A Welcoming Community
Apparently the philly inquirier, Bully for Booman, is looking for a liberal columnist to counter Yoo and Box Turtle.
Couple of fellas at OpenLeft are pushing for David Sirota.
Since Booman’s a Philly guy, why not Booman?
Rec this diary and convince Booman to throw his hat in the ring.
A lot actually, Howard Dean represents the most serious threat to elite politics since at least the 1960s. During Governor Dean’s tenure as DNC chair, the Democrats won two back-to-back “wave elections” — which has never happened before in American history — and America’s first multi-racial President was elected in a landslide. Yet, for the last five years Governor Dean has been a lightening rod for criticism among both the “serious” people in the media and the “serious” people in his own party.
So why doesn’t the establishment like Howard Dean? It’s simple really; Howard Dean represents a significant threat to 21st century elite politics.
Dean’s family made their fortune as old school brokerage owners and executives. Dean grew up in East Hampton on Long Island and on Park Avenue. Yet he turned his back on a financial career, went to medical school and became a family doctor in Vermont along with his wife Judith Steinberg. He’s the Park Avenue version of the hippy who went up country. Yet his life and his career flourished. He was elected to the Vermont legislature after getting involved in local politics as part of a coalition looking to get a bike path built along Lake Champlain. He was elected Lt. Governor in 1986 and reelected Governor 5 times (becoming the second longest serving Vermont Governor in Vermont history) after stepping into the role after the death of Governor Richard Snelling. He created the first mass political movement using Internet technologies. And he transformed party politics by transferring power to the state and local parties.
In a thirty-year period dominated by an insane reverse wealth transfer, and in which the excesses of the financial elite threaten to crater the capitalist system without massive risk socialization by the federal government, Dean has stood out at as a critic of D.C. centered politics and elite domination of the federal government. Think about it; a person who began their career in politics fighting to get a bike path built is at the gates of the highest levels of government. A presidential candidate who stuffs his suit pockets with chocolate chip cookies, a guy who directs his staffer to go left rather than right at a house party so he can get another shot at the M&M bowl. A real person, a small d democrat, who viscerally understands the American elite because he was once part of it, rises to national leadership and pushes power back into the grassroots and the state parties.
The personal threat that Dean poses to elite rule is compounded by his rise through Vermont politics. Vermont doesn’t just talk about bipartisanship and use it as a cover for sample sales of the country’s assets by elite politicians and financiers; they practice it in their electoral politics. In the last twenty years Vermonters have elected a classic Yankee Republican (Jim Jeffords), a scrappy Brooklyn born socialist (Bernie Sanders) and a scion of Park Avenue wealth turned family doctor (Howard Dean) as their statewide representatives.
These new Green Mountain Boys have a people and community orientation that comes out of Vermont’s tradition of direct democracy through the town meeting. Howard Dean’s fifty state strategy is in essence an extension of the practice of direct democracy to party politics and electoral organizing. And it scares the hell out of the D.C. regulars and the corporate elites. It takes us beyond the culture of the expert — the serious foreign policy expert from the northeast corridor, the Yale graduate organizing on behalf of janitors, Wall Street bankers trying to fix a system they broke — to organizations and coalitions of ordinary people choosing leaders and solving problems on their own. It harnesses the new communication technologies to spread power and enable real conversations between those on the ground and those back in a state capital, D.C., or elsewhere.
For the D.C. and corporate elites, this model of direct democratic movement politics is very dangerous indeed.
David Sirota had a very penetrating insight into the marginalization of progressives in matters of economic and foreign policy during the Obama transition:
What I mean to say is that we live in a culture that now organizes around celebrity – and Obama knew it, and knew that lots of left organizations aren’t really ideological – they are, if anything, organized around the Democratic Party and Bush hatred. So he basically figured out that if he could become a celebrity – and a Democratic Bush-hating one – he could swallow up a huge part of the “progressive infrastructure” and organize it around him (and all the hateful “if you question Obama, you hate Obama” comments that will inevitably be at the bottom of this diary actually confirm this!). And we shouldn’t blame him for being a “celebrity” – it’s not an epithet. And we shouldn’t blame him for seizing his moment. Not at all.
