When Booman invited me to guest post here on BMT for one month I instantly knew what kind of project I wanted to try.
I wanted to do an “open source” project that would build over a period of weeks. I wanted it to involve the work of many participants. I wanted this project to address the intersection of electoral politics and progressive politics as defined here in the Booman Tribune Community. And, finally, I wanted this project to create something of lasting value that everyone here could literally take away or build on as they saw fit.
Well, I’m pleased to announce that, with the collaboration of so many of you, and, very specifically, the tireless work of Viera Visionary, we’ve arrived at “the end” of the Booman Tribnue Electoral Politics project. I put “the end” in quotes, because, in my view, this conclusion is really only the beginning of the discussion, and perhaps, if some folks are motivated, further efforts and collaborations with others in the netroots.
Let’s take a look at what we built…
The Booman Tribune Electoral Poilitics Project involved the solicitation of names, opinions and information from the entire BMT community over a period of five weeks in July of 2006.
In that time, we discussed:
how we interact with electoral politics
our progressive political platform
our progressive elected officials
our progressive candidates for office
and we created a list of our favorite progressive organizations.
None of these lists represent a complete or exhaustive survey of the information. I knew that going in and will admit that coming out. However, I do think that what we’ve done, in this period of time, is to give a snapshot of the many different “takes” we have on how progressives here at BMT interact with electoral politics. We’ve pooled our knowledge and more importantly, we banked it.
All through this process, Viera Visionary has worked diligently creating xls files that tracked this data. I’m making these files available for download below. They represent a significant effort on the part of Viera Visionary, and I want to personally thank him for sticking with this project through thick and thin. Viera, your work is much appreciated.
More than appreciated, Viera’s files create something useful. We very deliberately started this project in such a way that we would be able to track candidates and elected officials by the progressive ideas and platform planks we found important. ie. You can use these xls files to, say, select the candidates and elected officials whom Bootribbers selected as among the leaders on “Election Reform” or “Education.” Further, you can then follow the user-generated links that Viera included in the database for these candidates to discover further information about these candidates and officials.
I’m making this infomation public hoping that others will build on it…very much like the spirit of wiki or the dkosopedia. (Anyone who wants to build on this, in my view, should.) This project is about “open source.”
So, with no further ado, here links to the xls files and the results of all of our hard work:
Our Progressive Platform
Our Progressive Elected Officials
Our Progressive Candidates
Our Progressive Organizations
Now, I understand that many of you won’t have the ability or knowledge of Excel to work these spreadsheets. With that in mind I am going to list below the two main lists that our work generated: progressive candidates and elected officials. (For our platform I think it’s best to read the extensive discussions we had here and for our organizations see the link above.) I know that a mere list of names is not as useful as Viera Visionary’s spreadsheet; regardless, the sheer volume of names is impressive and makes one the points I was trying to make when I started this project, so I thought I’d share them nevertheless:
Booman Tribune Progressive Elected Officials:
Mark Begich, Mayor, Anchorage AK
Raul Grijalva, U.S. Representative, 7th District, AZ
Jose Ibarra, City Council, Tucson, AZ
