Contents 2010

Reshma 2010: A Post Mortem
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
6,000 To 16,000 Votes
On To Reshma 2012
Reshma Saujani: My People's Chief Guest
Four Interactions
110 Knocks (2)
110 Knocks
GOP In November?
Bill Clinton Endorsed Maloney, Or Did He? Read Carefully
Reshma's Afghanistan Remark And The Wise Guys/Gals At FireDogLake
Okay, So Maloney Has Been A Democrat, And A Woman
Hillary Means More To Reshma Than Barack Means To Me
Bill Clinton Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Reshma Saujani On NY1: The Big Moment
Reshma Featured On Rediff Property
Looking For Michelle
Assigned To The Astoria Office
Hillary's Peace Efforts In The Mideast
Reshma 2010 GOTV: What Does It Entail?
Bill Clinton In His Element
Iran: A Brief Survey Through Time Magazine
Victory Now, Victory This Very Time, Victory On September 14
Waiting For Superman: Film
Maloney Lied Repeatedly In Radio Debate
Radio Debate: Reshma Saujani, Carolyn Maloney
New York Observer Endorsement: Reshma 2010 Now Unstoppable
Crisis: Opportunity For Greatness For Obama
JFK, Primaries, Social Media, DirectConnect
Maloney Reshma Radio Debate Aftermath
Obama's Call For $50 Billion On Public Works
This Is Like 1938
Iran, Democracy, Facebook
Looking For Professor Obama
New York Daily News Is Da Bomb
New York Times Also Endorsed David Yassky: Yassky Who?
Or Maybe Bill Clinton Is Running On Empty
I Have Become A Cloud Person
The Nitty Gritty Of Politics And Idealism
The Hammer Effect, The Butterfly Effect
Get Out The Vote For Reshma 2010
This Is Not 1994
Maloney Dismantled Glass-Steagall And Gave Us Great Recession
Reshma Saujani: New Solutions To East Side Problems
Maloney Should Concede To Reshma Saujani
One Detail Missing In AP Article On Reshma
Send Maloney An Absentee Ballot In DC
Obama Needs To Ride The Reshma Insurgency Wave To November Victory
NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1, NY1
Powell, Rangel, Harlem
Roosevelt Island: Community Conversation
Tea Party Astroturfing
Total Transparency With My Iran Work
Facebook And Iran
Iran Democracy Organizations
Iran Feelers To The CIA And The California Society For Democracy In Iran
Iran, Iran, Iran
Nikki, Bobby, Reshma
Maloney's Fantassy: That Reshma Had Not Run
We Intend To Swamp Maloney: The East Side Is Going Electic
A President Is Like A Political Billionaire
Brian Lehrer's Message To TV Journalists In Town
Charlie Rangel: Monkeyface
Carolyn Maloney: Radioface
The Brian Lehrer Show: Reshma Saujani, Carolyn Maloney
Carolyn Maloney Is No Mother Teresa
Extrapolations
Faux Recovery?
Community Conversation: Upper East Side
Power Shoe
Fears Of A Double Dip Recession Are Very Real
Yes, Maloney Is A Crook
Charlie Rangel: An Unrepentant Motherfucker
Dress Code
Hillary's Support For Reshma Can Not Be Spinned Away
Hillary Clinton Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Credit For Credit Card Bill Goes To Barack Obama
Maloney, You Are Not Reshma's Role Model
Wayne Barrett: Suspicious Package
Digital Cheerleader
Village Idiot Wayne Barrett
Reshma Is Bigger Than Hillary
Reshma's Lower East Side Community Conversation
Cordoba Controversy: America In Early Stages Of War On Terror
