Sam Bennett-- The New President Of The Women's Campaign Forum

The Lehigh Valley, basically PA-15, has become more and more Democratic in its politics as the GOP has moved further and further in an extremist, right-wing direction. Obama took the district with a convicing 56-43% win over McCain. DWT readers and Blue America supporters are already very familiar with Sam Bennett, the woman who ran against GOP incumbent Charlie Dent last year. We last talked with Sam just two months ago and then last month spent some time blogging with her about the ruinous impact of still raging political misogyny. Over half the population in America-- women-- holds a mere 18% of the seats in the House... and only 17% of the Senate.

We asked Sam to come back to Firedoglake today (at 11am, PT) to talk about her brand new job as president of the Woman's Campaign Forum, a non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing the political participation and leadership of pro-choice women by providing the necessary encouragement, education and resources. They recruit and support women to run for office beginning in their earliest days in politics. They're also building a national network of women voters, donors and activists whose efforts and venture capital will ensure women’s voices are heard.

Sam:

"My goal as new President will be to drive home the national importance of getting more women, more progressive, pro-choice women, in elected office. We must recognize how the U.S. trails behind all other industrialized democracies and tackle this problem head on. WCF has a great tradition of early investment in promising women and we will grow that-- investing in women throughout the course of their political careers not just in the races they run. Dramatically building the pipeline will ensure more women get elected-- work that will require high degrees of collaboration with partners like the Net Roots community."

Come over to the FDL the comments section and learn more about what she plans to do with the organization. My first question for her: A gay friend of mine in Manhattan was telling me that as much as he wanted to vote for a gay Democrat for Congress, the incumbent, a progressive straight Democrat, was such a stellar representative (in every way) that he didn't fall for the identity politics thing and stuck with Jerry Nadler. I watched with horror when Emily's list endorsed reactionary corporate shill Nikki Tinker over Memphis progressive Steve Cohen, who has a perfect voting record on every Emily's List issue (but the wrong plumbing). I saw that last year the WCF endorsed some really outstanding women running for office (although not you???). Among the federal candidates they got behind were outstanding leaders like Donna Edwards (D-MD), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Annette Taddeo (D-FL), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), Darcy Burner (D-WA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). But then there were the... non-progressive endorsees-- Susan Collins (R-ME), Gabby Giffords (Blue Dog-AZ), Jane Harman (Blue Dog-CA), Christine Jennings (Blue Dog-FL), Melissa Bean (Blue Dog-IL), etc. First, why didn't they endorse you? And second will the WCF continue what looks like a policy of endorsing any woman who is pro-choice no matter how she stands on other matters? I can't imagine that's a comfortable place for you.

A Woman's Place Is In The House-- Guest Post By Sam Bennett

This morning I woke up and turned on CNN for a minute and it was Howie Kurtz interviewing Katie Couric. I was still in a daze-- having stayed up all night reading Mike Lux's book, The Progressive Revolution, but I could swear he asked her if she thought her new hairdo was helping her ratings. She told him to go ask Brian Williams if he thought his darker tan was good for his ratings. I didn't have my eyes open and maybe they were bantering or... maybe not.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the lot of women in our political system. When I look at the ten most progressive members of Congress, six of them-- Donna Edwards (D-MD), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and Hilda Solis (D-CA)-- are women. On the other hand, when you look at the worst reactionaries in Congress you wind up with Mary Fallin (R-OK) sitting in the top spot but followed closely by Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). There are 78 congresswomen, including 11 freshmen ranging from superb progressives like Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) to an anti-choice conservative Democrat, Kathy Dahlkemper (PA) and raging reactionary Republicans Lynn Jenkins (KS) and Cynthia Lummis (WY). But to many people what stands out here is that there are 435 members of Congress and that 78 means that slightly over half the population holds around 18% of the seats-- and that's 1% more than the percentage of women in the Senate.

What brought it up for me was an argument I had with some friends about identity politics. Emily's List, for example, supports women over men-- even as was the case last year in Memphis, when a super-progressive champion of women's rights and working families, Rep. Steve Cohen, was challenged by a bigoted corporate shill, Nikki Tinker. There needs to be more women in Congress, but not terrible ones in the place of excellent male incumbents with proven track records. Emily's List should help recruit good challengers not support embarrassing ones. (In fact, they were so embarrassed that they tacitly pulled out of the race on election day when their candidate launched an orgy of anti-semitic, racist and homophobic ads.)

Last year one women who Emily's List did support-- although not financially-- was Sam Bennett, a progressive stalwart who took on fake moderate Charlie Dent in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley (PA-15). Blue America raised $10,562 for Sam from 331 donors and also sent her a $2,000 check from the Blue America PAC. During the campaign, I couldn't help but notice a shocking amount of sexist invective aimed at her. Last week, after a catching-up blog session, we were talking about it on the phone and she offered to send me a short post she wrote about her thoughts on the subject.

LILLY'S LEGACY

by Sam Bennett

 
I was once a single mother. My mother too. Nationally women earn only 77 cents to every dollar a man earns-- a problem for America’s children. Recent passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act seeks “to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex." I’m deeply grateful this bill was passed and deeply disappointed that my Congressman, Charlie Dent, voted against it. As a recent candidate for U.S. Congress who happened to be a woman, the issue of gender proved to be profound in my race.
 
I was driving west on Route PA-78 passing McCain Palin signs mounted like shrines on barns with thirty foot American flags waving beside. Driving to Catherine “CBK” Baker Knoll’s viewing, recently deceased first female Treasurer and Lt. Governor of my state. My state with one of the lowest rates of women in elected office in the whole US of A. In Pennsylvania we have nineteen Congressional seats and until the past election only one woman represented us. We now have two: Kathy Dahlkemper won out Erie way where churches grow small crosses across lawns with signs explaining “each cross represents one/one hundred/one thousand babies that have been aborted each day/week/year." Somehow the U.S. manages to have the lowest rate of women in elected office among all industrialized democracies. I was the only other woman who ran for U.S. Congress in PA this year. I lost but garnered more votes than any congressional Democratic candidate in my district prior.
   
CBK special guested a fundraiser for me, arriving with disposable camera and hostess gift. One week later I received a handwritten note with strict instructions to immediately deliver the accompanying photos of her with every guest. Clearly her political success based on decades of exceptionally well organized personal touch.
 
Hillary under the frescoed dome of our capitol rotunda honored CBK. She who made “18 million cracks” in the glass ceiling won Pennsylvania. We delivered again for Obama despite being home to the one of the highest concentrations of white supremacy groups in the country. Is the national glass ceiling of gender thicker, more resistant than the one of race?
 
Deborah Tannen stressed that in countries from Pakistan to the United Kingdom, even if you are a woman, the fact that you’ve ascended the political ladder automatically provides the inherent deference accorded to those of higher social standing-- structures just not in place in our Horatio Alger society. A donor sent a Bill Moyer interview to me on the disturbing media “avalanche of misogyny directed at Hillary Clinton” and warned that I should prepare for the upcoming assault in my run for Congress. I was somewhat ready.
 
Running for mayor of Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania, I lost by 46 votes against a 20 year political incumbent. At our first political debate the audience of only white-men-older-than-my-father riced me with “so are you a stewardess sweetie?” as I walked up the aisle. After my opponent had his ten unimpeded minutes I started my remarks, and midway was interrupted by the Democratic Club president. “Sam, I have a question for you… I was laying in bed last night thinking about you and all of us here are wondering… just what are your measurements?” I should have said I’d be happy to give him mine if he would first supply his. As it was, I smiled, ignored his question, clearly intended to intimidate. But the real shocker: the newspaper reporter who covered the event failing to make any mention of the comment. In thirty years as a businesswoman I’ve been invited to participate in wet T-shirt contests, been fondled under conference tables and thought politics and its press would be better behaved. I was wrong.

