A Personal Appeal: primaries that I care about

I hate fundraising. I really do. But sometimes I get so angry that I feel I need to do things I don't like for the greater good.

Two things have triggered my desire to help out two specific candidates in Democratic primaries for 2008: 1. he inability of the Democrats to really stand up to Bush even with a House majority (and yes, I know part of this is because we DON'T have a Senate majority) and 2. a local fiasco imposed on Brooklyn by our local, rather corrupt Democratic Party.

We have, overall, a pretty good Democratic Party nationally. I like a lot of our new Congressional reps. They have been active, engaged with the voters and generally quite progressive. But there are still enough spineless Democrats around that we still can't get stuff done. Sometimes we need to fight fights within the Democratic party.

This came most into focus when my local, pretty unsavory Democratic Party decided they wanted to get someone off their backs, so they pushed him through a low turnout judicial election to make him a Civil Court judge. Problem is, the person they made a judge is a known homophobe and was rated as unqualified by the NY Bar Assn. In fact, there is no evidence he ever practiced law. You can read about this disgusting fiasco here. But now, the same group of corrupt politicians is trying to push aside a friend of mine to force their own candidate (one of those who supported the homophobe for judge) into Congress.

In 2006, a friend, Steve Harrison, ran against a Bush Republican for the NY-13 seat. He was outspend 10:1 and got no help from the DCCC because they thought it was unwinnable. Steve lost, but he did get 43% of the vote. Even the DCCC was impressed and was quoted as saying "Steve Harrison proved to us that this seat is winnable." Steve is trying again. This time he is starting early and has the DCCC considering helping him out. The only thing that could ruin this is having to squander resources in a Democratic Primary. That would almost certainly save the skin of the Republican. Steve is a great guy and is about as strongly against the Iraq war as you can get. He believes the sooner we can get out, the better. We need him in Washington!

Well, one of those who endorsed the homophobe for judge, Dominic Recchia, is running against Steve in the primary. The local, corrupt machine is backing Recchia, meaning Steve is now suddenly the underdog yet again.

You can read a quote from the NY Times endorsement of Steve in 2006.

You can read my own impression of Steve from 2006.

I am asking for some help getting two good Democrats running in tough primaries elected. I have reason to hope. Why? Because not too long ago I helped out a progressive Democrat running against a well-financed Insurance Company Shill incumbent for the Democratic nomination for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner just a month or so ago. The progressive underdog won! I am hoping that we can do this two more times in 2008 (at least!).

I have put together an Act Blue page highlighting Democratic primaries. So far I have two races on it. Steve Harrison's run for NY-13 and Mike Pera's run in IL-3. Steve's situation is that of an honest, down-to-earth guy running against a corrupt party hack....who then has to face a Bush Republican. Pera's situation is going up against an incumbent Democrat who is anti-choice, anti-stem cell research and pro-Iraq war. If we want to improve our Democratic Party and better fight the Republicans, these two primaries are very key. Please visit my new Act Blue site, read what I have to say about each candidate, and PLEASE give a donation. Early money can make all the difference. Enough early money could even head off Recchia's challenge in the NY-13 race, since corrupt though the local machine is, they are practical and know when to let a fight go. I appreciate any help you can give and if you know anyone else who wants to strengthen the spine of the Democratic Party, please suggest to them that these two primaries are a good place to start.

Thanks