-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Majordomo Account [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Justice For All Moderator
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 4:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Dave Koffmam On George W. Bush
Justice For All
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Dave Koffmam On George W. Bush
Dr. David M. Koffman, [log in to unmask], writes:
As the RNC is playing cat and mouse with me for an interview re: G.W.
Bush,
I've sent them this letter which outlines the issues our community has
with
him as a Presidential candidate. Stay tuned! Interview, hopefully, to
follow!
Dr. Dave
Dear Susan,
Governor Bush is 17 points behind Al Gore among the Disabled, a Harris
Poll
showed last week. You may not appreciate the magnitude of the disability
community. It numbers 56M, 37M of which are of voting age with an
unprecedented, aggressive voter registration occurring now. Many of
these
disabled have spouses, most have caregivers and/or aids, most of whom
are
very sympathetic to the disabled needs and issues, putting the total
number
of potential voters at 100M, or enough to swing an election.
Governor Bush trails so substantially with this group for four reasons,
all of which were well publicized across the internet to the community.
They are as follows:
1)ADAPT OF TEXAS-A vast number of public, state owned housing projects,
occupied by many disabled were shown to be inaccessible in 1996. ADAPT
of
Texas brought this to Governor Bush's attention and detailed what would
need be done to render this housing accessible, THREE YEARS LATER ADAPT
found NOTHING HAD BEEN DONE ABOUT IT! When the usual cordial approaches
to
Governor Bush were flatly ignored, ADAPT of Texas protested outside of
the
Governors office. The Governor's response, he had them arrested.
2)JUSTIN DART-I interviewed our senior disability rights activist on my
show last month. Dart, who served in the former President Bush White
House,
was instrumental in facilitating the signing of the ADA (Americans with
Disabilities Act) which President Bush signed into law 10 years ago.
Justin
Dart referred to the Governor as using 50's rhetoric in speaking about
the
disabled and further added"I hear him saying things about the disabled
that
you would have NEVER heard come out of his fathers mouth."
3)JOHN WILLIAMS-A writer for Business Week, writes a weekly column on
Adaptive Technology both for the print and online versions of the
magazine. He attempted to interview Governor Bush. 5 times over 5
months,
the interview was scheduled and canceled. Finally word came from
Governor
Bush's office that NO FURTHER RESCHEDULING WOULD OCCUR AND THERE WOULD
BE
NO INTERVIEW. This too, spread through the community via the internet.
4)THE NEW HAMPSHIRE FORUM-This year marked an historic 1st for the
disability community. The Presidential Candidates Forum on Disabilities
took place and was recorded and webcast to the community across the
country. Vice President Gore attended and spoke passionately about his
own
personal experience with disability in his family, steps he and
President
Clinton had taken to aid the employment of disabled in the government,
and
enumerated what he would do point by point to help the disabled realize
their agenda. Several other candidates addressed the gathering by
phone.Governor Bush never even acknowledged the invitation AND WASN'T IN
NEW HAMPSHIRE AT THE TIME!
Is it any mystery that Al Gore has buried Governor Bush in the polls of
the
disabled?
Dr.David M. Koffman
President, National Disability Caucus, Acting President, National
Disability
Party
[log in to unmask]
-
Fred Fay
Chair, Justice For All
[log in to unmask]
http://www.jfanow.org
Register to Vote Online at http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
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