Blogswarm - Online Political News Magazine

5 Days: Last Chance!

October 28, 2004

5 Days, It's Now Up To You: Act!

Last 5 Days: Make Your $ Really Count with New Majority Tickets

Although there are many races in play, we've set up a series of regional "tickets," allowing you to support a slate of races in a specific part of the country. We've identified some of the top races in each region - although we're still keeping a few tricks up our sleeve up until the very end.

Each and every dollar donated to a "ticket" will be used exclusively to support our efforts for the candidates in that group.

We're past the point where we can wait for checks to clear. The financial support of the internet community can't be over-emphasized.

Please take a look at our Majority Tickets right now. We know it's been an exhausting couple of years, and so many of us have put more time and money into this election than in the rest of our lives combined. Thanks again for all that you've done during this cycle, and we humbly ask you to help us one more time.

Defend Texas
http://www.democraticaction.org/tix/texas.php

Ticket East
http://www.democraticaction.org/tix/east.php

Ticket West
http://www.democraticaction.org/tix/west.php

Ticket South
http://www.democraticaction.org/tix/south.php

Ticket Heartland
http://www.democraticaction.org/tix/heartland.php

Last Chance: Road Trip for a New Majority

Last week we described the vital importance of our presence on the ground in tight races, and we won't bore you with a full rehashing, but suffice it to say that in the South Dakota special election our volunteers knocked on 180,000 doors in a race decided by 2,981 votes. Now, allow us to update you on the status of three key road trips this weekend, and as you read through them consider whether you would be willing and able to hoof it for a weekend to put them over the top.

GA-12: Republican Max Burns in ruing the day he declared his support for a national sales tax designed to shift the tax burden from wealthy Americans to working Americans. The national sales tax idea is the most extreme extension of the Bush/DeLay agenda, which Newsweek's Wall Street Editor rightly described as an effort to "create a new class of landed aristocrats who could inherit billions tax-free, invest the money, watch it compound tax-free and hand it down tax-free to their heirs." A huge Washington Post headline blared, "Ads on National Sales Tax Draw GOP Ire," which gives a pretty good indication that we've hit a sore spot with our attack on the "Max Tax."
Sign up now: Departing from Washington, DC - Friday, October 29, 2004

KY-03: You can run down Republican Anne Northup's record and find rubberstamp support for just about any issue you can imagine. Outsourcing a good thing? Yup. Saddam connected to Al Qaeda? Of course! No Child Left Behind? No problem there whatsoever. Right on down the line. Democrat Tony Miller is a veteran, a board member of Louisville Urban League, and has 16 years experience as Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk. This district is ripe for the picking, and all that stands between us and victory is that Northup has done well in keeping her constituents in the dark on her real positions. That's where you come in.
Sign up now: Depart from Maryville, TN; Washington, DC; Aurora, IL; Valparaiso, IN
Friday, October 29, 2004 / Saturday, October 30, 2004

NY-27: Allow us to share a specific frustration with you. As we work on the Hill, watching as Republicans use their ever-so-slim edge to cram through offensive policies, there is a constant pang of watching supposed GOP "moderates" - representing Democratic districts - cast deciding votes time after time with Tom DeLay. NY-27 is such a district. With Democrats holding an 80,000 voter registration advantage, this was among the most Democratic seats in the country held by a Republican until Jack Quinn's surprise retirement. Now the 27th is one of the best Democratic pick-up opportunities in the nation. Don't let Nancy Naples, another rubberstamp in moderate's clothing, slip into this seat - help us put a Democrat in this Democratic district.
Sign up now: Departing from Washington, DC; New York, Plattsburgh, and Geneseo, NY
Friday, October 29, 2004

Races to Watch: On the Cusp of Victory

Here are just a few of our candidates surging into November:

TX-32: Sneaky Pete become Streaky Pete... Pete Sessions, the Republican moralizer and anti-public nudity crusader (in the wake of the Janet Jackson fiasco), ran into his toughest opponent yet this week when it was revealed that a younger Pete Sessions was not only an early "streaking" enthusiast, but was quoted in local papers espousing the virtues of such "free spirit" behavior. For laughs, we threw together StreakyPete.com, where you can watch a hilarious "flash" animation of the entire affair.