This, by the way, is very different from the Reagan model. Reagan was a telegenic, for sure – but he was a product of a movement. In the age of celebrity worship – the age where we literally organize AROUND celebrity – Obama is a movement unto himself.
This continues to be a problem for progressive politics in the United States. We continue to lack a real movement or institutional structure. Unfortunately in many communities, progressive politics and institutions stand outside the fabric of everyday life. There are exceptions of course, but it is rare to find in suburban, exurban and rural communities organizations or institutions that can easily serve as a rallying point for progressive candidates, politics and ideas.
Howard Dean actually addressed this issue by transferring power and budgets to the state and local parties. The end result was back-to-back wave elections, wins in unexpected places like Mississippi and the revitalization of some state parties.
The famous question “What do we do now” is taking on an increasing urgency for progressives as folks like Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers are appointed to Treasury and to Senior White House posts and the architects of the democratic resurgence are cast into the wilderness. If the auto industry is allowed to collapse after this last Citigroup bailout, this Democratic resurgence architected by Howard Dean will be quite short lived.
The challenge over the next 12-18 months is to build new networks of state and local power that don’t rely on the Democratic National Committee or other D.C. based institutions. Howard Dean showed us the way and used the DNC to further state and local politics. We now need to take his model and build independent institutions and funding sources that forward the vision of direct democracy.
The establishment hates Howard Dean. We can turn the tables by showing them that we do indeed have the power.
Cross posted at OpenLeft
| District | Partisan Index(Cook) | Friday House Line (Chris Cillizza) | 2006 Congressional | 2004 Presidential |
| MN-03 | R+1 | 12 | 64.85% [R]35.04% [D] | Kerry [48.05%] Bush [50.95%] |
| NJ-07 | R+1 | 9 | 49.42% [R] 47.22% [D] | Kerry [46.9%] Bush [53.01%] |
| WA-08 | D+2 | 19 | 51.46% [R] 48.54% [D] | Kerry [50.63%] Bush [48.02%] |
What do these three districts have in common? All three are currently represented by Republicans and have solid pockets of high information voters, creative class professionals and symbolic analysts. They are suburban in nature and boast a healthy dose of diversity be it geographic, economic, ethnic or racial. Obama should do quite well in these districts and has already scored impressive caucus victories in both Minnesota and Washington State.
These districts and their congressional representatives also hold the key to a progressive governing coalition in an Obama administration. Much as southern democrats and Bush Dogs have held the key to democratic legislation and progressive progress over the last generation, suburban congressional democrats will exert crucial influence in energy policy, transportation, immigration, healthcare, telecommunications and technology policy over the next decade.
Over the next several weeks we will explore these districts and their candidates. We’ll examine current polling data where it exists, look at current patterns of representation and the strengths and weaknesses of the democratic challengers in each district (MN-03 and NJ-07 are open seats due to retirements by republican congressman).
MN-03, NJ-07 and WA-08 are true swing districts represented by a wide range of republican congressmen.
MN-03 is represented by moderate congressman Jim Ramstad a co-sponsor of the Wellstone Mental Health Equity Act with Patrick Kennedy. Ramstad however, has also been a solid vote for the Bush administration on the Iraq war and a reliable supporter of administration initiatives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
WA-08’s David Reichert is best known as the sheriff who caught theGreen River Serial Killer and as an out and out sexist (HT to Matt) with this 2006 ad on former Microsoft program manager Darcy Burner.
