(Take the poll at the end, please - I need your input!)
Ever seen that TV commercial of schoolkids moping while their dad enjoys picking up their school supplies for the upcoming year? Well, anyway, the music in the background is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", which essentially is what the next few days are for candidates. Either that, or the most stressful. As you all know, June 30th (Friday) marks the end of the 2nd financial quarter for Congressional candidates, and so the appeals to us bloggers for donations is well underway. I, too have candidates that I want to see win, so I'd like to ask all of you to give to four of my favorite candidates.
WAIT! DON'T LEAVE THIS ARTICLE JUST YET!
(I also have decided to set up a campaign collection list at ActBlue, which will be going up next week. But I'll need a name for it - and that's where YOU can help as well!)
For now, I have four candidates that I feel would make wonderful leaders in Washington in 2007. One of them, Congresswoman Melissa Bean (
http://www.melissabean.com) is already there, and while her record is quite moderate (reflecting her district, which is the most conservative in Illinois), she remains one of my good friends and someone I trust to vote as she believes in. I probably disagree with her a good 25% of the time, but she's always been willing to hear me out when that happens. Plus, her opponent is a multi-millionaire nutjob, so she'll need every dollar she can get.
http://www.dccc.org/...
Of my other three candidates, one is already well-known in these parts. I never cease to be impressed by Jack Carter (http://www.carterfornevada.com), whose campaign for the US Senate against John "96%" Ensign (the nickname is for his "loyalty rating" for Bush)has been tirelessly promoted by his daughter, Sarah (such as today at http://www.dailykos.com/...) and by his father, a certain President named Jimmy (who I had the honor of spending the day with back in March). Jack Carter is truly one of the most decent and caring candidates I have met, but is also a tough, tenacious campaigner. If elected, I know that he'll ask the tough questions in Washington, but in the same manner that has guided him his entire life - with prudence, concern and dignity.
The third candidate is Barbara Ann Radnofsky (http://www.radnofsky.com), a dear friend of mine who is running for the US Senate in Texas against Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-VA...err, sorry, TX). Barbara Ann has been steadily pounding away on Hutchison's flaws, from her loyalty to Bush and Tom DeLay to her awful voting record on all sorts of issues, to her recent relocation to Virginia, in a sense "pulling a DeLay". Barbara has cut Hutchison's lead in the polls from 39 points in February to 19 last week(http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...), and I know that with enough financial support she will be able to win this race. As her campaign slogan goes, "Tough Name - Smart Dame".
My last (but definately not least) chosen candidates is in my own home district, Linda Stender (http://www.lindastenderforcongress.com), who's running against Mike Ferguson in NJ-07 (http://www.fergusonforcongress.net). My congressman, alas, is a man who is called "Mr. Embryo" by his colleagues for his passionate defense against the ungodly evils of a woman's right to choose and the miracle of stem cell research. He also holds the record for the most direct donations recieved from DeLay, to the tune of $57,000 - and he's not giving any of it away, either. And he's not afraid to hit on college girls, either. http://www.nownj.org/...
Linda Stender is his polar opposite. A veteran public servant, she's a firm progressive who's not afraid to take on big causes if she believes in them. Last week, for example, she went on Larry King Live to call for a boycott of Ann Coulter's vicious slander that she (Coulter, that is) calls a book. You can see the video at Linda's website. As many of you have noticed, she was just endorsed as one of the "Netroots Candidates" for 2006. You can contribute to her at http://actblue.com/... if you want.
Or, for any of these candidates, if you want to donate before Friday (which will then show up in the FEC reports next month), then donate at their sites. Then, e-mail me at stephenyellin-at-yahoo-dot-com and let me know where you're from, and how much you donated. And I'll make sure the campaigns know that they got it from the blogosphere!
Finally, there's my poll below. I want to set up an Act Blue account for six of my chosen candidates (I'm still debating who the other two will be), but I really can't decide what name I want for it. Vote below, or feel free to offer your own suggestions in the comments. Thanks again, and let's keep it up!