PA-08: Ginny Walks... Reacting to what Stacey Kerr of the DCCC called "the most hateful piece of mail we have seen in this election cycle," Democrat Ginny Schrader walked out on a debate with her Republican opponent when he refused to apologize or denounce the piece. The mailing made a series of wild leaps from Schrader to "Fahrenheit 9/11" to Hezbollah, declaring that "The Hate America crowd has found their candidate." Schrader (commonly referred to simply as "Ginny") responded: "'Let me assure you, I don't hate America,' Schrader said in her opening remarks Monday. 'This mentions Hezbollah. Half my family is Jewish. This is totally unacceptable.'" Schrader has nearly completed a transformation from long-shot candidate to Cinderella surprise, and her opponent's extreme anti-choice positions are far out of the mainstream in the district. Once again, PA may be front and center in the Democratic surge.

UT-02: Unquotable? Oh my. Salt Lake Tribune Columnists Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells accuse Republican John Swallow of "hitting below the belt": "To use a popular Utah word, it's time to call 'bullcrap' on the one high-profile campaign in Utah that has grossly distorted the opponent's record. The culprits: Republican congressional candidate John Swallow and his political consultant, Peter Valcarce." Unfortunately for Swallow, that was the good news for the day, as the Tribune also endorsed Democrat Jim Matheson for re-election. Matheson is one of the GOP's ever-elusive targets, and he looks to be slipping the NRCC's shoddily concocted noose once again as well. Better luck in '06 fellas.

NC-11: Keever Choice Grows Clearer... Responding to complaints from Veterans about his record on Vets' issues, Republican Charles Taylor decried their protests as "political propaganda." He should not have been surprised when two veterans fired back: "The priorities of Mr. Taylor are reflected by his votes in Congress. In this era when America's involvement in the war against terror is creating a new generation of wartime veterans, and the VA is taking on the needs of Vietnam War, Korean War and World War II veterans, Mr. Taylor has not been forthright with our veterans and the voters of Western North Carolina. He has distorted his record, claiming to 'have always fought in Congress for our veterans.' However, his voting history, which is public record, proves different." Meanwhile, the analysts at CQ Politics Daily have shifted the race from longshot to "slight" Republican favorite, and there can be no question that Democrat and former teacher Patsy Keever has all the momentum going into the election.

KS-3: Another cycle down the tubes... Much like Utah's 2nd, Kansas' 3rd is a perennial target of the national Republicans, and in both districts Republicans have had recurring nightmares: nominate a wingnut blind party loyalist in the primaries, cede the center to the Democrat, desperately try to paint the Democrat as an "ultra-liberal," fail miserably and end up with egg on your face for distorting his record. And while Democrat Dennis Moore's 12-point edge can hardly compete with Matheson's 20-30 point edge in Utah, both are look pretty good going into November, and the nightmares are coming back for the NRCC.

TX-19: Stenholm's Stand... When Tom DeLay concocted his crooked redistricting scheme, he singled out the senior Texas Rep., Charlie Stenholm for extermination. Stenholm is indeed in one of the toughest races around, but he is making his race anything but a cakewalk, hammering his opponent and DeLay for their inability to rule ethically: "But Stenholm pointed out that DeLay's demand for the irregular redistricting is just another instance of the Republican leader's attempt to consolidate his power at any cost. The same mindset, Stenholm said in the Lubbock debate, has resulted in 'no energy bill, no budget ... , no increase in the debt ceiling.'" In a more comical turn, it seems the national Republicans have been phonebanking for his opponent, but in their angst to convey their heartfelt affinity for his values, forgot to figure out how to pronounce his name.

IL-08: Bean's Clean Sweep... The Daily Herald endorsed Democrat Melissa Bean for this Republican-leaning seat, making it pretty much a clean sweep of area endorsements. After noting his not necessarily admirable tendency to stick to his extreme conservative views no matter what, they go on: "Unfortunately, Crane has built another solid reputation in Congress that clearly is not admirable: That of a show horse, not a workhorse. After 35 years in office, he has accomplished little of significance." Bean is a candidate who has captured the Democratic spirit at its best, harnessing tremendous grassroots energy and catapulting herself into the spotlight with astounding national coverage.