Steve Leal, City Council, Tucson, AZ
Janet Napolitano, Governer, AZ
Ed Pastor, U.S Representative, 4th District, AZ
Larry Agran, City Council, Irvine, CA
Richard Alarcón, State Senator, District 20, CA
Tom Ammiano, Board of Supervisors, San Francisco, CA
Debra Bowen, State Senator, CA
Barbara Boxer, U.S. Senator, CA
Ron Dellums, Mayor Elect, Oakland, CA
Anna Eshoo, U.S. Representative, 14th District, CA
Sam Farr U.S. Representative 17th District CA
Donna Frye, City Council, San Diego, CA
Barbara Lee, U.S. Representative, 9th District, CA
George Miller, U.S. Representative, 7th District, CA
Ross Mirkarimi, City Supervisor, San Francisco, CA
Nancy Nadel, Councilmember, Oakland, CA
Gavin Newsom, Mayor, San Francisco, CA
Jackie Speier, State Senator, District 8, CA
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, Los Angeles, CA
Maxine Waters, U.S. Representative, 35th District, CA
Henry Waxman, U.S. Representative, CA
Lynn Woolsey, U.S. Representative, 6th District, CA
Jill Conrad, School Board, Denver, CO
Sue Marinelli, State Board of Education, CO
Kathy Castor, County Commissioner, Hillsborough County, FL
Andrew Gillum, Vice Mayor, Tallahassee, FL
Pegeen Hanrahan, Mayor, Gainesville, FL
Kendrick Meek, U.S. Representative, 17th District, FL
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Representative, 20th District, FL
Shirley Franklin, Mayor, Atlanta, GA
John Lewis, U.S. Representative, 5th District, GA
Alisha Morgan, State Senator, District 39, GA
Nan Orrock, State Representative, District 56, GA
David Bieter, Mayor, Boise, ID
Miguel De Valle, State Senate, District 02, IL
Luis Gutierrez, U.S. Representative, 4th District, IL
Jesse Jackson Jr., U.S Representative, 2nd District, IL
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, IL
Joe Moore, City Alderman, Chicago, 49th Ward, IL
Jan Schakowsky, U.S Representative, 8th District, IL
Julia Carson, U.S. Representative, 7th District, IN
Mark Kruzan, Mayor, Bloomington, IN
Vi Simpson, State Senator, District 40, IN
Pete Visclosky, U.S. Representative, 1st District, IN
Dennis Highberger, Mayor, Lawrence, KS
Dennis Moore, U.S Representative, 3rd District, KS
Kathleen Sebelius, Governor, KS
Barney Frank, U.S. Representative, MA
Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator, MA
Jim Marzilli Jr., State Representative, Arlington/West
Medford MA
Ted Koffman, State Representative, District 35, ME
Hannah Pingree, State Representative, District 129, ME
Ethan Strimling, State Senator, District 8, ME
Hansen Clarke, State Senator, District 1, MI
John Conyers, U.S. Representative, MI
JoAnna Watson, City Council, Detroit, MI
Ellen Anderson, State Senator, District 66, MN
Chris Coleman, Mayor, St. Paul MN
Gail Dorfman, County Commissioner, Hennepin County, MN
Elaine Fleming, Mayor, Cass Lake MN
Steve Kelly, State Senate, District 44, MN
John Marty, State Senator, District 54, MN
Betty McCollum, U.S. Representative, 4th District MN
Jim McDonough, County Commissioner, Ramsey County MN
Sandy Pappas, State Senator, District 65 MN
Jane Ranum, State Senator, District 63 MN
Mark Ritchie, Secretary of State, MN
Maria Ruud, House/Senate District, 42A MN
Maria Chappelle-Nadal, State Representative, 72nd District MO
William Lacy Clay, Jr. U.S. Representative 1st District MO
Emanuel Cleaver, U.S. Representative, 5th District MO
Claire McCaskill, State Auditor MO
Bennie Thompson, U.S. Representative, 2nd District MS
John Herrera, Alderman, Carrboro NC
Ellie Kinnaird, State Senator, District 23 NC
April Fairfield, State Senator, District 29 ND
Bill Gardner, Secretary of State, NH
Cory Booker, Mayor, Newark NJ
Rush Holt, U.S Representative, 12th District NJ
Frank Lautenberg, U.S. Senator NJ
David Coss, Mayor, Santa Fe NM
Patricia Madrid, Attorney General, NM
Bill Richardson, Governer, NM
Neil Breslin, State Senator, District 46 NY
Paul Feiner, Town Superviser, Greenburgh NY
Bob Jacon, County Judge, Rensselaer County NY
Liz Krueger, State Senator, District 26 NY
Carolyn McCarthy, U.S. Representative, 4th District NY
