FEBRUARY IS ALMOST HERE-- AND IT CAN BE THE FIRST BIG BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR FOR PROGRESSIVES

Earlier today we mentioned how Noam Chomsky had endorsed John Laesch for Congress. I cross-posted that at FDL and we had a lively discussion in their comments section. We had a few hundred dollars worth of small donations for John's campaign, especially when I finally explained why I think John's race is the most important upcoming primary.

Meanwhile, John Laesch would immediately seek to make the Progressive Caucus in Congress into a powerhouse with some real clout. If he’s elected, he’ll change the dynamics in Congress like NO OTHER FRESHMAN EVER HAS

That said, there are other crucial races in February-- and I'm not talking about the presidential primaries, where any of the Democrats are so superior to all of the pathetic pygmies that the disappoints many of us feel about Hillary and Obama are nearly irrelevant in comparison. Instead I'm talking about congressional primaries, where we really can make a difference. Aside from John Laesch, we have to keep Donna Edwards in mind and also Mark Pera.

Last night Pera made mincemeat out of his hapless reactionary opponent, Dan Lipinski, at a League of Women Voters debate. Lipinksi showed up 20 minutes late and was ill-prepared and made a fool out of himself, unable to answer questions of fact and unaware that with the Internet people would be cognizant of his actual votes and be able to point out the specifics of his lies and his attempts to make believe he votes with Democrats instead of with Bush. He didn't get away with anything and couldn't wait to run away and hide afterwards.

Today Markos at Daily Kos and Jane at FDL launched a campaign to encourage 5,000 new donors to give whatever they feel comfortable giving to Marks' campaign. You can do that right here. Jane thinks that between FDL, Digby, Crooks & Liars and DWT we should be able to bring our total number of donors up to 300 from 170 by the end of the week. Considering that Lipinski has been a loud, shrill voice in favor of the war and against woman's choice and against stem cell research, I hope we can shoot right past Jane's expectations.

But that's not all. MoveOn and the SEIU are calling on all progressives to pony up for Donna Edwards in her race against corrupt Insider hack Al Wynn. Here's the letter MoveOn sent out today:

We just got the message below from Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees union (SEIU). He asked us to pass it on to you-- it's an all-hands-on-deck moment for progressives.

The Democratic primary election in Maryland's 4th congressional district is being watched closely by other Democrats who are wondering if they'll be held accountable for cozying up to corporate lobbyists. We need to make sure the answer is a resounding "yes!"

MoveOn members have already raised $100,000 to help progressive champion Donna Edwards, but the incumbent, right-wing Democrat Al Wynn, has special interest dollars pouring into his campaign. If we can raise $90,000 by Tuesday, we can put a fair-but-tough ad on the air that tells voters about Wynn's ties to oil companies and other special interests. Please help.

Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, weighed in for Donna too:

"We expect every member of Congress to lead in the effort to reduce global warming, protect our environment, and create good jobs. I know Donna Edwards will do that and more.

So... how about $15-- $5 for John, $5 for Mark and $5 for Donna? Think of it as an investment-- in the country we love... and depend on. Take a look at this cool video MoveOn put together to let folks in Maryland know about what Al Wynn has been up to: