Since the Washington Post and young Mr. Box Turtle are having such trouble with the basics of journalism these days, I thought I'd keep this simple:
Who: Jim Hightower
What: lots of Bush-bashin', BBQ-eatin', square dancin', down- home Texas hootenannyin' fun
When: 6-10 PM TONIGHT
Where: Los Arrieros Restaurant, 7926 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (3 blocks from Silver Spring Red Line metro, 1 block north of DC-MD line on Georgia Avenue)
Why: to support the candidacy of Jamie Raskin for the MD District 20 State Senate seat
Why should you do this? Flip it over and find out.
Jim Hightower needs no introduction. If he does, go to
his website for more information. If only all national Democrats were as straightforward and refreshingly honest as Jim Hightower.
The way things have been going on the Raskin campaign, Jamie Raskin shouldn't need any introduction either. But in case you missed it, on March 1 he unloaded on a right-wing MD state senator in a debate on gay marriage with the immortal words: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn't put your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible." At last check, this marvelously pithy statement is the subject of over 21,000 Google hits in less than a month. Good stuff.
As some will recall, I've been working with the Raskin campaign from the outset, doing political research, event planning and community outreach (I've taken to calling my law practice my "second job"). This is the first time I've ever been able to support a candidate without one single reservation. Jamie is smart, funny, passionate, energetic, optimistic, determined and completely committed to progressive and liberal ideals. Not just as a law professor, but as a committed activist who puts his beliefs on the line time and again for the less privileged among us -- high school students, apartment tenants, the elderly, immigrants, etc.
Just in case my endorsement isn't enough (and it damn well should be!), Jamie Raskin this week received one of 15 coveted endorsements from the 21st Century Democrats, who have in the past endorsed the early candidacies of leaders such as Paul Wellstone and Barack Obama. Here is what they had to say about Raskin.
Enough blather from me. Come to Los Arrieros tonight, meet Hightower, meet Raskin, eat some good food, and throw a few bucks to a campaign that is catching fire, both locally and nationally.