Will The Battle Between The 2 Right-of-Center Establishment Democrats In NY-24 Make It Easier For Progressive Eric Kingson?

Steve Israel was trying to sell his own toxic brand of snake oil in Syracuse last night

As we've been explaining-- basically, since 2005 or '06-- that the DCCC's governing strategies about recruitment and support are fatally flawed. Picking Republican-lite candidates who, if they manage to win in a presidential year, and then vote with the GOP on core issues ,is not a good idea. This is the primary reason that while the DCCC has been run by congenital losers Chris Van Hollen and Steve Israel the number of Democrats in Congress has shrunken from 257 in 2006 to 188 today.

As we mentioned yesterday by favoring conservaDem Darren Soto, an NRA shill with a Republican voting record on Choice and a wide range of other issues, in a relatively safe blue district (Alan Grayson's) they are, if Soto wins, endangering a Democratic seat in 2018. And they are doing this in virtually every primary race and recruitment instance they stick their noses into. Their whole philosophy is flawed and until it is completely rooted out, the Democrats will never win back the House.

NY-24 is another case of the DCCC making a concerted-- albeit totally lame (as we'll explain in a moment)-- effort to elect a dull conservative you will be unable to hold the district in a midterm. NY-24 is centered in Syracuse and Obama won it in 2008 with 56% against McCain and with 57% in 2012 against Romney. The PVI is a healthy D+5, the bluest district that a Republican holds anywhere in the country (although there are 3 like this and this could only happen with an incompetent like Steve Israel or someone just like him, running the show). So how did a Republican come to win? Double-ex congressman Dan Maffei isn't a bad guy but when he was first elected in 2008 (open seat race in a presidential year) he joined the conservative, Wall Street-owned New Dems and accrued a record that would never inspire an informed Democratic voter. So in the 2010 midterms, Democratic voters stayed away in droves and a teabagger won the seat, Maffei's 146,411 voters (54.5%) in 2008 dwindling down to 103,807 (49.8%). In 2012, Steve Israel had the horrible idea of bringing back Maffei and, on Obama's coattails he did win again-- 131,242 (48.7%) to 116,641 (43.3%). And, easily predictable by anyone-who-is-not-Steve Israel, when 2014 rolled around Maffei got wiped out, losing in a landslide to Republican John Katko-- 112,469 (59.9%) to just 75,286 (40.1%)-- in a very blue district. Just shameful. Has Israel learned his lesson? Of course not, and he's working hard to replicate the disaster again.

Rarely do Democrats get an opportunity to vote for a candidate as perfect as Eric Kingson, a longtime professor at the University of Syracuse and a founder of Social Security Works, who has often been called to testify in Congress about Social Security. Eric is not looking to make a congressional career for himself. His primary motivation, as far as I can tell, is to help Congress fix Social Security in a way that will benefit retirees, rather than screw it up the way the Republicans and New Dems are eager to do. NY-24 is exactly the right district for Eric to be running in. But when he announced he would run, instead of jumping for joy, the DCCC immediately started a campaign of sabotage against him and started looking for more conservative and hackish careerist shills. Former upstate Blue Dog Kirsten Gillibrand and EMILY's List offered a Gillibrand staffer of no consequence whatsoever, Colleen Deacon, and Israel recruited a centrist lawyer very much like Maffei, Steve Williams.

So now the two centrist candidates are being backed by different centrist factions. Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer are raising money and pressuring their various puppets to back Deacon and Israel and his cronies are backing Williams, probably indicating that Williams is the more conservative and more open to corruption of the two-- though not necessarily, since Schumer only gets behind candidates who will go along with corruption as well.

Meanwhile Israel hosted a fundraiser for his candidate at Smith-Sovik, Williams' firm's law office last night. Syracuse.com pointed out that "Israel's support is also the first to expose a divide among Democratic leaders in Washington over which candidate to support in the 24th Congressional District race" and that "Williams will count on Israel to try to recruit other top New York Democrats to endorse his campaign." These kinds of politician to politician endorsements don't do much good and, in fact, can be counter-productive, especially in a year when voters are disgusted with the political establishment and especially disgusted with corrupt conservatives like Israel (and Schumer).

Blue America, as you probably know, is backing Eric Kingson and if you'd like to contribute to his grassroots campaign, this is the place. When I called him last night to ask him what he thought about Steve Israel, a right-wing Blue Dog Democrat from Long Island, coming into the district to fundraise for Williams, he just shrugged and said, "Moderates support moderates, so I'm not surprised. But Washington, D.C. kingmakers don't get to decide this election; Central New York voters do. That's where my focus is."

How The DCCC Keeps Undermining Progressive Candidates-- And Chances To Ever Win Back The House

This week the DCCC is having a series of meetings to introduce their favored candidates to incumbents, lobbyists and other DCCC supporters. Tonight they're throwing a big dinner at an event space for lobbyists and both political parties, the Oracle Townhouse on D Street. Most smart candidates are passing on the "opportunity" and staying in their districts to campaign.

In several districts the DCCC actually lived up to their "neutrality" promise, inviting more than one candidate. For example, they invited Ruben Kihuen, Lucy Flores and John Oceguera (as well as vanity candidate, wealthy socialite Susie Lee) all from Nevada's 4th district. But not in every district.

In the Syracuse-centered NY-24, there are-- as of yesterday when wealthy moderate self-funder Steve Williams tossed his hat into the ring-- 3 Democrats running. Originally the only candidate was Blue America-endorsed Eric Kingson, the co-founder of Social Security Works. But the DCCC didn't want him in the race. They want a conservaDem like Dan Maffei, the New Dem who won in 2008 when Obama first ran and did well in the D+5 district, beating McCain 57-41%; then lost in 2010 to a teabagger psycho, won it back in 2012 when Obama was at the top of the ticket again, holding Romney down to 42%; and then losing again last year to John Katko 59.9-40.1%.

Maffei lost because, like all DCCC-preferred and recruited candidates, he voted with the Republicans, He's a member of the Wall Street-owned New Dems and his voting record was what the DCCC and their boneheaded media allies call "moderate," but, for Democratic voters, is "conservative." So he lost twice... in a D+5 district. It's a district that is almost impossible for a Democrat to lose in-- unless voters sense the candidate isn't actually a Democrat.

So the DCCC set out to recruit this self-funding Williams person and he was tepid and on-and-off and on-and-off. And then Kirsten Gillibrand, a Wall Street darling ($7,535,820) and former Blue Dog, put up-- along with EMILY's List-- a staffer of hers, Colleen Deacon, to represent the "moderate" wing of the party. So the DCCC invited Deacon and Williams and very pointedly not Kingson, the one candidate who is in this for all the right reasons-- and none of the wrong ones.

Would you consider helping Blue America tell Steve Israel/Ben Ray Luján, New Dem recruitment chair Denny Heck and Blue Dog recruitment vice-chair Cheri Bustos to stop sabotaging progressive Democrats? All of the candidates on this page are progressives and none of them are DCCC favorites. But please concentrate on Eric Kingson today.

Similarly in IL-10, where the DCCC is pushing conservative New Dem retread Brad Schneider over a much better candidate-- Nancy Rotering-- he's in Washington today being introduced around to any crooked lobbyists he doesn't already know, where she wasn't even invited to their "candidates' week." (I guess Pelosi's malarkey about "when women win..." only goes so far.)

Now... for the opposite of the DCCC, take a look at this letter Alan Grayson sent out to his own supporters yesterday:

I was swapping e-mails with Blue America’s Howie Klein today, and the subject of a GOP Congressional seat in the Northeast came up. He knew both Democratic challengers. Knew all about them, in fact. And the same thing would be true of House candidates in the other 434 districts. Howie knows all about them, too.

