resurfacing driveways at age 14. He would later make millions of dollars in various businesses and financial investments. ....... McAuliffe did so well financially, in fact, that most of the accomplishments for which he is famous have come as an unpaid volunteer for the national Democratic Party ......... I don't believe the glass is half full. I believe it's overflowing. I'm fired up, charged up. ...... The minute you just went through, you'll never get back again. So you might as well make the most of it. ....... 1980. McAuliffe's famous Roladex -- a rotating card file of political contacts -- expanded so fast that he was soon leading the fundraising for the entire Democratic membership of the U.S. House of Representatives, at the request of his friend who one day would be the best man at his wedding: California Congressman Tony Coelho. ......... "He can get in most doors," Coelho says of his friend. "And once he gets in and he meets somebody, they become friends. He has that magnetic personality that, once he meets you, you like him. And then he gets you enthused about doing things, and he's very, very effective." ........ "I happen to enjoy asking for money," McAuliffe avers. "I love to ask for money. The worst they can say to me is no. I've never been shot. I've never been thrown out of a building, out of an airplane. .......... The alligator gets a mention because McAuliffe once wrestled one in return for a $15,000 campaign contribution. ..... the key to life is that when you get knocked down, get up, dust yourself off, and get right back at it again ........ McAuliffe says that if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in 2008, he'd like to be both secretary of Commerce -- drumming up business for American companies -- and a presidential ambassador without portfolio once again. ....... acknowledges very few regrets in his life. Spending too much time apart from his kids is one. ....... it breaks my heart to call from the road and ask my son how he did in the wrestling match that day, or my daughter in her basketball game. You can never get those times back. ....... Beneath his Irish charm, Terry McAuliffe is a fierce political in-fighter. He admits that his own party, made up of diverse ethnic constituencies and occasionally at odds with itself, can sometimes look like what he calls the "Democratic Circular Firing Squad." ........ "If there's one thing I can do," Terry McAuliffe says in an understatement, "it's sell." McAuliffe Dismisses Republican Victory; 'Not Much Has Changed ...In The News
I pay more taxes than Hrithik: Amitabh India PRwire (Press Release) Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan claims he is the 'top' tax payer in the country with Rs.15.59 crore (Rs.155.9 million), and with Aishwarya Rai joining the family, the Bachchan family's total tax would be around Rs.25.3 crore (Rs.253 million). ..... 'If you look at the figures for the year 2006-2007, you'll see Amitabh, that's yours truly, has paid Rs.14.15 crore and from our company AB Corp Ltd. where all the earnings are mine, we've paid Rs.1.44 crore. ...... 'And yet they've put Hrithik as the top most taxpayer! Even if you take my tax figures individually I still top.' Obama Says America Must Heal Like LA After Riots CBS 2
Clinton and Obama both blast Bush's war San Jose Mercury News
Gere says "end the circus" over India public kiss Sabah
Deadly Pakistan attack likely work of Islamists The Standard Maoists launch campaign for declaring Nepal a republic DailyIndia.com
Clinton, Obama differences become clearer OCRegister
'I was a little nervous' at debate: Obama Chicago Sun-Times
Bush pushes immigration overhaul Seattle Post Intelligencer
Bush takes another run at the border Los Angeles Times
Crisis point: Not enough diplomats in India Times of India
Chinese WiMAX Revolution to Begin in 2009 Teleclick.ca
Criminals Target Google’s AdWords IDM.net.au
Pro soccer returns to Toronto Toronto Sun
Michael Dell is now thinking about changing the way his company ... International Herald Tribune built his business by selling directly to his customers, is now thinking about changing the way the company markets its computers ....... "The direct model has been a revolution, but it is not a religion," Dell wrote in a memorandum sent last week to 80,000 Dell employees. ...... The Dell memo signals that the company is preparing to shift toward more full-fledged retail operations. Dell disclosed that the company is putting in place new manufacturing and distribution models in the United States and overseas. ...... The direct sales model had been the crucial to Dell's success. Taught in business schools and imitated by other companies, the model enabled Dell to dominate the industry.
Dell reconsiders strategy as PC shipments slump Taipei Times
Direct sales ‘not a religion’: Michael Dell Economic Times Dell, 42 ...... analysts have said it must consider a retail strategy to better compete with Hewlett-Packard Co, which last year overtook Dell to become the largest PC maker, thanks partly to sales in stores. ....... Michael Dell has set out to reduce bureaucracy in the company, reducing his management team to 12 members from more than 20 under Rollins. ....... “We need to streamline our management structure to speed decisions and remove bureaucracy,” Dell said in the memo. “We’re making improvements in pricing, product development and fulfillment, and customer experience.” Cannon’s group is “working to take our supply chain and manufacturing to the next level of efficiency and quality,” the memo said. ....... Those efforts “won’t be merely exercises in cost-cutting,” Dell added. “We will reinvest those resources in the customer solutions that will build Dell for the future.” Garriques’ team is re-evaluating how the company addresses consumers in large emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, the memo said.
Now it's one laptop per 1.75 children Times Online
Barack Obama needs a second act Monterey County Herald, CA As the excitement of his entry into the race fades, it's not enough just to be the anti-Hillary, anti-Bush, anti-Washington candidate. We need to know more about him — how he sees events, how he thinks, what he would do. Like a character in a drama, we need to see him grow and develop new dimensions. ...... He said we run our "foreign policy as if the children in Darfur are somehow less than the children here, and so we tolerate violence there." ...... "Whether it's global terrorism or pandemic disease, dramatic climate change or the proliferation of weapons of mass annihilation, the threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries."
Mrs. Obama lays it on a bit thick ChronicleHerald.ca, Canada I wince a bit when Michelle Obama chides her husband as a mere mortal — a comic routine that rests on the presumption that we see him as a god. ......... "And then there’s the Barack Obama that lives with me in my house, and that guy’s a little less impressive. For some reason this guy still can’t manage to put the butter up when he makes toast, secure the bread so that it doesn’t get stale, and his five-year-old is still better at making the bed than he is." ......... She said that the TV version of Barack Obama sounded really interesting and that she’d like to meet him some time. ...... At a March fundraiser in New York, she tweaked her husband for not "putting his socks actually in the dirty clothes." ...... this princess of South Chicago, a formidable Princeton and Harvard Law School grad ..... Michelle dryly told a reporter at her husband’s Senate swearing-in that perhaps someday, he would do something to earn all the attention he was getting. ........ is good at turning down the heat himself. He manages to tamp down crowds dying to be electrified. He resists surfing his own wave of excitement.
