DownWithTyranny!: The Daily Blue America Report-- #7

Yesterday I woke up and the very first thing I read, a story in the Austin Statesman, inspired me for the whole day. It's about a woman born in 1899 whose father was a slave. A slave! Please stop for one moment and think about that. Her father was owned like a piece of furniture or like livestock by someone else who may well have been unsympathetic to his humanity. This woman, 109 year old Amanda Jones in Cedar Creek, Texas, voted early, by absentee ballot. She's been a Democrat for 70 years but this week she had the opportunity to vote for Barack Obama. "I feel good about voting for him," she said. I hope all the Blue America candidates will live up to the dreams of people like Amanda and like the people who fought to free her father and her people-- our people-- from slavery.

California-46- Pete McCloskey retired from the GOP congressional delegation 5 years before Dana Rohrabacher was elected. But McCloskey saw that there wasn't something quite right with Rohrabacher. This week he endorsed-- and started actively campaigning for-- Debbie Cook.

“What is desperately needed in the next Congress are individuals of great integrity with fresh thoughts from outside the Beltway, and who also possess a willingness to set aside partisanship and rigid ideology. I am confident that she will help bring courtesy and thoughtful compromise back to Washington, and maybe even help restore some of the faith in our system of government that all of us have lost at least a little bit of over the last few years. Dana Rohrabacher is part of the problem.”

Florida-08- Early voting is massive, more people eager to express their enthusiasm than just beat the rush. It isn't massive just in Florida either, but all over the country (30 states). In Florida, though, Governor Crist may well have doomed McCain's chances to win the election by extending early voting hours. The earlier voters seem to be overwhelmingly people eager to vote for change. A friend in Orlando who saw the statewide figures told me that 60% of the Florida voters so far have been Democrats and Republicans and Independents are about even, 21% and 19% respectively. Alan Grayson is feeling like a great deal of hard work from his staff and volunteers is paying off. His polling shows him decisively ahead of rubber stamp retread Ric Keller and much of his game plan for the election-- just as it was for the primary-- was tied up early voting. "We're winning for one reason only," he told me this morning. "This year, truth wins against lies." And according to HuffPo the early voting trends are showing an even bigger landslide against McCain, Bush and the Republican philosophy of governance than anyone expected.

Florida- 25- Mario Diaz-Balart, a clownish man, has been a complete rubber stamp for the entire Bush-Cheney agenda. Three months ago a consultant told him that Bush and his agenda are unpopular down in Miami-Dade so he started trying, superficially at least, to distance himself from Bush. Now he tries claiming, he an "independent voice." His record tells another story though. His voting record on veterans, for example, is absolutely breathtaking. There isn't a worse one in the entire Congress! Since January 2003 Diaz-Balart the Younger has participated in 29 roll call votes regarding our veterans. Take a look at it. The only question that comes to mind is "why does Mario Diaz-Balart hate the people who went to war defending this country?" Of the 22 votes he voted against American veterans 22 times!

•    Mario Diaz-Balart voted against increasing Department of Defense survivor benefits. (Roll Call 144, 2006)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against military pay raises. (Roll Call 554, 2003)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against $3.6 billion to enhance quality of life for the troops (Roll Call 546)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against minimum rest periods for troops (Roll Call 796, 2007)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against protecting service members from bankruptcy (Roll Call 107, 2005)
•    Diaz-Balart voted against expanding healthcare for reservists (Roll Call 221, 2005)

Yesterday Joe Garcia released a new television ad that let's South Florida voters know the real story on Diaz-Balart's record on veterans.

Virginia-10- One might think that after Frank Wolf exposed himself on camera as a cranky and violent old fascist, he would just shut up and hope not enough people became aware of the story to topple him from power. But if you are one of those people to imagine that, you don't know much about what a self-entitled, self-righteous jerk Frank Wolf has always been. Lowell at Raising Kaine has another video and another look at a congressman whose "good 'til" date has long expired. Paul Begala has also noticed that there's something seriously wrong with Wolf and that he needs a nice long rest-- forever. "Dare to ask Rep. Wolf a question, and his paid congressional staff gives you a couple of lumps. I’m sure Kim Jong Il would be proud."

Texas-10- Charles Kuffner recorded a very worthwhile interview with Larry Joe Doherty. You get a great feel for who the candidate really is and what kind of a congressman he will be when he beats Bush rubber stamp Michael McCaul.

Ohio-02- BlueOhioan wins today's prize for ugliest ad of the day. Would it come as a shock that it's from Mean Jean Schmidt, the lunatic fringe congresswoman who got drunk at a St Patrick's Day Party and slipped in Michele Bachmann's vomit?

Indiana-06- Yesterday's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette rejected a major force in the extreme wing of the national Republican leadership, Mike Pence, and urged its readers to vote for Berry Welsh.

Voters in Indiana’s 6th Congressional District should elect Barry Welsh. The Democratic challenger’s positions on the key issues facing the country are more palatable than those of the incumbent, Mike Pence... [H]is position on issues such as health care, the economy and war will better serve the interests of 6th District residents than those of his opponent... Welsh demonstrates a greater understanding of how the country needs to move forward to put an end to the wars and repair relations with other nations.

This Obama ad could be adapted for any of the Blue America candidates: