STEM CELL BATTLES

 

 

When: Sunday, April 13, 2:00-3:00

Where: 1621 Market St., San Francisco

What: Five Minutes to send a Stem Cell Delegate to the
Democratic Convention

 

 

Do you live in San Francisco? Support stem cell research? (Even if you don’t live in that shining city by the Bay, keep reading—we still need your help on something big!)

 

If you live in District 8, San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi’s district, the world of stem cell advocacy needs your help for five minutes next Sunday.

 

It would be a hassle for you, I know, a major inconvenience.

 

But would you be willing to go to 1621 Market Street at 2:00 in the afternoon? If so, you could send a stem cell research leader to the Democratic Convention as a delegate.

 

David Serrano Sewell needs your help to be a delegate at the Democratic Convention.

 

Why?

 

To make stem cell research support a major plank of the Democratic platform.

 

Regardless of your primary candidate choice, it is absolutely essential that this be done.

 

The Republican party platform of the last two Presidential elections used opposition to embryonic stem cell research to rally their troops; their platform contained support for the Weldon/Brownback bill to jail scientists for SCNT research.  We know the results.

 

This year must be different. We need an end to government harassment of the researchers, and major increases in funding as well—and it will not be an easy fight.

No matter who wins the Presidency, they face a depleted treasury, and the pressures to do little or nothing for stem cell research will be enormous. We do not want just permission for research—we need funding. Five years of no increases at the National Institutes of Health has strangled progress.

 

If we (stem cell research supporters) are included in the party platform, we are at the table.

 

If not, not.

 

That’s why we must send David Serrano Sewell to the Democratic Convention as a delegate.

 

Uniquely qualified for the task: David is a member of the California stem cell program: the prestigious Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. He lives research funding.

 

He is a fighter. A lawyer by trade, he knows how to use words to persuade. He is intense, dedicated, and can win his arguments by charm or confrontation:  adapting to the needs of the situation.

 

Here is his message:

 

Despite the media's obsession with Hillary Clinton dropping out, it's not happening.  At Thursday's fundraiser in the City she made it clear, she's staying in.

 

Soon, elections will be held in every Congressional district to elect California's district-level delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

 

I am running to be a Hillary Clinton district-level delegate in the 8th Congressional District (CD-8).  That's Speaker Pelosi's district.  And I need your support.  CD-8 has been allocated three Hillary delegates: one must be female and two must be male.  Any registered Democrat in CD-8 can vote.  Those with the highest votes in each category will win; it's competitive and every vote counts.

 

We must ensure the most committed Hillary supporters attend the Convention.  Many of you know me as a lifelong (I turned 38 today!) Democratic Party activist - walking precincts, raising money and working to build a strong Party.  I will be proud to a Hillary delegate in Denver.

 

I am asking for you to come and vote for me on Sunday, April 13, from 2PM - 3PM.  Here's the information:

 

Hillary Clinton Delegate election

Sunday, April 13, 2008

2PM - 3PM only

Plumbers Union Hall

1621 Market Street (between Gough & Franklin)

San Francisco, CA 94103

 

Here is what we need.

 

This coming Sunday, we need you (and/or your friends who live in San Francisco) to go to 1621 Market Street at 2:00. You will go inside, and folks there will hand you a ballot. Vote for David Serrano-Sewell. That’s it, and that’s a lot.

 

We need you personally to help: this is a difficult ask. Please do not think someone else will do it. We are all swamped with chores. But this is a big one. It is a priority.

 

Please email me about your availability, and any suggestions you might have.

 

An article by Carl Hall and Alex Barnum of the San Francisco Chronicle (“Profiles of the Patient Advocates”, December 16^th, 2004) describes him:

“David Serrano Sewell, 34, was appointed to a slot reserved for an advocate of people with multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He is a deputy in the San Francisco city attorney's office, assigned to the Port of San Francisco. He was diagnosed with MS three years ago, during his last year of law school at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

"It is a life-changing experience, without a doubt," he said, but added that treatment so far had stabilized his condition. "You can't let these things stop you."

Almost immediately after the diagnosis, Serrano Sewell took on an active role in the Northern California chapter of the National MS Society, which recommended his appointment.”

 He’s a fighter, he’s a Democrat, he’s for Hillary—and stem cells.

If you live in San Francisco, I hope you will bring a couple friends from that district to 1621 Market St., San Francisco, Sunday, April 13^th, at two o’clock.

 

P.S. If you prefer Barack Obama, more power to you—an outstanding candidate, who would make a terrific President. I am personally committed to Hillary for the primary struggle, but if the Senator from Illinois is our candidate, I will support him with joy!

So talk to your delegate, and ask him/her to fight to make stem cell research a central plank of the Democratic platform.

Want to strategize with David Serrano Sewell? Contact him at: dss85@hotmail.com

 

P.S.S. Unfortunately, the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, has been veering increasingly to the anti-research side, indicating he would sign bills which could result in the criminalization of promising forms of stem cell research.