There are people who actually are paid to know all about Congressional campaigns-- Stu Rothenberg, Charlie Cook, Larry Sabato, etc. I’ve read their stuff. Howie knows more than they do.

But Howie doesn’t sell what he knows. Instead, he uses that knowledge to cultivate and nurture progressive candidates all over the country. Blue America will not be supporting those two challengers that Howie knows in the Northeast, because-- because-- they’re not blue. But other candidates are true blue, and those are the ones who get Howie’s help. The only ones. With Howie in charge, Blue America PAC is the manager of the Progressive Farm Team.

Go Progs! Give me a “P”! Etc.

Join me and Howie Klein now in turning America blue in 2016, by contributing $9 or more to the Blue America PAC.

You might think that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) might be doing this. Mais non, as the French would say. Despite having $100 million a year to spend, they don’t know what Howie knows. And for sure, they don’t care the way that Howie cares. Ever since the Rahm Emanuel regime, the DCCC has had a strong built-in bias against progressive candidates. And the DSCC? Don’t get me started. They can’t find their derriere with deux mains. Just look at their record last year.

So progressives really need Blue America PAC. Which is why you should help.

Politics is a team sport. Show your support for progressives all over the country by donating $9 or more to the Blue America PAC.

At an earlier time in his life, Howie Klein was the Vice President of Warner Reprise records. He knows countless top performers (which is why he sometimes holds contests giving away great stuff like platinum records). He doesn’t have to work anymore. He helps progressives for one reason and one reason only: because he cares.

And if you contribute to Blue America PAC, you not only have Encyclopedia Howie working for you, but you also enlist the support of the pioneering blogger Digby, and John Amato of the website “Crooks and Liars” (dot-com, of course). Because they all share the Blue America dream of making America blue. Not purple. Blue.

Chip in $9 now, and Help Make America Blue.

Chained CPI... Is Suddenly An Orphan

America doesn't have a spending problem; America has a problem with its elites forgetting who they work for

The angry uproar over the Obama-Boehner proposal to lower Social Security payments through Chained CPI has both parties backing away from it as fast as they can.

Republicans, including House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, said Obama's offering-- made Wednesday in his budget plan for the 2014 fiscal year-- did not go far enough to cut spending.

Many Democrats thought it went too far, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California saying that it should be debated, but not be part of any deficit reduction deal or budget proposal.

And White House spokesman Jay Carney said it was not originally Obama's idea, but was included in the budget because the president thought Republicans wanted it as part of any deficit reduction deal.

"This is a Republican proposal," he said in his daily briefing.

...Obama also proposed increasing means-testing for some beneficiaries of the government sponsored health insurance program for seniors, Medicare.

The fact that these were Republican proposals did not stop the head of the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, from calling Obama's budget "a shocking attack on seniors" in a CNN interview Wednesday.

...Pelosi told reporters she thought Democrats ought to hear both sides, arranging a debate conducted by outside experts for Democrat members.

Pelosi joined the rest of her membership at the weekly House Democratic Caucus meeting where lawmakers heard from Damon Silvers of the AFL-CIO labor federation, representing opposition to Obama's proposal, and Robert Greenstein, executive director of the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, which favors including entitlement reform in budgets.

Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota told Reuters after the meeting that while there were a few Democrats in favor of maintaining an open mind to Obama's proposal, the caucus as a whole "overwhelmingly" delivered the message that the so-called chained-CPI was a non-starter.

"There was a lot of concern," Ellison said.

On the Republican side, Boehner, while saying he was "encouraged that the president acknowledged that our safety net programs are unsustainable," said Obama's offer was "nothing close to what we need in order to preserve these programs and to put ourselves on a path to balance the budget."

Boehner, at a news conference, distanced himself from Walden's comment on CNN but Walden's remarks served as notice that supporters of changes to Social Security could find it being used as political ammunition against them.

"The Walden statement has had a huge impact," Greenstein said. "There is a very large, very palpable fear" among House Democrats that if they support the chained CPI, that Republican challengers running against them in 2014 will do attack ads against them and campaign against the Democrat voting to cut senior Social Security benefits.

The fear is rooted in Democrats' memories of how the cuts to Medicare spending in Obama's signature health legislation were used against Democrats in 2010, he said.

"Prior to the Walden statements there were some making the arguments that Democrats would be played for suckers in 2014," Greenstein said. "I think the Walden statement just confirmed this. I saw firsthand today the viral effect it's had," Greenstein said Thursday.

Democrats are up in arms at the very idea that a Democratic president-- even one as much of a transparent corporate shill as Obama has always been-- would try to remove the "third rail" status from Social Security allowing future Republicans to come in and destroy the system the way Bush tried (and failed). Party hack James Carville on Morning Joe Friday said Obama loves the idea of angering the progressive base and making nice-nice with the corporate right (his natural constituency): "I think he likes that. I don't think he's upset. He got a very favorable Washington Post editorial. Morning Joe, very favorable commentary right here. I guarantee you if he's up watching this right now. Got a good David Brooks column. He's kind of excited this morning. This is kind of important to him."

That's why I can't overemphasize how important that Grayson Takano No Cuts letter has always been and continues to be. It's the gold standard for House Members who want to protect benefits for seniors. Those who sign it do; those who don't sign it... have to be, at best, suspect.

Friday, a New Dem non-signer, conservative upstate NY Congressman Dan Maffei wrote Obama a letter asking him to take Chained CPI off the table. He says budget negotiations are the wrong venue for discussions of Social Security reforms.

Any reforms should aim to strengthen the program for current beneficiaries and extend its long-term solvency for future generations. Shifting to the chained-CPI is bad policy because it fails to accurately track seniors’ and disabled beneficiaries’ real expenses. The chained-CPI is not a technical tweak to reduce runaway cost-of-living adjustments. To the contrary, beneficiaries have gone without increases in recent years and are often managing meager household budgets. We appreciate your efforts to reach a budget compromise, but cutting Social Security would compromise the hard-earned benefits of America’s seniors and disabled.

The Secretary of the Treasury and former Director of the Office of Management and Budget have clearly stated, Social Security is not the problem. As you know, not one penny of the deficit or our national debt is due to Social Security. Built up for the express purpose of supporting the retirements of the Baby Boomer generation, Social Security’s $2.7 trillion Trust Fund will fully fund benefits into the 2030s and 75 percent of owed benefits thereafter. Social Security is a self-sustaining social insurance program that protects every American against absolute destitution due to old age, a disabling accident, or the death of a breadwinner. At your inauguration you made clear that Social Security frees us to take risks that make this country great. Therefore, we strongly urge you to reconsider making benefit cuts in order to pay for deficit reduction.

...The chained-CPI is a benefit cut that compounds throughout retirement. Cutting the benefits earned and relied upon on by retirees may seem to be a modest change, but even slight reductions will meaningfully impact the quality of life of millions of Americans. The chained-CPI will result in a cut of nearly $1,600 by the time the average beneficiary is in his or her nineties, taking away a month’s worth of benefits in the final months of one’s life.

The chained-CPI will disproportionately hurt women and cut veterans’ disability benefits. The average yearly benefit for women is $2,000 less than for men, women rely more heavily on Social Security as a greater proportion of their retirement income and live longer than men. Finally, we should not forget that veterans would also be hit with enormous cuts. A fully disabled veteran who began receiving benefits at age 30 would have a yearly benefit cut of $3,200 by age 65. We simply cannot do that to our veterans.

We appreciate the difficult position you are in as you attempt to reach a budget compromise that will reduce the deficit, but we respectfully ask that you consider the impact the chained-CPI will have on Americans already relying on fixed incomes from Social Security. We must work to reduce the deficit, but do it the right way; not on the backs of seniors and working families who have contributed to Social Security their entire lives.

Good-- as far as it went... which wasn't even close to far enough. The Obama budget-- part of a minuet he and Boehner have scripted-- also savagely goes after Medicare benefits while being oh so gentle with the self-righteous prerogatives of the multimillionaires and billionaires who fund political careers. Back to the simple heart of the Grayson Takano letter:

"We will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits-- including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need."

Maffei's letter to the president is ok in terms of Chained CPI-- but it doesn't go far enough, and coming from someone like Maffei who has refused to sign the Grayson Takano letter, it should have alarm bells ringing. Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline is a signer of Grayson Takano so I'm not alarmed by the congressional resolution he proposed Friday:

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price Index should not be used to calculate cost-of-living-adjustments for Social Security Benefits

Whereas the Social Security program was established more than 77 years ago and has provided economic security to generations of Americans through benefits earned based on contributions made over a worker's lifetime;

Whereas the Social Security program continues to provide modest benefits - averaging approximately $14,000 per year-- to more than 53,000,000 individuals, including 37,000,000 retired workers in February 2013;

Whereas the Social Security program has no borrowing authority, has accumulated assets of $2,700,000,000,000, and, therefore, does not contribute to the Federal budget deficit;

Whereas the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund projects that such Trust Fund an pay full benefits through 2032;

Whereas the Social Security program is designed to ensure that benefits keep pace with inflation through cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that are based upon the measured changes in prices of goods and services purchased by consumers, currently the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics;

Whereas the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes a supplemental measure of inflation, the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U), or "Chained CPI," which adjusts for projected changes in consumer behavior resulting from price fluctuations known as the "substitution effect," which occurs when consumers buy more goods and services whose prices are rising slower than average and less of those rising faster than average;

Whereas studies indicate typical Social Security beneficiaries spend significantly greater shares of their budget than consumers generally on health care, prices for which have increased at higher than average rates, and health care may not easily be substituted by consumers such as seniors;

Whereas the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that using the Chained CPI to calculate Social Security COLAs would reduce Social Security benefits by .25 percent per year as compared to current policy, resulting in a reduction in outlays of $112,000,000,000 over the first decade;

Whereas reductions in Social Security benefits from using the Chained CPI to calculate Social Security COLAs would continue to compound over time, and the AARP Public Policy Institute estimates that such reductions would grow to 3 percent after 10 years and 8.5 percent after 30 years;

Whereas Social Security Works estimates that using the Chained CPI to calculate Social Security COLAs would reduce annual Social Security benefits of the average earner - who is making $43,518-- by $658 at age 75, $1,147 at age 85, and $1,622 at age 95; and

Whereas reductions in Social Security benefits would harm some of our most vulnerable populations: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the Chained Consumer Price Index should not be used to calculate cost of living adjustments for Social Security benefits.

I bet Boehner will never allow a vote on that one!

How Neutral Is The DCCC When It Comes To Primaries? Meet Progressive Candidate Brianne Murphy

Wednesday the DCCC, which always claims to stay neutral in primaries, released their first challenger endorsements for the 2012 cycle. I noticed they endorsed all the grotesque conservatives backed a few weeks ago by the Blue Dogs like Brendan Mullen (IN), Leonard Bembry (FL), Clark Hall (AR), and Rob Wallace (OK). They even endorsed a defeated former Member (and Blue Dog), Nick Lampson, who had a record in Congress of supporting the GOP on nearly every important bill that came before the House. Brendan Mullen has a more progressive primary opponent, Andrew Straw. Leonard Bembry has at least two, Jay Liles and Alvin Peters. Gary Latanich is running against reactionary Rick Crawford in Arkansas and the Democratic primary race in Oklahoma may have as many as 5 people competing. And, of course, in New York's 25th district there's a lively primary between Brianne Murphy and ex-congressman Dan Maffei. And Maffei was one of the Democrats added to the DCCC's Red to Blue list Wednesday. So much for neutrality and letting the Democrats of Onondaga, Monroe, Wayne and Cayuga counties pick their own candidate for Congress.

I sat down with Brianne and asked her about the DCCC endorsement. Of course I wanted to know if she had had any interaction with the DCCC.

"I met with the DCCC several months ago as I was starting the exploration process. They represented to me and to the local party at that time they would be focusing resources in NY-25 to eliminate Rep. Buerkle and indicated that they would support whoever became the nominee. When I asked about their neutrality, I was told that Chairman Israel and Dan have a long personal friendship. You would have to ask them about their rules and operations.
 
"Dan is clearly running his race from the Beltway; I prefer to run from the district I intend on representing."

More important, I wanted to know why she thought she's better suited to represent the families of NY-25 than Maffei is.

"I think the voters in the 25th CD made it pretty clear why they think anyone would be better suited than he is, when they didn’t elect him the in 2006 and then again didn’t in 2010 when 85% of incumbents were re-elected in the House.
 
"The bottom line is Washington is log jammed by divisive politics and people are hurting. We need someone in Washington that understands the struggle that Central New York families are facing and puts them before towing the party line.
 
"I have been an advocate my entire life. As an attorney, I fight hard for working men and women experiencing discrimination, unfair and unsafe working environments and 9/11 first responders in their efforts to unionize. The most important job that a Representative has is to fight for their constituents. My passion as an advocate and for the struggle of Central New Yorkers, as well as my ability to connect with voters makes me better suited to represent them. I attend community and neighborhood meetings, I speak with Central New Yorkers every day who tell me they are tired of politics as usual."

I expect that the DCCC endorsement is going to make it more difficult for Brianne to raise campaign funds for the primary. (Contributions can be made here through ActBlue.) I asked her for her read on how the DCCC endorsement is going to play out in the district?  
 
"I think you are right and while it certainly gives Mr. Maffei a further fundraising advantage with high-dollar consistent DCCC donors, with this being his fourth attempt to win this seat, there is widespread 'Maffei-fatigue' in the district. Obviously it takes significant resources to compete in a general election; but in 2010 Dan ran the most expensive race in the history of NY-25th and lost. Democrats in Central New York realize that it was not a lack of resources that cost him the election and are excited about having an alternative candidate. 

"And to be clear, Howie, once I win this seat, I do not intend on losing it. I am going to Washington and I am going continue to fight for the things we believe in as Central New Yorkers."
 
To learn more about Brianne's camapign check out this YNN video and story.

Dan Maffei Wants To Take On Teabagger Ann Marie Buerkle Again... But First He Has To Persuade Democrats He Deserves Their Nomination

Yesterday we mentioned that, by overwhelming numbers, the Democrats who lost last November were either Blue Dogs (more than half of them lost their seats) or their conservative allies. There were, however a tiny handful of progressives who also got swept up in the carnage, half a dozen Democrats who did NOT deserve to lose their seats but whose districts are so red that the Tea Party rage and the right-wing momentum impacted them as well. We've mentioned that Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) are both running for Congress again next year. Yesterday, Dan Maffei, one of the more conservative Democrats to have lost in 2010, made it official-- he's challenging deranged teabagger Ann Marie Buerkle to a rematch.

Their contest for New York's 25th CD, centered in Syracuse, was the closest election of the year and Buerkle squeezed by with a 648 vote margin-- 104,602- 103,954. Maffei lost because of a swing towards the crazy teabagger in the traditionally Republican suburbs of Rochester. In 2008 Maffei had won the Monroe County section of the district 26,883 (58%) to 19,179 (41%) but last year the Monroe precincts gave Buerkle the lift she needed-- 20,790 (55%) to 17,106 (45%). She picked up over a thousand Republican voters in the county at the same time that Maffei lost over 9,000! The biggest county on the district, by far, is Onondaga (Syracuse) and Maffei still won that one handily-- 76,046 (54%) to 65,632 (46%) but, even there in the most Democratic part of the district, it was a disappointing turn out. In fact in 2008, Maffei had taken 112,856 (56%) and his GOP opponent had only gotten 81,312 (40%). So while Maffei's falloff from 2008 was almost 37,000 votes, Buerkle's falloff from the presidential year to the midterm was only just over 15,000 votes. The two smaller, more rural and Republican, counties voted against Maffei both times but in 2008 he managed to get 47% in Wayne and 42% in Cayuga. Last year Wayne only gave him 37% of its vote and Cayuga 35%.

