Progressive Democrat Issue 216

Obama's nomination of Sotomayor and the court decision in California regarding the Hate Amendment are big news this week. I address the Sotomayor nomination directly, and I address Prop 8 in some of my local pages.

Recently my coverage of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania primaries got a large amount of readership. I am not covering Virginia's primary as much not because I don't care as much about it (I care MORE about it and have been covering Virginia closely since 2004). But I have largely remained neutral in the Virginia primary, and Progressive Majority (one of my main sources) has not focused on Virginia, so I am staying low key on Virginia for now. But I have covered the race to some degree, gave my personal liking for Moran for Governor, but also covered extensively the many people coming out for Deeds. This has made me enthusiastic for EITHER Moran OR Deeds. So those are my recommendations for June 9.

I also have some personal appeals.

First, for my Virginia readers: VOTE on June 9...I urge a vote for Deeds or Moran, but whatever your inclination, learn about all the candidates and VOTE.

For all my Brooklyn, NY readers, I want to emphasize the close races in Brooklyn that need our attention. More than ANYTHING else, I urge my Brooklyn readers to team up with the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) to help them elect their slate of candidates. This year I am seeing some formerly reform and progressive organizations (like IND and WFP) sell out completely. So CBID is our best bet for real progressive reform in Brooklyn. So I am urging all my Brooklyn readers to help them out. This is one of the most important things you can do this year. JOIN CBID. They do a great job! And volunteer to help petition for their endorsed candidate (who I endorse as well and who are among the best running in the city this year). To help petition, please contact: prez@cbidems.org

Every hour of effort my Brooklyn readers can give to CBID this year between now and election day, the greater impact we can have on reform politics in Brooklyn. So please give them at least a few hours of your time. Your help can make a HUGE difference in local politics.

AND A PLEA FOR MY NYC READERS: once again, like I urge my Brooklyn readers to join/volunteer with the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats to help effect change in NYC, I want to strongly urge my NYC readers outside Brooklyn to help the efforts of Democracy for NYC. I also agree with their endorsed candidates and hope that my readers can help donate to their efforts and/or help them petition and campaign for some of the best candidates in NYC. Contact: info@dfnyc.org for more info. Please help out. Your help can really make my life in local politics so much easier and rewarding. Then I probably would have more time to focus on races across the country in 2010 rather than remaining bogged down in local politics.

And a PLEA FOR MY READERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY:

If any of my readers out there want to help reform Democratic politics in NYC, I ask for your help in supporting the following four candidates. If you can help, it would be GREATLY appreciated. All four have a tough battle against sleazy people to win the primary. These races are all REALLY important to me, so I really hope you can help.

Josh Skaller: a good friend of mine running for City Council. Josh is a strong environmentalist and has worked on the local Howard Dean and Barack Obama campaigns. His main opponents are heavily supported by corporate interests. One of them is anti-Israel, and the other is anti-choice. Skaller, despite not taking any corporate donations, is doing well in fundraising and can be considered one of the two frontrunners in the race. I will be working very hard for Josh, and I hope some of my readers will send him some money to help us along.

Norman Siegel: another friend, this time running for the citywide office of Public Advocate. With 40 years of impressive civil rights legal work under his belt, including as a former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Norm is an ideal candidate for Public Advocate. Of course most of his opponents are corporate funded because corporations want a Corporate Advocate, not a Public Advocate. Norm is so scrupulous I once heard him turn down a ride from another candidate because it would require he report it as an in kind donation! That is an almost unheard of level of integrity. You can read about his long record of public advocacy on his website. I think you will agree he is one of the best candidates to come around in a long time and deserving of our support. If you can help out, please give a contribution.

John Liu: John Liu is running for Comptroller, the position that keeps track of the city's money. He is one of only two candidates in the race who actually has accounting and regulatory experience. The other two candidates (including that shady David Yassky I mentioned earlier) have no monetary experience whatsoever and are merely developer-supported shills. If Liu wins he will be the first Asian-American to win citywide office in NYC. This has generated some excitement, including from Asian-American politicians like Mike Honda from California, who has endorsed him. I have met Liu a few times and, in fact, was the very first person to officially endorse him for Comptroller. I think both John Liu and David Weprin (the other candidate in the race who has accounting/regulatory experience) would be good Comptrollers. I chose Liu because he is the more progressive of the two and the more dynamic candidate. Please help us elect a progressive, qualified Comptroller and elect the first Asian-American to win citywide office in NYC.

Finally, I want to mention another friend running for City Council, this time in my own district: Jo Anne Simon. Jo Anne is nationally known as an advocate for the disabled. Her main opponent is a developer-supported protege of the local corrupt Party Boss, so Jo Anne is our best shot at preventing a takeover of the district by the local machine. Which is a constant battle reformers like joy and I have here in Brooklyn. Please help us keep corruption at bay in NYC.

If you can choose one or two of these candidates to support, it would be GREATLY appreciated. These candidates have a real chance, but only if local readers volunteer and national readers can donate even a small amount.

I also want to recognize the large readership I have in Mountain View, California and Atlanta, Georgia. PLEASE contact me by email or in comments on this blog to let me know how I can help YOUR efforts in YOUR local community. Outside of NYC Mountain View, CA and Atlanta, GA are the main areas I have readers. Texas too, but not yet sure if there is a particular area of Texas. So TALK TO ME. I want to help your needs.

Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Reactions to Sotomayor Nomination

Burma Action: Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Brooklyn, NY Focus

Queens, NY Focus

Bronx, NY Focus

Rochester, NY Focus

NEW YORK STATE FOCUS

Silicon Valley, CA Focus

Orange County, CA Focus

San Diego, CA Focus

CALIFORNIA FOCUS

Georgia Wind Power

GEORGIA FOCUS

NJ-5: Retire Garrett

June 6-7: Newark, NJ Democracy for America Campaign Training

NEW JERSEY FOCUS

Houston/Harris County, TX Focus

Austin/Travis County, TX Focus

Dallas County, TX Focus

TEXAS FOCUS

Virginia Congressman Tom Perriello

VIRGINIA FOCUS

Progressive Wins in Pennsylvania

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS

M Powering Madison, WI

WISCONSIN FOCUS

COLORADO FOCUS

ARIZONA FOCUS

ILLINOIS FOCUS

WASHINGTON FOCUS

FLORIDA FOCUS

MICHIGAN FOCUS

June 6-7: Charlotte Democracy for America Campaign Training

June 5: Boone, NC: Photovoltaics with Sharp Solar

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS

NEVADA FOCUS

IOWA FOCUS