News From the Blog

IL-08: The Anti-Crane Conspiracy
Republican Phil Crane shoots himself in the foot... again.

Stop that Canoodling!
Katherine Karris gets caught playing footsie on the House floor.

The Breeze
DCCC Chairman Matsui defies critics, predicts major gains.

Poor Guy
Tom DeLay is forced to go door-to-door for the first time in perhaps a decade.

Checks & Balances
George H.W. Bush has trouble interpreting the Constitution.

Speaker Soprano's Pathetic Return!
For the third time this year Hastert blackmails voters.

Bush Loves the Democratic Party
After three and 5/6 years Bush courts the Democratic vote.

Pelosi: Incompetence has a Cost
Statement from Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on the announcement that Bush will seek $70 billion for Iraq next year.

Corrupted Ralph
Bush-Cheney strategist Ralph Reed's long history of selling his morality.

Some Republicans see the voting booth as a country club where a few people decide that others just don't belong. They reject the foundation of our democracy: we believe in the sacred principle of One Person, One Vote.

Now that fundamental right is under threat. Every day we hear of new GOP tactics to corrupt the system and prevent people from voting.

Our volunteers have made direct contact with voters in thousands of precincts. But the prospect of intimidation and legal manipulation grows every day. Please help us ensure that every American who wants to can get to the polls:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribute

We finally started living up to the One Person, One Vote principle only a generation ago. For a hundred years after the Civil War our laws systematically blocked millions of people from voting. It took until 1965 to pass federal law that ended the schemes of Jim Crow.

We outlawed poll taxes and literacy tests because they are undemocratic. But those bad laws were made even worse by selective enforcement -- to discriminate against opponents of those in power.

The tactics today are the same as in the bad old days.

The 2000 election opened the eyes of the right-wing fringe that runs the Republican Party. When conservatives on the Supreme Court stopped votes from being counted in Florida, they saw an opportunity. They could again manipulate the legal system to justify denying people the right to vote.

Now we have a Republican in Ohio trying to throw out heavily Democratic new voter registrations because the paper isn't thick enough.

We have a Jeb Bush appointee in Florida drawing up a wildly inaccurate list of supposed "felons" that included thousands of innocent African-Americans -- but almost no Latinos (who are much more likely to vote Republican).

Republican officials in Pennsylvania tried to move polling places out of inner-city neighborhoods for "safety" reasons.

Right-wing Republicans question whether new voters -- particularly the young and the poor -- "deserve" to vote. They wonder out loud whether Americans who they think aren't "informed enough" or need a ballot in another language should be allowed to vote at all. Suggestions like these are disgusting and immoral.

They know that George Bush's failures have affected people who until now never gave politics a second thought. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Americans have registered to vote for the first time this year.

Republicans say they fear fraud. But they really fear defeat.

We cannot wait for judges or legislatures to stop them. We have to protect Americans at the polls on Election Day and defend against any attempt to tamper with our fundamental rights.

There are two ways you can help. Find your polling place and make sure that you and everyone you know votes:

http://www.mypollingplace.com

And make a contribution now to help get voters in swing states to the polls on Tuesday:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/contribute

We have just a few days. Please act now.

Governor Howard Dean, M.D.

What kind of country do we want to wake up to on
November 3?

That's the question each of us must ask ourselves as we enter the final 36 hours of the most important fundraising drive in Democratic Party history.

It is hard to imagine America making a choice that could matter more than this one -- not just because the contest is so close, but because the differences between the candidates are so stark. Make no mistake about it, four more years of George W. Bush in the White House would spell disaster on many of the issues that you and I care about the most.

That's why, whatever issues you care about, you must have one overriding priority right now -- helping win powerful, persuasive victories for John Kerry and other Democratic candidates five days from now.

Our final fundraising deadline of the campaign is tomorrow night:

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

If you're concerned about making America stronger and more respected in the world, we need you to step forward now. If you believe that turning a blind eye to the mistakes President Bush has made will only deepen our dilemma in Iraq, we need you to step forward now.

