All I know is months ago it was conventional wisdom in D.C. that the Democrats couldn't take the House, that candidates shouldn't talk about the war, and that the best way to try to win 15 seats was to throw all your money into about 18 of them, and hope for the best. In the end, that's not how it played out.

- Duncan Black, better known as Atrios, in November 2006.

Who boosted Howard Dean into the chairman's spot at the DNC, bringing his successful 50-state policy to fruition in last year's presidential race? The netroots did. And in 2006, who showed Rahm Emanuel that yes, we really could take control of Congress? We did.

Whose fundraising pushed the Democrats over the top in the 2008 Senate races? Ours did. Whose activist base drove the publicity, turnout and dollars in last year's presidential primaries and general election?

Duh.

So what have we accomplished? The war goes on and we've even expanded our presence in Afghanistan. The Bush-era encroachments on civil liberties have not only been embraced by a Democratic president, the Democratic Congress gives him their blessing. And with the goal of universal healthcare within tantalizing reach, we have Blue Dog Democrats - Democrats! trying to obstruct it.

Enough of kicking the Blue Dogs. What can we do to be more effective? Where did we go wrong?

Continue reading »

One of Blue America's earliest and most heartfelt successes came in 2006 when we helped Bruce Braley turn Iowa's first CD from red to blue. After a stellar first term, Bruce didn't need help being re-elected. His 64% win in November was the highest margin of any candidate in the state (including Senators Harkin and Obama!).

His success has been especially sweet because of the way his candidacy started out. You may recall that in 2005 Rahm Emanuel was running around the country sabotaging progressives and bullying anti-war candidates. He managed to ruin Democratic chances in district after district with his wrongheaded insistence that voters backed his own pro-war position in Iraq and that progressive candidates needed to soft-pedal their opposition to Bush's (and Emanuel's) agenda.

When Emanuel went to candidate Braley with that line Braley didn't buckle; he pushed back and pushed back hard. Emanuel backed down. "I wouldn't change who I am to run for office. I am running to be a strong voice for change and to speak out for people who don't have a voice in Washington," he told us at the time. "I met with Rahm several times and I convinced him that my positions are the mainstream positions in this district. He listened and he understood."

After his initial win, Congressman Braley caught our attention in 2007 when he took the lead on questioning Bush Regime hack/GSA head Lurita Doan and exposed the Regime's illegal use of government resources to target Democrats. (See the video up top.) Since then he's established a solidly progressive voting record in the House and has become a leader at the DCCC. Last cycle he was one of 3 co-chairs of the Red to Blue Program. In the 2010 cycle he is the sole Red to Blue Chair.

You can get a fuller picture of Congressman Braley's activities over at DownWithTyranny but before he joins us in the comments section here at Crooks and Liars, I want to emphasize one of the exchanges we had on the phone yesterday. When I recounted hard feelings in the netroots about how much money the DCCC spent on conservative Democrats like Bobby Bright and Parker Griffith, both of Alabama, who have already started crossing the aisle and voting with the Republicans on issues as basic as equality for women in the workplace, this was Rep. Braley's response:

I can't dispute that characterization. It's extremely frustrating to me. It doesn't seem like one of those defining issues that is going to be used against you to paint you as a tool of the Speaker, which is usually what happens in these races in the Deep South. It does seem like this is an issue that is a defining issue for Democratic voters and I would hope that Democrats in those districts in Alabama and around the country would make their feelings known to help educate these new members to the fact that just because you have received support in the past, to pick up an open seat, does not mean that you can ignore what your party stands for when it comes to basic tenets.

He also spoke about the intricacies of prioritizing races across the nation and says he would be delighted to have assistance from grassroots sources:

The challenge for us always is trying to weigh all of the objective data and balance that with subjective input we get and try to make informed decisions that are going to help us expand our majority. Sometimes it's more of an art than a science and that's why I would welcome input from the netroots early on and have that as part of an ongoing conversation as we move forward.

Now, please join us in the comments section and help us ask Rep. Braley about building a better Democratic Party and a better USA.

Earlier today Glenn Greenwald, The Seminal and DownWithTyranny did posts on accountability for members of Congress who buckle under to Bush's demands and compromise basic constitutional rights. Part of what makes America great and unique is that no one-- not a president, not a Congress, not a multinational corporation-- has the right to spy on Americans without a court warrant. After seeing the TV ads and newspaper ads Blue America is deploying to remind Chris Carney of his duty to protect the Constitution, we heard from a staffer in the office of one of the top House Democrats asking us to hold off a little because he felt Carney might come around on this issue. OK, we're reasonable; we'll wait-- a day or two.

Meanwhile we heard from Eric Massa, one of the strongest Democratic candidates anywhere when it comes to national security. He's running against Bush rubber stamp Randy Kuhl in western New York. You can rest assured that if he gets into Congress he won't be voting special extra-legal privileges for anyone. "If it were not tragic, it would be ironic that the Republican minority with it's habit of fear and smear politics is willing to grant corporate telecommunications companies immunity when they knowingly throw away the very principles of the Constitution that they are sworn to defend. I wore a uniform for 24 years to defend what makes this country great and anyone who acts to destroy our common values is no patriot." Take a look at the TV ad and if you're so inclined, you can donate to keeping it on the air here-- and to Eric Massa here.

   Today at 2PM, EST (11AM on the West Coast), New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich will be back at Firedoglake for another live blog session. We invited him back not just because he is one of the most proactive candidates on warrantless wiretaps and retroactive immunity but also because Bush is going to Albuquerque to raise money for Martin's extreme right wing opponent (former Bush-Cheney county chair, Darren White). With the Politico explaining last night how McCain is deploying Bush to rightist hot beds to raise money for his campaign without McCain being present, it is important to continue to make Bush toxic as a fundraiser the way we did when he flew in to help raise money for Dave Reichert against Darcy Burner.

Any assistance with out efforts to raise funds for Martin's campaign between now and the Darren White-Bush funder on May 27 would be much appreciated. An advance is up at DownWithTyranny now.

Today's Blue America candidate is Martin Heinrich and he's running for Congress in the open Albuquerque seat being deserted by Heather Wilson. He was the president of the City Council there and got a great deal accomplished, including making Albuquerque only the 4th city in the whole country with a minimum wage higher than the state or federal government. For many outside New Mexico, Martin was better known as a mechanical engineer who built a solar powered car and raced it across the country and, more recently, as the guy who was voted "hottest man in U.S. politics." (Now he has a solar powered home, in which he lives with his wife and two children.) Last Saturday he completely dominated the New Mexico pre-primary convention and today he'll be joining us for a 2 hour live blog session at Firedoglake at 11AM (PT), which is noon in New Mexico and 2PM on the East Coast. Last night Martin put this clip together for us:

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Blue America's Donna Edwards just won her primary against Al Wynn and now we're ready to see Jim Himes take it to Chris Shays in CT.

You've got to hand it to Chris (blogger rage) Shays and the Republicans on this one. They take a non-partisan issue, and turn it into a partisan defense of Roger Clemens and inflame one of NY's (and the nation's) biggest sports talk shows "Mike and the Mad Dog." Chris Russo lives in Shays district (voted for him once) and was so incensed by Crazy Shaysie's antics that he's going to help Jim Himes get elected.

Mad Dog: "Here's the thing about Shays. I'm gonna go out of my way in November. We're gonna get him the hell out of Connecticut. We're gonna get Himes in there."

This is great news for Himes because Mike & Mad Dog own drive time radio on the AM dial in the NY/CT area. Growing up in NY, I listened to the launch of WFAN and I try to watch them whenever I take a break from the blogging world during the day. (which isn't that often) If you live in the area and are a sports fan---give their show a call at 718-937-6666.

MyLeftNutmeg:

After hearing Shays refer to McNamee as a "drug dealer" and spewing out what can only be described as complete nonsense, WFAN's sports radio personality (and former Shays supporter) Chris "Mad Dog" Russo saw the light.

Via Public Campaign:

We, the undersigned, have added our names to this letter as online members of Public Campaign, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for and educates the public about comprehensive public financing of elections. We have joined together not in support of one candidate or another, but in defense of the bedrock American principle that all people should have a voice in politics regardless of their ability to make large donations to political candidates.

We believe campaign finance regulations ought to make it easier for small donors to participate and have their voices amplified in the presidential nominating process via matching funds. Draft Opinion 2007-31, before the FEC on Friday, December 14, 2007, does the opposite.

We oppose Draft Advisory Opinion 2007-31 because it would disqualify millions of dollars from tens of thousands of small donors from the presidential matching system only because they were donated through a website called ActBlue. In doing so, this proposed Advisory Opinion would codify an outdated regulation drafted and implemented before the Internet's political potential was widely understood, let alone what it has become today: a fundraising, organizing, and democratizing force in American politics.

You can read more and fill out the form here.

A couple of months ago when Bush flew to Seattle to do a fundraiser for rubber stamp hack Dave Reichert, the blogosphere dug deep and helped Darcy Burner out-raise Bush and Reichert. There's an analogy to be made with Nancy Pelosi headlining a fundraiser for one of these Blue Dog Democrats in Congress, Al Wynn. Wynn has no Republican challenger. Pelosi is going there to make sure Wynn can beat a brilliant, energetic and progressive real Democrat, Donna Edwards. If Donna Edwards were in Congress instead of Al Wynn, Maryland would have one of the nation's sharpest public policy minds at work for it. And America would have someone who understands what a progressive is and understands that the role of government is not just self-enrichment for officials. Down With Tyranny and OpenLeft both have long explanations. This video Donna's campaign sent C&L sums it up pretty well:

We have a special ActBlue page and we're trying to raise $100,000 by Saturday. Can you help?

Rep. Chris "Blogger Rage" Shays makes no sense, but that's not surprising. Read this quote and ask me WFT he means:

Shays, R-Conn., said he resents Democratic claims that he flip-flopped on his position from last year. The Democrats’ proposals to withdraw the military in April or fall 2008 are “partisan timelines,” Shays said. “I support having a timeline to get out of Iraq,” Shays said during a news conference at the Norwalk Inn. “What I’m hearing as criticism is because I voted against Democratic motions — then I’m against timelines. Let’s be very clear. I am against partisan Democratic timelines.”

Say, what? This is a seat that we actually have a chance at picking up and I'd love for Blue America to beat Shays total number of donations that he has received for his entire quarter. We need 108 total donors to pass Blogger Rage Shays. Please jump into the 5.00 Day and donate if you can.

We're in the process of trying to get rid of the Bush Dogs and Himes will get us one step closer to that goal.

his Iraq position....

How about helping out with a nice, little housewarming gift for Karl Rove?

We just had a great candidate on for Blue America who is running to replace John "Box Turtle" Cornyn as the next Senator of Texas. In case you missed him on Saturday, Rick Noriega had a fantastic chat with everyone at Blue America -- and it is well worth a read through the comments to see why Howie is so excited about his candidacy.

So, here's my idea: What do you say we all chip in a bit to help Rick do just that? And if you have a few extra bucks, feel free to check out our other fine Blue America candidates for the 2008 election. Because, really, a legacy of failure for Rove is a terrible thing to waste, isn't it? Rove himself said he's a good fundraising incentive for Democrats who think he's besmirched the government, and you know how I hate to disappoint Uncle Karl.

As Howie says, we need more and better Democrats in office. This is a great way to give some essential, early seed money support to some of the fantastic candidates we've found for Blue America -- and to be sure that the candidates running in these districts are true progressives, not sell-outs. Help us change America, one election at a time. Because what better way to celebrate Rove's legacy than working hard to elect better progressives to Congress so that they can shape the nation's agenda for years to come?

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DailyKos Founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga explains to guest host David Gregory on Meet The Press why the netroots movement signals the end of "business as usual" politicking for the Democratic party.

PoliticsTV has some glimpses of YearlyKos. Check your local C-Span listings for more coverage.

I like that my buddy Cliff is teaching his son the importance of the netroots at such a young age. :)

And Cenk Uygur of Air America on unbecoming a Republican

(Guest Blogged by Howie Klein)

Jim Himes is our Blue America candidate today. We're trying to help him overcome rubber stamp Republican incumbent Chris Shays in southwest Connecticut. He'll be live blogging at Firedoglake today at 2pm, EDT. But we also asked him some non-political questions that might help put him in some kind of context.

He's a huge blues fan; loves classic Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, Buddy Guy, more recently, Ben Harper. But the song he picked out for Crooks & Liars fans, his own all-time fave: Baby, What You Want Me to Do? by Etta James. Two of his favorite authors are Wallace Stegner (Angle of Repose and Crossing to Safety) and Mark Helprin (novel only-- like Winter's Tale and Refiner's Fire). Right now he's reading Drew Westen's book, The Political Brain, the premise of which is that we make our political decisions with our hearts more than our brains. Since starting to campaign, Jim hasn't had a lot of time for TV but he is a huge Jon Stewart fan-- watched The Daily Show every night-- and a West Wing fanatic too. Don't forget to come over and meet him today at FDL and if you'd like to see a progressive Democrat who opposes the occupation of Iraq representing CT-04 instead of a classic Republican WINO, here's your chance to make a difference.

It's becoming increasingly painful to watch this man's slow descent into insanity, but hey, it's my job...

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Never one to let go of a bone, Billo continues his ridiculous gnawing on DailyKos, and its offshoot convention, YearlyKos. O'Reilly's "memo" for the night counsels all the Democratic presidential candidates against attending YearlyKos, lest they be tainted by association of a site that "traffics in hate." Hillary Clinton's Communication Director Howard Wolfson does a yeoman's job of trying to pierce through Bill's insanity and attempt to inject a little rationality in the subject, but you know Bill is not going to let Howard have the last word.

WOLFSON: "The days where you can dictate where Senator Clinton and other Democrats go, who we talk to, are over."

Did we have those days to begin with?

Peter Daou responds (at DailyKos, *gasp!*) as well..

UPDATE: Cenk of The Young Turks thinks that it's time to label Fox News what it actually is: Fox Opinion...and he has a poll up in which he invites you all to participate:

Should institutions like Yearly Kos, the Democratic National Convention, and Democratic presidential campaigns give Fox "opinion media" credentials instead of the classic media credentials?

 Go vote and let's get honest about what Fox really is.