Post announcing my bid for U.S. Congress this same newspaper day after day ran with this verbatim quote from a local blog on its front page: “Sammy Bennett is a phony political w**** who gives good h*** and makes cheap, blatant political opportunists look like Mother Fucking Teresa. Even her c*** is made of plastic.” Though over the next year the paper never cited the differences between my opponent and I on issues, they ensured the launch of my bid for U.S. Congress linked me to “c***," “w****“ and “h***.”  Next this paper promptly dove into a multiple week query about my salary as the newly minted statewide director of a non-profit. Professional women still look me in the eye “Sam, if you were a man, no one would have said a word about your salary.”
   
Women candidates for U.S. Congress: Vic Wuslin of OH; Betsy Markey of CO; Judy Baker of MO; Suzanne Kosmas of FL; and I stood on stage at the Yale Club in Manhattan, Gloria Steinem presiding. The event organized by the legendary Sarah Kovner and Ann Hess of NYC. Passionate, stern, demanding, without these women and many like them, my race would have been still born. The legions of women who fiercely support other women essential to any progress made.
 
Women must run. And we do not fail when we lose. The fact that we ran is a win. Mina, CBK’s daughter, confides “Sam, you know what my mother would have said… you need to run again.” And to Lilly, who fought her part of the war for all of us, we say thank you. Bottom line, we need more women running or we’ll never have more women elected.  And our nation will be the poorer for it. 

Blue America-- Sam Bennett Has Some Plans

This morning the Lehigh Valley has been in the news because a former congressman, Club For Growth president Pat Toomey, has given Arlen Specter a pass in terms of his right flank. The somewhat demented Toomey, a right wing extremist who preceded Charlie Dent as PA-15's rep, said he's not going to primary Specter (and run for governor instead). This morning we're welcoming back a dear Blue America friend, Sam Bennett, who ran against Dent in the last cycle. Join us over at FDL this morning at 11am (PT). Yesterday she told me that "After getting around 128,000 votes, which is significantly more than any other Democrat candidate has garnered in a congressional race in this district, it's become clear to me that we're moving things in the right direction." Sam spent $940,252 against Dent's $1,736,715. He spent $9.63/vote and Sam spent around 7.37/vote. Would more money have helped? "We had a lot of support from the national progressive community and we're moving in the right direction in terms of votes garnered compared to the amount of money raised," she said. "but there's a lot more work to be done." And as the vice-chair of the Lehigh County Democratic Party, there's a lot Sam can-- and plans to-- do.

I would argue that in my district-- and in others-- that when we have well-entrenched incumbents who position themselves as "moderates," thru franked mail and campaign expenditures, despite having a very unmoderate voting record, they are thought to be "moderates" in the local voters' minds. That becomes a particularly tough target for us as progressives. So what I need to do, and what I'm going to do, working with others in my district is keeping that coalition together that worked on my race-- feminists, Greens, unions, environmentalists-- and forming a federal PAC and putting up our own blog. Right now the blogosphere in my district is uniquely dominated by the regressives not the progressives. We need to turn that situation around and look for any opportunity we can to communicate to the voters at large and give progressives voices a place to be heard.

It's clear to me that to win this district I'm not the right candidate but I'm working hard with others and we've got at least one phenomenal candidate, and maybe two, so we'll be working hard to make sure there is a great progressive candidate here. In the meantime we need to continue getting Dent's voting record out to the public on a regular basis and utilizing any communication methods we can to get that information into the voters' minds.

There have been several contested votes in the House so far. Dent voted to sabotage the Paycheck Fairness Act with a parliamentary maneuver, although he later voted for it when it was clear it would pass. He the voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, something that would probably surprise most women in PA-15. He voted for a failed parliamentary maneuver to sabotage SCHIP, twice and, then, as is his deceitful modus operandi he voted with the Democrats on final passage so he could tell voters back home he was for health care for needy children, despite trying to kill the bill twice on the same day he voted for it. He's adept at putting up a confusing smokescreen as his voting record.

We've had tremendous success, particularly on the municipal level, in getting Democrats elected up and down the ticket elected for the first time. Our efforts will be coordinated with the Democratic Party, but also with the Greens, I am the first candidate that the Greens endorsed in a congressional race here. If it takes us two years, fine; if it takes us four years, fine. The key is a long term committment.

Empowering The Grassroots-- Do Your Own Ad Campaign

I was on the phone with Alan Grayson a few days ago and he told me that he feels the campaign he so painstakingly put together has degenerated into a quest for money to run ads on television, instead of an opportunity to talk with the people of Orlando about how government can help to improve their lives. There are many ways to approach running a campaign but almost every candidate and staffer I talk to says, no matter how idealistic it starts, it always ends with TV ads. Alan's ground game probably won him the primary-- but his startling TV ads sure didn't hurt.

Today Blue America, with our partners at SaysMe.TV, is launching a new application that can make everyone a political media consultant-- or, better yet, a replacement for a political media consultant. Start by picking a media market:

Cincinatti- Vic Wulsin
Miami- Annette Taddeo
Washington, DC- Judy Feder
Detroit- Gary Peters
New York- Dennis Shulman
Seattle- Darcy Burner
Philadelphia- Sam Bennett
Charlotte- Larry Kissell (should be up Monday)
Los Angeles- Debbie Cook or Russ Warner (should be up Tuesday)

Then pick which ad you want to run. Right now we have one ad available per candidate but we're hoping to ad some more in the next week.

Type you name in at the top because the end of the ad it will credit you with having paid for it.

Then pick the network and the daypart (time).

The minimum cost per candidate is $100.

Review the ad purchase and check off all the boxes that attest that you're a U.S. citizen and that you're not a member of the Bush cabinet, etc.

And then pay for it with your credit card. SaysMe.TV will notify you before your ads run. This is the beginning of a new world in media buying. I have a feeling its going to get better and better over the next year or so. Meanwhile, as usual, we're the pioneers. Play around with it. And take a look at one of the ads; this is one that points out Charlie Dent's complicity in the energy crisis and the rise of gas prices:

Can We Save Ourselves From The Predators Like Sarah Palin, Rudy Giuliani And Charlie Dent Who Want to Eat Us For Lunch?

Rudy Giuliani- part of the problem

Yesterday Paul Krugman said that the "economy is now hostage to the Treasury Department’s blunders." I think he meant to say the whole financial system is. He talked about the economy being on "the edge of the abyss" and pointed out that "the people who should be steering us away from that abyss are out to lunch." Persuasive, if succinct, analysis. But then he veers off course. He hope the lame excuse for a rescue bill passes "simply because we’re in the middle of a financial panic, and another no vote would make the panic even worse" and then admits that the bill is "a stinker-- and inexcusably so."

The financial system has been under severe stress for more than a year, and there should have been carefully thought-out contingency plans ready to roll out in case the markets melted down. Obviously, there weren’t: the Paulson plan was clearly drawn up in haste and confusion. And Treasury officials have yet to offer any clear explanation of how the plan is supposed to work, probably because they themselves have no idea what they’re doing.

Bill Clinton made operating the federal government look easy enough for anyone to do it-- even a pathetic and proudly ignorant loser some found charming and wanted to have a beer with. This morning I woke up and heard partisan gladiators for the Republican Party, Inc-- Pat Buchanan, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough-- talking about how Sarah Palin had passed a test and proven she had what it takes to be president. She proved no such thing. She proved she could do a reasonable impression of an ill-tempered mynah bird and the only thing that was proven is that Pat Buchanan, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough would rather see our country continue down the road to ruin than see Barack Obama as president.

The whole Infotainment/reality show mentality has trivialized American democracy. Why not elect George W. Bush? Why not elect a trained mynah bird? Why not take executive advice from The Donald, the pampered and spoiled son of a crooked real estate developer who tried following in his father's footsteps only to come up against two bankruptcies that the taxpayers bailed him out of. And what's wrong with taking advice from a shameless financial ambulance chaser like Rudy Giuliani? This morning Giuliani assured MSNBC viewers that Palin proved she could be president of the United States and tomorrow he will be in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley trying to use his celebrity to persuade voters that a lockstep, out-of-touch rubber stamp like Republican Congressman Charlie Dent is exactly what the economy needs (more of). But before, after and in between Giuliani is all about profiting from the Wall Street meltdown that his party's philosophy of unrestrained, unregulated Greed and Selfishness has brought to bear on the rest of us. Sure Rudy wants another dunce like Bush in the White House. McCain and Palin almost make Bush look competent and Phil Gramm makes Hank Paulson almost look honest. Giuliani is poised to make a killing if the rescue package passes.

In the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has begun drumming up business, positioning his law firm to advise corporate clients on how to profit from the government's $700 billion bailout.

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP announced it has formed a corporate task force to advise "financial institutions, private investment funds, institutional investors and other market participants" on the costly package.

"Our team of former government officials and experienced attorneys in the fields of legislation, enforcement and finance are equipped to guide institutions in this quickly evolving and complex environment," Giuliani said.

A firm spokeswoman declined to provide any further details and referred to the announcement.

Dent, like almost all Republican members of Congress-- and too many Democrats-- will also continue to profit from the shenanigans on Wall Street. The authors of the current crisis that Krugman warned us has the economy at the edge of the abyss, have helped finance the political career of Charlie Dent-- to the tune of $643,009 (so far). In return he has made sure they didn't have to pay their fair share of taxes and he has made sure they didn't have to worry about regulations that would protect consumers, workers and Society from their predatory nature. And now Dent, and his pal, Rudy, want you to send him back to Congress... for more of the same?

Sam Bennett- part of the solution

Krugman warns that next January "the next administration’s economic team had better be ready to hit the ground running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression." And there are literally millions of voters across the country, but particularly in religionist-dominated parts of the Old Confederacy and the western Mormon empire-- Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and backward parts of Nevada, California, and Arizona-- who feel that John McCain, Sarah Palin and Phil Gramm are who they want at the helm of the ship of state as it navigates those troubling, shark-infested waters.

In more rational parts of the country, it's crucial that the wingnuts and their enablers, like Charlie Dent (R-PA), Chris Shays (R-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the notorious Diaz-Balart Brothers (R-FL), Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Ric Keller (R-FL), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Tim Walberg (R-MI), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH), David Dreier (R-CA), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Adam Putnam (R-FL), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Virgil Goode (R-VA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Frank Wolf (R-VA), James Inhofe (R-OK), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Mike Pence (R-IN), John Shadegg (R-AZ)... are stopped from forcing more of the same down our throats. When the task of electing Barack Obama seems gargantuan and out of your own individual grasp, let me remind you that it is much, much easier to effect the outcome of a congressional race. ActBlue is about the cross the $70 million mark. Our own Blue America page is over $400,000 this year and, in all, we've raised close to a million and a half dollars for progressive Democratic candidates since we started in 2006. We helped elect over a dozen new progressives to Congress, mostly long-shots who were given no chance by the prognosticators. We did that with lots of $5 and $10 and $20 contributions. These problems aren't going to fix themselves and the Rudy Giulianis of the world are not going to steer you towards solutions that do anything but fleece regular working families to benefit the self-entitled crooks and thieves of his own circle. You want a better world? Help make it. Blue America is one way to move in that direction. If we don't have a candidate in your area, let me recommend the woman who is running against Charlie Dent this year, Sam Bennett. You'll find her at the link.

You'll also find Barry Welsh, the progressive running against GOP leader (and out-there extremist) Mike Pence in Indiana. It isn't a race the DCCC is contesting, despite the fact that Pence is one of the single worst members of Congress and a proponent of policies even worse than Bush's. Welsh and his grassroots supporters in Indiana are in a lonely struggle against a well-oiled (literally) machine. And that is just making him fight even harder. Here's what he had to say about why he would be voting NO today on Paulson's Wall Street bailout/giveaway plan:

The failure that is the cause of the economic frenzy on Wall Street is not the homeowners of America nor is it those that wish to own a home. The failure lies with those like Congressman Pence who believe in the myth created by Ronald Reagan that is Top Down Economics, or voodoo economics as it was correctly called. The fact that those at the top of Wall Street have lost 700 Billion Dollars and no one can tell us where it went, and the fact that they now want 700 Billion more and it is to be used at the discretion of the President and Treasury Secretary without the taxpayer knowing in advance the purpose of this bailout? That is not acceptable to me. Congressman Pence did what he does best and that is grandstand. He may have voted no but he cannot run away from the fact that his economic principal of giving more to those at the top is malfunctioning and he must reap what he has helped sow.  
 
I too would have voted no, because the fundamental questions of where did this money go, and where will this new money go, have never been answered. This Nation must return to the sound economic principals under which it expects its citizens to operate, and until then, there will be more economic turmoil. This bill is allowing those that caused the problem the capital to repeat their actions and does little to address the real problem and that is the housing market, foreclosures, and looming poverty for the workers of this nation. My opponent has such little understanding as to still want to put Social Security into the stock market. His no vote will not fool the voters.

Rove Grounded After Admitting Palin "Is Not The Most Qualified Candidate?"

Rove admits it was a "political" pick-- so what happened to "America First?"

In an attempt to get out ahead of the new NY Times/CBS polling information that shows that McCain's "Palin bounce" has gone flat, Republican Party strategist Karl Rove admitted last night that the subsiding excitement over the largely unqualified Alaskan is to be expected and that she was just a "political pick."

Rove then slyly tries equating Obama's careful selection of a knowledgeable, tested, and experienced statesman, Joe Biden, with McCain's irresponsible and cynical choice of a superficially attractive and totally diversionary Wasilla hockey mom and moose hunter. Even with that stretch, Rove had to admit Palin "is not the most qualified candidate." Rove is reflecting, for his own reasons, of course, what a lot of Republicans are saying privately, that Palin is spectacularly unqualified for serious office. This morning Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel went public with his dismay at the choice. "She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials. You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything... I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

While we're on the topic of Rove, I wish I could ask him what his strategy is about keeping all his candidates from debating their Democratic challengers. We went over a few of the cowardly Republicans-- particularly shakin'-in-his-boots Randy Kuhl, Randy Forbes and Gordon Smith-- on Sunday. Yesterday we saw several other Republicans slink away from challenges. All three of the Miami-Dade right-wing Republicans, the Diaz-Balart brothers (aka- Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen refused to commit to debates. Ros-Lehtinen, in fact, who is running scared now that she sees her shallow support evaporating, "said she has no time for a debate any time between now and the election."

Meanwhile, up in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, Charlie Dent's floundering re-election campaign is besieged from all sides. Still recovering from the firing of a GOP operative and former Dent staffer for viciously racist and misogynistic rantings-- which Dent has refused to disavow-- Dent stumbled badly by voting against this week's Comprehensive Energy Bill just as the huge so-called "donations" ($75,831) he was taking from Big Oil were exposed.

Instead of defending his record or debating Democrat Sam Bennett, Dent has decided to lie on hiding out in Washington and conducting a Rovian smear campaign against his opponent. Bennett keeps accepting debate invitations from media outlets and area colleges, all of which Dent turns down. Bennett's campaign has rubbed his nose in his own dirt by putting out a list of the top ten reasons Dent dodges debates:

1. Our country needs change.  Dent has had it his way in Washington for four years and four out of five times Charles W. Dent with George W. Bush.
2. Folks want to bring that change home.  Dent attacks Sam’s work to help clean up Lehigh Valley communities as “money wasted” while his only two legislative accomplishments in four years are renaming post-offices.
3. Pennsylvania has suffered 1400 casualties in Iraq.  Dent went to Washington, knowing there were no WMD’s and still votes to use trillions of dollars in Iraq.
4. When our troops are gone, Dent votes to tax military families, and when they come home, he says NO to their healthcare and job training.
5. Wages are falling and the wealth gap is growing while Dent makes three times the income of the average Lehigh Valley voter.  Then he votes NO for fully raising the minimum wage and ensuring equal pay for equal work.
6. 212,000 Pennsylvania kids are uninsured as Dent accepts taxpayer-funded healthcare. Then he votes NO for expanding it for kids and military reservists.
7. Companies like Mack Trucks cut jobs in the Lehigh Valley and their mega millionaire CEO’s still cut checks to Dent for thousands of dollars.  Then he votes NO to stopping CAFTA deals that trade Pennsylvania jobs for corporate profits and NO to the Employee Free Choice Act to give workers a fair shake.
8. Special interests are trying to take over Washington, and Dent accepts more than $90,000 from lobbyists.  Then he refuses to give it back.
9. Gas prices are soaring and so are Dent’s campaign contributions from Big Oil.  Dent accepts more than $75,000 from Big Oil and gives Big Oil $14 billion in tax breaks instead of investing in renewable energy, says NO to renewable energy, and says NO to efficiency and conservation.
10. Prescription drug costs are skyrocketing while Dent accepts tens of thousands of dollars from Big Pharma.  And he votes NO for negotiating drug prices for Medicare patients and NO to allowing seniors to import FDA approved prescriptions from Canada.

