Jason Wong

Via Slashdot via CNN. It was the egg. The creature that laid the egg doesn’t count as a chicken, and in order to be a chicken, you have to come from a chicken egg. I can finally sleep easy.

Why is there a corner missing on your postcard?

So you’ll ask why a corner’s missing. Seriously. On the postcard in the post below, there’s a red notch that’s to be cut out of the postcard. It’s a design feature, and helps the piece stand out among the hundreds of other pieces of literaturel. Most political pieces try grab attention through imagery, color or font choice. It perks a few eyebrows, however, it’s only available in the limited edition Jason Wong handed out/cut set.

Hey, my postcard has a corner!

USPS only mails postcards with a rectangular shape – 4 corners. If I wanted to mail a corner cut card, those cost $0.60 to mail. Each! Ouch!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

One advantage of owning a small web design and development shop is that you have a better idea of the aesthetic you want and really good designer friends that can do a great job.

I spent most of yesterday and the day before printing these out and cutting them with a highly inaccurate “laser” guided paper cutter($60.99 at Office Depot – don’t waste your money). I needed them for Saturday’s Asian Heritage Street Fair. If I had more time, I would have just sent them over to Spotlight printing. They’re union, and I’ll use them for a bigger job that I have coming up.

In the bottom right hand corner of the first side, you’ll notice the words “Computer Generated, Labor Donated.” That means I made it in house, which tells union workers and supporters that I didn’t try to use a dirt-cheap printing house that may be skirting fair wages, employee protections, and other potential labor issues.

10,000 votes, 19 days. Game on.

I’m through the endorsement process and fundraising. From here, it’s all about impressions. How many minds can I imprint my name onto, how many voters can I reach to vote for me?

Endorsements play a role here. About half of the clubs which endorse create a slate card – a mailing with your name telling voters that you’ve been endorsed by that community group. Each of the slate cards hit somewhere between 5,000-20,000 households. Most get thrown away, but they may see the name before it goes into the recycling bin. I need to get my name seen seven times to stick it in the mind of the voter.

This weekend, I will be at the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, between 20th & 25th Ave. on Irving St. handing out my postcards (which will be posted shortly after I finalize the copy), along with Fiona Ma’s literature and registering voters. 50,000 people will be there. For the Bay to Breakers on Sunday, I have a team of runners wearing “Jason Wong for SF DCCC” iron ons – 150,000 viewers. One-third of each day’s viewers will be from the correct assembly district, half of those – eligible voters.

A t-shirt preview

After this, it’s hit the bus lines in the morning, the supermarkets on the weekends, and every possible event I can get to. When there isn’t event, call the voters, get the name out. Then, hit them with the postcard – as many as I can.

I’m the president of the the Asian Pacific Democratic Club in San Francisco. The club met over two weekends and took the following positions on candidates and propositions:

Governor – Westly
Lt. Governor – Garamendi
Controller – John Chiang
Bd of Equalization – Betty Yee
State Senate – Leland Yee
Assembly – 12th AD – Fiona Ma
Assembly – 13th AD – Mark Leno
Judge – Lillian Sing

Props – No on A, B, C and D
State Props – Yes on 81 and 82

12th AD DCCC
Dan Dunnigan
Susan Hall
Tom Hsieh
Mary Jung
Meagan Levitan
Trevor McNeil
Jane Morrison
Melanie Nutter
Connie O’Connor
Matt Tuchow
David Wong
Jason Wong

13th AD – DCCC
Bill Barnes
Susan Bierman
Jimmer Cassiol
Gerry Crowley
Joe Julian
Leslie Katz
Rafael Mandelman
Tim Paulson
Laura Spanjian
Jordanna Thigpen
Scott Wiener

Yesterday, the odometer rolled over another digit. I remember when I was 25, I freaked out with a small quarter life crisis. I have a much clearer vision for myself, and the various pieces of my life are gelling, so I’m really looking forward to these years, instead of fearing them.

In another minor milestone (positive or negative), this was my first birthday that doubled as a fundraiser.

