With less than two weeks to go till Primary Election Day in Massachusetts, I'm writing with a simple request: let's hold Democrats who vote like Republicans accountable.
I got into this race last April because my opponent, Stephen Lynch, asked me to.
Not in so many words, of course. But when he cast his "no" vote on health care reform -- following his continued "yes" votes on the wars, to the anti-choice Stupak amendment, to the Patriot Act -- he was practically begging to be challenged, to be held accountable.
In many ways, I'm the last man standing -- the last primary challenger to a Democrat who voted against the health care bill. This is our last chance to send a message to the Democratic Party, and to those "Democrats" who think it's politically expedient to vote like Republicans.
I've been a part of the progressive movement for a long time -- as an advocate for the poor and disenfranchised, as an activist working to elect progressives to office, and as a part of organized labor through my work as New England Political Director for SEIU. Win or lose on September 14th, I'm in this movement for the long haul.
In my work over the years, I've learned that one of the most important ways of building power and influence for the progressive movement is by reminding those in power that we DO notice when they vote the wrong way -- we notice, we care, we remember. And when they vote the wrong way too often, on too many important issues, we hold them accountable.
Because if we give them a free pass when they take bad votes, if we don't challenge them in their re-election campaign, or we don't show up to support progressive challengers, then we send a clear message to those elected officials, and anyone else who is paying attention: go ahead, keep taking bad votes. No one is paying attention.
So I'm asking you to show up, and show that you're paying attention.
With two weeks to go,your contribution in this final push will make a huge difference.
We've got so much we can do together as progressive movement, if we can elect not just MORE Democrats, but BETTER Democrats. We need to protect health care reform, and make it better by adding a strong public option. We need to bring the troops home, and start putting that money to better use here at home. We need to fight for good jobs at fair wages for everyone. We need to get corporate money out of our electoral system by passing the Fair Elections Now Act, and working towards a constitutional amendment to put a stop to this insane notion of "corporate personhood." We need to repeal DADT, pass real, effective climate change legislation...and so much more. I want to go to Washington to work on all these things with you.
This is an underdog candidacy, no doubt about it. But with enough resources to get our message out, victory is possible. With the help of folks like MoveOn, DFA and USAction, our campaign has seen incredible momentum in the last few weeks -- all through the power of small-dollar donations from people like you.
Will you be a part of our movement? Click here to make a donation to our campaign today.
I promise you, this fight is worth it.