This diary is written by PDNC and Onomastic.
The Daily Kos GOTV Blogathon team: Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse, Onomastic, rb137, JekyllnHyde, boatsie and adviser Meteor Blades, is thrilled to announce the participants for next week's GOTV Blogathon. Lawmakers, political activists and union leaders have taken time from their round-the-clock, get-out-the-vote schedules to join us beginning October 23.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi was the first woman to be elected as Speaker of the House from 2007-2011. She made history earlier as the first women to serve as Democratic leader from 2003-2007. Pelosi has been tirelessly working for the crucial DCCC's Drive for 25 campaign to take back the House. Photo
Our confirmed guests so far include: (Some people will confirm on Monday, so we might end up with more guests.)
Van Jones is an activist and leader on human rights and a clean-energy economy. He is President and Co-Founder of Rebuild the Dream and a frequent and favored speaker at Netroots Nation. (photo)
Robert Reich was Secretary of Labor during the President Clinton administration and adviser to President-Elect Barack Obama. In 2008, TIME named Reich one of the "Top 10 Best Cabinet Members," noting that his accomplishments included "helping to implement the Family and Medical Leave Act, raising the minimum wage and leading a crackdown on sweatshops." He currently is a professor at University of California in Berkeley. (Photo: Official Department of Labor portrait.)
Tammy DuckWorth is running for Congress against the incredible tea party Joe Walsh, aka Akin Twin, who says science magic wipes out the need for abortions even when life or health of mother is in jeopardy. Walsh claims he was elected to Congress in 2010 to "help educate the American people." I guess about women's magical body parts. Tammy participated in our NFTT fundraiser blogathon last Summer. Photo
Gov Howard Dean MD is the founder of Democracy for America and working hard to elect Democrats, including the 2012 Dean Dozen who "could decide control of the next Congress." Photo
Congresswoman Donna Edwards is the "first Member of the House to introduce and champion a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision." Edwards has a long history of community activism. She co-founded and served as the first executive director of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, an advocacy and legal support group for battered women. She worked to pass the 1994 Violence Against Women Act. She later worked with Public Citizen, and then as the executive director of the Center for a New Democracy.
As is fitting, she is a member of the Populist Caucus and also sits on the Committee on Ethics, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Photo
Congresswoman Barbara Lee posted two diaries last month on key issues – If you missed, please take a look! One on LGBTQ civil rights, noting that for first time, marriage equality was in the party platform while the GOP are stuck in a time warp from years ago with "traditional marriage." Lee also wrote about Urgent Response Needed for U.S. Poverty Crisis affecting 46.2 million Americans, some of the 47% that Romney wants to ignore. You can sign her petition to fight poverty and end structural inequality HERE. Photo
Senator Sherrod Brown makes the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove nervous. They should be. As Senior Senator from Ohio, Brown has fought to eliminate government subsidies to Too-Big-to-Fail Megabanks while leveling the playing field for Community Banks, signed on with Senator Bernie Sanders to protect Social Security, is a tireless advocates for jobs here at home, and believes in women's ability to make their own health care decisions. And that's the short list. Outside of President Obama, no other candidate has been targeted so strongly by Rove's Crossroads and the US. Chamber of Commerce. He's one of our own. Photo
Senator Franken worked to "ensure that women in the military have the same access to emergency contraception that their civilian counterparts do." Senator Franken has taken a strong stand against a referendum question appearing on Minnesota's 2012 ballot that states: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as marriage in Minnesota?” A supporter of Universal Health Care, Franken serves on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on Indian Affairs, and Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Photo
Under SEIU President May Kay Henry's leadership, "SEIU members are linking arms and forming historic partnerships in their communities to confront income inequality, to shine a light on the wealthy and corporations failing to pay their fair share in taxes, and to hold politicians accountable to working people." Photo
Richard Trumka is president of the AFL-CIO, representing more than 12 million working men and women in 56 unions. Trumka is committed to making sure all workers have a voice on the job and building an economy in which working people have a fair shake. Learn more at www.aflcio.org. (photo from AFL-CIO)
Arlene Holt Baker is executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, representing more than 12 million working men and women in 56 unions. Holt Baker is dedicated to protecting the right to vote and spreading awareness on voter suppression tactics in the states. Learn more at www.myvotemyright.org. (photo from AFL-CIO)
Elizabeth Shuler is secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, representing more than 12 million working men and women in 56 unions. Shuler’s commitment to engaging young workers in their unions and opening leadership opportunities for them has resulted in the AFL-CIO’s Next Up Young Workers Initiative. (photo from AFL-CIO)
United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodríguez is "continuing to build the union Cesar Chavez founded into a powerful voice for immigrant workers by increasing its membership and pushing historic legislation on immigration reform and worker rights." Photo
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been working hard and fundraising to help other women candidates because "women are the key to holding onto the Senate!" Gillibrand is perhaps best known for successfully championing both the repeal of the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the adoption of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. Senator Gillibrand is a strong supporter of marriage equality, single payer health care, and women's right to make their own health care choices. Photo
Jennifer M. Granholm is the former governor of Michigan. She hosts Current TV's political talk show "The War Room," teaches courses in law and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley and is a Politico columnist.
PA' LANTE
Check out new video posted by abrelaboquita:
We will be sending an email notice to our listserve for blogathons when our guests post diaries next week. If you would like to be added to our email notice listserve, please email patriotdaily@gmail.com.
Top Comments, Obama Nightly News and J-Town will be posting our blogathon calendars each day. If you would like to join this effort, please email patriotdaily@gmail.com.