This year’s party was at McLaren Park. Mary Jung made a great speech for me, and I followed it up with a couple short sentences. There were a number of other politicals there, including SFDCCC candidates Melanie Nutter, Trevor McNeil, and future State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma.

So the next leg of my campaign journey begins – Fundraising. For the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, a candidate needs to raise about 7-10k to be competitive. Most of this money goes towards Democratic club slate cards, but some of it will go towards newspaper advertisements, fliers, and mailers.

I believe there are mayoral races in small towns that need less than that. In LA, there are 400+ seats (as opposed to 24 in SF), where seats are left empty. Sigh. I’ve managed to raise a tad over $2000, and need to raise about $6,000 more.

Please take a minute to make a donation. I need help taking this first step into local, elected politics, and will serve with honor, dedication, and hard work.

The telecoms are looking create a “two-tiered” internet, allowing them to charge and prioritize traffic passing over their lines. They believe it’s their right, as it’s their lines. Imagine going to Google, or your own favorite blog and having to wait, because sbc purposely delayed traffic going to those sites. This is a Bad Thing.

This is a rallying cry for for startups, technology companies, and the entire Bay Area. The Internet is the great equalizer. All voices can be heard, information is at the fingertips of anyone who can connect. Think about what a pay to play Internet means to everyone, especially you.

An amendment to the Communications, Promotion, & Enhancement Act of 2006 supporting Net Neutrality by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) was shot down by the House Energy and Commerce Committee – largely along party lines. This amendment would have allowed the FCC to prohibit discrimination of traffic over the Internet. Now, we have to pin hopes on the Senate. It’s up to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to get the ball rolling. Contact your Senator. Let them know you want a free and open Internet.

Here’s a Slate article that discusses this much more eloquently than I do.

I’ve been busy on the campaign trail, and since then, white hairs have tripled. This has to be easier the second time around. I’ve been moving from event to event, speaking to elected officials, and putting my best foot forward. My body’s acclimated to going to one or more events every night, 5-7 nights a week. This is more intense than business development for i5labs.

Up to this point, the endorsement process has been, by far, the most nerve-wracking part of the campaign. On, the other hand, I just started fundraising... Public speaking, researching issues, speaking to people who will be willing to put in a good word for you are all elements of the endorsement process.

Endorsements comes at two levels, personal and organizational. Receiving a personal endorsements requires either knowing the person who you’re asking for to endorse you, or have people who you’ve worked with speak for you, so that they know you’re solid..

Club endorsement are much more intense. There’s a getting to know you process which ranges from a 1 minute speech to a 15 minute interview process. Some clubs make you visit their endorsement committee, and then speak in front of the membership itself. Most of the times, they’re preceeded by a questionnaire which asks for your positions – for example, the Chinese American Democratic Club, will ask about neighborhood schools. By far, the most interesting survey has been the Harvey Milk Democratic Club had a 6 page questionnaire and a 49 Yes/No question sheet. Research helps (Thank you, Google), and knowing the board members of ALL the clubs will do the most good (there’s over 50 out there, and 20 on each side of the city that endorse – so this task is impossible, unless you’re Mary Jung or Jane Morrison). It’s a considerable time investment, and I’ve spent at least 3/4 of my nights working on endorsements.

Receiving these endorsements allow you to a. use their name b. be on a slate card. A slate card is a piece of political mail, sent to anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 households, depending on target audience, and how much they can / want to raise. The cost is spread around all of the endorsed candidates, and may cost each candidate several hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars, and covers the the print and mailing process. When you get 10-15 endorsements, it means you need to raise 7k-10k. That part sucks.

To make a long story short, I received the the endorsements of Nancy Pelosi, Tom Lantos, Leland Yee, Fiona Ma, Mayor Gavin Newsom, many of the members of the SFDCCC, as well as many clubs (including being named the Franklin Delano Roosevelt 12th AD Young Democrat of the Year!). I’m proud that the full list of endorsements is getting a bit lengthy ;-).

Lowell takes 26th.

Colbert is hilarious – and his speech made George a little uncomfortable.