Trevor Thomas-- 2PAC, Madonna, Mr. Holland Opus... And A Real Jobs Plan For West Michigan

Were you inundated with requests for end-of-the-quarter contributions Friday and Saturday? I sure was. I had hundreds of e-mails from candidates and committees and most of them I just deleted unopened... hoping against hope someone would get the hint. One from the DCCC had an eerie Big Brother is Watching You feel and informed me my contribution was "pending." I'm glad that's over! But do you know what today is? The first day of the all important-- even determinative-- third quarter. As important as everyone said the last quarter was... this one really is. This is the one-- July, August, September-- in which candidates raise the money they need to compete in October or they fail in November. And for candidates with primaries coming up-- like Darcy Burner (August 7), Chris Donovan (August 14), Matt Barber (August 28) and Trevor Thomas (August 7), well... obviously it's do or die.

Wednesday is the 4th of July. The next day, this Thursday, we're going to pick one lucky Trevor Thomas contributor from this page to walk away with the Madonna platinum award plaque for Vogue. It's still not too late to jump in!

Meanwhile, though, we want to send out another thank you to a Trevor Thomas supporter. You might be wondering what that 2PAC video is doing at the top of the page. Those who have been following Blue America for a while will probably remember our old friend, Professor Fred Johnson, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Michigan's second CD in 2010. Fred, who just endorsed Trevor Thomas next door in the 3rd CD, is the author of Tupac Shakur-- The Life And Times Of An American Icon. He gave Blue America an autographed copy of the book to give away today. We'll pick one random Trevor Thomas donor from this page-- today only/any amount-- and send the signed book. In making the endorsement, this is what Dr. Johnson, who teaches history at Hope College in Holland, Michigan had to say:

"Trevor Thomas is running for Congress. Establishment insiders told him to wait. Skeptics said it was a waste of time. Trevor had the guts to listen to everyday people who want a congressman who’ll truly have their interests as his top priority. He knows the issues and he’s fighting for the middle class. He’s fighting for the 99%. I know courage, determination, and vision when I see it, and I endorse Trevor Thomas as he works to make sure that working families and people finally have a Congressman who’ll work for them."

And Fred Johnson does know courage, determination, and vision when he sees it. Before writing about Tupac and before becoming a professor, Fred served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. He joins another prominent military vet who endorsed Trevor this week, former Congressman Patrick Murphy, who worked closely with Trevor to successfully repeal the odious Don't Ask, Don't Tell legislation. Trevor has also been endorsed by former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, former Michigan Lieutenant Governor John Cherry, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Congressional Progressive Caucus Vice Chair Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and former Kent County Republican Party chair Bob Eleveld, who has signed on as Trevor's campaign co-chairman.

As we explained last month, Trevor put out a comprehensive policy and jobs plan for West Michigan, the only candidate in the race taking the most important concern on the minds of voters seriously. I want to share a letter I got from an accomplished product of Grand Rapids, writer and film director Patrick Sheane Duncan. You probably know him as the guy who wrote Vietnam War Story, Courage Under Fire, and Souls On Fire but he also wrote and produced Mr. Holland's Opus in 1995, which starred Richard Dreyfuss and was described by Patrick as "a movie about chasing dreams and it's about what one person can do to impact the lives of others."

So why am I emailing you? Well I'm offering a signed script from the movie, but first I want to tell you about something happening in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I grew up in West Michigan as a teenager. In 1965, I enlisted and served a 15-month tour of duty in Vietnam in the US Army with the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and attended Grand Valley, a local college, on the G.I. Bill. 

Trevor Thomas-- raised by two parents who worked the lines of General Motors for 34 years-- chose Grand Valley to take up journalism. He later went on to direct the national communications effort to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"-- a defining moment in our country for ending discrimination. Today he is running for Congress in Grand Rapids. And with a little help, he has a chance to turn President Jerry Ford's old Congressional seat blue. Former Governor Jennifer Granholm is standing with him.

But there's one major obstacle: He has been challenged in the Democratic Primary.

Trevor is pro-choice. His Democratic Primary opponent is not. Trevor has visited and supported the folks at Planned Parenthood, while his primary opponent voted to defund the organization. Trevor is taking out loans to cover personal costs. His primary opponent has holdings in the tens of millions.

And, yes, Trevor is gay, and the first to run in Michigan openly and honestly at the federal level.

This is an underdog story, but with your help we can put him over the top. Get involved now or donate $25, $50, or even $150, I'll give away a signed copy of the script to a lucky supporter.

-Pat Duncan

So you can still sign up for the Madonna platinum record here, the signed 2PAC book by Fred Johnson here or the Mr. Holland Opus signed script here.

Do Democrats Have A Chance To Win Obama Surge Voters This Year?

It's quite a leap for an Obama surge voter to be expected to turn out for a reactionary Blue Dog who virtually always votes against their interests-- like, let's say, John Barrow (D-GA). Today's Washington Post looked at these surge voters and what they found augurs poorly for Blue Dogs in general, and for Blue Dogs in primaries like Barrow in particular. Keep in mind that Obama won GA-12 (a stretch of eastern Georgia from Augusta to Savannah) 54-45%, after a narrow Bush win in 2004. And a week from this Tuesday, Barrow faces popular African-American former state Senator Regina Thomas. In the 2008 primary Obama endorsed Barrow, who had promised to support healthcare reform. Barrow was one of reform's most treacherous opponents-- voting against healthcare in committee, in countless procedural votes, and all three times when it ultimately mattered-- and this year the silence from the White House has been deafening.

The loyalty many blacks feel to Obama does not always spill over to other Democratic candidates... Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster, warned that not even politically engaged black voters like Kendrix are necessarily going to turn out for Democrats in the fall. "These are Obama voters. These are not Democratic voters," he said. "They are leaning toward Democrats in their views, but these surge voters are not a part of the traditional Democratic voting bloc. That's the big X factor here. We can't turn surge voters out by two weeks of black radio."

Largely ineffectual party organizations like the DNC/OFA, DCCC and DSCC are running around like chickens without heads, wasting money trying to persuade Obama surge voters that dependable John Boehner supporters like Barrow-- as well as Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS), Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL), Frank Kratovil (Blue Dog-MD), Glenn Nye (Blue Dog-VA), Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN), Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA), Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN), Scott Murphy (Blue Dog-NY), Betsey Markey (Blue Dog-CO) and even non-Blue Dog reactionaries like Suzanne Kosmas (FL), John Adler (NJ), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Harry Teague (NM), Tom Perriello (VA), Michael McMahon (NY), and Larry Kissell (NC)-- merit support. Their spurious case is that although these congressmembers have consistently voted against the interests of working families, some through corruption (like Kosmas and Adler), some through ideology (like Childers, Ellsworth and Bright), some through cowardice and confusion (like Kissell, Perriello and Markey), and others, like Barrow, from a combination of all these factors, African-Americans should do the knee-jerk shuffle down to the polling places and vote for them again. If it doesn't work, and it looks like it won't, Democrats in the House could well be giving up their primo parking spots and corner offices to make way for Speaker Boehner and his team. Career criminal Darrell Issa is already promising to hire a team of investigators to tie up the presidency for the second half of what is likely to be Obama's single somewhat wretched term.

Is there anything Americans can do to prevent this national calamity? Clearly, following the lead of clueless and compromised Inside the Beltway Democrats, many of whom are as corrupt and venal as the Republicans, is the wrong way to go. A week from Tuesday Barrow faces a day of reckoning in the Georgia primary. In November-- with a disillusioned and listless Democratic base-- his brand of Republican-lite conservatism will have no chance against a real Republican. That can be staved off with a defeat on July 20 and a victory for a progressive champion like Regina Thomas. Obama surge voters have far more reason to vote for her than even for the sketchy Obama! (Blue America is running cable TV ads for her now, and we have a page that allows you to pick the program and the town you want to see ads run on, ads that cost as little as $4 and $8 a spot.) Defeating one Blue Dog in one district-- even as reprehensible a cur as Barrow-- isn't going to save Democratic majorities in November. Going on the offense may, although Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the DCCC is preventing that by monopolizing virtually every cent the DCCC has in her sordid incumbent protection racket.

Yesterday Blue America hosted a fired-up and brilliant Democratic candidate, Dr. Fred Johnson, ex-marine and current professor, in a live blogging session at Crooks and Liars. While looking at his responses to questions, I tweeted this:


By all means go back and read the transcript. This is exactly the kind of race progressives need to get involved with. First of all, Johnson-- unlike conservatives like Barrow and the lot listed above-- is a smart, working-family-oriented problem-solver. Second, he is exactly the kind of candidate who will inspire Obama surge voters to come to the polls, not stay away from them. Michigan's Second Congressional District has been thought of as a deeply red hellhole. It isn't, and this year the seat is open as the lame incumbent tries for higher office. But where Gore only managed 38% in 2000 and Kerry 39% in 2004, Obama surge voters left McCain with a meager 51% victory in 2008. And if Republicans keep screeching on behalf of their Big Oil contributors about drilling for oil in the Great Lakes-- the source of drinking water for 40 million Americans-- the kinds of environmentally friendly independents who determine winners and losers in MI-02 are not going to vote for Republicans in November. Johnson's response to a question by Digby about Republicans wanting to drill in the Great Lakes was unambiguous and forthright, leaving no doubt whatsoever where he stands on the issue, even if corporate shills on both sides of the aisle-- what better pair of posterchildren for this than Louisiana crooks David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D)?-- do all they can to confuse the issue and try coming across on both sides of it. Fred Johnson:

I talk about the windpower potential of the lakeshore with voters all the time. There is some NIMBYism out there, and I am cognizant of the local concerns relative to tourism. However, we have to get serious about this, or Big Oil will definitely come after the Lakes. I'm continually amazed that as a vast body of water is being destroyed by Big Oil there are still those who behave as though the threat from drilling was an issue that needed further study. We must become energy independent. We must start as soon as possible. We must begin the process of transitioning from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources and support the President's efforts to build a "Green" economy.

Drilling in the Great Lakes IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO ACHIEVING ANY OF THOSE AIMS IN THE SHORT OR LONG TERM. Further, suggesting such a thing only serves to validate the extent of Big Oil's influence in government. Enough!!!

And Fred is far more than a package of answers to policy questions. The man is an inspirational figure who inspires confidence because of his instincts and the way his mind works. In response to a question about the book he wrote on Tupac Shakur's life, he talked about examining "the social and historical contexts of the period that inspired the music, dictated the method and degree of the music's impact, and determined where, and to what, extent Tupac's bold lyrics and his occasionally misguided behavior made him such a powerful representative of the realities and struggles existing in urban America from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s."

Writing Tupac's biography reinforced my already acute awareness of the need to continue the fight against poverty, homelessness, joblessness, and the despair among young people. It also presented a grim opportunity to compare how the actions of Wall Street criminals in the 1980s had wreaked havoc on the economy and working people just as the “Street's” criminals have done in the 21st century. What was especially interesting was discovering the extent to which right wing ideologues had been intentional and relentless in their steady prosecution of an over three decade assault on the middle class, working families, and America's most cherished democratic institutions for the benefit of moneyed special interests. Their methods of distorting truth, destroying the nation's manufacturing base, and distracting people from the urgent issues of the day with endless debate on cultural controversies, and the overall attempt to shrink and hobble the federal government so that it literally has great difficulty responding to catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina or the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are not new. Tupac, in his own way, knew about them and he, at least, had the guts to challenge those in power.

The DNC, DCCC and DSCC may be hopeless, but Democrats and progressives can make headway despite them. Supporting candidates like Regina Thomas and Fred Johnson is a vital component of accomplishing that. Both of them-- as well as progressive opponents to other worthless hacks, from Michele Bachmann and John Boehner to Tim Griffin and Virginia Foxx-- are on this page. Anyone there you'd care to help win a seat?

"Think, Baby, Think!"- A Guest Post By Fred Johnson (D-MI)

One of the smartest candidates running for the House this year is Dr. Fred Johnson in western Michigan, for a seat being abandoned by the ever-ambitious twitterer Pete Hoekstra. Last month he did a great guest post at DWT on education and societal priorities and if you missed it, I recommend it strongly. Today he took a serious look at the tenor of American politics and gave me permission to share it. He also gave me something else-- a book he wrote with Tayannah Lee McQuillar, Tupac Shakur: The Life And Times Of An American Icon. I bet there aren't too many other members of Congress who could even tell you who Tupac was. In any case, this particular book he sent me is autographed and everyone who donates to Fred's campaign today (24 hours) will be entered into a drawing to win the book, complements of DWT. You can contribute here. Here's Fred's post:

Recently, while watching news about the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, followed by more reports from Arizona about one of the most radical, anti-person laws of the last 50 years, I wondered, “Where are the rational voices among the Republicans in Congress?” Rather than serious discussions about taking substantive measures to, once and for all, make America energy independent, protect the environment, and strengthen national security, the mantra persists: “Drill, baby, drill!”
 
That refrain, however, is far different from what voters-- Democrats and Republicans-- have been telling me over the last two weeks. Voters in Michigan’s 2nd Congressional District understand that the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the immigration debacle in Arizona have changed the calculus on energy and immigration policy. Many local leaders acknowledge that people see the oil spill, and the protests against Arizona's SB 1070, as pointing to an urgent need for practical reform. Here in West Michigan, folks from both parties are already pursuing wind power projects for energy independence and environmental sustainability. Even our farmers know that we need a fair immigration system, including rational rules for temporary workers, so that they can get their crops in from the fields and out to market. But Congress refuses to speed up the pace on energy and immigration reform. Why?
 
There are many answers, but certainly a chief obstacle is that pressure from the extreme right wing/Tea Party ideologues prevents any Republican from adopting a reasonable, rational position. Consider the once admirable career of John McCain. Previously the promoter of immigration reform, and someone who campaigned in the Michigan primary as a clean energy supporter, he has distanced himself from himself. His apprehensions concerning J.D. Hayworth's far right primary challenge have caused him to attempt to out-pander his opponent. This is the situation that rejects a reality in which the vast majority of voters see that America desperately needs a new and robust approach to resolving its challenges pertaining to energy and immigration. Instead, right wing ideologues prefer the path of expediency. The pattern repeats itself in primary after primary. Never mind the needs of the country.
 
It’s going to be up to the voters to, once more, call the bluff of those who prefer to distract with fear and simple slogans rather than courage, hope, and vision. Only then will the right wing ideologues understand that rather than “Drill, baby, drill!” the people want leaders who prefer to “Think, baby, think!”

In Your Ideal Society Who Gets The Most Status, An Educator Or An Athlete?-- Guest Post From Fred Johnson, Michigan Congressional Candidate

I want to introduce you to a great congressional candidate from western Michigan who I've been talking with on the phone, Fred Johnson. People in Michigan's second district, from his hometown in Holland through Grand Haven, Muskegon, Ludington and out to Cadillac, don't need the introduction. They know Fred, at least, because of the spirited race he ran against entrenched incumbent Pete Hoekstra in 2008, garnering nearly 120,000 votes. This year Hoekstra is off on a quest for higher office and the GOP is likely to nominate a lunatic fringe extremist for his seat. Fred's got a much better chance to win in November than he did in 2008. There are a number of facets to Fred's life that make his candidacy so compelling-- from his international expertise to his service as a U.S. Marine officer, to the authoring of the most valuable book on the life of... Tupac, Tupac Shakur: The Life And Times Of An American Icon. But what I asked him to post about today was something I felt was most essential, American education policy, not surprising for a man who has devoted his life to teaching. So from a Ph.D., a professor and an inspiring congressional candidate whose two favorite Tupac songs are "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" & "Brenda's Got A Baby," a guest post:

If only people in the U.S. could be as serious about funding and supporting education as they are about shoveling money into the pockets of professional athletes and team owners. For the last decade or more, Americans have watched with growing alarm and frustration the mounting struggles in the nation’s classrooms. Unfunded mandates like the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind wreaked havoc upon public schools. This program, another one in a series of “silver bullet” quick fixes, continued a long process of hollowing out (or eliminating) subjects like Art, Music, Physical Education, Geography, and Languages which educators had long identified as critical in the learning process. Worried parents demanded action and accountability from public officials who routinely deflected the angst with new initiatives that generated more spin than results. But for all of the public outcry and political bluster, Americans have demonstrated time and again that they are more willing to enrich those who make their living playing games rather than supporting those dedicated to educating the nation’s future. The late 1990s insanity in which the citizens of Cleveland, Ohio were bamboozled by Cleveland Brown’s owner Art Modell and co-opted by the Cleveland Indians baseball team offers a classic case.