Republican Mike Ferguson is a career opportunist who first ran for Congress against Frank Pallone in NJ-06, a district in which he had never lived before. After being trounced 57% to 43%, Ferguson moved to New Providence in NJ-07 after Representative Bob Franks announced his intentions to run for the U.S. Senate. Ferguson is a native of Ridgewood NJ and attended the prestigious Delbarton School in Morristown, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Ferguson is pretty right wing for NJ, though nationally his stance against drilling in ANWAR and his stated support for the Endangered Species act have served to moderate his image.
Ferguson is the former Executive Director for the Catholic Campaign for America and there is some speculation that he is a member of Opus Dei. Another view of Opus Dei is here.
Established in 1989 The Catholic Campaign has a very distinct outlook on public life:
The growing confidence of conservative Catholics to speak as Catholics in the public square was much in evidence at the conference. Old inhibitions born of past discrimination are quickly being set aside in favor of a more self-assured, activist posture as more and more Catholics sense the need for the renewal of American public life. This trend was strongly affirmed by Neuhaus, editor of the influential journal First Things, who encouraged the audience to think of themselves not as American Catholics but as Catholic Americans, with a responsibility to contribute to the vitality of American democracy precisely by nurturing a distinctively Catholic way of being American. Conference speakers left no doubt that this includes above all an unswerving loyalty to a pro-family agenda in service of what John Paul II has termed the culture of life. The several women who spoke at the conference enthusiastically supported this emphasis, and drew a close connection between a strong pro-life stance and what Campaign board member Mary Ellen Bork referred to as an “an authentic womanhood.”
We’ll take a closer look at Ferguson and what his 2000 election and 2008 retirement in NJ-07 may mean to the district and to the conservative movement in suburbia in later posts.
The Challengers
The three democratic challengers offer different and distinct backgrounds and perspectives. Burner and Stender both fit the classic model of the modern suburban democrat; female, married, kids, with an age range running from the mid thirties to early fifties. Stender offers experience in local and state government having served as a councilwomen, mayor, county freeholder, and state assemblywoman. Burner is a former group program manager with Microsoft, a position requiring a unique combination of smarts, creativity and business discipline. Madia, the youngest of the challengers in these three districts, just turned 30 this year. Madia is an attorney and former Marine lawyer who spent a year with a downtown Minneapolis law firm prior to running for Congress.
Burner and Stender have been raising buckets of money and have both out raised their opponents to date. However Lance, the republican candidate for NJ-07, just won a six way primary battle which included Kate Whitman, daughter of former NJ Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Madia, the democratic challenger in MN-03, was involved in a DFL endorsing contest through April 12th. This quarter’s upcoming filings will shed some much needed light on where these contests are headed.
Fundraising as of 3/31/08:
| District | Dem Cash on Hand | Dem Cash Raised | Dem Cash Spent | Rep Cash on Hand | Rep Cash Rep Raised | Rep Cash Spent |
| MN-03 | $190,368 | $362,445 | $172,077 | $688,342 | $772,199 | $83,856 |
| NJ-07 | $913,452 | $1,193,275 | $283,487 | $191,104 | $382,145 | $191,040 |
| WA-08 | $921,615 | $1,396,631 | $506,716 | $698,035 | $1,370,991 | $676,240 |
Source: opensecrets.org
Each democratic challenger faces unique barriers in their respective races:
Burner must convince voters in WA-08 that she will better represent their interests than Dave Reichert and that she has the experience and skills needed to serve in the U.S. Congress. Reichert aggressively challenged Burner on her experience in 2006 and pulled out a victory in a district where John Kerry beat Bush by two and a half percentage points.
Stender must trade on her deep community roots in NJ-07. She faces an added challenge with Leonard Lance’s victory in the NJ-07 primary and Dick Zimmer’s win in NJ’s U.S. Senate primary. Both Lance and Zimmer represent a more moderate brand of horse country republicanism and have deep roots in the western portions of NJ-07. Zimmer represented portions of Hunterdon and Somerset County in the U.S. House and Lance has served as a State Senator, Senate Minority Leader and Assemblyman since 1991. He is the third generation of his family to serve in the New Jersey Legislature. Like Stender, he was born in the district and has spent most of his life there. This district will be won in the trenches and will require strong efforts in mobilizing turnout in the candidates home communities as well as among the base.
Madia faces his own challenges. A relative newcomer to the district, he’s single in a district where kids and families overrun the parks and Paneras and where school concerns predominate. A Greenberg Quinlan poll commissioned in March by his opponent during the DFL endorsement contest showed Madia trailing Erik Paulsen, his republican opponent, 43% – 40%.
Madia is counting on his ability to outwork and out hustle his republican opponent. And there’s no doubting Madia’s capacity for hard work and hustling. Madia is also pinning his hopes on a strong field effort and grassroots mobilization. He recently hired Stu Rosenberg, a regional field director for the HRC, as his new campaign manager. The campaign has held several door knocks in republican communities since Madia’s endorsement victory and plans to continue this emphasis. Minnesota has a strong tradition of grassroots organizing and the Obama campaign’s recent appointment of Jeff Blodgett as Minnesota State Director may give Madia a big boost. Blodgett is known for his strong grassroots skills and has trained many organizers and candidates through Camp Wellstone.
UPDATE, 9:02AMCST: Joe Bodell at Minnesota Campaign Report has an interview up with Madia’s new campaign manager
Future posts will look at each of these districts more in-depth. We’ll also spend some time on the fundraising numbers once they are released and polling information as it becomes available. Longer-term I’d like to take a look at the implications of these candidacies for a progressive majority.
A must read from a recovering journalist. This is a priceless confession about the run up to the war:
It hit me hard and I knew why. I remembered the story that resulted from that last appointment. I was assigned to write the foreign policy story for the “issues” series that the Strib ran as part of its Wellstone-vs.-Norm-Coleman campaign coverage.
It was the fall of 2002, so the biggest foreign policy issue was the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. Wellstone opposed it, Coleman favored it.
An issue story on the eve of an election is a highly scrutinized exercise in this kind of “balance.” By the time I wrote that 2002 foreign policy issue piece, I had come to doubt the value of such pieces, especially during the run-up to the Iraq war, when the “balanced frame” method seemed to be almost disinforming the electorate. But I did my job as I then understood it, giving no hint of my own strong conviction that the doctrine of pre-emptive unilateral war based on an unproven, non-imminent threat and without the legitimization of U.N. would be a huge mistake and national disgrace.
The rest is here. It’s a good read and shows how much Wellstone impacted peoples lives.
Another gem from the Financial Times. Americans visiting Rome were shocked, shocked they tell at us at the level of vitriol directed at the President’s visit to Italy.
A family from Tennessee tells the tale:
For the Cooper family, from Knoxville, Tennessee, visiting Rome was supposed to be the highlight to their two-week vacation in Europe.
Instead, they arrived on Saturday to find some of the Eternal City’s most famous streets and piazzas packed with tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators protesting against a visit by President George W. Bush on his way home from a G8 summit.
“We come from a place where you just don’t see this kind of street protest,” said John Cooper, watching with his wife and two teenage children as demonstrators passed nearby waving communist flags, chanting “Yankee Go Home” and brandishing banners that compared Mr Bush to Hitler.
As Mr Cooper spoke, a skirmish erupted between protesters and riot police, sending the family fleeing for safety down a side street. The violence flared for the next two hours, finally quelled by thousands of baton-wielding police and several bursts of tear gas.
and of course the corporatists are in charge preventing a true accounting of the war:
Avoiding the issue has become easier since Europe’s two most strident war critics – Gerhard Schröder, former German chancellor, and Jacques Chirac, former French president – have been replaced by Ms Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, who are more Atlanticist in outlook.
But while Europe’s leaders may have decided to look beyond the war, Saturday’s protests showed that many ordinary Europeans, particularly the young and left-leaning, still view the US through the prism of Iraq.