Clearly, Maffei needs to win back the suburban Rochester swing voters in Monroe County and turn out the disillusioned Democratic base in Onondaga. His dull and uninspiring , centrist message isn't going to get many progressives excited. He'll be counting on Obama's presence at the top of the ticket for Onondaga and he'll be counting on Buerkle's political psychosis for the swing suburbanites. She's been one of the most insane of the radical teabaggers among the House freshmen. Although she represents a swing district equally divided between Democrats and Republicans her voting record is to the right of most right-wing Confederate lunatics from the deepest red districts in the bowels of the South. Her ProgressivePunch score is a dismal 1.64, not just the worst of any New York congressmember, but tied (with two Mississippi KKK freaks, Gregg Harper and Steven Palazzo) for the 14th worst in the entire Congress. Buerkle's voting record is to the right of Darrell Issa's, Mike Pence's, Patrick McHenry's, Eric Cantor's, Paul Ryan's Taliban Dan Webster's, Allen West's, Steve King's, Virginia Foxx's, Louie Gohmert's, Mean Jean Schmidt's... getting the picture? From a political perspective, she's stark raving mad. As Maffei pointed out, "Buerkle has had eight months to show some sort of willingness to compromise and get things done for the district or the country, and she remains as radical as ever."

Buerkle was among 66 Republicans who voted earlier this month against a compromise to raise the debt limit and cut more than $2.1 trillion in federal spending over 10 years.

"It seems like it has been a long time since we were working on how to get things done-- not to shut things down and put the United States literally on the brink of default," Maffei said. "It’s an opportunity I have to represent the people of Central New York again. We cannot continue to allow someone as radical and extreme as Buerkle to do so. I represent a much more moderate point of view."

Buerkle, reached Tuesday afternoon on a trip to Israel, declined to comment about a rematch with Maffei.

Ironically, the congressmembers touring Israel are reassuring Israel that they, unlike the hard-pressed working families of central New York, will feel NONE of the impact of the financial hardtimes disrupting the U.S. and the rest of the world. American aid will see to that.

This is the letter Maffei sent supporters Tuesday morning making his announcement:

Since January a shock wave of Tea Party driven partisanship and inflexibility has rolled across Congress. When I lost my election last November by 648 votes, I hoped that such a close result would convince our new Congresswoman to put aside her radical ideology, and set about finding ways to bring people together and create new opportunities for Central New Yorkers. Instead, she has marched in lockstep with her Tea Party friends, and voted time and again with the special interests who spent so many hundreds of thousands of dollars on the attack ads that helped her win. 

Rep. Buerkle’s actions, now that she is in power, have clearly shown her dangerous priorities. She has already voted to end Medicare as we know it while protecting tax breaks for oil companies and billionaires. She has made her right-wing social agenda her priority while ignoring the real needs in this District for infrastructure funding and public education. And she was part of the extreme group that refused any compromise, and nearly plunged the nation into economic catastrophe.

Over the past 9 months I have done a great deal of listening to friends, neighbors and former constituents across Central New York about what they feel about the direction of the country, and whether I should be a candidate in 2012. The overwhelming refrain has been that it’s time for Congress to stop wasting time, and start working together to solve the very real problems that we face.

Sometimes, people are so frustrated that they are tempted to throw up their hands in disgust and walk away. I understand this feeling. But I know that there is a bright future in front of us as long as we don’t give up on Central New York, America, or ourselves. Working together, we can do better! That is why I am running for Congress in 2012. Our campaign will offer the people of Central New York a better future than the divisive politics of Ann Marie Buerkle.

People have had enough, and they want and deserve a representative who will offer solutions to modernize our infrastructure, to protect seniors and our middle class, and to get our deficit under control while jump-starting our economy. I have always worked hard to find solutions, and have been successful at doing so both inside and outside of government. The people that know me best know how passionate I am for the future of my home and birthplace, Central New York, and that passion gives me great energy. But I can't change things without your help. I am running for Congress and I ask for your active support.

If Maffei gets the Democratic nomination it will be another example of a conservative Democrat-- he's a member of Rahm Emanuel's sell-out New Democratic Coalition-- duking it out against a reactionary Republican. There's no real upside for normal working families. Is he better than Buerkle? Sure. She's an F. He's a C or a D. Oh boy! When he was defeated he went to work against the interests of working families at the right-wing think tank, Third Way, working on repatriating corporate profits at lower tax rates, one of the most regressive proposals floating around Washington circles. And, as the National Journal points out he's a dedicated "moderate."

In the House, he emphasized his moderate stripes and nonideological pragmatism. He joined the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats. He got seats on the Financial Services and Judiciary committees.

He says he keeps a photograph of hard-charging Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff and former Illinois lawmaker, in his office closet as a reminder of the need to raise money.

The other Democrat hoping for the nomination is Brianne Murphy, a 30 year old Syracuse labor attorney. Tom Buckel, who is considerably more progressive than Maffei, was thinking of running for the seat but decided to run for the state Supreme Court instead. Tom told me that Brianne has a compelling personal story. He was right. She's an amazing, passionate candidate who is so lively, intellectually curious and animated that she makes Maffei seem like Mr. Potatohead. I spoke with her last night and my first impression was that she would make an incredible candidate against Buerkle. She told me that people across central New York are looking for "an advocate for their interests in Washington; and a fresh voice that isn’t beholden to any special interests."

"Growing up in Syracuse, raised by a single mother who supported our family with a good, union job and with some help from the government, and now as an employment attorney, I know firsthand the challenges that working families in Central New York are facing.

"I know how important it is that we support working- and middle-class families with strong public policies that create good jobs. I know the values my mother instilled in me-- promoting the common good, supporting our children, and advancing equality-- and won’t be afraid to fight for them in Washington. I believe we must win back the economic debate by fighting for policies that will create the good jobs of the future. I plan to do that in Congress."

New Yorkers will be lucky if she's part of their delegation to Congress-- and everyone else in the country looking for social justice and a muscular approach to old fashioned economic fairness will be as well. She's worth checking out-- especially if you live in the Syracuse area. In 2008 Blue America endorsed Dan Maffei and helped him raise money after he assured us of his progressive agenda. What a disappointment he turned out to be! We didn't re-endorse him in 2010. This year we'll be looking closely at endorsing his primary opponent. For now, if you want to help Brianne's campaign, you can do it here.

Conservative Democrats Like Stephen Lynch Have No Clue Why People Decide To Vote For Democrats

You know the old saying, "If you stop lying, I'll stop calling you a liar"? Conservative Democrat Stephen Lynch (MA), who was primaried by labor activist Mac D'Alessandro, was whining yesterday that by exposing anti-family shills like himself to voters, it hurt the Democratic Party.

Clearing primaries for members and discouraging liberal groups from spending against incumbents should be a priority for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he said. “It would definitely help, I think. You need to talk to those groups.”

Blue America endorsed D'Alessandro and supported his bid against Lynch, the most conservative Member of Congress from his state before Scott Brown was elected. A widely disliked anti-choice shithead who made a desultory attempt to win Kennedy's seat, Lynch was one of the only non-Blue Dog Democrats to oppose the healthcare bill.

Lynch, a fave of the same corrupt corporate interests who support Republicans, had a hefty war chest and beat D'Alessandro 41,941 (65%) to 22,663 (35%) and went on to overcome nearly nonexistent Republican support in November, beating Vernon Harrison 156,079 (68%) to 60,120 (26%). Yesterday he told The Hill that "liberal groups need to stay out of Democratic primaries if the party is going to retake the House majority," showing an incredible lack of understanding of what it means to be a Democrat.

