The Right Makes A Coordinated Move To Take Out Progressive Heroes

By Friday the NRCC had put over $31.4 million dollars directly into attack ads against Democrats whose seats they feel are ripe for a GOP takeover. We'll get back to the Republicans in a moment. The DCCC has spent only $21.9 million, almost all of it to defend seats of conservative incumbents who have alienated Democratic voters by aligning with the Republicans on key issues, like Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL- $870,664.31), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog- MD- $811,004.88), Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS- $505,046.07), Glenn Nye (Blue Dog- VA- $516,505.80), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ- $500,114.70), Harry Mitchell (Blue Dog-AZ- $571,396.54), John Salazar (Blue Dog-CO- $631,996.32), Larry Kissell (NC- $872,227.63), John Boccieri (OH- $847,775.14), and Zach Space (Blue Dog- OH- $617,459.16).

The big NRCC money has flowed into some of these districts and others. Yesterday CQPolitics reported the top ten NRCC targets and how much the GOP committee has spent so far:

1. Rep. Mark Schauer (Mich.) $1,210,000

2. Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.) $1,091,000

3. Washington's 3rd district open seat $954,000

4. Rep. John Boccieri (Ohio) $909,000

5. Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.) $886,000

6. Rep. Betsy Markey (Colo.) $840,000

7. Michigan's 1st district open seat $821,000

8. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.) $801,000

9. Rep. Earl Pomeroy (N.D.) $793,000

10. Rep. Zack Space (Ohio) $769,000

But the worst of the Repubican dirty work is being outsourced to shady front groups like the foreign funded U.S. Chamber of Commerce; the Koch Brothers' personal attack group, Americans For Prosperity; Karl Rove's billionaire-financed American Crossroads; and the twisted anti-senior citizen group that just popped up to attack champions of the elderly, the 60 Plus Association. These right wing front groups have poured close to $2 million dollars into a relentless and savagely vicious campaign against Alan Grayson. Unlike the Democrats, who ignore the worst Republicans-- the DCCC and its allies are not battling John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Virginia Foxx, Steve King, Paul Broun, Darrell Issa, Mike Pence, Ken Calvert, Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn, Joe Barton, etc-- the Republicans are targeting the most effective and inspiring liberals in the House, Alan Grayson, first and foremost, but also Raul Grijalva, Mary Jo Kilroy, Carol Shea-Porter, John Hall, Barney Frank, Rush Holt...

The GOP 's front groups have put close to $2,000,000 into negative campaign ads against Grayson, almost 20% of what they have spent on the entire House campaign! They want to take him out the way we want to take out John Boehner. Only they're putting their money where their mouths are. The DCCC hasn't spent one nickel against Boehner nor one nickel to help Justin Coussoule, the progressive West Point grad running against him. And they haven't spent any money to help Alan Grayson either. A million dollars for Bobby Bright's doomed campaign-- as a reward for badmouthing the Democratic Party agenda, Nancy Pelosi and for voting with Boehner on virtually every single important contentious issue that's come up since he was elected?-- but nothing for Grayson. Your DCCC at work.

And it's not just the relentless TV and radio ads paid for by the nefarious Koch Brothers, China and the Russian Mafia, that the Republicans are throwing against Grayson. They have the whole shrieking right-wing noise machine at work. Fox, of course, and every aspect of Hate Talk Radio is working overtime to smear Alan Grayson. This barrage of negativity has been so all-encompassing that faux-liberal Villagers and even politically unsophisticated TV personalities like Bill Maher and John Stewart have bought into their sick narrative and done some GOP dirty work for them. But the heavy lifting has been provided by all the regulars: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity... and, needless to say... Rush Limbaugh. Coordinating with the Republican Party messaging strategy, Limbaugh has been calling Grayson, one of the country's most prominent and effective champions of ordinary working families, "certifiably insane." Grayson responded to this latest slur:

"Now, Rush Limbaugh saying that I am certifiably insane is like George Clooney saying that I╒m good-looking. It's like Shaquille O'Neal saying that I'm big-boned. It's like Michael Jackson saying that I can sing and dance. It's like Bill Gates saying that I'm rich.

Rush, tell me this: which one of us was hooked on drugs for years and years? Not me.

Which one of us was arrested for criminal fraud? Not me.

Which one of us made fun of Michael J. Fox because Fox has Parkinson's disease? Not me.

Which one of us called Chelsea Clinton 'the White House dog'? Not me.

The reason why Limbo got so angry with me is that a few weeks ago, on national TV, I alluded to the Presidential Daily Briefing for August 6, 2001, delivered to President George W. Bush five weeks before the 9/11 attacks. The briefing with the headline 'Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.' The briefing that said that Bin Laden "would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and bring the fighting to America." The briefing that said that "Bin Ladin told followers he wanted to retaliate in Washington." The briefing that said that "Al-Qaida members-- including some who are US citizens-- have resided in or traveled to the US for years, and the group apparently maintains a support structure that could aid attacks" The briefing that said that the FBI was reporting "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York." The briefing that President George W. Bush did absolutely nothing about, between August 6, 2001 and September 11, 2001.

You know, the Presidential Daily Briefing that we're not supposed to talk about. Because if you do, then on national radio, Rush Limbaugh calls you "certifiably insane." And a "lunatic on the left." And "destructive and destroying."

"Destructive and destroying." Now, that's bad.

Can someone go toe-to-toe with Rush Limbaugh, and survive? We'll find out on Nov. 2. But remember, someone once wrote a book called Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot. A certain Senator from Minnesota.

On issue after issue, Grayson has made himself the nemesis-- and an effective one at that-- of the interests who look at the American people and see a fat goose to pluck. There are reasons characters like the Koch Brothers and the right's paid clowns-- from Palin and Beck to Limbaugh and Boehner-- are so desperate to get Grayson out of the way. Just yesterday, in fact, NBC reported on Grayson's signature issue, abuses in the foreclosure industry. The questions that Grayson has been raising are not questions Wall Street-- or the GOP-- want anyone talking about... for obvious reasons.

Some employees of Florida's largest "foreclosure mill" were given jewelry, cars and houses from the firm, in exchange for altering and forging key documents used to obtain foreclosures, according to a statement released today by the Florida Attorney General's Office...[S]tatements paint a picture of a secret system designed to speed up the foreclosure process. Attorneys and staff members forged signatures, changed dates, passed around notary stamps...

That's part of the reason why we're getting Grayson's back and, why Blue America is trying to help the best Democratic challengers, you know, the ones the DCCC is ignoring.