Political Office, Political Essence
Carolyn Maloney Is The Problem
Maloney Should Skip Radio Debate And Create Jobs For An Hour Instead
The Debate Format
Mainstream Media Kept Saying John Liu Was Losing
Arthur Schwartz, Jeff Kurzon, Reshma 2010
How My Grandfather Became Mayor The First Time
An Empire State Of Mind: The Final Countdown
Baruch Plus Radio Plus NY1 Could Work
My Progressive Political Religion
Reshma Saujani Loves America
Carolyn Maloney: Feeling Ugly?
Barack Obama Just Endorsed Reshma Saujani
Carolyn Maloney's Newest Lie
And I'd Like To Take Credit For The Brooklyn Bridge
Iran On My Mind
Say No To Politics
Finally A Debate? Is A Non Debate A Debate?
Carolyn Maloney's Work On The Second Avenue Subway Line
Debating Is Not About Media Attention To Reshma Saujani
Charlie Rangel: The Bear Stearns Of US Congress
Maloney Refuses Debate Yet Again
Sep 15 - Oct 31: Obama-Reshma Should Crisscross The Country
September 14 Will Birth The New Woman
MyFoxNY: Reshma Saujani
Carolyn Maloney: The Alan Keyes Of District 14
Carolyn Maloney: Chicken
Reshma's Is Top Primary Race To Watch In America: BusinessWeek In May
NYPD Refusing Me Order Of Protection Against A Lowlife
Reshma Saujani Is The Second Stimulus Bill This Country Needs
Al Hagan, Carolyn Maloney: Did They Apologize Yet?
Reshma's Integrity On Ground Zero Mosque And Wall Street
Reshma: Obama's Number One Weapon For November 2010
Reshma, Obama And The Ground Zero Mosque
Gandhi, Reshma And Tornadoes
Perfect Time For Congress Reform
Uptown Upstart
Millstones And World Peace
Iran: Am I Running Late? Maybe Not
Al Hagan: Capable Of A Hate Crime
Nadler Should Vacate The Maloney Sinking Ship
Hard Fact For Al Hagan: Maloney Failed To Pass 9/11 Health Bill
Organized Labor Bosses Backing Maloney Are Acting Blind And Stupid
Please Fund My Work For Iran Democracy: Email
Reshma Is Gujarati Like Gandhi, I Am Bihari Like Laloo
Iran Democracy
Shifting To A Major Iran Focus
Extrapolations To Reshma 2016
Reshma On CNBC
Iran, Obama 2010, Reshma 2010
Positivity, Excellence, Dark Matter
Rangel Has Gone Radioactive
More Than 100 Voice Mails
Reshma Event With Deepak Chopra August 11
July 2010: The Busiest Month At This Blog So Far
Who Is The Congressperson For Ground Zero? Not Maloney
Look Who Is Talking: Carolyn Maloney's Dipshit Lies
Charlie Rangel, Carolyn Maloney And Their Ethics Violations
Rumbles Of Another War?
Reshma 2010: Queens Office Opening Party: August 9
Charlie Rangel: Motherfucker
Making The Blues Go Away
The First Time I Heard The Obama Name
Carolyn Maloney: Missing In Inaction
Rangel And Maloney Need To Vacate The Premises And For The Same Reasons
The Rangel Drama
Vogue India Features Reshma
Organized Labor Has No Business Endorsing Maloney
We Will Debate An Empty Podium If We Have To
First Debate August 26, Thank You Baruch College
Obama, Reshma
Reshma Is Taking Over
Standing At 40-60 Now
Iran
July Looking Good
Maloney: Stifling Debate, Stifling Innovation, Stifling Job Creation
Firefighters Booing Hillary: Sexist
September 1-14: The Niagara Falls Part
Narayan Gopal
Phone Calls, Dress Code
Reshma On Track To Taking Over This Blog
Keeping The House And The Senate
A Clean Tech Experience
