Bumped - Todd

(Originally posted at Swing State Project)
Democracy for America today announced their endorsement of Oklahoma State Sen. Andrew Rice in his campaign for U.S. Senate.

From DFA's website:

We can make this Sen. Inhofe's last year in office.

Andrew Rice has a proven record in the Oklahoma Legislature having worked on issues like health care, veteran's rights, and the environment.  Andrew will bring his experience to Washington to fight to end the War in Iraq, provide access to health care for all Americans, and solve the crisis of global warming.

(more below)

Vote Roy Carter on www.democracyforamerica.com/gras

Far too often Washington politicians use fear and divisiveness to distract the electorate and avoid talking about the real issues. In this critical election, I believe the American people will discover more that unites rather than divides our communities. A single mother living in a rural community and a college student in a small town are united by their struggle to afford a quality education. A factory worker and a small business owner share the same concern about the outrageously high cost of healthcare. I am running for Congress in the North Carolina 5th District and, when elected, I will work to bring our district and our country together while we tackle the tough issues.  I will always be truthful about where I stand.

The Roy Carter for Congress campaign slogan, "People Above Politics," is not just a marketing phrase. It is a principle that has guided my life and a belief that drives my passion for public service. I believe that the measure of a good member of Congress must be more than just an accounting of votes cast. What matters most is what those votes stand for and whether or not they were used to better the lives of people.

more than 80 people showed up on sunday for democracy for america's GOTV rally for mark pera.  the room itself was set up for half that, and the crowd overflowed into connie's pizza.  jim dean flew in from the east coast to go door-to-door with pera, urging democrats to vote for pera in illinois' 3rd congressional district.

you can also download this video for your ipod, etc here.

There's a stiff competition raging at the Democracy for America website -- they've nominated almost 100 candidates to compete for the title of DFA Grassroots All-Star Congressional. My boss, Chellie Pingree, is truly a grassroots all-star, as campaign volunteer and long-time DFA organizer Alison Smith of Portland so aptly describes below. Her opinion is echoed by John Nichols in this week's post in The Nation, as he describes Chellie as part of "a trend that has seen veteran social activists drawn into politics by their frustration with extreme Republicans and cautious Democrats."

You can vote for Chellie here: http://democracyforamerica.com/gras

Democracy for America, the successor organization to Howard Dean's amazing grassroots presidential campaign, is having a contest to name a Grassroots All-Star for 2008. Many terrific congressional candidates from all around the country have been nominated, and the competition is fierce! Much more than a mere online poll, the winner of this contest will have the benefit of DFA's nationwide network of deeply committed progressive activists.

Maine's Chellie Pingree is exactly the kind of person we all think of when we wish that good people would run for office. That's why I voted for her in the DFA competition. More importantly, she is exactly what the Democratic party needs to strengthen its progressive backbone... especially in the United States Congress.

Before Chellie entered politics, she was a mom, an organic farmer and a small business owner, but most importantly, Chellie was an engaged citizen. Her first forays into the political world - running for tax assessor and for the school committee - sprang directly from her involvement in her community.

Whenever Chellie gets involved with something, she ends up leading. She won a seat on the school committee and wound up chairing it. She later won a seat in the State Senate and wound up as Majority Leader. (cont.)

Democracy for America's 2008 Grassroots All-Stars vote is underway and we have a chance to use the voting to push for a endorsement of progressive Democrats running in tough primaries. Specifically Ed Fallon.

Ed is a progressive Democrat running against Bush Dog Leonard Boswell. Ed ran for governor in 2006 and won the district in the primary. We have done great work for Mark Pera and Donna Edwards campaigns against Bush Dogs. Now with a extra netroots boost Fallon can beat another Bush Dog!

154,391 voters participated in the Democracy for America online poll for the Democratic presidential nomination.  Double votes were screened out, and full results are available here:

http://DemocracyforAmerica.com/pulsepoll /results

What makes this signifigant is not having Dennis Kucinich at 32%, Al Gore at 25%, and Hillary Clinton at 4%.  Those results indicate that the DFA respondents have very little in common with the overall voting public, despite the impressive number of respondents.  However, this poll did feature second and third choices, and that's where this poll gains great importance, especially vis a vis the Iowa caucuses.

When Gore (38,242 ttal votes) is eliminated, John Edwards is the main beneficiary, with 30% of the Gore faction shifting to JRE.  Barack Obama gets 18%, Kucinich gets 15%, and Clinton receives 14%.  The remaining candidates receive single digit support.  If Edwards (24,078 total votes) is eliminated (Gore is eliminated for the remainder of this summation), Obama gets 27% of his votes, followed by Kucinich at 20% and Clinton at 17%.  An Obama (21,403 total votes) departure would give Edwards 37% of the Illinois Senator's support, with Clinton at 26% and Kucinich at 11%.  Finally, when Kucinich (49,364 total votes) is eliminated (and some semblance of reality restored) Edwards gets 32% of those votes, followed by Obama 17.5%, Bill Richardson at 9%, and Clinton at 7%.  

For the record, Hillary Clinton received 6,504 votes; I did not check on the second choices for her supporters, but it should be easy enough to do via the link.  Indeed, any manner of fun permutations can be generated, and state by state results are also available.  In closing, this poll is a very good indicator of the mindset of Edwards and Obama supporters at this time, and it does not augur particluarly well for Clinton in any scenario where second choices are a factor.

   

I promise not to deluge anyone with just Rick Noriega stories now that I'm back in Texas supporting his campaign, but I really do want to talk about this. I'm a Democracy for Texas steering committee member which is why I'm additionally excited.

Democracy for America, the 700,000 person national progressive membership organization that was born out of Howard Dean's campaign, is doing something very big that affects Texas. They've put out the call, asking if DFA as a national organization should endorse Rick Noriega and make him their first Senate endorsement for 2008. That's huge- and it's totally possible.

Go here: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/suppo rtrick

As you may remember, Democracy for Texas endorsed Noriega in September after polling their membership which came back with a stunning 86% saying- YES. It was the first time DFT had ever endorsed a candidate as an organization and they are supporting the effort for DFA to endorse as well.

Getting DFA to endorse would be huge- not only for Rick Noriega, but also for Texas as it would help put an already exciting race on the national map. That would be key given that President Bush is coming to Texas next week to raise for Cornyn (and Cheney who was here yesterday).

In March of this year, Democracy for America conducted its first pulse poll.  Not surprisingly, Obama and Edwards split the vote, each finishing in the upper 20s.  Who came in third place, however, was the most interesting result of the poll - "Other" finished ahead of the likes of Hillary, Richardson, and Kucinich with 12.4%.  The vast majority of those votes I'm told were for Al Gore, but we all know that number is not a true representation of how many DFA members support a Gore candidacy, so Draft Gore organizers have started a petition to get him listed on the poll ballot alongside the other candidates.

In December of 2003, Al endorsed DFA favorite (and brother of DFAs Jim Dean) Howard Dean for President.  Especially since then, Gore has risen within the progressive community and many have hoped he'll decide to jump into the '08 race, especially with Hillary running away in the polls.  Al Gore has not ruled out a Presidential run and has specifically said that he probably wont under the current circumstances.  When asked under what circumstances he'd run, he replies something to the effect of "I don't know, but I'll know it when I see it."

Folks, it is August of 2007, and in my case, seven months before my state's primary.  Contrary to popular belief here on this site, you do not need to be supporting a candidate as of right now.  Why settle for 2nd best before the most qualified candidate has yet to make up his mind?  Gore has proven himself to be the most visionary leader in the field, was the first candidate right about Iraq, and has single handedly made global warming a national issue and legislative priority.

Including Gore in the DFA poll is but one step in "changing the circumstances."  It's about a much larger project to create a groundswell of support, both on the ground and on the 'net, so that it will be hard for Al to deny us a run.  Ballot drives are being conducted all across the country, including in New Hampshire where polls have shown he would win if he were on the ballot.

So sign the petition and let DFA know that you want to see the your candidate, the best candidate, included in their next pulse poll later this summer.

Please Sign!