In Lynchland, being a Democrat means very little: wearing a blue T-shirt, pushing along a non-ideological opportunistic career pathway and giving lip service to whatever looks like a winning issue in the district. He doesn't understand that people become Democrats because of a shared set of beliefs, because he doesn't share them.

“There was a lot of money spent against Democrats by Democrats. That contributed to the scale of our losses... I think if we had avoided that, we would have saved, maybe, six or eight more seats,” said Lynch. “I don’t think it would have stopped the overall result, but maybe six or eight seats” could have been held.

Clearing primaries for members and discouraging liberal groups from spending against incumbents should be a priority for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he said. “It would definitely help, I think. You need to talk to those groups.”

The conservatives he singled out were all shitheads like himself who were strenuously opposed by Blue America. He seems particularly upset that Blue America helped defeat Alabama Blue Dog Bobby Bright, who voted more frequently with the GOP than any other Democrat in the House, including on virtually every important contentious bill. He also bitched about corporate shills Zack Space and Katrina Swett.

[T]he SEIU encouraged its members in Ohio’s 18th district to “skip-a-Space” on their ballots and not vote for Rep. Zack Space because of his opposition to healthcare reform. The two-term Democrat was subsequently defeated by Republican Bob Gibbs.

Liberal groups also targeted Alabama Democrat Bobby Bright because of his opposition to the healthcare reform bill. The group Blue America PAC spent almost $50,000 against Bright-- in the general election, according to records compiled by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit watchdog group.

And in New Hampshire, liberal groups helped Ann McLane Kuster defeat establishment-favorite Katrina Swett in a bruising 2nd District Democratic primary. Kuster went on to lose to Republican Charlie Bass in a tight vote.

No mention of the fact that the big-spending Lieberman ally Swett only took 9,310 votes in the primary, a pathetic 29%, after spending $2,310,360 and probably draining off enough money from Kuster to throw the general election to Republican Charlie Bass. Maybe he should ask conservative Democrats to stop interfering in Democratic primaries and run in the GOP ones instead.

This morning the DCCC started running ads against vulnerable Republican Members of Congress in 19 districts. With the exception of Thad McCotter (R-MI) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), all are held by freshmen.

These 19 districts are must-wins for them in two years, and all but two members on the list are freshman. Many of them, such as Reps. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY.), Blake Farenthold (R-TX), and Joe Walsh (R-IL)-- were surprise wins in 2010 and sit in districts Pres. Obama won in 2008.

The majority of the ads focus on the GOP's plan to cut spending, saying that their member has "a plan to cut education and research by 40 percent that will cost hundreds-of-thousands of jobs and make America less competitive." But there are two noticeable exceptions to that standard script: Reps. David Rivera (R-FL) and. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA).

For the most part it isn't known who will be running against the 19 spotlighted in the ads. Tom Perriello will probably try to win back his seat against Robert Hurt in Virginia. Ditto for Ron Klein against Allen West in Florida and Steve Driehaus against Steve Chabot in Cincinnati. State Rep. Roger Goodman has already filed to run, (perhaps against Dave Reichert) in the Seattle 'burbs. Most Democrats are waiting to see how district boundaries are redrawn before making their decisions and it isn't clear which district Goodman will actually run in since Jay Inslee, in whose district he lives, is likely to run for governor.

Teabagger Ann Marie Buerkle was a surprise victor last November against moderate Democrat Dan Maffei. It came down to a 50/50 split and she took it by a few hundred votes with nearly 200,000 cast. Maffei won in Onondaga County (Syracuse), the biggest in the district, but his 72,323- 62,419 wasn't enough to take him over the finish line in the suburban and exurban parts of a district that Obama won in 2008 with 56% (and that both Gore and Kerry had won narrowly). Maffei has gone to work for some sleazy conservative Democratic think tank, Third Way, and will probably run again. Here's the text of the DCCC ad running today against Buerkle:

Here in Central New York the recession is still hitting hard, good job openings are really scarce. So it was good to hear President Obama’s plan to make the economy work for the middle class again. Invest in education to train our children for the jobs of the future, maintain America’s lead in technology with more research and development, and reduce the deficit with an overall budget freeze. That plan makes a lot of sense.

But Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle supports a plan in Congress that would cut education by 40 percent. And her plan would cut science and technology research by 40 percent, too. Research and development is how we get the new products that create new jobs. How does cutting that help us compete with China and India? It doesn’t make sense.

We should tell Ann Marie Buerkle to work with President Obama to create jobs, instead of supporting a partisan plan that costs jobs.

Getting Ready For 2012: A Couple of DCCC Turkeys

In 2005-'06 Rahm Emanuel was looking for Republican held congressional districts he felt were ripe for the plucking. Two rules of thumb in the Beltway party election committees are that open seats are the best bet and that any incumbent who scored less than 55% in his last reelection bid is fair game. But Emanuel had two aces up his sleeve that went beyond the rules of thumb, one was a red district in Florida, FL-16 (R +2), and one in a red district in North Carolina, NC-11 (R +7), respectively the seats held by Mark Foley and Charles Taylor.

Emanuel had some inside information-- and he traded on it. He was aware that the GOP cover-up of Mark Foley's sexual exploits with underage congressional pages was unraveling and he was aware that uber-corrupt bankster Charles Taylor's shenanigans with a shady Russian bank with KGB connections were going to make him unelectable. Emanuel went into recruitment mood. He (and Hoyer) drove a progressive school teacher, Dave Lutrin, out of the Florida race and persuaded an extremely sleazy conservative Republican millionaire, Tim Mahoney, to switch his voter registration and file for the seat as a Democrat. Then he convinced a Knoxville realtor and ex-ball player, Heath Shuler, to change his plans from running a hopeless race as a Republican in Tennessee and run as a Democrat in the easy race against Taylor instead.

Mahoney and Shuler both won their races-- and both opposed the Democratic agenda and spent much of their time on the other side of the aisle with their ideological brethren. Mahoney's career was cut short because he was almost as much of a sexual predator as the Republican he replaced. Shuler is one of the chairmen of the Blue Dog Caucus and spends his time undermining Democrats and progressive policies. He rooms with arch conservative religious fanatics Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn and Joe Pitts in the notorious C Street House described in The Family and was one of the 40 Democrats who voted more frequently with the GOP in the past two years than with his own party.

My point: planning is important-- and we can't just leave it up to monsters like Rahm Emanuel. For whatever reason-- most people suspect pressure from Hoyer-- Nancy Pelosi just selected another right-of-center, corrupt Democrat to head the DCCC, Steve Israel. He's been adept at squeezing money out of corporations and executives eager to buy influence in Congress-- and since being elected in 2000 he's worked hard to steer House Democrats away from a progressive agenda. He voted for the Bush tax cuts, for Medicare Part D, for the attack of Iraq and he's worked closely first with the Blue Dogs and then with Republicans in the House Center Aisle Caucus he founded. And now he's expected to head the organization that's supposed to defeat the people in the Center Aisle Caucus?

Targeting and recruitment in 2012 is going to be key to Democrats recapturing the House with a majority dedicated to passing progressive legislation for the American people, not just guaranteeing bigger offices and better parking spots and easier access to bigger "contributions" for DC careerists who call themselves Democrats. It's too important to leave it to insider hacks like Emanuel, Steve Israel and their cronies.