Reshma Saujani: Top 10 Women To Watch In America
Reshma Saujani Makes Top 10 List
Barack Obama: The NRA's Candidate
Bhangra, Cricket: Exotic To Me
Reshma 2010 Clean Tech Event July 27 Tuesday
Recruited 60 For Reshma 2010
Reshma Saujani At The Netroots Nation
Sarina Jain: YouTube: Reshma Saujani
Pelosi Will Continue As Speaker
Reshma Aur Shera
Why I Am Pressing The Like Button On Al Sharpton
John Liu: Mayor Of NYC: 2013
Carolyn Maloney: The Al Sharpton Of Gender Relations
Ed Koch And Carolyn Maloney: Bush Democrats
Reshma 2010: Digital Volunteering: Some Tips
No Country To Call My Own
Domestic Violence Can Be Ended Like Polio Could Be Cured
The Anti Maloney Brigade
Reshma 2010: Twitter Action
Reshma Saujani: South Asian Powerhouse, National Candidate To The Tech Sector
New York: Hindi Movie: Songs
The Dumbfuck Immigration Laws
Obama Has No Business Kissing Maloney
Maloney Is Too Ordinary To Be Representing District 14
A Shift Towards Digital Volunteering
Carolyn Maloney's Six Sins
Reshma 2010: Firing Up All Cylinders
Reshma's Momentum: Line Graph Or Curve Graph
400 Phone Calls In 5 Hours For Reshma 2010
Immigration Now?
I Am Angry At Chris Matthews
Joke Of The Day: Carolyn Maloney
Reshma For Congress YouTube Channel
DNAinfo.com: Reshma Saujani
Maloney Wrote A Book Saying Her Best Is Not Good Enough
A 1,000 Phone Calls For Reshma Challenge: An Open Letter To Aaron
Reshma's Momentum: 70% Vs. 7%, 24,000 Vs. 8,000 Signatures, $1.2 Vs. $2 Million
Reshma Laxmi Saujani: Third Bumper Quarter In A Row
A Few Hours At The Reshma 2010 Headquarters
BP
Reshma Saujani
Bollywood And Switzerland
Chris Matthews Repeated The Lie That Reshma Is Wall Street's Candidate
Reshma Saujani And The Chris Matthews Band
Maloney's Idiotic Debate Non Stand Can Be Countered Through Use Of Social Media
Debating Is "Stunt" In A Maloney Democracy
Reshma 2010 Party Tonight
I Want To Go Full Time With Reshma 2010
9/11, Great Recession, Gulf Oil Spill: Paradigm Shifts
Reshma Is Better At Raising Money, Way Better
Reshma 2010: New Office: Party: June 21 Monday
Bush: Genius? Visionary?
NextGen Africa Forum @ NYU June 14
Iran: The World Has Wasted A Year
Samuel Eto'o
Reshma Saujani At The Huffington Post
An Afternoon At The Reshma 2010 Headquarters
A 14-7 Office For Reshma 2010
Save Immigration For 2011
My Political Resume, Reshma 2010, And September 14
Reshma Saujani, Carolyn Maloney
My Talk With Kevin Lawler Of Reshma 2010
Reshma 2010 Get Together In Little India
Gulf Oil Spill
Reshma Saujani Ad Spotted At The New York Times Website
Reshma Saujani, Scott Heiferman, Chris Hughes: TechCrunch Disrupt
Reshma Saujani, Haiti Earthquake, Harvard Yale, And 2016
Reshma Saujani "Gets" Tech
A Dirty Bomb Just Went Off In The Gulf
First Ever British Television Debate
In South Africa They Had Apartheid, In America They Got Immigration
Reshma Saujani: Innovation, Ethnic Pride, Thought Leadership
Do I Know Rajiv Shah?
Obama's Got Momentum: He Could Defy History In November
The Obama FDR Parallels
Happy Holi
Governor Paterson Kickoff Event In Harlem
State Of The Union: In Good Hands
Supreme Court Vs. Obama
Paterson, Cuomo, Gillibrand, Ford: New York 2010
Iran: An Opportunity

Reshma Saujani, Haiti Earthquake, Harvard Yale, And 2016

Voter Insurrection Turns Mainstream, Creating New Rules New York Times .... after this week’s primaries in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, 2010 seems destined to be one of those years...... an anti-incumbent tsunami is roaring ..... The old laws of politics have been losing their relevance as attitudes and technology evolve, creating a kind of endemic instability that probably is not going away just because housing prices rebound. ...... Voter insurrection has gone as mainstream as Miley Cyrus .... The first is that this age-old idea of “clearing the field” for a preferred candidate, so as to avoid divisive primaries, is now, much like the old party clubhouse, a historical relic. This should have been clear to everyone after 2008, when Barack Obama, shunned by most of his party’s major contributors and its Washington establishment, simply shrugged off endorsements and raised more than half a billion dollars from his own constituencies. ...... makes you wonder whether Mr. Obama and his aides really thought they could “clear the field” for Mr. Specter ........ A new generation of politicians has been raised with more consumer choice and less loyalty to institutions, and they are no more likely to take their orders from, say, party leaders like Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, than they are to drive a Malibu just because some car magazine tells them to. Nor, thanks to the Web, are they reliant any longer on the party structure to raise the necessary cash. ....... less affinity for parties makes incumbent politicians less safe, generally. That’s because when fewer people bother to engage in party politics, it takes a smaller group of ultra-motivated activists to overturn the traditional order of things. ...... the politics of issues, the stuff of which parties have most often crafted their core identities, has now been largely displaced by a politics of personal conviction. ....... we are living in the era of the upstart...... The intraparty rebellions now will be increasingly local, sufficiently financed and built around credible candidates — the kind of campaigns that made Barack Obama president and that may yet give us Senator Paul or Senator Sestak. My gosh, these people in Washington are in for it now.

Image of Reshma Saujani

If you were to read some of the news articles on Reshma Saujani, you would want to blame her for nothing less than the Great Recession. Most of the articles are objective, neutral, some are glowingly positive, but some are negative. And oh yes, you are going to learn she went to Harvard and Yale and how that is a bad thing.

If you are going to blame Reshma Saujani for the Great Recession, I am going to blame you for the earthquake in Haiti. And the thing about Harvard and Yale is she has an amazing personal story from when her parents were sent out of Uganda by Idi Amin. Reshma Saujani personifies the American dream in her story in this country of immigrants. That is part of what makes her such a compelling candidate. If she can do it, you can do it. She is an inspiration.

Last Saturday I went canvassing for Reshma Saujani in Long Island City - although I have a feeling I might have ended up in Astoria again; I was driven to my neck of the woods - and the Saturday before that I did 100 knocks and 10 talks on behalf of her with my fellow volunteer friend Arnab Majumdar, a Bengali who grew up in the tri-state area. A staffer called me "not a volunteer, but The Volunteer."

A few days back I emailed her saying if it makes you feel good, I want you to know, you are my favorite politician right now. You compete with Obama, a few politicians in Nepal, with John Liu. I love Obama as much as ever; all the guy needed to do for me was win in 2008, all the great work he has done since has been bonus. This blog is named after him. But I follow Reshma Saujani's campaign more than that of the career trajectory of any other politician right now. That favorite tag is measured in the sheer number of hours. A few days back the thought of going to work for Reshma Saujani For Congress full time for three and a half months flashed through my mind.

Just like Barack raised more money than Hillary the first two quarters, Reshma has raised more money than Maloney the first two quarters. Eight months after I had been supporting Barack, he was still 20 points down in the polls in Iowa, and I was firm in my thought that if he lost Iowa, he was history. He won Iowa and the race was still so close for months. I was right about Iowa.

If the election were to be held today, Maloney would win. And that is why Reshma Saujani is on a sprint to September 14.

I have asked the question, what if she lost? Barack Obama lost to Bobby Rush when he ran for Congress in 2000. Bill Clinton went to Arkansas from Yale and ran for Congress. He lost. But I don't see Reshma losing. She is going to hit the national headlines come September.

You are lucky this is a tough race, I emailed her a few days back, great things are going to happen to you at a rapid pace after November. Because this is a tough race in a district where Obama drops by to raise  money for his candidates across the country.

When I am thinking Reshma Saujani, I am thinking 2016. Here are a few scenarios that play in my mind.

After November she is going to vault into the national imagination. If her parents showed up with nothing except maybe a few small gold nuggets in toothpaste tubes, she is obviously self made. She is a woman. She was totally sold on the idea of the first woman president in the 2008 race. She is razor sharp. She is a quick study. She works hard, she works like crazy. She is a political animal. Either you have those instincts, or you don't. She has plenty. She is sufficiently aggressive.

Obama achieved JFK status as a candidate. He became FDR after health care reform got passed. I am confident he will see the passing of financial sector reform, even immigration reform. But all those big tasks are FDR level work. If the guy wants to compete with Lincoln in the greatness department, he is going to have to tackle the global trafficking of women. Will he go for it? I don't know. Not now.

2016 is going to be a gendered election. There is a lot of pent up emotion from 2008. Joe Biden is a great guy but he is not going to be president. He is going to do the Dick Cheney thing. 2016 is going to be the year for the first woman president. Reshma Saujani has a shot as much anyone out there. Noone else has even remotely compelling a personal story. Reshma also has an Africa story, it is different. She also has a Harvard story. Four years in Congress are going to be enough time. Obama needed only two. Because he realized it was not about him, it was about the country. He could wait, the country and the world could not.

Another thing going on for her is her "getting" tech. She is poised to ride the third wave nationally. The first has been firefighting, Obama doing the stimulus bill to make sure the economy does not go down under. The second wave will be the deficits and debt phase. I suspect this is going to be a major part of the Obama re-election effort. Some time during his second term Obama is going to have balanced the budget. The third wave is going to be about creating the next generation of jobs, companies and industries. That just so happens to be Reshma Saujani's number one strength.

Would you blame me that I want to play Chanakya to Reshma?

And, by the way, Reshma Saujani all along has been a strong advocate for financial sector reform. She is going to jump with joy when Obama signs the bill into law. And I asked around. A lot of people think having gone to Harvard and Yale is a good thing. Obama only went to Harvard. Clinton only went to Yale. Reshma Saujani went to both.

Reshma Saujani Goes on the Attack Against Carolyn Maloney in Upper East Side Congressional Race DNAinfo
Maloney V. Saujani: The Drill-Down New York Daily News (blog)
Newcomer Saujani challenging Maloney Queens Courier
The burdens of fundraising Politico (blog)
Maloney snubs Obama, Pelosi Examiner.com
Parsing Reshma's Words New York Observer
In New York, Wall Street Is on the Primary Ballot BusinessWeek
A Primary Challenger in Carolyn's Court New York Observer
Wake Up Call » New York Daily News (blog)
Desi Congressional Challenger Lines Up Backers Forbes
Congressional Candidates Share Their Perfect Upper East Side Afternoon DNAinfo
Pressuring Sestak, Raising the Cap and More in Capital Eye Opener: May 14 Center for Responsive Politics
Six 'desis' in race for the US Congress Express Buzz
Asian-American Heritage: Queens District Leader Maintains Political Prowess NY1
Fresh-Faced Reshma and the Assault on Fortress Maloney New York Observer
Square Brings Credit Card Swiping to the Mobile Masses, Starting Today Fast Company
Wall Street Runs for Congress Village Voice
NY-14: Oh Please, Reshma Swing State Project
Obama Raises $$ in NYC While Slamming Wall St. FOXNews
Upstarts Aim to Unseat Upper East Side Fixture Wall Street Journal
Republican Candidate for UES Congressional Seat Takes Progressive Approach to Campaign DNAinfo
Maloney Declines To Raise $25k To Host Obama On East Side City Hall

Related articles by Zemanta

• Reshma Saujani "Gets" Tech (democracyforum.blogspot.com)
• Reshma Saujani: On women's rights, Democrats should stand up, not back down (huffingtonpost.com)
• What Are You Doing Monday? Come Meet Al Wenger (technbiz.blogspot.com)
• Reshma Saujani: Financial reform from soup to nuts (huffingtonpost.com)
• Reshma Saujani: Innovation, Ethnic Pride, Thought Leadership (democracyforum.blogspot.com)
• Square Now Being Used For Mobile Payments At Political Fundraisers (techcrunch.com)
• Reshma Saujani: Empire State of Security (huffingtonpost.com)
• Obama Ahead of Election 2010: The Secrets of His Success (time.com)
• The Pitchfork Primaries: Will Washington Get the Message? (time.com)
• Fenced In: Agenda on Pause as Politics Roil Both Parties (blogs.abcnews.com)
• No Cash? No Problem! (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)

Reshma Saujani "Gets" Tech

Monday evening I went to this Reshma Saujani (@reshma2010) event near Union Square: What Are You Doing Monday? Come Meet Al Wenger.

Reshma Saujani: Innovation, Ethnic Pride, Thought Leadership

It was a great event. I got to meet a whole bunch of people. I got to meet Reshma's boyfriend Nihal. (@nihalmehta). At my first Reshma Saujani event in early April, towards the end, someone told me "Reshma's boyfriend is a DJ," and I was like, wow, that is like Madonna, Madonna's boyfriend is also a DJ. (Madonna Is Dating Jesus, No Kidding) Ends up Reshma Saujani's boyfriend is not a DJ, but a tech entrepreneur. He does do the DJ thing though. I asked, and he confirmed. (@buzzd)

Fred Wilson: A DJ
Fred Wilson: DJ

Nihal is a cool guy. He asked me if I was going to the after party after the event was over. Of course I was going to the after party. I was one of the last to leave, and it was not even that late. There on the rooftop I got into an intense conversation about Twitter with @a_buchanan. She said the first time she met Reshma she was like, "You are @a_buchanan!" The first time she met Cory Booker, that New Jersey Mayor, he was like "You are @a_buchanan!"

I got to meet Al Wenger in person for the first time. (@albertwenger) The guy was on his BlackBerry, typing away when I first saw him.

"For the longest time I did not realize Union Square Ventures was named after Union Square," I said to him. "I kept thinking so square is square like in rectangle square, but what is union?"

"People think we are west coast," he deadpanned.

Nate was on the panel. (@innonate) Running the NY Tech MeetUp has turned him into a public figure in the tech circles of the city, and that was obvious at this event. He sure has a personality that could handle all the fame that could come his way. He is comfortable, he is affable, he is sharp, he has presence.

I asked my question to him after the panelists had had their run.

"I am not going to hide the fact that I take obvious ethnic pride in this campaign," I began. The crowd laughed to that line. "But the first time I heard the Reshma Saujani name was at Nate's blog, and that is a tech blog. I looked at the blog post, and I remember thinking, this is obviously an Indian name, and an Indian face, but she is talking technology, she must be running in California somewhere. My question is, how do you explain this tremendous poverty among New York politicians when it comes to all things tech? Especially when it is no longer this fancy, elitist topic, it has by now become a do or die topic. The jobs that are gone are gone, they are not coming back. The next rush of jobs this city needs will be created by this innovation community. Our politicians can't afford to stay away from the tech community, and refuse to pick up the vocabulary. Not any more. How do you explain this tremendous poverty among New York politicians?"

Nate said it takes effort, and so far the politicians have not put in that effort.

I got to meet the Dropio cofounder Darshan. (@darshan)

Dropio's Indian Cofounder Darshan

Meghan Asha ran the show.

Wall Street Journal: Upstarts Aim to Unseat Upper East Side Fixture