Congressman John Sullivan is George Bush with an Irish surname. The son of wealthy Tulsa family, Sullivan is an unaccomplished politician whose appeal derives from an affable personality that makes him the kind of guy you'd want to have a beer with. While Sullivan's friendly demeanor is enough to endear Tulsa's influential power brokers, ordinary constituents are tired of weak representation in Washington.

Although our chances of taking down Sullivan looked bleak, an incredibly promising challenger filed at the last minute in this Tulsa-based district. Her name is Georgianna Oliver and she's ready to give John Sullivan the fight of his life.

Open Left Bush Dog and FISA capitulation supporter Brian Baird is one of the few Bush Dogs still susceptible to a primary challenge this late in the season.  Washington's primary is Tuesday August 19.

This morning Brian Baird's primary challenger, progressive community activist Cheryl Crist, was interviewed on Thom Hartmann's radio show.  The online poll -- Baird v. Crist -- is getting overwhelmingly favorable results for Crist -- 85% to 15%.

Cast your vote now, and follow me below the fold for more on why Progressives need to  unite behind Crist now.

As of 10:30pm Wednesday July 9, 2008.

In November we will have our Democratic majorities in Congress, so the game now is Better Democrats.

We're disappointed about FISA, but let's not just complain; let's act. Protecting the Constitution from these FISA assaults requires primary challenges to take out the Bush Dogs in blue and purple districts that would support more progressive representatives.

There are only so many Bush Dogs, and some are in red districts where we can't do better.  For others, the primary date has already passed.  That leaves just a few leverage points.  One of them is WA-03's Brian Baird, the infamous and unrepentant surge supporter, who just this week voted against the Constitution by supporting the FISA compromise and telecom amnesty.

Now that Baird has confirmed his Bush Dog status by voting for telecom immunity, this race is getting a lot more attention.  After the jump, what to do and why.

Friends,
I'm Doug Denneny, a decorated Iraq War combat veteran running for U.S. Congress in Virginia's 11th CD in Northern Virginia. I'll be live blogging tonight, right now (Sunday 4/20/2008) at 8:00 pm e.s.t.  I'll be ready to answer your questions on any subject.
Tomorrow I'm going to unveil my 10-point plan on Education entitled The Denneny Plan To Protect and Improve Our Public Schools.

Last Saturday, I walked with my supporters all day, close to twenty miles from my district outside the beltway in Northern Virginia to the White House and on to the Capitol to symbolically deliver my plan for a smart, phased withdrawal from Iraq. Please take a look at my You Tube video of the March and a copy of my plan (and my pointed letter to President Bush) on my website at dougforcongress.com

  I've been endorsed by four serving members of Congress, VOTEVETS.ORG, VETPAC and others.  I've endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Presidency.  

[update 11:46EDT - See new figures just while this diary has been posted! An increase of $245 and 7 supporters!]

My candidate this year, Tom Perriello, has been pushing for a total of $500,000 raised so far in the campaign.

Right now, on ActBlue, Tom's total is up to $235,216 $235,461 and 871 878 supporters. (in an hour!) He is a great guy, and there was a great diary today by populista that had a great overview of Tom's experience and his ideas for the future. He is a very dynamic candidate, and has an interesting background.

So, if you would, consider donating to Tom Perriello at the ActBlue link above. We will be getting rid of Virgil Goode this way, and we will all thank you here in the 5th Congressional District.

Those who have been energized by all the recent fuss about Democratic members of Congress who aren’t 100 percent behind the new and strong candidates in South Florida: Have you taken the step of making a donation to the candidates?
HERE'S HOW under the fold

Cross-posted on Open Left.

In prior diaries, I introduced Cheryl Crist, weighed the risks of her primary challenge to pro-war Democrat Brian Baird, and considered whether Baird was worth challenging.  

In each instance, the comments have weighed heavily in favor of adding a dedicated and experienced progressive peace activist to Congress, but wondered whether Cheryl Crist was a "credible" candidate?

What makes a candidate "credible," and does Cheryl Crist measure up?  I will propose a counter-intuitive definition.

Our campaigns for Congress in South Florida are not just for their districts, important as they are. They are for Florida and the United States and the wider world, and we’re getting confirmation of this day by day.

Monday’s news: Joe Trippi joining the Joe Garcia campaign as senior media adviser. This is a development with national punch. We now have one of the top campaign people in the United States. I like to think of Joe Garcia as inhabiting the same rank: campaign thinker of national impact, due to his work with NDN directing its Hispanic Strategy Center, so this is a pairing that should be a multiplier of effectiveness.
MORE under the fold. Cross-posted on www.miami-dade-dems.blogspot.com and Florida Progressive Coalition blog.

Ever since the "More & Better Democrats" meme started to spread, I've been thinking about what this really means in sheer numbers. I think I've come up with a simple formula for determining just how well we're doing on this front.

There are 435 members of the House and 100 members of the Senate. The "M&BD" movement recognizes that if you want to get progressive policies through, it's not enough to have a simple majority; the past year or so has taught us this in the most depressing manner.

In a prior diary, I profiled Cheryl Crist, a peace activist who has launched a primary challenge against pro-war Democrat Brian Baird in Washington's third Congressional District.  Since then, Baird continues to be dogged by critics in his district angry at his pro-war vote, and Cheryl Crist is getting traction.

As usual, Emmett at Olympia Time puts his finger on the key question:

I'm just saying, defeating Baird in the primary could end up handing the district over.

Might a purple district like WA-03 go red?  I went for the facts on this one.  Here's what I found...

Friends,
I'm Doug Denneny, a decorated Iraq War combat veteran running for U.S. Congress in Virginia's 11th Congressional District in Northern Virginia. Doug's Picture  My website is Dougforcongress.com and I'll be live blogging tomorrow night (Sunday) at 8:00 pm e.s.t. and I'll be ready to answer your questions.  I've been endorsed by Congressman Patrick Murphy and Congressman Joe Sestak, as well as VETPAC.  I look forward to your support.

Here is the lead paragraph of an article from the AP last week entitled, After surge, 140,000 troops to remain in Iraq:

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is projecting that when the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is over in July there will be about 8,000 more troops on the ground than when the buildup began in January 2007, a senior general said Monday.

Christmas Eve is not the best time to post, but last night I saw another newscast that ignored the viable Democratic candidate in Louisiana’s 1st District race for the U.S. House and I am angry.  The Democratic candidate is me.  NBC News spent several minutes covering Republican candidates, including those who have not made a decision yet and even those who have opted against the run.  An afterthought was added at the end saying that there was one declared Democratic candidate.  Indeed, they underestimate my threat.

The Tax Foundation released an interesting report about seven months ago that is necessary to bring up now, especially with the grand debate over the Alternative Minimum Tax.

First off, my "representative" is Tom Reynolds. Reynolds is obsessed with this issue. He says he wants to protect "middle-class taxpayers" from paying what he calls the Stealth Tax. In fact, Reynolds might be painting a false picture, as are many other critics of the AMT.

The U.S. House has just passed H.R. 928, a bill designed to strengthen to power of Inspectors General and protect them from political backlash whenever they report information that is unsavory to the Executive Branch, or in this case, to King George The Just Idiotic.  With its knee-jerk reactions intact, the White House has threatened to veto the bill.