ADOPT A CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

The other day I woke up and Claire, someone I had never spoken to before but who cares a great deal about the direction our country has been going since Bush's usurpation of power, had donated $2,700 to the Blue America ActBlue page, spread out among 4 or 5 of our candidates. I e-mailed her a thank you and she responded by asking me to call her about an idea she had, which I did. We worked out her idea together, on the phone and in the course of a few e-mails.

I remember telling my friends how I feel exactly the same when someone contributes $5 or $1,000 to Blue America. I always assume that people donate what they can afford and they do it for the same reasons I do. It is very touching to me when I go down to the Blue America post office box and there's a $5.00 check from someone telling me they wish they could afford more after stretching their social security check to meet their basic needs. I feel so lucky to be in touch with these heroes.

But now it is the end of September and Claire pointed out that we barely have enough money in the Blue America PAC to be able to impact even one campaign, let alone the half dozen we had once hoped to. Happily some slack has been taken up by local bloggers and by some of the campaigns themselves using the materials we've made public. Still, I have to admit, the idea of going in with a week or two of ads and watching a few of our neck-and-neck candidates pull off an upset... well what a rush it would be! So... let's look at Claire's idea.

The basic premise is for progressives who live in safe Democratic districts in places like New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, San Francisco, etc to pick a district where a progressive Democrat is running a close race against a Republican incumbent. Through our Blue America PAC, we're permitted to collect as much as $5,000 per family member. All of the money collected will go to putting our targeted spots on the radio.

It's important to keep in mind that, although representatives are elected locally, the decisions they make affect us all. If the House Democrats pick up a net of just 15 seats they get to set the agenda and they get to name the committee chairmen. Out goes the human boil of corruption, Dennis Hastert, to be replaced by America's first woman Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. It's nearly as important as electing a president. Claire's proposal is for she and I to send letters to everyone we know who we think could afford to help us and urge them to adopt a congressional district. You could do the same.

I'm going to use Ohio's second congressional district, home of both the odious reactionary, Mean Jean Schmidt, and of the breathtaking progressive challenger, Doctor Victoria Wulson, as an example. Our Blue America band has customized "Have You Had Enough" for the race. Take a look at the video:



Jacquie, the Blue America media buyer, put together a very reasonable sample program that we think will go a long way towards helping to re-enforce Dr. Wulsin's positive message for change in some of the more rural and exurban parts of the sprawling district east of Cincinnati. For $5,000 we would wind up with 400 one-minute radio spots on 4 stations blanketing Pike, Scioto, Adams, Brown and Clermont counties, nearly the entire district. The plan includes 100 spots each on WNXT (Adult Contemporary and Gold), WPAY-AM (Talk), WPAY-FM (Country) and WRAC (Top 40 Country). [Note WPAY-AM is right wing talk radio and normally we wouldn't buy it but if you buy the FM they practically throw in the right wing talkers for free.]

Jacquie is working on designing similar $5,000 programs for most of the campaigns listed on our ActBlue Page. In effect, you can pick the district you're interested in, write a check, take up a collection among your friends, and possibly help the country by taking out a right wing rubber stamp and replacing him or her with a progressive challenger of integrity and vision. Try to imagine alternative energy expert Jerry McNerney replacing the worst polluter and one of the most egregiously corrupt people in the entire Congress, Dirty Dick Pombo. Or imagine replacing right wing fanatic John Kline with the extraordinary Time Magazine person of the year, Coleen Rowley. But don't stop there, John Laesch could replace Dennis Hastert, Robert Rodriguez could beat Buck McKeon... Larry Kissell replacing Robin Hayes will be great from North Carolina's 8th CD-- but a boon to anyone who believes in a bright and promising future for America. Take a look at the races and make a donation to the Blue America PAC or write a check and send it to Blue America PAC, P.O, Box 27201, Los Angeles, CA 90027. If you decide to adopt a district, send me a note at downwithtyranny@aol.com/


UPDATE: TIME TO THROW NANCY JOHNSON OUT

Last night I mentioned that Nancy Johnson didn't just vote for the doughnut hole, she was one of the 20 co-sponsors who forced this Big Pharma-written travesty down the throats of America's most vulnerable citizens. This alone should make everyone in northwestern Connecticut do everything they can to make sure Chris Murphy defeats her in November. The Enigmatic Paradox is taking the lead of collecting contributions to run the Blue America radio spots in CT-05.