Most U.S. tourists felt the protests were aimed at Il Presidente rather than the U.S. But young Ms. Cooper was in a bit of a tiff about the Anti-American rabble on the street:
But Mr Cooper’s daughter, Sarah, admitted feeling resentful. “It’s tough to take when you see people being so disrespectful of our president,” she said.
Me, I’m learning the words to O’Canada for my next trip abroad.
The full article (firewalled) is here: We don’t take kindly to yer type around here
For a further view of how Skeeter, I mean Mr. Cooper, and his family can’t see beyond the daily talking points from Fox and the Vice President’s sockpuppet, or as he likes to be known, Senator Lieberman, I refer you to NLinStPaul’s excellent diary:
No, really, it’s on the splash page of the Wall Street Journal. Subscription required.
This is huge.
What unites us here today is our shared belief that it will be a far greater America when we get affordable health care for all Americans,” said Mr. Stern, who has been one of Wal-Mart’s staunchest critics but also publicly invited CEOs to work with him on the health-care problem. “This is not just a moral problem but a major drag on American business competitiveness and job creation.”
Mr. Scott said, “We put aside disagreements to drive this debate forward.”
AT&T, Intel, and The Communications Workers of America also joined in.
This is clearly a case where effective progressive and democratic electoral work is driving real change. Almost all major social justice initiatives in the U.S. have only come to fruition when pushed against the wall by organized, outspoken progressives working both inside and outside of establishment organizations like the democratic party and the labor unions.
It’s no coincidence that Wal Mart’s announcement comes on the heels of a string of disappointing same store sales results over the last several months: Wal Mart sees soft same store sales results>.
It all matters, Madman’s rants against the donklephants (love that term btw Madman), AG’s penetrating insights into the underbelly of our socioeconomic model, Real History Lisa’s fact based review of seminal events in our recent past, Supersoling’s peace activism and Green progressivism, Booman’s willingness to push “big blog” discourse, the electoral activism of MYDD and Kos. Envelope pushers like MSOC, BostonJoe and OPOL. The work and community building everyone here does every single day.
But we have still have a lot of work to do, and we must be ever vigilant. Now if we can just get a Fortune 500 CEO to speak against the war in Iraq and against escalation with Iran.
My son turned 18 last Friday. But I really can’t argue against or oppose this legislation.
I grew up in a mixed race working class town where almost every adult male over the age of about 35 served and a stint in the military was considered by almost every kid. For some it was the only way out.
I remember this guy Mike who was a few years older than us joining the Marines. He grew up in a very dysfunctional family and all he ever wanted to do was be a Marine. He joined right out of HS. A couple of years later, he was married to his HS girlfriend, had a nice car and totally had his shit together. I wanted to be like Mike but went to college instead.
My son has grown up in an affluent suburban town. He’s attended one of the best high schools in the country. The military is the last thing on his mind. He’s very bright, articulate and interested in history and cultures. He leans a little left but isn’t left-liberal like me or crazy radical like some of the kids at our church. He’s very nuanced in his thoughts and beliefs. He’s probably going to study Arabic or Farsi in college next year. Thinking about a quick stint in the Army Reserves as a way to prep him for a career in the state or commerce departments or even in business or academia is the last thing on his mind.
Nor I would I want to see him in today’s military. And I would sell everything I own in order to keep him out of ground combat in the Middle East. But I can’t argue against the draft. I can’t ask my reps to vote against it. In fact I wouldn’t mind seeing the draft reinstated. I think we’ve gone too far in asking others to do what we wouldn’t do ourselves.
I’ve suggested to him that he might want to consider serving as an Air Force officer or joining the Coast Guard or Coast Guard Reserve, but I don’t think he’s listening or is even aware of what advantages he has. We live on “the other side” of the main N/S highway in town. When I worked in corporate America I was in the top 20% of income earners nationwide, but in this town we were roughly in the bottom half. And we’ve struggled financially since the divorce and I’m more strict about the budget now. I don’t think he considers us affluent.