If you think that President Bush's obsession with tax cuts for the wealthy is risking our economic future, we need you to step forward now. If you know we can do better creating jobs and solving America's health care problems, we need you to step forward now.

If you want to protect the future of Social Security, we need you to step forward now. If you want to safeguard the balance and integrity of the Supreme Court, we need you to step forward now. If you realize that four more years of Bush's environmental assaults will devastate America's natural resources, we need you to step forward now.

Step forward now:

https://www.democrats.org/support/kerry.html

Here's the reality. Whatever issues you care about, whichever concerns are closest to your heart, the single most important step you can take right now is helping John Kerry and other Democratic candidates win on November 2. Let's not wake up on November 3 realizing that you could have made all the difference in the world.

Thank you,

John Edwards

I'm finishing up my first week back campaigning for our Democratic candidates. I have seen a lot of crowds at the end of campaigns, and I've gotten pretty good at sensing which way the momentum is going. And let me tell you, this year, the atmosphere is electric, and the momentum is clearly going in the direction of the Democratic Party. It is great to be back.

And it's great to be back because the choices this year are so stark and so consequential. Will we lead in the world or go our own way? Will we find a way to increase our security without abandoning civil liberties? Will we return to fiscal sanity or stick with economic policies that have brought our nation to the brink of long-term fiscal ruin? Will we protect the environment? The stakes simply couldn't be higher.

We need a new president. And President John Kerry will need to have a Congress that will make the right choices -- led by a Democratic U.S. Senate. That's why I am writing to you with less than one week to go to ask your support for an unprecedented effort to return the Senate to Democratic leadership.

Because your response to the DSCC's $2 Million Match Campaign was indeed an unprecedented feat, and your enthusiasm was so strong the DSCC increased its goal to $3 million. Hillary and her colleagues also agreed to continue to match your gift dollar for dollar all the way through November 1st. Every bit of additional support in the DSCC's $3 Million Match Campaign will make a world of difference for our candidates in this election.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

As you and I both know, some elections in our history have turned on silly slogans, snappy sound bites or candidate gaffes. Not this time. Voters are smart. And if we lay out the choices for them in a clear way, they will make the right choice. When people are given the facts and are allowed to think through the alternatives, Democrats win.

Then the work will continue. For cleaning up the mess of the past four years won't be easy. From personal experience, I know that being president is a great job, and it's a tough job. But it's harder to pull the country in the right direction when the Congress is pulling the other way.

The latest polls show that six of these races are within 2 or 3 points. Your help could make all the difference. There are only 4 days to go.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

We need senators who will fight to protect our nation from terror the right way -- not with reckless policies that only serve to weaken our ability to build alliances around the world and safeguard our people here at home.

We need senators who will take seriously their duty to advise and consent to Supreme Court nominees. We run a risk of an ideological takeover of the nation's highest court that would constrict our Constitution for decades.

And we need senators who will fight for the environment and for an energy policy that is based on science and our children's future, not on the whims of the energy industry or the whispers of lobbyists.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

Please do whatever you can. The only thing any of us will regret is doing too little. This is a rare chance for us to make history. Let's give it our all in the last week of this campaign. Let's put America back on the right path, and let's put the Senate back into Democratic hands.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

P.S.Forward this message to your friends and get them to join in this Fight for 51. There's so little time left, but with a little help from friends like you, there's so much we can accomplish together.

I'm finishing up my first week back campaigning for our Democratic candidates. I have seen a lot of crowds at the end of campaigns, and I've gotten pretty good at sensing which way the momentum is going. And let me tell you, this year, the atmosphere is electric, and the momentum is clearly going in the direction of the Democratic Party. It is great to be back.

And it's great to be back because the choices this year are so stark and so consequential. Will we lead in the world or go our own way? Will we find a way to increase our security without abandoning civil liberties? Will we return to fiscal sanity or stick with economic policies that have brought our nation to the brink of long-term fiscal ruin? Will we protect the environment? The stakes simply couldn't be higher.