Comprehensive Energy Legislation-- Who Stood With Big Oil And Who Stood With American Families?

Petrified that the Democrats intended to call their bluff on their two asinine months of "Drill Here Now" nonsense, a gaggle of frightened, shaking Republicans opened the day with a motion to adjourn. It was overwhelmingly defeated, although Texas Tea Party tire-gauge clowns Phil English (R-PA- $189,136), Pete Sessions (R-TX- $559,314), Phil Gingrey (R-GA- $34,500), and John Carter (R-TX- $140,900) were among the bought-off Oil company Republican extremists who voted for it.

The enabling legislation (House Resolution 1433) for Louise Slaughter's Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act seeks to reduce U.S. dependence "on oil through renewable and clean, alternative fuel technologies while building a bridge to the future through expanded access to Federal oil and natural gas resources, revising the relationship between the oil and gas industry and the consumers who own those resources and deserve a fair return from the development of publicly owned oil and gas, ending tax subsidies for large oil and gas companies, and facilitating energy efficiencies in the building, housing, and transportation sectors, and for other purposes."

Big Oil has signaled their bought-and-paid-for Republican (and Blue Dog) congressmen that they do not want this bill to pass. When the procedural votes began only two Republicans-- Peter King (NY) and the retiring Vito Fossella (NY)-- joined the Democrats to serve the interests of constituents. The rest of the Republicans were more interested in serving the interests of the Big Oil corporations that have donated $166,126,945 to Republican Party politicians since 1990. Among the "Drill Here Now" bigshots cringing and peeing in their bloomers, afraid to vote, were John Culberson (R-TX- $304,461), Tim Walberg (R-MI- $21,950), Ted Poe (R-TX- $128,650), David Dreier (R-CA- $130,400), Michael McCaul (R-TX- $108,934), and Randy Neugebauer (R-TX- $352,022). The three procedural votes passed.

Then late last night came the votes on HR 6899, the bill itself. The Republicans started with a motion to recommit (or kill) the bill. That failed 191-226, with ten corrupted Democrats-- Jason Altmire (D-PA- $2,000), John Barrow (D-GA- $20,500), Don Cazayoux (D-LA- $6,100), Travis Childers (D-MS), Joe Donnelly (D-IN- $1,000), Bill Foster (D-IL- $750), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD- $16,850), Tim Holden (D-PA- $15,500), Gene Taylor (D-MS- $76,350) and Tim Walz (D-MN- $2,500)-- joining the GOP oil whores. The final bill passed 236 to 189 with 13 cowardly Democrats crossing the aisle to vote with the Republicans and 15 cowardly Republicans crossing the other way.

We would like to single out a few Republicans who are trying to pass themselves off as consumer-friendly moderates but who may have figured no one would know back home and took the shot and voted with Big Oil and against their own constituents:

Mary Bono Mack (R-CA- )
Charlie Dent (R-PA- )
Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL- $54,900)
Phil English (R-PA- $189,136)
Jim Gerlach (R-PA- $102,280)
Sam Graves (R-MO- $63,983)
Ric Keller (R-FL- $58,325)
Peter King (R-NY- $52,950)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY- $37,600)
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL- $69,340)

Needless to say, the radical right extremists all voted no, irresponsible, bought-off members of Congress like Michele Bachmann (R-MN- $51,700), John Culberson (R-TX- $304,461), Thelma Drake (R-VA- $86,960), David Dreier (R-CA- $130,400), Randy Forbes (R-VA- $21,050), Scott Garrett (R-NJ- $69,000), Virgil Goode (R-VA- $41,350), John Kline (R-MN- $119,205), Michael McCaul (R-TX- $108,934), Patrick McHenry (R-NC- $26,000), Steve Pearce (R-NM- $615,874), Mike Pence (R-IN- $153,450), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA- $66,694), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH- $9,100), John Shadegg (R-AZ- $120,995), Frank Wolf (R-VA- $77,682), Don Young (R-AK- $957,263)...

Pete DeFazio (D-OR) explained the finances behind the bill and why almost every Republican in the House opposed it. "The oil and gas industry contributed $166 million to the Republicans since 1990, 75% of their political contributions. In fact, when President Bush took office, gas cost $1.47 a gallon. Today, gas costs $3.79. In fact, in 2002, the oil companies made $30 billion in profits. In 2008, it's projected they will make an unbelievable record $160 billion of profits, every penny extracted from American consumers and American small businesses and borrowed from overseas, putting us in huge trouble. The oil companies took care of the Republican cronies and the Republicans legislated on their behalf."

Chris Van Hollen called the Republicans out on their hypocrisy, explaining the bill. "For weeks our Republican colleagues have claimed they want an 'All of the Above' piece of legislation… it turns out they want 'All of the Above' with a big asterisk next to it. It turns out it's 'All of the Above' except let's not take away some of taxpayer giveaways and subsides to the big oil and gas companies and use them for renewable energy and energy efficiency."



The blatant hypocrisy of so many Republican congressmen will become a major campaign issue for smart Democratic challengers like Tom Perriello in the south central Virginia heartland. Tom is running against one of the most corrupt men in Congress-- and one of the most hypocritical-- Virgil Goode. "When it comes to energy independence, Rep. Goode's record is running on empty," Tom told VA-05 voters last night. "He is demonstrating tremendous hypocrisy: talking about his support for increased drilling and alternatives then voting against them. Apparently, he'd rather protect oil company profits than increase drilling and make America energy independent. Time and time again, he has consistently stood with Big Oil while working families get crushed at the pump, and he has misled voters on his record. The facts are: he gets richer as gas prices go up and his campaign gets richer as gas prices go up. It's no wonder he's voting with the oil companies while middle class families pay the price."

Tom has told us that if he can get Goode's voting record into the consciousness of voters, he'll win the race. That's why Blue America has endorsed him and is trying to help him raise money to get his message out. As for Goode's voting record, it speaks for itself:

April 20, 2005: Rep. Goode voted against an amendment to the 2005 energy bill that sought to increase average fuel economy of automobiles from 25-miles-per-gallon to 33-miles-per-gallon. [HR 6, Vote # 121, 4/20/05]

July 28, 2005: Rep. Goode voted for the energy conference report that exempted oil and gas industries from some clean-water laws, streamlined permits for oil wells and power lines on public lands, and helped the hydropower industry appeal environmental restrictions. It also included an estimated $85 billion worth of subsidies and tax breaks for most forms of energy – including oil and gas and "clean coal." [HR 6, Vote #445, 7/28/05]

January 18, 2007: Rep. Goode voted against shifting certain revenue from royalties and tax incentives from oil and gas companies into a reserve fund for alternative and renewable energies. [HR 6, Vote #40, 1/18/07]

December 6, 2007: Rep. Goode voted against comprehensive energy legislation that would raise automobile fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years. It also would eliminate or reduce $13 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the five major oil and gas companies to be used for tax incentives for development of renewable energy sources like ethanol from grasses and wood chips and biodiesel and for energy efficiency programs and conservation. [HR 6, Vote #1140, 12/06/07]

February 27, 2008: Representative Virgil Goode opposed the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act (H.R. 5351), which will end unnecessary taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil companies and use that money to make investments in clean, renewable energy and promote energy conservation [H.R. 5351, #84, 2/27/08]

May 21, 2008: Representative Virgil Goode opposed the Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008, which will provide tax relief for millions of American families and extend research and development credits to help reduce America's dependence on foreign oil [H R 6049, # 344].

