Thursday, August 21, 2014

People Worthy of Our Respect





Steve loved the idea of a candidate for president he could respect.  The years he spent in the military had instilled in him an understanding of what it means to lead people through hazardous conditions and times.  As an Elk Steve also honored doing the right thing and living your principles. 

When I joined Elks Steve became my mentor.  I went to him for advise on the problems I confronted within the Lodge as I served on committees and as an officer.  He always provided insights which helped me as I struggled to do the right thing, often in trying circumstances. 

Drafting Norman was my idea and I did the graphics and site.  But, as always, it was those conversations with Steve which helped me understand what needed to be done. 

Soon after our initial news release we were contacted by the newly formed Veterans Party, headed by Phil Meskin.  Phil was passionate about giving our service people a voice and it seemed like Norman would be the best candidate to ensure this happened.  A sit down meeting with Norman took place.  

I believe if the General had not already been battling cancer things could have been different in 2004. 

                                                                        Melinda Pillsbury-Foster
                                                                        Former Esquire, Santa Barbara Lodge 613

About Norman

About Norman    
    

         The best way to learn about H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who he is as a human being, is to read about him in his own words.  The book, It Doesn't Take a Hero, is a book written after the Gulf War while he was dealing with his new life as a civilian and with cancer.  It is frank, honest, and reveals a man of honor who has no interest in politics.  There has also been an A & E show on the General and this is available.  We are working on having that available, or at least cuts from it, here on the site. 
       You can also do a search on his name and go to these links. 

News Releases



For Further Information
Contact: Steve Brown (805) 967-5881
Chairman, Committee to Draft Schwarzkopf


Committee Announces Draft General Norman Schwarzkopf for President

       Steve Brown, a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict, owner of Adams Recreational Vehicles in Santa Barbara, California, and a concerned American, today announced the formation of the Committee to Draft Schwarzkopf for President. 
      Mr. Brown told friends and fellow veterans that he was become more and more concerned over the last year with the war in Iraq, which seems to be taking on the form of a long term conflict much like Vietnam.  He is further concerned over the lack of medical care offered to veterans of the war.  Hundreds of injured servicemen have been warehoused in below standard facilities and then forced to drop their claims for further services in return for small sums of money.
     Mr. Brown served in the United States Army during the Vietnam Conflict and has since then donated extensively to the well being of America's veterans through such organizations as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
     "This is not what America's military is for.  America owes a debt to its service people and we
need a man in the White House who will make sure the right thing is done.  The General is the man to do the job for the military and for all Americans.  He is the kind of individual we can trust because he is competent and without political ambitions."
      Mr. Brown then called on his fellow veterans to help him recall the General to duty and to serve as chapter leaders in their local areas.
     "Contact us through our website at draftnorman.com. It is not fancy but it is up and you can get through to us there. " 
      "I am sure the General will do his duty.  After he does that he will be calling all of the shots.  So write him at the Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Virginia.  We hope that this organization we are starting will then become his grassroots campaign committee.  We are here for him just like we were here for our country when she called."
       The following is the text of the letter Mr. Brown himself mailed to General Schwarzkopf at the Nature Conservancy. 
       When asked if he thought there was any chance the General would declare, especially this late, Brown said, "He knows his duty.  He also knows that no other man is qualified for this assignment.  He will hear this call to that duty and accept because he knows it comes from the hearts of his fellow veterans." 

