OK, so likely everyone on here knows
Rick Pombo, esteemed Republican chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rick Pombo is a caricature of a Republican. He's Tom DeLay without the brains. He's a corporate whore in the worst way and up to his eyeballs in money from guys who are now in prison. On top of that, when he does take a principled stand, it's usually on the "principle" of repealing the Endangered Species Act, the end to which he has devoted his congressional career. Even the sane wing of the GOP hates him - Pete McCloskey, a Republican congressman who retired in 1980, got so fed up with Pombo's shenanigans that he came out of retirement to run against Pombo in the Republican primary, and took over a third of the district's Republican votes. Running against Pombo is wind energy expert
Jerry McNerney. I could read off the standard litany of progressive issue positions McNerney espouses, but I'll just point you to
his words on the subjects and say that I'm pretty well satisfied. I want to go to work for the Jerry McNerney campaign, and that's where I need your help.
After beating DLCite Steve Filson in the Democratic Primary, McNerney is up 4 points on Pombo in the latest Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll. Where they're down is money. Pombo's never met a corporate interest he wouldn't sell himself to, and on top of that he's swimming in DeLay, Abramoff, and Cunningham money. McNerney's trying to pick up the slack with grassroots support, starting with gathering the
Democracy for America and
Forward Together PAC endorsements. Both these endorsements are being determined through public votes - DFA's vote closes this Friday, June 23rd, at 2PM. Forward Together PAC's closes on Thursday, June 29th. McNerney's grassroots field director put a challenge before me - just how many McNerney votes could I drive out before they close? After all, if I couldn't do it here, how effective would I be in the field? So, that's what I'm asking. Go to the
Democracy for America and
Forward Together PAC vote pages and vote for Jerry McNerney, and then post a comment here saying that you did. It'll take all of 2 minutes. Not only that, they're both IRV votes, so if there's someone else you want to vote for, you still can.
A vote for McNerney here, however, is worth an awful lot. McNerney is up in the polls but down in the money race. Pombo is going to dump slime by the barrel once this thing gets started, and we're going to need money to respond. Now's the time to start raising it. We can turn this into a marquee race with some early funding. Without it, we won't get the institutional support, and we'll get swamped. McNerney combines the three attributes of a great netroots candidate: He draws a sharp contrast with an awful Republican incumbent, he stands with us on the issues that count, and he's got a damn good chance at winning - if he's got an army at his back. So help him out, help me out, and help out your country. Vote Jerry McNerney in the Democracy for America and Forward Together PAC endorsement votes. You'll be hard pressed to find a better use for 2 minutes of your day.