I'd like to go over 15 congressional districts that look interesting for Democrats-- only some would be a waste of time and some should be top priority. These are seats with freshmen Republicans who won extremely close races:

AL-02- Martha Roby beat Blue Dog Bobby Bright 111,332 (51%)- 106,465 (49%). Now that is close and DCCC rule of thumb would dictate doing everything possible to get Bright to run again and then pour in the cash. And I have no reason to believe that that is exactly what Steve Israel will do. It's a waste of time and energy. Here's why: the district only gave Obama 36% of the vote in 2008. It is a hopelessly red district. Bright accrued the single worst voting record of any Democrat in the House, voting with the GOP far more frequently than with Democrats. His ProgressivePunch score is a dismal 19.67-- more conservative than that of 4 conservative Republicans, Tim Johnson (R-IL), Ron Paul (R-TX), Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and Walter Jones (R-NC). This week 4 Alabama Democrats in the state legislature, "Democrats" in the same sense Bright is a Democrat, jumped the fence-- days after being reelected-- and joined the Republican Party, giving the state legislature of super majority of Republicans. Democrats in the counties in AL-02 who turned out in force for Obama did not show up 3 weeks ago for Bright... and why should they have? And it will be a lot harder for him to make a case in 2012 that his white Montgomery and suburban base should vote for him because he hates Nancy Pelosi while he gets African-American rural voters to vote for him because he's slightly less horrible than Martha Roby. Watch Israel fall right into this mess. The DCCC wasted around $2 million in this district this year.

CO-03- Scott Tipton eked out a narrow 126,227 (50%) victory over Blue Dog incumbent John Salazar whose total was 114,763 (46%). In the 2006 midterm Salazar beat Tipton 129,833 (61%) to 78,318 (37%) and in 2008-- while Obama lost to McCain with only 47% of the vote-- Salazar maintained his margin of victory over another Republican 203,455 (62%) to 126,762 (38%), winning all 29 counties in the district except Mesa and small, rural Delta, Jackson, Montrose and Rio Blanco. This year the Republicans came out to vote again-- but Salazar's Democratic and left-leaning independent supporters stayed home. Almost 80,000 of his 2008 voters didn't show up, while all the 2008 GOP voters did. The DCCC spent $1,192,722.15 in Independent Expenditures in the district and CO-03 will be a major target again, especially if they can get Salazar, a more moderate Blue Dog than Bright, to run again. Remember Bright's 19.67 ProgressivePunch score? Salazar's is 58.06-- night and day.

IL-08- Brian Walsh took out the Chamber of Commerce's #1 ally inside the House Democratic Caucus, New Dem leader Melissa Bean, 97,403 (49%) to 96,850 (48%). In a district just north of Chicago, where Obama won with 56% in 2008, it was one of the closest calls in the country. Bean had one of the most Republican ProgressivePunch scores of any Illinois Democrat (48.39); only big loser Bill Foster voted more frequently with the GOP. It's likely that she'll get a job as a K Street lobbyist now and won't run again. If that's what happens this would be a perfect target district for a Democrat campaigning on a platform of helping middle class families instead of Big Business and the super-wealthy, the only constituents Walsh-- and Bean-- care about.

IL-10- Robert Dold managed to hold Mark Kirk's very blue seat for the Republicans against 3-time loser Dan Seals, 108,518 (51%) to 103,512 (49%). Obama massacred McCain here, winning with 61% in 2008 but despite a humongous $1,746,828.70 investment from the DCCC I.E. Committee, it slipped away again. Seals lost to Kirk in 2006 97,249 (53%)- 84,625 (47%) and by the same margin in 2008. This should have been the year. Seals even won in Lake County this year (unlike 2008) but the Cook suburbs did him in again. This district is a perfect target for 2012, but my gut tells me it may be time for the Democrats to consider another nominee. Julie Hamos would have been a better candidate against Dold but Seals beat her narrowly in the primary (48.0- 46.7%).

MN-08- Chip Cravaack took out Jim Oberstar 133,485 (48%) to 129,083 (47%) in a district Obama won with 53%. The DCCC only spent $381,623.37.

NH-02- Charlie Bass recaptured his old seat, abandoned by Paul Hodes for an unsuccessful Senate run. Bass beat progressive champion Ann Mclane Kuster in another of the closest calls in the country, 108,550 (48%) to 104,874 (47%). Obama took the district with 56% in 2008 and this will be a major battleground in 2012. The DCCC spent $968,365.34 in I.E.s this year and probably could have won if they hadn't wasted so much on Blue Dog losers in the Old Confederacy where they had no chance at all. (For all their whining about how they weren't driven by ideology or corruption but strictly by polls, they poured $655,666.31 into a race that pitted Blue Dog Lincoln Davis against teabagger Scott Desjarlais and Davis couldn't even get to 40%! Maybe they should look at which polling company they were using... or at what their real motivations were.) Polls showed Kuster even or ahead for the entire campaign by the DCCC didn't spend the kind of money on her that they spent on more conservative candidates who did much, much worse, like Blue Dog fave Chad Causey in Arkansas ($1,771,176.95) who only walked away with 43% of the vote or conservative Gary McDowell in Michigan ($1,319,440.14) who only managed 41%. Kuster should run again, this time as a top DCCC priority.

NV-03- Joe Heck beat moderate freshman Dina Titus 128,703 (48%) to 126,781 (47%) in a district Obama won with 55%.

NY-25- In a photo-finish 50/50 race-- where the DCCC's vaunted decision by polling resulted in not one nickel being spent to save progressive Dan Maffei-- Ann Marie Buerkle beat him 99,594 to 98,935, even as Maffei won the biggest county, Onondaga (Syracuse) 72,323 (54%) to 62,419 (46%). Even though Obama won the district in 2008 with 56%, the DCCC decision to pour over a million dollars into the neighboring 24th CD to help Blue Dog Michael Arcuri instead of the progressive Maffei-- despite their pious bullshit about being poll-driven-- doomed his reelection. Arcuri only got 47% of the vote.

NC-02- Another close call, this time in a district Obama won with 52% in 2008, Renee Ellmers taking out conservative Democrat Bob Etheridge 91,924 (50%) to 89,829 (48%).

SD-AL- Kristi Noem's close defeat of Blue Dog star/credit card industry shill Stephanie Herseth Sandlin 153,683 (48%) to 146,561 (46%), probably means the Democrats can kiss this seat good-bye for a real long time. Obama lost with 45% in 2008 and this state is going to be a red hellhole for a good long time, although if superficial conventional wisdom swings back towards the Democrats in the next two years it's conceivable Herseth Sandlin could re-take her old seat-- which wouldn't do much to move any kind of a progressive agenda, or narrative, forward. The DCCC spent $402,595.77 this year.

TX-23- Quico Canseco beat moderate incumbent Circo Rodriguez 74,671 (49%) to 67,212 (44%) in one of the Texas districts where Obama beat McCain albeit only with 51%. DCCC spent $877,848.46.

TX-27- Radio talk show sidekick Blake Farenthold beat longtime moderate incumbent Solomon Ortiz 50,954 (48%) to 50,155 (47%), even though Obama won with 53% in 2008. DCCC didn't spend anything on this one.

VA-05- Robert Hurt beat Tom Perriello 119,242 (51%) to 110,566 (47%) in a red district Obama lost in 2008 with 48%/ Perriello managed to maintain an aura of being both progressive and some other catch phrase he uses to describe how courageous he is and how great his values are but he voted more often with the GOP on contentious issues and he lied about his support for Choice. He'll probably run again and lose again. The DCCC spent $593,713.37 on I.E.s in the district and it isn't likely anyone better than Perriello would win, although someone with a sense of personal integrity and honesty would be an improvement.

VA-09- Morgan Griffith beat longtime conservative incumbent Rick Boucher 95,835 (51%) to 86,791 (47%) in a district far less likely to see a Democrat win than VA-05. Obama lost with only 40% of the vote in 2008. DCCC spent nothing to hold it and unless Boucher runs again, will probably not push too hard to win it back in 2012.

WV-01- David McKinley beat conservative Democrat Mike Oliverio 89,915 (50%) to 88,558 (50%), after ethically compromised Democratic incumbent Alan Mollohan decided to retire. The GOP didn't even contest the district-- which Obama lost with a mere 42%-- in 2008 and in 2006 Mollohan beat his GOP opponent 98,759 (64%) to 54,524 (36%). I doubt it's possible, but if a real champion of working families gets the Democratic nomination in 2012, there's a chance the Dems could recapture the seat... if the economy is looking up and the Republicans in general and McKinley in particular, keep up with the destructive obstructionism.

The Daily Blue America Report-- #8

They should all retire together

Finally some good news for Ted Stevens! On returning home from his trial in Washington Stevens was told that Alaska law permits felons to run for federal office. In fact, as long as he isn't sentenced before Tuesday, he can even vote for himself! And he'll need every vote he can muster. "Like most people, I'm not perfect," Stevens told a throng of adoring recipients of wealth from the Lower 48 spread around through Stevens' earmarks.

Stevens has been kicked to the curb by both friend and for. McCain, who has always hated his guts, called on him to resign before the last juror had a chance to nod. He then forced Palin do the same, breaking with the Alaska Republican Party, which is still urging the faithful to vote for Uncle Ted. Many of the crooked Republicans who have been taking bribes from Big Oil funneled through Stevens' PAC-- particularly Republican senators in jeopardy of losing their seats Tuesday, like Mitch McConnell R-KY), Norm Coleman (R-MN), who is having his own spiraling out-of-control ethics scandal, Gordon Smith (R-OR) and John Sununu (R-NH)-- have hypocritically demanded their old partner in crime resign... immediately. Who's name is missing from this list? Well, check out which members of the Senate got the really big pay-outs from Stevens' money-laundering operation, The Northern Lights PAC and you will find Maine's most corrupt political hack, Susan Collins ($10,000 this year and $10,000 last time she ran). Maine's other senator, the honest, moderate one, Olympia Snowe, has joined her colleagues urging Stevens to resign. But not Collins, whose own PAC funneled $10,000 to Stevens, a kind of semi-legalistic way for politicians to avoid campaign finance laws.

And while Susan Collins is pledging her undying fealty to convicted felon Ted Stevens, her opponent, Tom Allen, one of the finest-- and most tested and proven-- public servants running for the Senate from anywhere, is being supported by Bill Clinton. President Clinton and Congressman Allen are old friends from the days they were both Rhodes Scholars at Oxford. Tens of thousands of Mainers were surprised when they picked up their phones tonight-- praying it wouldn't be another hysterical robocall from another of the far right GOP front groups flooding the state with negativity on behalf of Collins-- to find President Clinton's comforting voice urging them to vote for Tom.

"Hello this is President Clinton and I'm calling to urge you to support Tom Allen for United States Senate.  Barack Obama needs Democrats like Tom Allen in Washington in order implement his agenda of change to turn this economy around.

"Congressman Tom Allen opposes Bush's failed economy policy and is fighting for change: a new economic policy that focuses on the middle class, creates jobs in Maine, and supports small businesses. For Real Change support Tom Allen for US Senate on November 4."

That was especially refreshing after a day of dire warnings from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party that they intend to control Obama's agenda and the Democratic Party after Tuesday.

Conservative Democrats who've been a thorn in the side of liberal party leaders could grow into a major obstacle to Barack Obama's agenda if he is elected president.

Majority Democrats are positioned for big gains in next week's congressional election. But many of the new faces would join a growing chorus of "Blue Dogs" who often part from the party base on big issues like taxes and increasing federal spending.

That could set up a roadblock for Obama, who has promised to broaden health insurance coverage, start a new round of public works projects and improve early childhood education, among other things-- all initiatives that would require substantial government spending at a time of soaring deficits.

Ironically, it was Obama's radio ad for one of the worst of the Blue Dogs, John Barrow, a nominal Democrat from Georgia, that saved him from being defeated in a primary by state Senator Regina Thomas, who is an exemplary progressive. On substantive matters, Barrow has voted with the GOP 65% of the time and with the Democrats 35% of the time. And Barrow is only one of 16 nominal Democrats who have voted with the Repugs more frequently than with their own party. The others, from bad to worse, are: Zach Space (OH), Baron Hill (IN), Gene Taylor (MS), Harry Mitchell (AZ), Jim Matheson (UT), Chris Carney (PA), Heath Shuler (NC), Jason Altmire (PA), Dan Boren (OK), Brad Ellsworth (IN), Travis Childers (MS), Don Cazayoux (LA), Joe Donnelly (IN), Jim Marshall (GA) and Nick Lampson (TX).

Lately we've been mentioning how the DCCC is spending far more money on Independent Expenditures for conservative and corporate candidates than for grassroots and progressive candidates. Today I saw quite a few weighty endorsements come over the transom-- mostly for conservatives. Many of the best candidates across the country-- the hope of the progressive movement, have been snubbed by the Establishment Democrats over and over, as though they actually hope they lose. Today conservative business shill Mark Warner warmly endorsed fellow conservative Glenn Nye, while ignoring progressive candidates Judy Feder and Tom Perriello. Simultaneously Jim Webb sent out a last minute plea for 4 Democratic candidates for the Senate-- pointedly leaving out progressives-- and pleading for cash from a right-wing corporate shill like Bruce Lunsford (KY) and for right-of-center bad-news-Dems Kay Hagan (NC) and Ronnie Musgrove (MS) plus moderate Jim Martin (GA). Not a word about struggling progressives like Jeff Merkley (OR), Rick Noriega (TX), Andrew Rice (OK), or Tom Allen (ME).

Connecticut-04- On the other hand, Jim Himes did get a little help that should go a long way in the form of a radio ad by Barack Obama.

New York-25- Yesterday's NY Times reported that the Republican Party has given up on all but two of the congressional races in New York State, the others being hopelessly out of their reach. Dan Maffei is sure to win a seat he just missed out on in 2006. The only Blue America candidate in New York now facing a challenge is Eric Massa, who is leading in a tight rematch with Bush rubber stamp Randy Kuhl.

National Republican officials have decided to withhold financial support from all but two closely contested Congressional races in New York, as the party braces for the possibility that it could lose several more House seats in the state.

The decision to abandon much of the state came after internal party polls showed Republican candidates in at least three once-promising races falling behind their Democratic opponents, a party official briefed on the internal deliberations said.

As a result, Republican leaders are diverting money to candidates in other races in which party officials believe they have a greater chance of success, the official said.

The decision by national Republicans to focus on a smaller group of races underscores the degree to which the party is on the defensive not only in New York but also in New Jersey, Connecticut and many other states. The national party is short on cash and is being forced into the difficult position of deciding where to continue to fight-- and where to effectively surrender-- as the election enters the final days of campaigning.

“Tough decisions have to be made,” said Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island, who conceded that the party was seeking to minimize its losses. “You have to decide who comes off life support and who gets a massive infusion.”

Two of the races effectively being written off in New York are in districts currently held by Republican incumbents who are retiring at the end of the year-- the 25th Congressional District in the Syracuse region, now held by James T. Walsh; and the 13th District on Staten Island, where Vito J. Fossella is stepping down. Representative Fossella was found guilty in a Virginia court this month on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

VIRGINIA-05- In a stunning and precedent-shattering move, the Danville Register & Bee has ended its career-long support for corrupt Bush rubber stamp Virgil Goode and urged voters to trade him in for Tom Perriello.

This newspaper hasn’t endorsed a Democrat for Congress since Virgil Goode was a Democrat. Since Goode’s first campaign for Congress in 1996, we have backed him in every election, defended him from what we thought was unfair criticism by challengers and wished for him a long career in Washington.

