Progressive Democrat Issue 153

Well, the primaries are in full swing. And the infighting that implies is also in full swing. In the past 2 weeks, I have been called a bigot because I endorsed Barack Obama, I have been called a DINO because I am eager to support either Obama or Clinton in the general election, I have been called hypocritical because I opposed a petty, probably illegal, definitely stupid action by my local Democratic Party leader, Vito Lopez, and I have been called, I quote, a "naive ignorant relativist" because I disagreed with people who claimed that Islam is inherantly a violent, unacceptable belief system.

Ah, the circular firing squad continues.

Well, as always when I am harshly criticized for what I write, I look back at what I write to see what kind of horrible mistake I have made. And, as is usually, though not always, the case, I find I stand by my words.

Meanwhile, in almost every state record voter turnout in the primaries for the Democrats is the norm, while the Republians are hurting. Even in states like Idaho, South Carolina and Kansas Democratic turnout is at record highs while Republican turnout is average or low. People are ENTHUSIASTIC about the Democratic Candidates and uninspired by the Repubs.

Which brings us to McCain. McCain is clearly going to be the Republican nominee. I predicted, in pretty certain language, that it was going to be Huckabee. Well, techincally it could still happen, but I am willing to admit I was wrong about that one! So it is McCain. And ironically, as I discuss below, McCain is offering America NOTHING but more of what Bush gave us. McCain is nothing more than a continuation of Bush's failed agenda. And America is sick and tired of that. McCain once was a right wing extremist who at least had some brains and an independent streak. Now he is a right wing extremist who has embraced the Bush agenda whole heartedly even as that very agenda is receiving record low approval ratings.

Obama and Clinton are both far, far better than the warmed over Bush agenda offered by McCain. It is time, even though the primary is not yet over, for us to come together to defeat the Bush agenda. I have an Act Blue site for donations to the Democratic Presidential candidate, whether it is Obama or Hillary. I have vowed to donate $10 for every 5 people who donate $5 or more to this site. For those who are dissatisfied with the Dems right about now, and want to support a more progressive agenda, I make the same offer for this Act Blue Site which covers a wide variety of progressive organizations across the country. Donate to either and I might match it.

I also should note that one candidate I was pushing heavily for, Mark Pera (IL-3), lost badly. When you are supporting a grassroots insurgent against an incumbent who is wallowing in corporate money, you know you might lose. But Pera only got 20%, which I think is much less than people expected. Daily Kos was pushing heavily for him. NOW and NARAL and Planned Parenthood were pushing for him. Yet he only got 20% of the vote. Often I can pinpoint what went wrong in a campaign. This time it isn't clear. Money still dominates...and corporations and corporate interests dominate the money game. Some use this to claim voting is useless and the entire system is broken so why bother. Of course, I reject that line of arguement for two reasons. First off, that is EXACTLY what the corporate interests want us to think. If we think we are defeated before we begin, they win. I don't give up that easily. Second, there is evidence that the grassroots are slowly growing in strength. On CurrentTV I heard an interesting statistic. They had a list of the top five corporate donors to the Presidential candidates. Numbers 5-2 were all financial institutions like Meryl Lynch and the like. But number one was ActBlue. That is the site through which most grassroots fundraising is done. That means, top of the list if corporate donors is in reality a whole bunch of small, grassroots donors like you and me adding up to number one. I find that very encouraging, even if it is still hard for us to win on our own. We are becoming a real force, and it shows. Howard Dean is the head of the DNC. ActBlue, which really means a horde of small donors, is number one in corporate donations to presidential candidates. Most of the freshmen Congressional Reps were elected largley because of the grassroots, and they have, on average, been far more progressive than most Congressional Reps. But we still have a long way to go.

Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE REAL McCAIN: Bush's Third Term

A BIOFUEL PROPOSAL: Making Alternatives Work

ALASKA MEETS NYC: Diane Benson (AK candidate for Congress) in NYC

FLORIDA FOCUS: Christine Jennings, Peace Rallies, Groups and Events

NY STATE FOCUS: Darwin Day, Groups and Events

CALIFORNIA FOCUS: Darwin Day, Charlie Brown, Groups and Events

TEXAS FOCUS: Darwin Day, Rick Noriega, Groups and Events

NEW JERSEY FOCUS: Darwin Day, Blue Jersey Radio, Groups and Events

VIRGINIA FOCUS: Darwin Day, Impeachment, Groups and Events

ARIZONA FOCUS: Darwin Day, Groups and Events

NORTH CAROLINA: Darwin Day, Groups and Events

IOWA FOCUS: Darwin Day, Alternative Energy, Groups and Events

WISCONSIN FOCUS: Bye Bye Bush Bash, Groups and Events

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS: Darwin Day, Groups and Events