Letter sent to General Norman Schwarzkopf by Steve Brown. 
Dear General,
       For the past many months I have been watching events unfold and worrying about what would become of the country I love.  America is not just a country to me, it is the best promise for the future of people everywhere.  Freedom, enterprise, equality and hard work have created America as a beacon to the world.  Here, a people first wondered if individual freedom was possible. 
       The idea that such a legacy could be contorted to other ends is heart rending.
       We cannot let that happen. 
        America needs you.  Americans need a President they can trust; someone who has earned the friendship of nations in the Middle-East so that the conflict there can be resolved without further compromising the honor and integrity of our nation.  We need an individual who is capable, committed, and who understands the office of President not as a perk to profit his friends but as a trust making its occupant the servant of all Americans.
       We need a man who has proven he can successfully draw together disparate individuals from very different perspectives to take effective action, both in the Middle-East and here at home. 
       We are spending ourselves into a servitude to debt unparalleled in American history.  Our great-grandchildren, yours and mine, will be paying for the adventures lived out by the present administration and its failed policies.  This administration is canceling out the cherished rights of all Americans, the rights that have kept us free for over 200 years.
       You are the right man to take up this fight precisely because you do not want it.  You can serve all of the people and our nation because you are not a politician nor ever wanted to be.  Your life has been dedicated to duty; you have put that life on the line for your country over and over again as you served the best interests of a free people.  You served with distinction and courage in Vietnam and you served your country again, helping to bind up the wound within the military that Vietnam had caused.  As a veteran of that war, no matter what we call it now, I understand the greatness in you.  You have made clear  by the content of your service that you understand what really matters by including in that duty the well being of military families.  Ordinary lives matter; each of us matters.  Your affirmation of that rings true and clear through your actions.  In matters of simple justice and honor you did not hesitate to act. 
     Now we need your honor because justice matters to each of us.  your life speaks a message that all Americans can hear, understand and trust.  It is a message that can bind up the wounds of 9/11 and create a true justice and peace.
     You share the concern for our nation at this time of crisis, a crisis brought on by those who have been trusted with authority they were unequal to exercising in the best interests of all Americans. 
     The more I find out about those in power the more frightened I am for my country.
     The America that nurtured us is in danger.  We are facing the stark possibility of the end of freedom as it was visioned by our Founders. 
     You can win this election because the American people recognize integrity when they really see it.  They hunger for that and for the honor you have made your life's work.  You possess a rare courage that speaks a message that is more than just the political rhetoric we have learned to know as mostly posturing and lies. 
     I know this is not what you want to do.  But it is what you must do.  No man of your caliber can say no when his country so desperately needs him. 
    It will be difficult.  It will be as trying as any campaign you have waged, but it is a campaign that also opens up to all Americans the hope of a larger freedom and prosperity; a future of hope for all of our children.  Under your leadership we can renew the national honor that has been so badly compromised.  You can reaffirm our American Heritage for freedom so that none may doubt. 
      Please accept this call to service from me, a fellow veteran. 

With sincere respect and confidence in the flag we both served.   

                                                                                         Signed, Steve Brown
  

Campaign Kit

Campaign Kit

Buttons - To be printed on Avery or similar labels, six on a page  - J-peg files.




 
This Button art was contributed by David Duarte of Santa Barbara.  Thanks Dave!  



Brochure   - PDF files
           Two sided, one fold, black and white - blank place to put local contacts.  Let your kids help fold but make sure you give them some goodies for helping! 



Bumper Sticker  - 8.5 x 14 (legal sized) PDF files
           You can look for regular bumper sticker stock or print two up on legal sized paper and tape them up!


                                                                           
            
    Flyer  - 8.5 x 11 PDF file
 
          Please note that we are well aware that these are not the best money can buy because our graphics staff (one guy) are all strictly amateurs.  We intend to have an online store to help us defray the cost of operation.  We also will be putting up a place where you can donate in just a few days.  But first we need to figure out that software.  


 Tee-Shirt

          We have also designed a tee-shirt and that will go up for sale as soon as we figure out that previously mentioned software.  The shirt says, Storm'n '04 NORMAN, has a flag and mentions that Norman has the balls and the brains to do the job.  We all like it.  I bet you will, too.   




If you want one now send us $20,00 care of the address and we will send one off to you. 
        Please feel free to send in your own graphics to give out and we will post them, with credit, for others to use!  


 
    The reason it is better to download and print yourself is that it COSTS LESS.  The cost of things like flyers and buttons may not seem like much at first but we all need to think about what it is costing.  The economy is not going to improve until after the General has been in office for a while.  So, you can get those things from the campaign kit.  Check around, you can get some great prices on copies.   But we know that some folks want to just buy them so we are working getting prices and information on delivery.  That will be here on this page.  Soon.  


Drafting Norman

Why We Are Drafting Norman

    The problem is that none of us want to vote for the people who want so desperately to occupy the Oval Office and exercise their power and control over all parts of our lives.  Therefore the only way of getting the candidate we want is to draft him.  General Schwarzkopf beat cancer and now he is living in Florida with his family.  He is not eager to run.  But he is the kind of man, a real patriot, who has risked his life for his country over and over again, who will answer the call to service if his countrymen ask.  So that is the first step.  We need to ask him to run.  To do that each of us needs to send him a letter asking him to be our candidate.  Some of us would like to see him run as a Republican; some as a Democrat; some as an Independent.  But that doesn't much matter.  We all want him to be elected. 
     So here is the address where you send your letter. 

                                                                       General Norman Schwarzkopf 
                                                                        c/o The Nature Conservancy
                                                                        4245 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 100
                                                                        Arlington, VA 22203-1606

     That is the first thing you can do to get America the President we all need and deserve.  The next thing is to let your friends and neighbors know so they can join in the effort.  We have all found that most people we know are very enthusiastic about having someone they can feel good about supporting so it is fun talking about it.  

    We want to leave no doubt in Norman's mind that we want him or in the minds of the Media that he is our candidate.

     Next you can sign up as a coordinator for your area.  Go to the Sign up Here Page.  Then we know you are ready to help because you have told us where you are.  Indicate what you want to do by putting one of the categories in your Comments.  Then you can go to Meetup.com and get signed up there for a Draft Norman Meetup.  

     And now the kind of thing we usually associate with political campaigns.  You can go to the Campaign Kit page and download a brochure or flyer you can run off and pass out in black and white to save money.  There is artwork for bumper stickers, signs and buttons, too, all set up so you can just run them off at home or at the local copy shop.  There is also a page called the Freedom Market where shortly you will be able to buy all of that as cheaply as we can afford to produce it along with tee-shirts.  It is better if you do it yourself though.  Someone has also written a song and is looking in to having it produced.  This is a REAL grassroots campaign. 

     People are going to tell you that it is too late, that we can't get General Schwarzkopf on the ballot in enough states to get him elected.  But if Perot could do it then so can we.  If enough of us decide this is what we want then nothing can stop us from achieving our goal.  There are always ways if we have the will and the ingenuity. 

Campaign Song

This was a blatant recycling of the H. Ross Cannonball, which I proposed and pushed to finished product in 1992.  After all, Ross dropped the ball on us after I let Craig Franklin, then my husband, help write it so he would get behind the project.

Craig had a fantasy he would be a rock star if he could only glue women to their seats.  He planned to do the same to keep attendees there for his funeral.  They could not leave until the video finished playing, that was his plan. 
 
You can hear the original song on my site, Pillsbury-Foster
 

The Schwarzkopf Cannonball

Welcome to America it's Millennium 'o4
Our business are in the tank and we facing endless war.
Greedy politicians sold out you and me.
We need to start a recall aimed at Washington D. C.! 

No more crooked Congressmen
it’s time to bounce them all
Let’s cut the tax
and lay some tracks
for the Schwarzkopf Cannonball

The politicians get free meals,
free trips and drugs and mail
While ordinary people
either pay or go to jail
Gonna give them all free bus fare home
from Washington D. C.
And that’s the final tax paid perk
those crooks will ever see!

Gonna get back on our feet again,
back to standing tall.
Its time to stoke the Freedom Train,
the Schwarzkopf Cannonball.
You know Norm loves his country,  
he'll represent us all!
You’re vote’s your ticket on the Train,
the Schwarzkopf Cannonball

(Bridge)

Norm understands the issues,
his courage's tried and true
He'll lead us towards the future,
 American through and through
A soldier with both brains and balls
to do the job he sees
Peace to leave our children,
the strength that sets us free.

Norm will cut our taxes,
All the waste and fraud
Render unto Caesar
Tender unto God

One dime from every dollar
It’s high time they took less
No more form 1040
- and no more IRS!

No more lipless leadership,
Gonna change things in the fall
America’s on a roll again
On the Schwarzkopf cannonball
Back up on our feet again,
Back to standing tall!

All aboard the Freedom Train
The Schwarzkopf cannonball


About Us

Who We Are

Draft Norman was founded by The Committee to Draft Schwarzkopf on March 30, 2004 and is a movement growing throughout the country comprised of people who are fed up with politics and with the choices offered to us by political parties.  Our National Chairman, Steve Brown, is located in Santa Barbara, CA.
We are ordinary Americans who are tired of the lies, evasion, and partisan politics that runs our country.  Some of us are registered Democrats.  Some of us are Republicans.  Some of us are affiliated with third parties or have refused to go anywhere near politics for many years.  But now we are fed up.  We want someone for president who we can trust.  Someone who can do the job that so desperately needs doing. 
Our National Chairman is Steve Brown.  Steve is a local businessman in Santa Barbara California who is totally Internet phobic.  You can get messages to him via Internet, fax and covered wagon at: steve@draftnorman.com.  He owns a repair store for Recreational Vehicles, is a veteran of the Vietnam Conflict, and is active in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 613.  
 If you are from the media call him at:  
(Since Steve died in 2012 it is tough to get him on the phone. But you can try)                  
(805) 967-5881                                                                                 
                                                                                                            Chairman Steve Brown