Last night: Rep. Goode votes against the Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act which will:

• Allow drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf and increase domestic oil production in Alaska
• Extend and expand tax incentives for renewable energy, and retain and create hundreds of thousands of American "green collar" jobs
• Repeal tax subsidies for the Big Five oil companies
• Require utility companies to generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources -- such as wind power, biomass, wave, tidal, geothermal and solar -- by 2020
• Provide incentives to lenders and financial institutions to give lower-interest loans to consumers who build, buy or remodel their homes to improve their energy efficiency

Just up the road a piece, Sam Bennett is running against another equally culpable Bush rubber stamp cut from the same exact heinous mold. And, like Tom Perriello, Sam came out swinging today-- swinging for her neighbors in the Lehigh Valley. “With this vote, my opponent made it clear that he stands on the side of Bush and Big Oil,” Sam explained.  “He’s let so many people down in our district.  Hardworking Lehigh Valley families deserve better representation in Congress.  And when they elect me, they’re going to get it. My opponent actually wants more than just the same.  He wants to make matters worse. “If Charles W. Dent and George W. Bush have it their way, in just a couple of months, even more of us won’t be able to fill our gas tanks and get to work or keep the heat on in our own homes.  We can absolutely do better than that and it’s time for a change.  So, as your representative in Congress, I’ll do more than talk about America’s energy future.  I’ll vote YES.” This profile of Dent's energy record looks an awful lot like Goode's-- sickening. They should both be help accountable in November:

• Dent says NO to American Energy Security [HR 6899, Vote 599, 9/16/08, passed 236 to 189
• Rep. Charlie Dent has taken $75,831 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. [http://opensecrets.org]
• Dent says NO to renewable energy standards for electric companies.  [HR 3221, Vote 827, 08/04/07]
• Dent says NO to energy efficiency and conservation funding. [HR 2419, Vote 207, 5/24/05]

Annette Taddeo, Sam Bennett and Alan Grayson-- Red To Blue

It was probably just a fortuitous coincidence but at the end of our Blue America contest last week-- which featured the generous offer of a $5,000 matching check from DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen for our winner-- checks started coming in from some previously... reticent Democratic leaders including Rahm Emanuel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Good for them! DWS is now officially on the Annette Taddeo train and, no doubt, was key in getting her into the Red to Blue program.

Like Annette, another Blue America candidate, Sam Bennett, moved from "Emerging Races" to... fully emerged. She's also in the DCCC's Red to Blue program now. Tomorrow afternoon the DCCC will announce that three Blue America candidates, Annette Taddeo (FL-18), Sam Bennett (PA-15) and Alan Grayson (FL-08) have been added to the Red to Blue program. Six other Democratic candidates have as well, including Michael Skelly (TX-07), Dan Johnson (NC-10), Sharen Neuhardt (OH-07), Alice Kryzan (NY-26), Jim Esch (NE-02) and David Boswell (KY-02).

Meanwhile, the DCCC has recognized the tremendous grassroots support Russ Warner has managed to mobilize and has put him into the Emerging Races category, apparently the preliminary step before the big enchilada. I have a feeling there will be more Emerging Races announced tomorrow. I'm hearing Larry Joe Doherty (TX-10).

Like we've explained before, the reason this is a big deal is because institutional Democratic donors,  wealthy insiders and, especially other members of Congress, feel a comfort level in giving when they give to candidates sanctioned by "the party." The definition of that-- for better or for worse-- is the DCCC and its Red to Blue program. That Van Hollen's DCCC seems to be paying some attention to the efforts of grassroots and netroots activists-- inconceivable under Emanuel-- is a great step in the right direction. Let's thank them today. May I suggest contributions to Annette Taddeo, Alan Grayson, Sam Bennett and Russ Warner in honor of a smart move by the DCCC?

A few more like this and we'll be looking at 70 new Democratic freshmen:



And YouTube already has an even cooler version up, so... if you want a cooler version...

If Palin Was A Pitbull With Lipstick, Cindy Was Trying Hard To Be Well Decked Out Big Bird

Last night John McCain's Republican Party showed us what it is made of. Their hope for the future, an inexperienced, nasty, unvetted ex-beauty queen laid it all out on the table. Glenn Greenwald called it The GOPs cheerful viciousness and even the severely Republican-biased was A.P. forced to admit that Palin lied her way through the whole speech. No one knows what a cutthroat sleazemeister Tucker Eskew is more than John McCain but McCain put Eskew in charge of Livin' Palin. What a monster! And I mean McCain, not poor Palin or vile Eskew. He had that worst-of-America speech written for her and then helped her practice deliver it with relish and venom.

My closest friend is a school teacher in Compton. He's a hero every single day, I've known him more than half his life and we've traveled all over the world together, from Morocco and Egypt to Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka. I've been trying to help him buy his first house. Thanks to anti-regulatory Republican ideology the housing market crashed and the one silver lining in that cloud is that houses are more affordable for big city school teachers who make around $50,000 a year. But not a lot more affordable. We've driven around and around some pretty sketchy neighborhoods looking at an awful lot of 2 bedroom, one bath fixer-uppers.

Last night we watched Laura Bush dragging what we thought was someone dressed up as Big Bird across the stage. It turned out to be the daughter of a Mafia connected bootlegger and jailbird who left the McCains hundreds of millions of dollars. Her outfit cost quite a bit more than the houses my friend is trying to figure out how to afford.

Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

My friend got really angry. It didn't cheer him up when I mentioned that the cost of the entire Big Bird costume was 60 times more than the tax-credit that John McCain is proposing to give families to cover their health care for a year. And you know what? It isn't just John and Cindy McCain. It's the whole stinking, corrupt party. Like all right-wing parties throughout history, they represent the interests of the haves, especially the haves-a-real-lot. The entire idea of "conservatism," means keeping power and economic wealth in the hands its in now.

A friend of mine who has been watching the congressional race in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley between Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent and progressive community organizer Sam Bennett, sent me an interesting campaign flyer this morning, one that fits in well with Cindy McCain's $280,000 diamond earrings.

In a story called “What They Make,” the Morning Call reported Sunday on the wealth gap right here in Lehigh Valley, detailing the millions of dollars local CEOs earn. And who do they give to politically? The $13 million-a-year CEO of Air Products, John P. Jones, and $5 million-a-year CEO of PPL, James H. Miller, each give Congressman Charles Dent thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman and former CEO of Mack Trucks, Paul Vickner, which will cut hundreds of Lehigh Valley jobs, will still cut checks of thousands of dollars to Charles Dent. [opensecrets.org]

“At a time when Lehigh Valley families are struggling to fill their gas tanks, we need a representative in Washington who listens to working families, not multi-millionaire executives,” says Kathryn Seck, Bennett Campaign Manager.  “Dent takes more than $150,000 from Big Oil and Big Pharma and more than $100,000 from Washington lobbyists. Two more years of Congressman Dent-- unaffordable.” [opensecrets.org]

Dent repeatedly votes against the interests of workers and for the benefit of ultra rich executives and Washington lobbyists whose money Dent refuses to return.
 
• Dent votes AGAINST the Employee Free Choice Act [Vote #118, HR 800, 3/1/07]
• Dent votes AGAINST stopping unfair trade agreements like CAFTA [Vote #443, HR 3045, 7/28/05]
• Dent votes AGAINST fully raising the minimum wage [Vote #319, HR 5672, 6/27/06]
• Dent votes AGAINST equal pay for equal work [Vote #768, HR 2831, 7/31/07]

“Sam stands up for workers and working families while Dent stands with millionaires. Even the Morning Call’s report shows the pay gap for middle class Pennsylvanians is growing," says Seck.

“Someone earning the state's minimum wage of $7.15 an hour would have to work 899 years to match Jones' overall annual compensation,” according to the Morning Call.  “In 2007, the average CEO with large companies was paid $10.5 million, or 344 times what the typical American worker earned, according to a study by United for a Fair Economy...  The group cites union membership erosion as one of the key factors in the widening pay gap between executives and workers.”
 
Sam Bennett has received the support of 29 labor unions and other groups that represent the concerns of working families.

I want to tie this all together today with something that Pastor Dan wrote at Street Prophets this morning.

