ANOTHER DISTRICT THE DCCC IS IGNORING THAT SHOULD BE IN PLAY THIS YEAR: MICHIGAN'S 6TH CD, WHERE KIM CLARK CAN BEAT BUSH RUBBER STAMP FRED UPTON

I ended Fear and Smear, Part II (below) with a plea that everyone read Kevin Tillman's letter and send it to everyone they know who is still considering voting for a Republican for anything anywhere. I haven't seen any polls but I'll bet that Michigan's southwest corner, the 6th CD including everything from Kalamazoo to Lake Michigan, has lots of people ready to vote for Republicans. Fred Upton's congressional district isn't on anyone's target list. It should be. He's a classic Bush rubber stamp with a terrible voting record that savages the interests of his constituents in order to better serve the interests of the Big Oil and Big Pharma bribers who generously finance his political career.

His progressive opponent, Kim Clark, is a first time candidate, a successful small businessman, writer and community organizer. Kim believes strongly in the core progressive platform, including universal health care, clean energy and a rational response to global climate change, equal civil rights for all, good jobs with living wages, publicly funded elections, fiscal responsibility, and open, honest accountable government and elections. He supports the repeal of No Child Left Behind and opposes private school vouchers. Clark supports the immediate end to the American occupation of Iraq.

Upton is chairman of the House subcommittee on Telecommunications. He is the Bush-Cheney point man in the House on the effort to end net neutrality and give corporate giants control of the functionality of the Internet. He supports the notion that Iraq is the center of the War on Terror and that the U.S. should pursue that war indefinitely. He went into action after Janet Jackson exposed her breast for two seconds on TV, while in the meantime, he is the man responsible for holding up a bill that turns bandwidth over to our first responders so they can communicate with one another during an emergency such as Katrina or 9/11. The bandwidth in question is currently enjoyed by Upton’s corporate supporters. He votes with George Bush and the Republican majority nearly 90% of the time.

The Sixth District race has been very balanced in the last four presidential elections-- Bush beating Gore by 52% and Kerry by 53%-- and now in 2006, Upton finds himself in a real race against a very charismatic opponent, unknown outside the district, Kim Clark. The Clark campaign has painted "Had Enough?" on the side of it’s campaign bus, has filled it with bio diesel, plays the Blue America theme song everywhere it goes, and has organized rallies to greet the bus as it drives through the 6th CD. Clark soundly defeated Upton in two debates, and his TV spots begin next week. Although the DCCC doesn't seem to be aware of any, there are good reasons to believe that Michigan's Sixth District will be part of the progressive landslide of 2006. Kim can use some help from the grassroots to make up for the studied indifference from Inside the Beltway, where gay candidates opposing corporate money in politics and wanting to pull the country out of Iraq are not embraced by the Rahm Emanuels of the Democratic Party. Let's give Kim a hand here.

Our Blue America team just customized the song and video to remind people in southwest Michigan that it's time to throw Fred Upton out and replace him with someone who will represent their interests, Kim Clark.