I don’t know. I just don’t know.
I think Charley Rangel’s on the money with this one.
I started this as a comment to Booman’s post last Friday on Obama and that Generational Thang but it quickly grew so I thought I’d turn it into a diary. I’m close in age to Booman, though I’m actually a couple of years older than Booman. I graduated High School in 1984, he graduated in 1987. I found that much of what he had to say really resonated with me.
I grew up in a multi-racial working-class town in the Northeast. I find that I personally relate a lot more to John Edwards than to Barack Obama even though John’s a southerner and a boomer and I’m a Gen Xer from the north. I do agree with Booman that the frame The Creative Class leaves out much of the democratic constituency. While it’s a beautiful construct and does a great deal to explain regional competitive advantage and generational dynamics, as a political strategy I think it’s a path straight back to the angry white man politics of the Reagan era which reached their zenith under Bush II. And that’s quite possibly the crux of the problem. Does an Obama candidacy ignore the realities of class, work, and professional stratification in the U.S? Or does Obama represent a path to the future?
A little over a week ago, I had the privilege of hearing former Vice President Mondale speak at a small Friday evening gathering on the history of the DFL. The DFL, which stands for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, is Minnesota’s version of the Democratic Party. It was formed in 1944 via merger of the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties. Until that merger, Minnesota Democrats hadn’t had much electoral success. The Farmer-Labor party was the true challenger to Minnesota Republicans and had a really strong presence in the farm towns and union strongholds of Greater Minnesota. The Farmer-Labor party even elected a number of governors in the first part of the century. Between 1945 and 1948 a youth movement fueled by returning veterans surged through Minnesota politics and the newly formed DFL. Hubert Humphrey was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1948 on a platform that was a curious combination of reform politics, cold war liberalism, and anti-racism. For a broader view of cold war liberalism and it’s legacy see also Beinert’s View of Cold War Liberalism Today, and From Cold War Liberalism to Neoconservativism.
Humphrey’s 1948 speech at the National Democratic Convention is considered a classic. He challenged the Democratic Party “to get out of the shadow of states rights and into the bright sunlight of human rights”. Southern Democrats, led by Strom Thurmond, stormed out of the convention and formed the Dixiecrats in response. Thus began the long slow migration of southern democrats away from the Democratic Party. That revolt culminated in Nixon’s Southern Strategy of 1968 and Reagan’s masterful coalition of disaffected blue collar and southern democrats, or angry white men as author and commentator Thomas Frank calls them. But enough of the history lesson. That evening, the former Vice President and former Congressman Don Fraser repeatedly took pains to emphasize the young ages of all the activists who transformed the DFL and Minnesota politics between 1945 and 1948.
Several times that evening Vice President Mondale emphasized the need for young people to take over the reigns of the party and lead. And we’re not talking about forty year olds he said. He emphasized that during Humphrey’s ascendancy in 1948 the oldest person on the campaign was 32 or 33. Towards the end of the party Vice President Mondale was chatting with the Chair of our 3rd Congressional District who happens to be a good friend of mine, so I got to listen in. At one point he pointed his finger at the wall and said we have to tell them (young folks) to lead, we just point and say GO! And let them go where they will.
The Vice President also made a very insightful remark about the recent election in Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, which just elected Minnesota’s first African-American and the nation’s first Muslim to Congress. For those of you not familiar with this race, it was a very bitter race with clear divisions along race and class lines and an entrenched establishment fighting tooth and nail against an emerging establishment. The Republicans chimed in too (in a district where the Green Party is the real second party) lobbing whatever bombs they could at Keith Ellison, who unfortunately, like a lot of us, carries a lot of baggage. Vice President Mondale said (and I’m trying to get as close to his words as possible) that no matter how painful that election was for the party it was a really important victory and it was about the future more than anything else
That evening and those comments really got me thinking about where we stand now after our successes in 2006 and what 2008 really means. Then the blogs erupted about Obama.
