Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Dorie Guy, alternate delegate and chairwoman of the Washoe County Democratic Party, puts painter’s tape around an electrical socket in the bathroom of a modular home.
By Karoun Demirjian (contact) 
Monday, Sept. 3, 2012 | 12:52 p.m.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If the Republican National Convention had a mantra, it was “We Built It,” a slogan coined to spite President Barack Obama for telling business owners in July that “you didn’t build that.”
Democrats have been furious with Republicans for taking those comments, intended to be about public infrastructure, not private enterprise, out of context. So it seemed fitting that the Nevada delegation’s first organized activity of the Democratic National Convention was to build something.
A house.
“We’re all about building it. Barack Obama’s been building it since he was first elected. And rebuilding it. And we’re going to continue to build,” said Nevada delegation leader Roberta Lange.
Nevada’s delegates joined teams from other states late Monday morning to paint walls and hammer nails into a modular home intended for a yet-to-be-named military veteran in suburban Charlotte.
The timing of the building-focused service project was simply serendipitous; corporate sponsors Sears, Craftsman, Bank of America and Champion Home Builders, and nonprofits Heroes at Home and Rebuilding Together have been coordinating with the Democratic and Republican parties for months to orchestrate the home-building project. One half of the 1,670-square-foot home was constructed at the RNC; the remainder will be completed at the DNC.
But while the spirit of the project was service, the specter of politics was inescapable.
Each state got 45 minutes to work on the structure — meaning Nevada’s team of about 40 volunteers wielded its tools and tape in two 20-minute shifts.
“I’d rather go for an hour and work and say I did something for these people,” said Nevada delegate Richard Collins, shrugging at the limited schedule.
More than one paint roller-wielding volunteer appeared to be going over a wall that had been well-covered with previous coats, and it appeared that most of the structural building work had been done well in advance of the volunteers’ arrival.
“I only hammered one nail,” said Nevada delegate Linda Cavazos, who said that partially was due to the fact that her husband, Bob Cavazos, an alternate delegate and an experienced electrician, had dominated their workspace.
“We have way too many volunteers for the amount of work we can easily and safely do in the home,” Matt DeFerranti, senior director of federal affairs at Rebuilding Together, said to the Nevada crew.
But it wasn’t just 40 volunteers trying to squeeze with their paintbrushes and ladders into the 800-square-foot site. Local television crews also were out in full force, do-si-doing with volunteers as they took turns, and took pictures of themselves, at work.
One Charlotte NBC affiliate reporter asked members of the Nevada delegation whether they realized they were participating in a bipartisan effort, as last week, Republican delegates were working on the same project.
For Nevada, the project actually wasn’t a bipartisan effort. Rebuilding Together staffers confirmed that the Nevada Republican delegation had not participated in the project in Tampa, Fla.
But Nevada’s Democratic delegates didn’t quibble on that point. They simply nodded yes, as alternate delegate Elizabeth Foyt added, “But the Democrats are finishing the job.”
The convention in North Carolina will have bad moment's like Tampa did last week
"Democrats have been furious with Republicans for taking those comments, intended to be about public infrastructure, not private enterprise, out of context"
Sorry but nothing was taken out of context. Everyone heard what he said and no matter how much liberals and the liberal media try to get us to believe differently we heard it. We know what he said and it was very clear.
Blue tape for painting is as worthless as four more years of affirmative action.
Here's what Obama said: http://youtu.be/192oEC5TX_Q
Most working class Republicans have not the capacity to understand the vast majority of rich folks didn't in fact build anything. Most of what exists does so because of public policy decisions.
Without the Rules, the Laws, the Framework very little of what you see ever comes about. THAT is what Obama was talking about. No US Government and we would be Haiti or Russia, or any other place with horrible or non-existent Public Policy Bodies.
If you doubt this look at Nevada. Where is all the growth? no place because we have virtually zero Public Policy involvement here. Instead we have small agencies which do little more than protect monopolies they created. There will not be any growth as long as we have captured regulators and monopolies where there should be diverse opportunity.
Taxes? well Nevada proves that to be a total non-starter. In fact we need vastly HIGHER taxes, not less. Taxes create opportunities. But if you are feeding on the Republican bull that would seem rather odd to you despite all the evidence higher taxes creates wealth and opportunity.
The biggest mistake in the last 25 years here in Nevada was not protecting Gaming. Instead the decision was made to do nothing and now we have lost what built the State. That is a result of Bad Public Policy. Allowing private interests to dictate policy has all but returned Nevada back to the wasteland from which it came.
President Obama was talking about infrastructure.
Only a moron would not understand that.
Looks like the government did not build it
Corporate sponsors and working people built it. -- not the federal state or local government
Looks like the government did not build it
Sounds like it will take forever to 'build'.
The so called business owners who believe all of that " you didn't build that " crap are too stupid to run a successful business anyway.
His comments were not taken out of context. Regardless, the government does NOT build infrastructure. Those of us who pay taxes fund the projects and the government then hires PRIVATE SECTOR contractors to do the actual building.
So lets recap, the government neither funds nor builds infrastructure....we the people do!
Noindex, wow you mean the taxpayers pay for our government? Did you learn that in school?
The whole issue is an organization that has volunteers working together as a team building a structure that will be a home for a person who defended the country that has been a result of 9/11 and the destruction of the governments of the countries that have been built and rebuilt by those beginning with the imperial five during the reign of the period prior to WWI. The problematic issues here with the reign of the five and their governments and intermarriages and the funny issues that lead to 9/11.
Go NV DEMS!
The only thing the Republicans have EVER built is an out of control addiction to deficits and war. Oh yeah, they're really good at attacking minorities, women, seniors, working Nevadans, the middle class, vets, the poor, students and the Holy Grail of cultural warfare, The Gays.