You do it by electing guys like this; Douglas Applegate, running for Darrell Issa’s seat in CA’s 49th congressional district. Daily Kos Elections wrote about it here.
Daily Kos Elections currently rates this seat Safe Republican, but we’ll keep an eye out for developments.
Well, I do hope they are keeping an eye out because I got an email this morning saying:
Although the DCCC had previously designated us as an “Emerging District”, DCCC face-to-face meetings at my Vista headquarters this week increased the stakes adding us to the “DCCC 2016 Red to Blue List”
I just got off the phone with Colonel Applegate and confirmed this. He is exactly who we need in Congress. I wrote about him here.
A supporter of 90for90, Douglas (Doug) Applegate, attorney in private practice and Certified Judge Advocate Under the U.C.M.J., the United States Court of Military Appeals, Colonel in the United States Marine Corp Reserves, retired after 32 years active and reserve duty including a combat tour in Ramadi, Baghdad & Fallujah.
I think the guy knows his way around some guns and this is what his web page says on gun rights and safety, it’s a masterpiece of writing:
Sandy Hook and the 372 U.S. mass shootings in 2015 are America's darkest failures since President Obama took office. Background checks alone and the NRA's myth of a good guy with a gun would have stopped only a small fraction of these shootings, less than 3% according to the FBI. "Armed for Combat-Armed for life" speaks to the Armed Forces required training and combat range qualification. The same requirement for in-person-live training and combat range qualification by all civilians would also allow a live-fire evaluation of the mental state of each "good guy with a gun" -- just like the U.S. military. Proof of those annual qualifications along with picture ID must be presented to purchase ammunition/reloading materials; thus eliminating the gun lobby's objection to a national gun registry. Approved NRA training and combat range qualification would make the NRA part of the solution, not part of the problem.
He needs our help to get there. Applegate’s been a Democrat all of his life and he is a progressive Democrat. A fundraising goal of $200,000 has been set. Let’s see what we can do to help him reach that goal. Donations here.
Some people are like me, and have no money to give, but I can email everyone on my list of friends and family and ask them to email everyone on their lists. We know very well here at Daily Kos that small amounts add up.
Over the last several months many on this site have battled over which good Democratic Nominee for President to choose. During that time, chances to get some great progressives into Senate and Congress (the place where gun laws are made) have slipped away.
Let’s not lose any more chances. Let’s focus on getting a Congress who will make sensible gun laws. Let’s elect state and local officials who will do the same.
Focus on diaries about Congressional candidates - rec and tip them. Comment in them and republish. Write diaries about your state and local candidates.
Why do I care who is elected to the 49th district in CA when I live in TN? Well, the more Dems in Congress the better our chances of ending gun madness. As Ms. Spent Youth says “We live in the UNITED States of America”.
Can you imagine what we could do if we focused here at Daily Kos to get Democrats elected everywhere in the UNITED States? I mean, we aren’t going to focus on that; we’re going to bet on the sure things and go off on tangents on a daily basis.
But...close your eyes for just a few seconds and imagine if we took the half million or so users of this blog and targeted them on one thing and one thing only — getting the Democratic candidates elected everywhere.
We would become a formidable force that even the NRA wouldn’t know what to do with. We wouldn’t do it with fear either. We’d use what Doug Applegate emphasizes; “integrity, accountability, and transparency.”
Everything I write, including, but not limited to, my name, belongs solely to me. Tracy B Ann