But today, the Danville Register & Bee endorses Tom Perriello for the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

We haven’t left Virgil Goode. Virgil Goode has left us.

...We expect to receive great criticism for endorsing Perriello over Goode.

But our decision was born out of frustration with a career politician who has already told us he expects to be ineffective as Democrats gain more power in Congress. Just this year, Goode has voted against the tax rebate checks that people throughout the 5th District received this year and he voted against a financial rescue plan that even his own Republicans believed was necessary to stave off more serious economic problems.

If we send Goode back to Washington, how many more times will he vote against our interests? We can’t take that chance.

On Tuesday, it’s time to elect a young man of integrity, energy, faith and hard work. It’s time to send Tom Perriello to Congress.

Texas-10- Cook upgraded Larry Joe Doherty's chance of unseating Bush rubber stamp Michael McCaul... for the second time. McCaul, one of the least knowledgeable hacks in the whole Congress has refused to debate Doherty and over the past couple of months the district went from "safe Republican" to "likely Republican" to "leans Republican." McCaul has no get ground game and Doherty has been building one all year. The latest polling shows a virtual tie. A victory Tuesday for Larry Joe will be reason to celebrate-- for Texans and for all Americans. Watch him on local TV news yesterday explaining his ideas about bailing out big corporations.

California-04- Last night we talked about the soft-core porn robocalls Republican congressional candidate Zane Starkewolf has been using (illegally) in CA-01. Mike Thompson, the incumbent from that district was campaigning with Charlie Brown yesterday in CA-04. And Little Zane's buddy, Tom McClintock was also employing more illegal robocalls, which most people in Northern California refer to as nuisance calls. (McClintock, who lives in the L.A. suburbs doesn't know anything about northern California, so he isn't aware people don't like them-- or that they're illegal.) A couple weeks ago Charlie Brown called on McClintock to join him in swearing them off. "Robo-Dial phone calls are a nuisance and a deceptive campaign tactic typical of negative campaigns that would rather attack a person’s character than offer detailed solutions. I am calling on Tom McClintock to join me in a bi-partisan effort to conduct an above board campaign based on direct contact with voters-- not deceptive and annoying robo-calls." McClintock refused and instead launched another barrage of the calls, illegal because they violated laws requiring that they include a disclaimer identifying who paid for and authorized the campaign communication.

Another great SEIU TV spot-- this one on behalf of progressives in Ohio. Let's hope it rubs off on Vic Wulsin, the best candidate in the entire state and the one who is being pummeled the hardest by the GOP smear machine.



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ERIC MASSA, JON POWERS, DAN MAFFEI TO EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPPORTING OUR VETS AND SUPPORTING GOP DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

Two military veterans: Eric Massa and Wes Clark

Eric Massa is one of the architects of the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, which has been worked on and endorsed by many of the other Blue America candidates-- Darcy Burner, Donna Edwards, Sam Bennett, Alan Grayson, Dennis Shulman, and Leslie Byrne. The Plan, which points out the flaws (and dire consequences) of the Bush Regime's Iraq agenda, has a carefully laid out roadmap-- sorry Condi; we know you're not using the term anyway these days-- to actually solve the situation we find ourselves in and not just drift along the way Dick Cheney, John McCain, Joe Lieberman, and the rest of the rubber stamps-- too frequently on both sides of the aisle-- advocate. "Stay the course" is not the answer and the Democratic congressional leadership is paralyzed by a caucus made rotten and ineffectual by too many Blue Dogs, too many Bush Dogs and way too much influence by the insidious and toxic DLC.

The Plan Darcy and Eric worked out with high ranking military generals and national security experts is, not unexpectedly, already being attacked by the far right. "This so-called plan is nothing more than the same liberal talking points we have been hearing for the last year," said National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain. "Clearly, their plan is to be nothing more than a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat-led Congress."

Sounds like the bankrupt NRCC is not just out of money, but even out of ideas and... vocabulary. But, only if it were true that Pelosi and the Democratic leadership would sign on to these ideas and get behind them with the same energy that our candidates are infusing into the initiative! But don't look for closet war supporters like Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer to get behind this before 20 more shills like Al Wynn are removed from the Democratic caucus and replaced with progressives like Donna Edwards.

Now, back to Eric Massa. Tomorrow morning Eric and two more Blue America candidates, Dan Maffei and Jon Powers are getting together at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center (at 459 South Ave.). The 3 progressive anti-occupation candidates have contiguous districts which, more or less, meet in metro-Rochester. Massa:

Since the war in Iraq began on March 19th, 2003, 3,990 American troops have been killed, tens of thousands have been injured and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died. While President Bush and Randy Kuhl continue to block health care for working Americans, deny us the truth of our economic situation, and create more hurdles for Veterans requiring services, they have no problem spending $3 trillion on a war of choice against a country that had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks.

"Those of us that wore the uniform honor our men and women who stood with us," said retired Navy Commander Eric Massa. "Today I call on Randy Kuhl to finally stand up to George W. Bush's failed foreign policy. Since he came into office, Mr. Kuhl has gone out of his way to rubber stamp President Bush's each and every demand for Iraq. We are currently spending almost $6,000 per second in Baghdad while thousands of children right here in Western New York cannot receive access to health care. Additionally, our returning Veterans continue to encounter more and more red tape while trying to receive the long-term care they have earned. This is the hypocrisy of incumbency and we must hold our failed leaders accountable."

Yesterday we pointed out how pro-war Republicans-- in yesterday's case, James Inhofe (R-OK)-- may love war and love "generous" defense contractors, but have zero regard for the welfare of our military personnel in the field and zero regard for our veterans who have returned home, and, in too many cases, zero regard for our country's national security. In Oklahoma Andrew Rice is taking Inhofe to task head on over his disgraceful record of letting our veterans and fighting men and women down. Eric Massa, Jon Powers and Dan Maffei are doing the same thing in upstate New York. Randy Kuhl's rubber stamp record is nearly as atrocious as James Inhofe's. Since getting into Congress there have been 13 roll calls directly involving the well being of American military personnel. On all but one-- the most recent one as the election approaches-- Kuhl has voted against our servicemen and women and for the narrow partisan Bush-Cheney agenda. Similarly, when it comes to our nation's military veterans, Kuhl's disgraceful voting record has been an absolute disaster. Of the 19 roll calls regarding veterans, Kuhl has voted against them 18 times.

Army Captain (ret.) Jon Powers is facing the same kind of pro-war/anti-troops/anti-vets Republican, Tom Reynolds (R-NY). There have been 22 roll calls regarding the well being of our military personnel since June, 2003. Reynolds didn't even bother coming in to vote on 6 of them and of the other 16, he voted against our servicemen and women 15 times! And he's been just about as anti-veteran as Kuhl and Inhofe-- 24 roll calls on veteran matters with half a dozen no-shows and 17 votes against vets. You want to support veterans and American military personnel? Think about supporting Eric Massa, Jon Powers, Dan Maffei and Andrew Rice at the Blue America page.


UPDATE FROM ROCHESTER

This morning Eric Massa (NY-29) joined with fellow congressional candidates Dan Maffei (NY-25) and Iraq Veteran Jon Powers (NY-26) for a major press conference at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center. On this five year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the message was clear: It is time for a new direction and new leadership.
 
Eric, a distinguished retired Navy Commander: "I've been talking for three years about the importance of learning from the lessons of Bosnia. During that conflict, we went in and stopped a three way ethnic civil war, and that is the exact same situation we face today. The Bush administration and their rubber stamps in Congress have failed the American public by starting a war without a plan for victory. They then failed our returning Veterans by slashing funds for Veteran services. Today, on this five year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, we call on President Bush and Randy Kuhl to listen to the families of Western New York and change course. It is time for new ideas and a new direction."