Why Bill Ostrander?

Since inheriting her late husband's seat and then ignoring her own term limits pledge, Lois Capps hasn't been a bad congresswoman. She doesn't stand out as a leader but ProgressivePunch grades her a solid B-- not as good as progressive a record as California Members like Barbara Lee, Mike Honda, Judy Chu, Linda Sanchez, Alan Lowenthal, Mark DeSaulnier, Maxine Waters, Grace Napolitano or even establishment-oriented liberals like Xavier Becerra, Jared Huffman and Nancy Pelosi. But nothing to be ashamed of. Now that she's finally retiring (at the age of 79), it would be nice to see the Santa Barbara/San Luis Obispo congressional district (CA-24)-- which gave Obama a 57-41% win over McCain and a 54-43% win over Romney-- upgrade itself representationally. Why not someone actually great instead of a party hack? Instead, Capps has picked a Santa Barbara crony as her successor, County Supervisor Salud Carabajal, a weak and utterly uninspiring garden variety Democratic Party candidate heavily pushed by Capps, the DCCC and the Wall Street-owned New Dems. He's well liked by the local Santa Barbara political establishment.

The race is routinely portrayed as pitting Carabajal against Santa Barbara Mayor Helen Schneider, another decent, moderate Democrat. We covered the race a couple of weeks ago and it was refreshing to see a candidate from the San Luis Obispo part of the district who stands head and shoulders against the two establishment picks, Bill Ostrander, the Bernie endorser who's running on the package of reforms that embodies Bernie's political revolution, something I get the impression is as far from Carabajal's and Schneider's world as the planet Neptune.

Yesterday, Blue America endorsed Bill and added him to our Bernie Congress page. We didn't endorse him because Helene or Salud is horrible; they're not. We endorsed him because he's exactly the kind of candidate we need if we're going to reform a corrupt, rigged system; they're not.

In a press release to the district media he wrote that he is "gratified to learn that a progressive organization supports and embraces many of the same policies and programs I discuss with residents when walking door-too-door or when attending community forums. It's amazing that the traditional Democratic Party establishment hierarchy is so tone deaf about what the majority of the electorate wants. Americans are participating in our democracy across the country, as well as here in the 24th District, whether it’s volunteering, contributing or turning out to vote in huge numbers... Foolishly doubling down on the same candidates, or those chosen to succeed them, is one reason why Congress has generated a 14 percent approval rating. In my opinion, that choice can be traced back to the influence of money on our elections, policy and legislation."

He pointed to DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz as an example of what's gone wrong with the Democratic Party, particularly her decision make into the core of the party establishment, something banned by President Obama but aggressively backed by Hillary Clinton, who has taken more money from lobbyists than any other candidate in the United States in history and whose entire campaign structure is riddled with them. "It leaves too many of us disgusted with the process," Bill wrote. "Rather than gain swing voters, we breed more apathy, and wonder why the American Dream keeps slipping further away."

Wasserman Schultz is one of the corrupt conservatives from the New Democratic Coalition (the New Dems) that endorsed Carabajal-- and 8 other conservative candidates they feel will be open to the kind of revolting corruption on which the New Democratic Coalition is premised-- this week. Capps engineered the group's endorsement of her protégé and handpicked successor. The group is all about keeping the system rigged and the deck stacked in favor of the corporations that fund the New Dems. We need less New Dems and more progressives in Congress. Bill Ostrander intends on joining and working with the Congressional Progressive Caucus when he's elected to the House. If you'd like to contribute to his campaign, you can do it by clicking the thermometer below: