Introducing Tony Barr, Grassroots Candidate PA-09

This story just goes to show you how Howard Dean's vision of a national Democratic Party that fights Republicans everywhere can change things.  When no Democratic candidate emerged in Pennsylvania's heavily Republican 9th Congressional District, a coalition of grassroots organizations refused to allow the incumbent Bill Shuster a free pass.  With the support of several county grassroots Democratic Clubs, schoolteacher Tony Barr waged a successful write-in campaign to qualify for the ballot in November.  This was no small task.  Join me on the flip to hear about it.

A press release from the campaign states:

To qualify, Tony Barr needed 1000 voters to correctly enter his name on a variety of ballots, electronic voting machines, and virtual keyboards put in use for the first time in the May 16 primary, a task considered almost impossible by professional politicians.  They felt that the cost of the publicity to get the word out would be prohibitive, and the new voting equipment would introduce too much voter confusion and uncertainty.  The amount of cooperation needed would be enormous and probably unavailable.  Barr proved them wrong.

             The effort to get Tony on the ballot came from grassroots organizations in Blair County, Bedford County, Fulton County, and Franklin County with help from small groups in other areas.  These organizations shared resources and information to coordinate their efforts.

             While Barr needed only 1000 certified write-votes and has 1776 so far, there were many more voter attempts at writing in or spelling in his name on ballots and machines which were not counted, indicating that a much higher number were willing to offer him support.  Errors included misspellings, the name on the wrong blank, frustration with new mechanical and electronic voting devices, and forgetting to fill in the oval on paper ballot after writing in his name.   Sometimes Barr's name was written on the Republican ballot.  Some precincts still have not reported as of this writing.

1,776 (nice number!) is only the total from 5 of the 15 counties in the 9th district, so the final number is likely to be greater than 2,000.  In my opinion (and I spent 18 years living in this district) Tony Barr is exactly the kind of candidate that can take out Bill Shuster (For more on the Shuster family check out my previous diary).

Tony Barr...

1.  A regular citizen who is fed up with the way things are going in Washington, not a political insider.  (And I think most voters feel this way)
2.  A man with determination: he rode a bicycle to Alaska and has survived brain cancer.
3.  A true progressive committed to honest and accountable government, healthcare for all citizens, strong public schools, and jobs with wages that will support a family - things that should be important to all voters.
4.  He has a genuine folksy appeal that will resonate in this rural district and contrast sharply with the very plastic former car salesman Shuster.  (To give you an idea - Barr has two young boys named Silas and Zeke.  He's one of us, not one of those fake political double-talkers.)

Selected quotes from Tony:

My campaign isn't about me, it's about the survival of our democracy.  A democracy consists of checks and balances for those in power.  A democracy does not allow a candidate to go unopposed or unchallenged, and it requires that our representatives be held accountable for their actions.

For me, the time of politics as a spectator sport has passed.  For too long, I've been an armchair critic of our government, and I think too many people have been content to complain, but ultimately do nothing.  The result of this inaction is apparent today - the rich and ultra-wealthy are getting tax breaks, while programs that fund beneficial programs for middle-class Americans are being cut.  A democracy requires action by its citizens, and I felt it was time for me to take action, and to do what needed to be done.

Politics today seems to be only about money.  We've come to a point where it seems only the very wealthy can afford the campaign costs necessary to win elections.  The problem is that the very wealthy often don't understand or appreciate the daily struggles of average, middle-class working Americans.

Make no mistake, Tony is an underdog.  This is a red congressional district and Bill Shuster will likely be getting ample financing from the Republican machine (his financiers in past have included Tom DeLay and Bob Ney).  But this is precisely the point, force the Republicans to spend money defending every district.  Give the voters the argument for change everywhere and be ready to take advantage of Republican missteps and scandals (which are a dime a dozen of late).  I live in San Diego now, and I have seen first hand the collapse of the Republicans in CA-50.  The truth is, there is no such thing as a "safe Republican" district in 2006.  I am inspired by and am proud to support Tony Barr for Congress in PA-09.  Here is a link to his campaign.

Incidently, Tony's campaign was the 420th according to the folks at the 50 state page - the one that broke the previous record of 419 districts by the Republicans in 1994.