David Paterson, State Senate, District 30 NY
Bill Perkins, City Council, New York NY
Bob Reilly, Assemblyman District 109 NY
Louise Slaughter, U.S. Representative, 28th District, NY
David Soares, District Attorney, Albany, County NY
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General, NY
Sherrod Brown, U.S. Representative, 13th District OH
Teresa Fedor, State Senator, District 126 OH
Pete Gerken, County Commissioner, Lucas County OH
Marcy Kaptur, U.S. Representative, 9th District OH
Dennis Kucinich, U.S. Representative, 10th District OH
Tim Ryan, U.S. Representative, 17th District OH
Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, U.S. Representative, 11th District, OH
Earl Blumenauer, U.S. Representative, 3rd District OR
Peter Buckley, State Representative, District 5 OR
Peter DeFazio, U.S. Representative, 4th District, OR
Ted Kulongoski, Governor, OR
Tom Potter, Mayor, Portland OR
Chris Bowers, Committeeperson, Philadelphia, Ward 27, Division 23 PA
Andrew Dinniman, State Senator, District 19 PA
Chaka Fattah, U.S. Representative, 2nd District, PA
David Cicilline, Mayor, Providence RI
Lloyd Doggett, U.S. Representative, District 25 TX
Senfronia Thompson, State Representative, District 141, TX
Lupe Valdez, Sheriff, Dallas TX
Rocky Anderson, Mayor, Salt Lake City, UT
Bob Kiss, Mayor, Burlington VT
Bernie Sanders, U.S Representative, VT
David Zuckerman, State Representative, Chittden 3-4 VT
Adam Kline, State Senator, District 37 WA
Jim McDermott, U.S. Representative, WA
Dave Cieslewicz, Mayor, Madison WI
Russ Feingold, U.S. Senator WI
Mark Harris, County Executive, Winnebago County, WI
Mark Miller, State Senator, District 16, WI
Mark Pocan, State Representative, Assembly District 78, WI
Booman Tribune Progressive Candidates:
Mike Caccioppoli, U.S. Representative, 1st District AZ
Gabrielle Giffords, U.S. Representative, 8th District, AZ
Jeff Latas, U.S. Representative, 8th District, AZ
Harry Mitchell, U.S. Representative, 5th District, AZ
Israel Torres, Secretary of State, AZ
Patty Weiss, U.S. Representative, 8th District, AZ
Debra Bowen, Secretary of State, CA
Jenni Criscenzo, U.S. Representative, 49th District, CA
Jerry McNerney, U.S. Representative, 11th District, CA
Sandré Swanson, State Assembly, District 16, CA
Mike Thompson, U.S. Representative, 1st District, CA
Angie Paccione, U.S. Representative, 4th District, CO
Jim Rettew, State Representative, District 13, CO
Bill Winter, U.S. Representative, 6th District, CO
Kathy Castor, U.S. Representative, 11th District, FL
Nan Orrock, State Senator, District 36, GA
Steve Sinton, U.S. Representative, 6th District, GA
David Gill, U.S. Representative, 15th District IL
Barry Welsh, U.S. Representative, 6th District, IN
John Bonifaz, Secretary of State, MA
Jamie Raskin, State Senator, District 20 MD
Kevin Zeese, U.S. Senator, MD
Jean Hay Bright, U.S. Senator, ME
Hannah Pingree, State Representative, District 36 ME
JoAnna Watson, City Council, Detroit MI
John Marty, State Senator, District 54 MN
Jolie Justus, State Senator, District, 10 MO
Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senator, MO
Jeff Smith, State Senator, District 4 MO
Erik Fleming, U.S. Senator, MS
Carol Shea-Porter, U.S. Representative, 1st District NH
Linda Stender, U.S. Representative, 7th District, NJ
Viola Thomas-Hughes, U.S. Representative, 2nd District NJ
David Bacon, Public Regulation Commission, District 4 NM
Patricia Madrid, U.S. Representative, 1st District NM
Brian Keeler, State Senator, District 41 NY
Chris Owens, U.S. Representative, 11th District NY
Bill Perkins, State Senator, NY
Andrew Rice, State Senator, District 46 OK
Ted Kulongoski, Governor, OR
Anne Crowley, State Representative, District 167, PA
Lois Herr, U.S. Representative, 16th District, PA
Paul Lang, State Senator, District 6 PA
Lois Murphy, U.s. Representative, 6th District PA
Patrick Murphy, U.S. Representative, 8th District PA
Joe Sestak, U.S. Representative, 7th District PA
Barbara McIlvaine Smith, State Representative, District 156, PA