As many of the posters have pointed out, an Obama candidacy is really about the future. It’s a candidacy that has very strong appeal to Gen Y and to younger Gen Xers and I’ve even seen boomers get excited about him. I was at Target last week and started thumbing through his prominently displayed biography. I began to wonder. Could Barak Obama be this generation’s JFK or Bobby Kennedy? A charismatic figure with the ability to move history forward?
I’m not a huge Obama fan. As I mentioned above, John Edwards resonates a lot more with me. I was a huge Jesse Jackson supporter after Gary Hart crashed and burned and worked on Jackson’s campaign as a volunteer field organizer. Jesse spoke to my heart and to what I knew was real more than Obama does. Bill Bradley and Howard Dean are my ideal democrats. I kinda like the idea of a Gore presidency.
I don’t think Barack Obama is as progressive as his rhetoric or his image suggests. I think he would be more effective as a candidate and as a president with a well entrenched progressive base in the states, suburbs, and cities moving him towards progressive reforms on the scale of the New Deal, rather than as a one term U.S. Senator running for President with all the entrenched D.C. interests still in the party pushing him towards corporate centrism. Like JFK, Obama’s image may be much more liberal and progressive than the reality. But maybe a post-race, progressive image is what we need to get out from under the Bush dynasty and the legacy of angry white man politics. Maybe a post-race, progressive image is what is needed to move us in a new historical direction.
While Edwards reminds us of who we’ve left behind (which increasingly includes the suburban professional middle class) in our march to a new world order and Gore points to the increasing global threats of oil-based economies, unregulated trade and industrialization to our future, Obama provides an image of compassion and a voice of empathy that is grounded in a moral language that resonates with the vast majority of Americans, as well as a voice that really seems to resonate with Gen Y and the Internet Generation.
Perhaps we should listen to our elders like Fritz Mondale, collectively point our fingers and let out a resounding GO! Maybe it’s time to let our younger brothers and sisters, our children, and our grandchildren take the lead and put this country back on the path of enlightenment and progress. My gut tells me this is the way to go, but I still have some reservations. Is it too soon? Can Barak and Gen Y handle the inevitable republican backlash from our successes this year? Will we end up with a Clinton-Obama ticket and yet another family restoration rather than a path to the future?
at 1:20PM CST. You can listen here: Thom Hartmann
The show will be broadcast locally in the Twin Cities area at 6PM on 950AM.
Here’s a quick update since we haven’t posted in a while:
Wendy Wilde has made DVDs of her debate with sixteen year incumbent Jim Ramstad avalaible at Hennepin County Libraries. There are three avalaible at each library.
Wendy’s October 21st debate, sponsored by the League of Women Voters showcased Wendy’s command of the issues and her ability to articulate the need for a positive change for America’s middle class and working families.
The next debate is on Minnesota Public Radio’s Midday with Gary Eichten from 11AM – 11:30AM CST. From 4PM – 6PM that day she will be attending a forum on immigration at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
Wendy will also be attending several candidate forums in the evening and will be squaring off against Jim Ramstad at several local high schools during the day time.
Wendy has also been receiving a very strong reception at several interfaith forums she attended recently.
We’re very confident that Wendy will beat all expectations next Tuesday.
Wendy Wilde will be the first Democratic challenger in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District to do TV ads in almost twenty years!
But we need your help! A local supporter has pledged $250 for the first round of cable buys if people will match them.
I’d like to quadruple their pledge and accelerate the momentum we’ve been building over the past few weeks. I want to raise $1000 by Friday at 12 Noon. All money raised will go to put Wendy on cable TV. So make sure you mark donations with .01 cents so we can track them.
You can donate here: Mom’s Cookie Jar
Or
At Act Blue
See our You Tube Video here: Had Enough?
Read the Star Tribune’s Profile on Wendy that was Published Today