We need a new president. And President John Kerry will need to have a Congress that will make the right choices -- led by a Democratic U.S. Senate. That's why I am writing to you with less than one week to go to ask your support for an unprecedented effort to return the Senate to Democratic leadership.

Because your response to the DSCC's $2 Million Match Campaign was indeed an unprecedented feat, and your enthusiasm was so strong the DSCC increased its goal to $3 million. Hillary and her colleagues also agreed to continue to match your gift dollar for dollar all the way through November 1st. Every bit of additional support in the DSCC's $3 Million Match Campaign will make a world of difference for our candidates in this election.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

As you and I both know, some elections in our history have turned on silly slogans, snappy sound bites or candidate gaffes. Not this time. Voters are smart. And if we lay out the choices for them in a clear way, they will make the right choice. When people are given the facts and are allowed to think through the alternatives, Democrats win.

Then the work will continue. For cleaning up the mess of the past four years won't be easy. From personal experience, I know that being president is a great job, and it's a tough job. But it's harder to pull the country in the right direction when the Congress is pulling the other way.

The latest polls show that six of these races are within 2 or 3 points. Your help could make all the difference. There are only 4 days to go.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

We need senators who will fight to protect our nation from terror the right way -- not with reckless policies that only serve to weaken our ability to build alliances around the world and safeguard our people here at home.

We need senators who will take seriously their duty to advise and consent to Supreme Court nominees. We run a risk of an ideological takeover of the nation's highest court that would constrict our Constitution for decades.

And we need senators who will fight for the environment and for an energy policy that is based on science and our children's future, not on the whims of the energy industry or the whispers of lobbyists.

http://www.dscc.org/contribute/3Million

Please do whatever you can. The only thing any of us will regret is doing too little. This is a rare chance for us to make history. Let's give it our all in the last week of this campaign. Let's put America back on the right path, and let's put the Senate back into Democratic hands.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

P.S.Forward this message to your friends and get them to join in this Fight for 51. There's so little time left, but with a little help from friends like you, there's so much we can accomplish together.

Dear MoveOn member,

Forget the laundry. Let the dirty dishes pile up in the sink. Break out the TV dinners and tell the kids to do their own homework. On Election Day, we'll need every last person to pitch in.

If you're not able to travel to a swing state, please take some time to help call voters there and remind them to go to the polls. It's worth missing a few hours of work or school to help swing the most important election of our lifetimes. Together, we'll call half a million swing state friendly Kerry supporters who are unlikely to vote -- unless they hear from us. In this incredibly tight election, they could make all the difference.

Can you join us, by hosting or attending a phone party on November 2nd?

http://action.moveonpac.org/gotv/

MoveOn volunteers have worked hard over the past months to find these battleground-state occasional voters. On Tuesday, we've got to make sure they vote! All you need to host a party is a computer and a printer. All you need to attend is a cell phone. Either way, we'll guide you through it step by step. And it's an efficient use of your time: you'll do more to beat Bush on this single day than any other. Late afternoon and evening are the most crucial hours. You could also host a lunch hour phone bank.

The party you host could just consist of you and your friends, or you can open it up to the whole MoveOn community. Every time MoveOn members have gotten together -- from bakesales to the opening night of Fahrenheit 9/11 -- we've had fun. On Election Day, we have one last chance to come together, meet each other, and play a key part in taking our country back.

And think about taking the day off from work or school. Play hooky for Kerry. What are you going to remember in 10 years? The memo you rewrote? The lecture you slept through? Or the way it felt watching the returns come in on Tuesday night, knowing that our national nightmare is coming to a close and you helped put us over the top?

Sign up to host a phone party or find one in your area now, at:

http://action.moveonpac.org/gotv/

Sincerely,

--Adam, Eli, Hannah, James, Laura, and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
  Thursday, October 28th, 2004

P.S. By the way, we've put together

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Bush's "one finger victory salute"
by kos
Wed Oct 27th, 2004 at 20:59:10 GMT

From Texans for Truth:

-------
WWJD?

And no, that's not a photoshopped image. It's real. Check out the video. And remember, this asshole is our president.