Jack Billion, Governor, SD
Phil Bredesen, Governor, TN
Harold Ford, Jr, U.S. Senator, TN
Valinda Bolton, State Representative, District 47 TX
John Courage, U.S. Representative, 21st District, TX
Karen Felthauser, State Representative, District 52 TX
Mary Beth Harrell, U.S. Representative, 31st District TX
Donna Howard, State Representative, District 48 TX
Barbara Ann Radnofsky, U.S. Senator, TX
Mark Strama, State Representative, District 50 TX
Kathi Thomas, State Senator, District 25 TX
David Van Os, Attorney General, TX
Darcy Burner, U.S. Representative, 8th District WA
Peter Goldmark, U.S. Representative, 5th District WA
Hong Tran, U.S. Senator, WA
Now, I don’t expect anyone to read through all these names, pausing at each one…and I would also point out that there are obvious lacunae. “Completeness” was never what was at the heart of this project. I would simply point out that there are some inherent political points to be made coming out of this project:
a) When we pool our knowledge, we are much stronger than when we type alone
b) The Progressive Movement in politics is no small thing
c) The Progressive Movement in the United States is RICH with local candidates and races. I am sure there are four to five times more candidates and officials than we have listed here. Easy.
d) We are a geographically diverse movement, and it shows.
I never intended to make any pat conclusions out of this process. For me, the process part of this project was as important as the results we generated. I am most proud of the kind of targeted searches one can do with the spread sheets.
Care about the environment and want to know who BooTribbers tag as elected officials who share your concern? Try this list:
Green/Environment elected officials:
Jose Ibarra
Larry Agran
Sam Farr
Donna Frye
Kathy Castor
Julia Carson
Mark Kruzan
Vi Simpson
Jim Marzilli Jr.
Ted Koffman
Ethan Strimling
Ellen Anderson
Chris Coleman
Gail Dorfman
Elaine Fleming
Steve Kelly
John Marty
Sandy Pappas
Jane Ranum
Ellie Kinnaird
April Fairfield
Frank Lautenberg
David Coss
Bill Richardson
Louise Slaughter
Eliot Spitzer
Sherrod Brown
Earl Blumenauer
Ted Kulongoski
Lloyd Doggett
Rocky Anderson
Looking for candidates who will come out swinging for election reform? Try this list:
Jeff Latas
Israel Torres
Debra Bowen
Jenni Criscenzo
Kathy Castor
John Bonifaz
Hannah Pingree
Jeff Smith
Brian Keeler
And, thanks to Viera’s hard work, we can do that on ALL of our platform planks with both candidates and elected officials: Anti-War, Campaign Reform, Budget-Fiscal Reponsibility, Church-State Separation, Civil Rights, Corporate Reform, Death Penalty, Economic Rights, Education, Election Reform, Energy Conservation, Equal Rights, Gay Rights, Globalism, Grassroots, Green-Environment, Gun Reform, Health Care Medicare D, Integrity-Ethics, Living Wage, Media Reform, Open Government, Populism, Privacy, Reproductive Rights, Retirement, Science, Socialism, Stem Cell, Sunshine Provisions, Tax Reform, Trade, Veteran’s Rights, Voting Reform and Women’s Rights.
Think about that. And think about all of Viera’s hard work. And think about how each of us, kicking in what we knew best, helped build and contribute to this project.
I’m proud of what we’ve done here on Booman Tribune. So proud, in fact, that I’m going to invite the rest of the progressive netroots to check out this project in the hope that if they don’t undertake something similar on their own sites, that they build on what we’ve done here. I’m hoping some of the dkosopedia folks, or the folks at MyDD or MyLeftWing undertake their own versions of this process.
You see, there’s a subtext to this entire process: the netroots and open source is a new way of doing politics. We are much more powerful together than we ever were alone.
Just looking at the list of names above, and imagining how many more progressive candidates, officials and oganizations are out there makes a powerful point in my mind.
It’s 2006, and our work has just begun.