The dKos 8 are federal candidates for which the Daily Kos community will help raise money and visibility. Some of these will be in battleground districts, others will be seek to boost marginal candidates, and others will seek to "spread the playing field" and force Republicans to defend seemingly safe seats.
But all of these candidates are proud Democrats, willing to take the battle to the Republicans who have made a mess of our country.
The goal is to gather 1,000 contributions for each of the six targeted House races, and 1,500 contributions for the two targeted Senate races. The amount is not important. What's important is that we all take a role in taking back the party from the Republicans.
The second endorsement goes to
Stan Matsunaka, who is facing off against one of Colorado's two chief haters -- Marilyn Musgrave (the other being Tom Tancredo). Musgrave is the chief backer of the Federal Hate Amendment, seeking to deny gays the right to marriage. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'll let
Andrew Sullivan take it away:
Her record is almost entirely devoted to an obsession with homosexuality. In 1998, the Denver Post reported the following: "Musgrave's four years in the House have produced few dividends for her district. A region with intense school-finance and highway needs and a distressed agricultural base has bigger worries than gay marriage, the issue to which Musgrave has devoted much of her energy. Further, her abrasive tactics appear to have blocked her efforts in other, more constructive, areas." Musgrave didn't only promote several bills denying gay couples any recognition under the law under any name, she also voted against including them in anti-discrimination policies in employment. Her other obsession is the reintroduction of the military draft, and virulent opposition to any legal abortions, including those caused by rape or incest. Musgrave was the only member of the Colorado legislature to vote against a bill to create a registry of people convicted of domestic violence; and she voted against a bill allowing a woman to take three days of unpaid leave from work to seek protection from an abusive husband. She voted against a bill requiring schools to come up with a safety plan to combat bullying. She was one of only three state senators to vote against a bill barring female genital mutilation. This is the woman gently referred to by president Bush as "Marilyn" when endorsing her federal constitutional amendment to ban gay citizens from having the right to marry. That's who she is. And she is what the Republican party, under George W. Bush, is slowly becoming.
So we can safely conclude that Musgrave is a wackjob. But what about Stan?
He's a moderate, no doubt, but has voted for civil unions when a member of the state legislature. He also opposes the FMA, and thinks it should be left up to the states. The AFL-CIO gave him a 96 percent rating and the Colorado Women's Agenda rated him at 100%. His new site is still under construction (he announced just a week or two ago). But you can get more info at his 2002 campaign site.
And yeah, this is a rematch. Musgrave beat Matsunaka 55-42, but the race had been close all the way until the end (polls had Matsunaka just five points behind), when GOP money flooded the district while Matsunaka played it safe. Needless to say, he's more experienced this time and he's itching for that rematch.
I talk about "statement" races and "competitive" races and "spreading the playing field" races. Well, this one is all of them. We can take a stand against hate. We can force the Republicans to defend a seat in a Republican district and, best of all, we have a good chance of winning this one.
Matsunaka just announced, so we would be literally providing the seed money for this race. So please donate, even if it's just $10.01. And spread the word. (Don't forget to add that $0.01 to your donation for easier tracking.)