The GOP as it is currently constituted may talk the talk when it comes to faith and democracy, but they will never walk the walk. They can't stand the idea of faithful people working to make a difference in their world, of citizens bettering their communities, because it is too threatening to the corrupt and authoritarian system they have built. In Gov. Palin the McCain campaign has found a perfect representative to demonstrate to its core constituents that they have embraced fully the legacy of George W. Bush: nihilist, apocalyptic, and rotten to the core. They have utterly no idea of what they could do to move their nation into the future, and they are utterly contemptuous of anyone who tries. They have no faith, no hope, and no love.

Democratic Congressional Blow Out Shaping Up For The Northeast

Carney, the most reactionary Dem, is the only one likely to lose his seat

Professional Inside the Beltway prognosticators claim there could be 60 House seats in play in November. Considering how thoroughly gerrymandered the country is and how skewered towards incumbents the campaign finance system is, that's a huge number. Almost all of the seats in play are currently held by Republicans. This morning's NY Times looks hard at the 81 seats in the Northeast. Right now 60 are held by Democrats. But next January when the new Congress is sworn in there is a good chance there will be only a dozen Republicans standing there with 69 Democrats!

The Republicans are taking aim at two Democratic freshmen, Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, who has done a fantastic job but who refuses to take corporate money and Chris Carney from the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, who has done a really awful job and is awash in corporate bribes. Carol's record speaks loudly but she can't afford a megaphone. Carney can buy all the time he wants but all he can claim is that he's a Republican calling himself a Democrat. He voted wrong all many of the issues that are most important to Democratic voters. Carney has raised $1,638,542 (less than the self-funding Republican millionaire loaned himself for the race). The self-funding Republican millionaire, Chris Hackett, has taken in over $2,000,000.

Aside from my old Pennsylvania district (just below Carney's), where a far right xenophobic maniac is taking on dull backbencher Paul Kanjorski, those are the only Democratic-held districts where incumbents are in any danger at all-- and New Hampshire has been trending Democratic.

[T]he unexpected retirements of five Republican congressmen, two from New Jersey and three from New York, have created prime opportunities for Democrats. The benefits of incumbency, including high visibility and access to federal money for their districts, had long protected these lawmakers in an increasingly Democratic region.

Perhaps no better example is Representative James T. Walsh, a 10-term Republican from New York who announced in January that he would retire when his term expired. Mr. Walsh has a key role over appropriations and is a fixture in his Syracuse-area district, making him a formidable candidate to challenge.

But with Mr. Walsh out of the way, Democrats appear to be in a strong position to pick up his seat, in part because of the fund-raising advantage held by Dan Maffei, the Democratic candidate. Mr. Maffei, who lost to Mr. Walsh by about 3,400 votes in 2006, has nearly $1 million in his campaign account, compared with nearly $110,000 raised by his Republican opponent, Dale Sweetland, a former county legislator.

In another sign of trouble for Republicans, there are two Congressional districts in which the party’s incumbents stand only an even chance of holding on their seats, according to analysts monitoring the races.

One is Connecticut’s Fourth Congressional District, where Mr. Shays, the Republican incumbent, has proved to be a nimble politician who has frustrated repeated attempts to defeat him.

Mr. Shays, the only House Republican in Connecticut to survive the 2006 elections, has survived largely by blurring any distinction between himself and Democrats in a district that has voted solidly Democratic in the last two presidential elections.

Now, he is being challenged by Jim Himes, a former Goldman Sachs executive. Mr. Himes has $1.4 million on hand, compared with $1.7 million for Mr. Shays, according to the latest campaign finance disclosure reports.

The other embattled Republican incumbent is Representative John R. Kuhl Jr. of New York’s 29th District, in the state’s Southern Tier. His Democratic opponent is Eric Massa, a former Navy officer and a former staff member of the House Armed Services Committee, whom Mr. Kuhl defeated two years ago with 52 percent of the vote. In a measure of the tightness of the race, Mr. Massa has $652,000 in his coffers, compared with nearly $619,000 for Mr. Kuhl.

Eric Massa, Jim Himes, Dan Maffei and Carol Shea-Porter are all Blue America candidates, as are Sam Bennett (in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley), Dennis Shulman in the northernmost New Jersey CD, and Jon Powers in a district between Buffalo and Rochester in western New York. Jon will be live blogging with us Saturday at Firedoglake (2pm, EST).

Best case scenario for the Northeast:

Of Maine's two House seats, Chellie Pingree picks up the seat Tom Allen is vacating to run for the Senate while Mike Michaud is re-elected. This is pretty much a lock.

New Hampshire also has two House seats, both held by progressive Democratic freshmen. Paul Hodes seems like a lock to win and Carol should pull through, despite the non-stop attacks from far right Republican front operations like Freedom's Watch dumping millions of dollars into her race. But if there is just one candidate you are donating to, please consider Carol.

Vermont has only one House seat and the freshman Democrat, Peter Welch, is a progressive and he has no Republican opponent.

Massachusetts has 10 seats, all head by Democrats, few facing any opposition at all and all 10 expected to ride easily to re-election. There was some worry about the one freshman, Niki Tsongas, because her race was so close last year, but no Republican is bothering to run.

Rhode Island has two House seats, each occupied by a veteran moderate Democrat, Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin, and each considered completely safe.

Next comes New York, where ll the action is. There are currently 29 House seats, 6 still held by Republicans. As mentioned in the Times story, three of those seats will probably go Democratic, the Staten Island seat, the seat being abandoned by Walsh, and the seat being defended by Bush rubber stamp Randy Kuhl. After the primary next month, Jon Powers is likely to emerge as the favorite to win the seat being abandoned by Tom Reynolds. That leaves the Republicans with the 23rd CD in the huge northeast corner of the state (John McHugh's seat), and the 3rd CD (Peter King's seat) and neither is facing serious opposition. King shouldn't get away so easily as the once-daunting GOP registration lead has dropped from 100,000 to 13,000... and shrinking. It is likely the Republicans will lose 4 of there 6 seats in November.

New Jersey has 13 House seats, 7 held by Democrats and 6 by Republicans. The most likely outcome of the general election is that Democrat John Adler will take the 3rd district from retiring Jim Saxton and Democrat Linda Stender will take NJ-07, which is being vacated by Mike Ferguson. To make it an even 10 for the Dems, we need to see Dennis Shulman beat far right reactionary Scott Garrett, New Jersey's most vulnerable-- and most extremist-- congressman. It will be a classic race between Good and Evil, one of the clearest anywhere in America. Big Business has been rushing in to fill Garrett's coffers (especially Insurance and real estate companies, whose interests he represents far more than his constituents'). As of June 30, Garrett had taken in $992,248 and Dennis had raised $585,483, almost entirely from small donors who are sick of Garrett's crazed fanaticism.


Pennsylvania has 19 House seats. Right now eleven are held by Democrats. The most likely scenario in November will be a wash-- with Carney losing to Hackett and Sam Bennett defeating Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent in PA-15. Dent is sucking up massive amounts of corporate case ($1,213,285, as of June 30) by Sam is managing to stay within striking distance ($539,640). Demographic trends also favor Bob Roggio in PA-06, the seat Lois Murphy nearly took from Jim Gerlach in 2004 and 2006 51-49% races both years). Gerlach had raised $1,870,994 and Roggio was only up to $405,216, not enough.

Delaware has one House seat and chances are strong that Republican Mike Castle will retain it.

Maryland has 8 House seats, 6 already in Democratic hands. It is likely that Republican Roscoe Bartlett will manage to keep his seat again but MD-01 is an open seat where conservative Blue Dog Frank Kratovil faces off against far right extremist Andy Harris. This one looks like a toss-up so far but it doesn't matter much since either will be voting against the interests of working families. It's a battle between the corrupt reactionary Blue Dog faction and the corrupt reactionary Club for Growth faction, the very worst of each political party.

Why Are Republican Incumbents Afraid To Debate In Their Home Districts?

After seeing what an incredibly effective speaker Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is, I was interested in knowing if he would be debating Bush's rubber stamp mouthpiece Gordon Smith. So I asked. His campaign has proposed a series of 8 debates. Merkley has committed to five specific debates around the state with different Oregon television stations and nonpartisan public service groups. So far Gordon Smith hasn't committed to any. But let's be fair, if you had a record like his-- in a state like Oregon-- would you want to defend it in public? But they I started seeing a surprising pattern: Republican incumbents all over the country are avoiding or minimizing the number of debates they're willing to have with Democrats.

Yesterday, almost in passing, we saw how Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent refuses to debate Sam Bennett about energy policy. “Congressman Dent is so deep in the pocket of Big Oil companies and special interest groups he’s refusing to publicly defend his record and have an open debate about the issue,” said Kathryn Seck, Sam Bennett’s campaign manager. “He should explain why he’s taken $75,000 from Big Oil and given them billions in tax breaks while middle class Pennsylvanians are struggling to afford high gas prices.  Voters deserve an open dialogue on the issues and Congressman Dent is ducking the issue.” Then this morning I got a press release from Iowa's 4th CD (the north central part of the state, centered in Ames). And sure, enough, the Bush rubber stamp incumbent, Tom Latham, is refusing to debate the Democratic candidate Becky Greenwald.

Tom Latham refused this week to debate Becky Greenwald while he is home on the August recess. The Greenwald campaign accepted a debate with Latham at the Iowa Farmer’s Union Convention, an event that Latham is attending. Latham refused to debate.
 
“We are disappointed that Tom Latham refused to debate Becky Greenwald at the Iowa Farmer’s Union Convention. We tried to work with his schedule and find a venue for a debate at an event Latham would already be attending,” said Campaign Manager Robert Brennan. “Iowans deserve to hear from Tom Latham why after 14 years in Congress, he has done nothing to address the energy crisis, lack of care for our veterans and the high cost of healthcare.”
 
Last week, the Greenwald campaign sent a letter to the Latham campaign asking to hold four debates over the August recess. The Latham campaign refused the debates saying their schedule was full. The Iowa Farmers Union tried to accommodate with his schedule and arrange for a debate at their convention in Marshalltown, IA on Saturday August 23rd, an event that Latham will be attending. The Latham campaign refused to debate.

Was I looking at a pattern? I reached out to a few of the campaigns I speak to regularly. Gary Peters (D-MI) has accepted invitations from the Troy Chamber of Commerce-- and even from the Troy Republican Party Club, as well as from other groups who have been trying to set up debates. Joe Knollenberg-- a Big Oil shill who has accepted $66,250 in "donations" from Big Oil and owns over $90,000 in oil company stocks that increase in value as gasoline prices rise-- is petrified to stand up in front of an audience of voters and defend his energy voters.

Annette Taddeo debates empty chair in Miami

In May the AFL-CIO, which had endorsed Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart in 2006, invited their 3 candidates plus Democratic challengers Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez to a debate. The three Republicans, panicking at the last moment, ducked the debate. Each blamed scheduling conflicts. The AFL-CIO went on with the debate-- Annette told me she debated Ros-Lehtinen's empty chair-- and then endorsed the debate winners, the three Democrats.

South Florida congressional Republicans backed out of next week's debates. Their opponents say they're hiding.

Miami's three Cuban-American Republicans in Congress have scrapped plans to participate in a series of debates with their Democratic challengers.

The South Florida AFL-CIO, which in recent years has hosted debates for mayoral and gubernatorial races, planned three debates next week for the nationally watched contests. But the Republicans said this week that they're not going, throwing the bipartisan nature of the event into doubt.

The union-- which endorsed the three incumbents in 2006-- says the events will go on next week as scheduled. All three Democrats, who represent the first significant challenge to the incumbents, said they plan to attend and suggested the Republicans were reluctant to spar face to face.

"We just want to give our working families a chance to talk to the candidates,'' said union president Fred Frost, who met late Wednesday with representatives from two of the Republican campaigns in a bid to revive the events. "I think they'd be squandering what I'd consider a great opportunity."

In New Jersey Dennis Shulman has been trying to get incumbent Scott Garrett to debate him in front of voters. Apparently Garrett-- like fellow extremist loon and Big Oil shill John Kline in Minnesota-- just doesn't think he has to do debates. Kline's spokesperson said his record speaks for itself. It does-- and if voters were actually reading it Kline wouldn't get 30% of the vote.

Last year Darcy Burner was eager to debate incumbent Bush rubber stamp Dave Reichert everywhere in the district. His staff, wary of putting him into unscripted settings because he has a tendency to either put his foot in his mouth or reveal his lack of policy depth, allowed him to do one debate, which was sponsored by the Seattle Times. The Times debate for 2008 is scheduled for October 8 and Reichert is going to do it. Meanwhile, though, there have been debates proposed by KCTS-9 and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as well as by TV station KING 5 and radio stations KUOW and KIRO 710. Darcy wants debates. Reichert wants to hide. Similarly, Bob Lord has challenged John Shadegg who refuses to talk, only waves his toy air pressure gauge over his head and mutters incoherently about running for the Senate. Shadegg won't say yes or no about debates. Last year Vic Wulsin was able, after embarrassingly her repeatedly, to get Mean Jean Schmidt, one of the House's most woefully ignorant members, to do one debate. Vic would like to do a series of debates across the district to talk about how to help solve the economic conditions of Ohio families hit hard by recession, the housing crisis, gasoline prices, unemployment, the health care crisis and inflation but Mean Jean isn't answering. The Ohio News Network has asked both candidates to debate in October but it looks like Vic may have the stage to herself.

Most of the Senate races have at least one debate scheduled. But Gordon Smith isn't the only senatorial coward hiding from his Democratic opponent. John Cornyn (R-TX) doesn't feel comfortable unless he's speaking at places like the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth. Big Oil has given him more money this year ($480,100) than any other member of Congress (other than the million plus they gave to ExxonJohn McCain) and he's backed them all the way, which is precisely why you're paying around $4/gallon at the pump. But when it comes to debating Rick Noriega about his votes, Cornyn is full of... petroleum. Plenty of TV and radio stations, as well as civic organizations throughout Texas, have reached out to the two campaigns for debates. Noriega keeps accepting invitation. Cornyn claims he's negotiating. But he isn't even doing that-- unless he's negotiating with himself.

Just as I was about to publish this, I got an e-mail from Andrea Miller, the powerfully articulate and knowledgeable Democratic candidate running against dull rubber stamp Randy Forbes in southern Virginia. Her experience is almost identical to at least half, perhaps three-quarters of Democratic challengers:

Randy Forbes is avoiding me big time. There have been at least 3 requests (2 from radio and 1 from TV). Additionally, there has also been a debate request from a group that simply wants to schedule a public forum.
 
What is he afraid of? I have an energy policy and he has energy questions. I have solutions to our education challenges and he doesn't even know there is a problem.

My guess: he's just afraid of Andrea Miller and getting his ass kicked publicly in front of the electorate when she exposes his indefensible voting record.

Today's Silliest And Smarmiest News Items

McCain is stumbling around Pennsylvania with ex-Governor Tom Ridge and the foolish media is going along with the exciting idea of a McCain/Ridge ticket, even though the religious right has already specifically nixed Ridge as too moderate and told McCain not to dare. He won't.

For those who hoped we'd never hear from Howard Wolfson again, one of the brain trust responsible for the defeat of Hillary Clinton, we have this: "I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee." He claims-- like someone cares what this sack claims-- internal campaign polling showed "our voters and Edwards voters were the same people. They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama." or maybe they would have been reminded of tawdry sexual affairs and adultery and flocked en masse to Obama. Who knows? Not Howard Wolfson.

Digby caught a good one yesterday, Cokie Roberts blurting out a Karl Rove talking point. Apparently, according to the always wrong about everything Cokie, Hawaii, American's most desirable vacation destination, is too exotic and foreign for Obama and he should have taken his vacation in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Apparently, Hawaii isn't quite American enough for Cokie and her provincial pals in the beltway, even though it's one of the 50 states.

