Unplugged... For Carl Sciortino

We've been talking about the race in MA-05 to replace Ed Markey for some time now. It's just a month away and there are 7 Democrats running. Six of them are garden variety Dems and one, state Rep. Carl Sciortino, is a proven, dedicated progressive leader, which is why we endorsed him-- and why progressive organizations from People for the American Way, Progressive Mass and Mass Equality to the Human Rights Campaign and Grey2kUSA have also endorsed him. This week-- starting today-- we're launching a fundraising drive to help Carl pay to run his amazing TV ad (up top). We're being joined in this effort by Congressmen Alan Grayson, Jared Polis, Raúl Grijalva and Keith Ellison and by the People for the American Way Voters Alliance and the Congressional Progressive Caucus' Progressive Action PAC. And one lucky, random donor is going to get an incredible Eric Clapton platinum award as a "thank you." (Photo below.)

Here's how that works. Contribute any amount-- no amount is too small-- to Carl's campaign here and you will become eligible to win. You probably know what a gold record is-- an award for 500,000 RIAA certified sales in the U.S. For a platinum award, the number is a million. In recent years, the music industry created a new category: diamond, to mark 10,000,000 domestic sales. Eric Clapton's Unplugged album was one of the first-- and only-- albums to achieve that status. What we're giving away is one of the original award plaques for 10,000,000 sales of Unplugged, which was made for the president of Eric Clapton's record company, who is a big fan not just of Eric Clapton, but also of Carl Sciortino. This stunning 30" x 30" custom plaque isn't something you can buy in a store, no matter how much money you have. Only a small handful were ever made and they were never sold.

Whether you contribute $5, $50 or $500 you will have one chance to become the owner of the plaque. (In fact, if you can't afford to make a contribution but you want the plaque, you can just send a post card to Blue America, PO Box 27201, Los Angeles, CA 90027 and you'll be eligible as well!)

And if rock'n'roll memorabilia isn't your thing, remember this: Carl Sciortino has been fighting for progressive values-- and winning-- in the Massachusetts legislature. Alan Grayson, Raúl Grijalva, Keith Ellison, Mark Takano and Jared Polis would like to see him in the U.S. Congress helping lead the charge. Sciortino wasn't afraid to speak right out against bombing Syria and he wasn't afraid to say NO WAY to the Beltway scheme to cut Social Security through a Chained CPI.