NOW IS THE TIME-- RIGHT NOW-- THAT YOU CAN STRIKE A BLOW FOR THE KIND OF GOOD GOVERNMENT YOU YEARN FOR

I spent a couple minutes on the phone today with Donna Edwards. She wanted to thank me for helping with the fundraising job. I wanted to thank her for being an inspiration and a model for citizen participation. Today, as Nancy Pelosi came into her district to raise money from corrupt lobbyists on behalf on Al Wynn, Donna visited Firedoglake, Daily Kos, and AmericaBlog. So there was Pelosi, hangin' out with the criminal element that pollutes our democratic system and there was Donna, taking questions from regular American citizens worried about things like health care, the war in Iraq, Social Security, bankruptcy, wiretapping-- all things we expected a Democratic Congress to work on, only to find out that they are nearly as corrupt and compromised as the Republicans they replaced. Madam Off the Table will be followed into MD-04 by the Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. He may not be Tom DeLay (his boss Rahm Emanuel is) but K Street loves him just as much as they loved DeLay.

If we're ever going to get our country back, it isn't only the corrupt, self-serving Republicans we need to overcome, but also the corrupt self-serving Insider Democrats. Al Wynn, with a record that should make any progressive weep, is a good surrogate-- for now-- for the head crooks, the Emanuels and Hoyers. And although the worst of the Insider Democratic parasites are joining Hoyer and Pelosi in trying to shore up Wynn-- like AFSCME and HRC-- others have taken a good look at the snake oil the Insiders are offering and have backed away in disgust. Emily's List is endorsing Donna next week. I hear rumors that SEIU will do likewise. The Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, Friends of the Earth, Democracy for America, and National Organization of Women have and Progressive Maryland thumbed its nose at the Insiders' Club to come out for Donna within hours of Pelosi's ill-advised Wynn fundraiser.

Speaking to grassroots, idealistic activists, like Donna, as well as John Laesch, Darcy Burner, Dennis Shulman, Sam Bennett, Andrew Rice, Victoria Wulsin, Ron Shepston gives me hope for our country, hope that we can overcome the decadent corruption in the political system and put the welfare of ordinary Americans before the welfare of powerful special interests. Please take a couple of minutes and watch this video ValleyGirl put together from a 2006 debate between Al Wynn and Donna Edwards. The difference between the two candidates is pronounced and it is interesting to watch Steny Hoyer's body language as he moderated. He seems appalled at Donna's truth-telling and vigor and very much at ease with Wynn's obfuscating and bloviating. Al Wynn and Steny Hoyer are cut from the same political cloth. We'll never get our country back until they're both gone. Watch the video and then go to this page. Look what we raised for Donna in the last 3 days. With our partners at the other blogs and at Color of Change we're fast approaching our goal of $100,000. Help us get there.




UPDATE: CHANGE MEANS MORE THAN JUST TAKING POWER FROM HORRIBLE REPUBLICANS AND GIVING IT TO SLIGHTLY LESS HORRIBLE DEMOCRATS

According to a front page story in this morning's Washington Post Americans are deeply pessimistic and eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of President Bush, The polling data is devastating for Republicans. "Just 24 percent think the nation is on the right track, and three-quarters said they want the next president to chart a course that is different than that pursued by Bush. Overwhelmingly, Democrats want a new direction, but so do three-quarters of independents and even half of Republicans. Sixty percent of all Americans said they feel strongly that such a change is needed after two terms of the Bush presidency."

Many of the leaders of the Democrats in Congress have been Bush enablers and continue to be Bush enablers. Rahm Emanuel and his lap dog Steny Hoyer have effective control over the House Democratic caucus and can force Nancy Pelosi to dance to any tune they play, the way she did yesterday in Maryland. Emanuel and Hoyer have guaranteed that the Democratic takeover of the Congress last year would not mean a break in Bush's policies in the Middle East, which both support. And their idea of "change" is that graft and corruption flow in their direction instead of Republicans' direction. Americans have to be a lot more careful when it comes time to vote. Voting for someone because they have a "D" next to their name doesn't mean they are voting for real change. True, there is not one-- not one-- Republican in either House of Congress worthy of re-election. But the only way to make sure we are voting for change is to challenge corrupt and reactionary Democrats in primaries and elect the good guys and defeat the bad guys.

I wish we were in a position to challenge people like Hoyer and Emanuel directly. Maybe next year. Now we need to pick our districts and races carefully and defeat their puppets. That's why Donna Edwards' race is so very crucial. Wynn is the worst kind of lackey you'll find in Congress-- and Hoyer owns his ass. And, fortunately, as bad as he is, that's how excellent Donna is. It should be a slam dunk. I wish I could say the same thing about races to unseat reactionary Democrats around the country. But I can't. In the vast majority of districts there is either no primary challenge or no credible primary challenge.

The Democrats with the absolute worst voting records in the House, those who vote most frequently with the Republicans for their agenda of endless war and special interests-- John Barrow (GA), Gene Taylor (MS), Jim Marshall (GA), Nick Lampson (TX), Heath Shuler (NC), Jason Altmire (PA), Dan Boren (OK), JoeDonnellyBradEllsworthBaronHill (IN), Jim Matheson (UT), and Chris Carney (PA)-- don't have challengers. (Actually Marshall and Hill, with their anti-SCHIP and pro-war votes have inspired grassroots challengers and we'll watch and see how those develop.)

Aside from Donna's primary, there are 4 we are trying to help with. First we need to back up freshman Steve Cohen in Memphis, a true progressive with a stellar voting record who is being challenged from the right with the help of the most corrupt and venal elements of the insider Democratic Party. There are also 3 important primaries in Illinois we're looking at. John Laesch's fight for the seat being abandoned by Denny Hastert features a classic Republican-lite Blue Dog running against the progressive, grassroots Laesch (Emanuel's Bill Foster). And there are two challenges to incumbent Bush Dogs-- Mark Pera's race against Dan Lipinski and Randi Scheuer's challenge to Melissa Bean. Emanuel is working behind the scenes to guarantee the re-election of the two Democrats who often vote with the GOP On key issues (like Iraq) and to make sure that Blue Dog Foster gets the party nod over Laesch. The Blue America ActBlue page is a convenient "one-stop-shopping" site where you can contribute to all 5 races with one click of the mouse.