I remember that Clinton got dinged right after he was elected for vacationing in Santa Barbara because it was too "California." Unless you're a Republican presidential candidate apparently you shouldn't go to any western beach, much less to Hawaii, unless you want to be called a foreign fag. You have to go to a Cokie approved place like Myrtle Beach where they have Real Americans. Maybe he could eat some pork while he's there, this proving that he isn't a Muslim. (Of course, then Cokie and her gossipy little village friends would condemn him for pandering and being "inauthentic.")

Obama went to high school in Hawaii, his grandmother and his sister and her family still live there. It's his real home state. The idea that he can't go there because it's too foreign is truly insulting to the Americans who live there. Evidently Obama isn't going to be allowed to go anywhere but Iowa and Illinois without being suspected of some sort of traitorous foreignness by the beltway gasbags. Well played Mr Rove.

And then there are the announcements about gays getting married. No, not in California. Florida's 52 year old "bachelor" Governor, Charlie Crist, is marrying his beard on December 12 in St Petersburg's First United Methodist Church. But ex-New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, unlike Crist, is embracing his real self and riding off into the sunset with boyfriend Mark O'Donnell now that his divorce has been finalized. Finalized but... "the mudslinging could continue. [The ex-wife] filed a separate fraud claim, saying McGreevey married her knowing he was gay." Gay attention, Charlie.

And that photo above? McCain claimed the 1,259 pound pig was his favorite part of the Iowa State Fair. He also met the Pork Queen and then headed over to a fundraiser for his kind of people at a Des Moines country club.

Most of the Blue America endorsed candidates have challenged the Republicans they're running against to an energy debate. Most, like John "#dontgo Boston Tea Party" Shadegg (R-AZ-$119,495), would rather debate themselves in an empty House of Congress and wave air pressure gauges over their heads. Similarly, two weeks ago Sam Bennett challenged incumbent Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent to a real debate on energy policy. He's too scared to face her probably because he's taken $75,831 from Big Oil and has voted for all the initiatives in Congress that they designed to drive up their profits-- and their profits don't go up by keeping gasoline prices low.

“Congressman Dent is so deep in the pocket of Big Oil companies and special interest groups he’s refusing to publicly defend his record and have an open debate about the issue,” said Kathryn Seck, Sam Bennett’s campaign manager. “He should explain why he’s taken $75,000 from Big Oil and given them billions in tax breaks while middle class Pennsylvanians are struggling to afford high gas prices.  Voters deserve an open dialogue on the issues and Congressman Dent is ducking the issue.”

And then there's Old McCain still croaking out his nonsense about Obama being too big a celebrity to be president. Actually, Obama's campaign has a great response today:

Housing Crisis: Republican Extremists Were The Odd Man Out Last Night

The House passed by a hefty 272-152 margin a bill to assist homeowners facing foreclosure and to prevent the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (at the cost of $25 billion). Bush had vowed to veto the bill but after he was caught on camera in a mini-Macaca moment, saying the housing crisis was just a matter of Wall Street getting drunk, he hauled up the white flag and promised to not veto. That still didn't stop the most radical right extremists of the Republican House caucus from voting against the carefully crafted legislation. Among the Republicans who were perfectly willing to see foreclosures-- based predominantly on GOP ideologically driven anti-regulatory legislation-- make millions of Americans homeless, were all the usual suspects:

Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
Brian Bilbray (R-CA)
John Culberson (R-TX)
Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Thelma Drake (R-VA)
Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Randy Forbes (R-VA)
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
Virgil Goode (R-VA)
John Kline (R-MN)
Randy Kuhl (R-NY)
Michael McCaul (R-TX)
Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
Steve Pearce (R-NM)
Dave Reichert (R-WA)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
John Shadegg (R-AZ)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Don Young (R-AK)

Republicans were still slandering homeowners as "irresponsible" and refusing to face up to their own faults as lawmakers for creating this predatory lending environment that has devastated the economy. I asked Sam Bennett, the Blue America-endorsed candidate in the Lehigh Valley against garden variety rubber stamp Charlie Dent, why Dent voted in such a blatant way against the interests of his constituents. She warned me not to fall for the media hype about him being a "moderate" or an "independent" and to look at his actual voting record. I did and I was confronted with the record of someone who almost never veers away from the party line, especially not when it concerns GOP donors. So far this year the real estate industry and commercial banks have donated over $50,000 to Dent's re-election campaign. "Today's bill," said Sam, "was a positive, bipartisan effort to keep working families in their homes. Even President Bush said he would support it. Charlie Dent should be think about what's in the best interests of the Pennsylvania families who are going through a critical period. More than 270 members of Congress, from both parties, voted for this solution... I know from personal experience when I was once a single mom how hard it is to make the mortgage payment, pay the heating bill and put food on the table. We’re in a serious economic downturn and have to do whatever we can to change the direction of this country and keep working families in their homes. I’m disappointed in Charlie Dent’s vote against necessary tax relief and refinance assistance for the people of the Lehigh Valley."

Aside from giving the Treasury Department the authority to protect Fannie and Freddie, the bill will help hundreds of thousands of families avoid foreclosure with affordable government-insured loans. The Bush Regime hates the grants to local governments giving them the resources to buy and refurbish foreclosed properties-- this heading off urban blight-- but he agreed to sign it anyway. A couple of dozen Republicans frightened of losing their seats in November gave up their usual reflexive anti-family/anti-worker/anti-consumer postures and voted with the Democrats. The aisle-crossing routine is unlikely to save the flagging careers of Republicans like Mary Bono Mack (CA), the Diaz-Balart Brothers (FL), David Dreier (CA), Robin Hayes (NC), Ric Keller (FL), Joe Knollenberg (MI), Ilean Ros-Lehtinen, even Adam Putnam (FL). Alan Grayson, who lives in Orlando and is running against notorious Bush rubber stamp Ric Keller who did what he almost never did-- voted against the extreme right GOP position. I asked Alan what he thought about Keller crossing the aisle and voting with the Democrats. He laughed and said "You know you can't vote for corporate interests year after year and then vote on the side of families once just before election and expect anyone to send you a thank you card."


UPDATE: THE SCOTT GARRETT CONNECTION

Garrett, the last of the far right extremists still representing a northeastern congressional district, was one of the Republicans to oppose the bipartisan housing bill. But Garrett has a special connection with the real estate bubble that few other members of Congress can boast. Like many Republican legislators, Garrett, who worked diligently to wreck the federal regulatory apparatus that has been protecting consumers and workers since John McCain was just a small child, took large "contributions" from the subprime mortgage villains, particularly a $5,000 "donation" from Countrywide. Garrett has financed his political career with massive infusions of cash from the insurance industry ($251,819), the investment industry ($202,657), commercial banks and other financial businesses ($171,450), and the real estate industry ($158,450)... all while serving as a member of the House Financial Services Committee. But even large sums like that-- in just 3 terms-- isn't so out of whack with what other corrupt politicians take from Big Business. But Garrett went one step further. He actually hired, as his chief of staff, a lobbyist for Countrywide Financial and Washington Mutual, two of the firms that most "benefitted" from Garrett's anti-regulatory jihad... and two of the firms that have been most responsible for the economic chaos and collapse in the banking and real estate sectors.

One of Blue America's finest endorsee's, Dennis Shulman, has taken note of the special relationship between his opponent and the authors of so many financial problems for so many citizens in North New Jersey. "Reckless unregulated activity by banks like Washington Mutual and Countrywide Financial has thrown America's financial system into crisis.

"Voters need to ask themselves-- who let this happen, and why? Scott Garrett sits on the House Financial Services Committee, and specifically its Housing subcommittee, and yet he was so out of touch as to term the economy 'good' in 2008. And it was 'good' for him-- Scott Garrett bankrolls his campaigns with hundreds of thousands of dollars from disgraced financial services companies like Countrywide Financial.

"We cannot let foxes guard the henhouse, and yet Scott Garrett is using our taxpayer's money to hire a former lobbyist for Washington Mutual and Countrywide Financial to serve as his chief of staff.  The corrupt revolving door culture of Washington, where corporate special interests get what they want and hard working families are left behind, needs to end. That is why I vow, when elected, to forego all corporate special interest funds from companies with business before my committees."