Match Jared Polis' $1,000 Donation-- For A Progressive Congress

Friday the 3 chairs of the DCCC's Red to Blue program, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bruce Braley and Artur Davis, matched the Voters Alliance prize People For the American Way is offering in their drive to raise last minute campaign contributions for tightly contested congressional races for proven progressive candidates. (These aren't generic Democrats who could get into office and become corporate tools or anti-choice, anti-gay, or pro-war cross-overs like so many disappointing nominal Democrats have. These are carefully vetted, dedicated progressive leaders.)

Today another proven and dedicated progressive leader, Jared Polis, has decided to add $1,000 from his own campaign fund into the pot for the winner of the PFAW Voters Alliance competition. Jared is running to replace Rep. Mark Udall, who himself is running for Colorado's Senate seat. Udall, a moderate Democrat, will be a great improvement over reactionary Wayne Allard-- and I have every expectation that Jared will become a real leader for progressive ideas in the House. His race, in Colorado's 2nd CD, north and west of Denver and centered on Boulder, looks very strong. If elected, Jared will be the first male openly gay freshman ever elected to any federal office in the United States of America.

In their endorsement last week, the Denver Post was uncharacteristically gushing about why Jared, a successful and innovative businessman, will make an exceptional member of Congress.

Voters should send the Internet entrepreneur- turned-policy-wonk-turned-politician to Congress, where he can unleash his boundless energy and fount of innovative ideas. He'll be nothing if not a breath of fresh air in an otherwise sluggish Congress.

Polis has earned a reputation in policy circles as not only a thinker, but also a doer. He turned his fortune, which he gained by putting his parents' greeting card company online and selling at just the right moment, into a seat on the State Board of Education-- not exactly a vanity position, but one that played to his interests.

Unhappy with education choices for new immigrants, he started his own charter school. He was among the first on the political left to embrace choice and reform in education, and has helped move the issue forward.

In Congress, he'll work to end the war in Iraq and repeal the Bush tax cuts for the top 1 percent of wage-earners. He tells his wealthy friends: "Wouldn't you rather have the Clinton tax rates [along with] the Clinton economy?"

Although Jared's opponent, a garden variety reactionary, is running a vicious campaign of typically negative, smear attacks, ala Karl Rove, Jared is expected to trounce him. He has been helping other Democrats around the country and has generously utilized his campaign warchest to help elect worthy Democrats in Colorado and other states. The $1,000 that Jared Polis For Congress donated today will increase the grand prize at the PFAW contest to $4,000.

Several candidates have already made great headway towards winning, particularly Judy Feder (D-VA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Russ Warner (D-CA), Dennis Shulman (D-NJ), Victoria Wulsin (D-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Please leverage whatever you can afford to give because even a $1 or $5 donation will help 3 candidates win a total of $7,000. The PFAW ActBlue Page is open 24/7.

Not everyone running for officeis trying to distract voters with smears and drummed up non-issues. Progressives like Jared Polis and the PFAW endorsees are talking about real issues that are important to real American families. Remember Bush's war in Iraq?