Modell’s Stadium Corporation had paid the city of Cleveland $1 per year since 1973 to lease Cleveland Stadium. The revenues streams generated from renting suites and scoreboard advertising boosted profits to celestial heights. The management of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, which also played at Cleveland Stadium, wanted a share in those profits since substantial revenues were produced during baseball games. Modell refused. Indians’ management took their cause to the public and convinced city and county officials to build them a new facility by imposing a “sin tax” on alcohol and tobacco. After much wrangling, the tax passed by a close vote of 193,390 to 185,209 and the new stadium, Jacobs Field (named after team owner Dave Jacobs and eventually renamed Progressive Field) was constructed.

Modell’s revenue intake dropped subsequent to the departure of the Indians from Cleveland Stadium. Those were losses he refused to endure so he asked the voters for $175 million to refurbish and modernize the decaying facility. On November 7, 1995, with one of the most challenged school systems in the nation, and even after Modell’s announcement on November 6 that he had signed a deal to move the Browns to Baltimore the following year, the people of Cleveland, Ohio voted by a significant margin to provide public funds for Modell’s stadium remodeling project. Following the success of Modell’s tactics, cities like Detroit and Baltimore, both reputed to have some of the most dismal educational performance in the nation, agreed to construct new sports facilities with public funds in order to keep their teams from relocating. Other cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, each with their own respective fiscal woes relative to education, also surrendered to the extortion.

Over ten years later, American educators are now scrambling to qualify for funds offered by the federal government’s Race to the Top initiative. Elected officials at all levels of government profess limitless devotion to the nation’s children and future while simultaneously vilifying their teachers for not being able to squeeze more academic water from their budgetary stones. Those officials have also rushed to join the chorus of teacher bashing since educators are a far more accessible and less dangerous target than companies outsourcing jobs overseas, powerful Wall Street interests, environmental polluters, and the scads of lobbyists who prowl the halls of Congress. A relentless campaign from numerous media outlets has succeeded in turning a once honored profession into being perceived as a last chance destination for those whose limited competency will not allow for much else.

The demands for excellence, dedication, and proficiency that citizens and their elected officials rightfully expect of educators and what they are willing to invest in education are chasms apart. But those great gaps of reality do not exist when those same citizens and elected officials are confronted with a choice to financially coddle sports franchises and professional athletes. The predicament presents a cognitive dissonance that’s so obvious it should defy the necessity of being mentioned. Nevertheless, Americans seem mystified that vast numbers of beleaguered and berated educators are not consistently producing more intellectual miracles in their crumbling facilities and environments which often require metal detectors and security guards. People who themselves would not tolerate such underpaid wages and conditions seem generally puzzled by the growing trend for young people to choose professions other than teaching. The increased “importation” of teachers from overseas to fill a growing U.S. teacher shortage does not strike educational critics as a situation that constitutes a crisis.

Conversely, the crisis events that took place in Cleveland, Ohio relative to the Browns’ 1996 move to Baltimore required little explanation. Normally tax-averse citizens responded with faithful urgency to keep their beloved Browns in Cleveland. As they cast their votes, much of the city’s educational infrastructure was crumbling around its teachers and students. The message from Cleveland and other cities across the land was plain enough: Americans place more value on those who play games for a living than those entrusted with educating the nation’s future. 

The protests of public officials, worried parents, and opportunistic opponents of public schools will ring hollow until Americans are willing to put up or shut up. A nation that prefers paying exorbitant salaries to athletes for playing games while allowing its teaching professionals to languish beneath opprobrium, economic distress, and constant curriculum experimentation from ill-informed (indeed, often barely informed) policymakers cannot legitimately claim its grave concern for a democratic future.

I hope you read that and had a chance to think about it a bit, not just on its wonderful face value but in terms of how much Congress would have to gain for someone like Fred Johnson, rather than another bumbling ex-athlete like Steve Largent, Jim Bunning or Heath Shuler-- like, for example, retired Bills and Steelers tight end Jay Riemersma. If you think Fred's is a voice that should be a part of the national dialogue, please consider donating to his campaign through ActBlue.