I am now back on the campaign trail and ask to be excused from live blogging. With the Fall election coming up sooner than we can imagine and all that it means and portends for America, our Fighting Dems, vets and non-vets, cannot stay away from boots on the ground for long. Ultimately, we have to be where the voters are. Nevertheless, the Netroots is a new world and making a huge impact on the way elections are fought and won. It began in '04 with Dean and his Deaniacs and Clark and his Clarkies, and now the blogosphere is playing an ever widening role in determining the future of our nation and the course it will take. Blogs like Kos and MyDD and Fire Dog Lake are now leading the way with some PAC blogs, like that of Wes Clark, remain a potent force.
The Netroots connects the national with the local, especially with district blogs like
Rochester Turning in NY-29 that is forming the hub of a growing group of county blogs that took their inspiration from dkos and will form a bridge between the national blogs the grassroots -- the next step in blogging evolution. They will support progressive issues and candidates at the very doorstep of the voters and draw strength from the national blogs.
A case in point was on Saturday when Howie Klein had me live blog on F Dog Lake. It was a great experience and is another example of a blog that connects candidates with the netroots. Below is a snip from Howie's write-up.
Notice my FDR pin
People get attracted to candidates for different reasons. Eric Massa is running for Congress in one of the country's most forgotten and remote districts, NY-29-- New York has 29 districts-- what we learned in school to call the "Southern Tier." People asking me to write about Eric have mentioned many things about him, that range from his integrity to his True Blue progressive values, but what got me interested in Eric's campaign originally was something else entirely. Like me, Eric was diagnosed with cancer. And, like me, Eric stood up and fought back-- hard. And won. I know from personal experience what that battle means and how he tests the soul as well as the body.
So it was no surprise to me when this Fighting Dem, who spent such a large part of his adult life in the military, speaks out most forcefully and most passionately about... affordable healthcare. Eric doesn't believe in taking any money from Big Business PACs pushing their bottom-line-oriented agendas at legislators. He'd rather lose the election than sell his soul and become a prostitute for the Big Business interests that harm the people he proposes to represent in Congress. The incumbent, Randy Kuhl is a one-stop shopping market for special interest groups looking for a whore to take their money and vote for their interests. Kuhl voted for the disastrous Bush Medicare bill and was rewarded by Big Pharma.
"I don't know where my opponent learned about healthcare," Eric told me a few days ago. "I learned about healthcare at the sharp end of a chemotherapy needle. To deny access to healthcare to Americans is... unAmerican." Eric's run in with cancer changed his life and his worldview....
When the conversation turned to Iraq, Eric was equally clear and concise. "Out is better than in. And sooner is better than later. George W. Bush disagrees. He says staying is better than leaving and he says staying forever is best of all. How telling is it that he says that the decision about when to leave will be up left for future presidents... Kuhl tells voters we have to bring the troops home and then he says he stands with George Bush who says we're not bringing the troops home... It comes down to staying the course versus changing the course."
Eric served as Wes Clark's Special Assistant when Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. He extolls the Bosnian model for how to deal with the Iraqi occupation. "Separate the warring factions; create 3 semiautonomous viable states; let them choose a government of their own making. We will never, ever, be successful in creating a democracy at the end of a bayonet." ....
But can Eric win in this district? It was, after all, the biggest percentage district in NY for George Bush in 2000 and in 2004. And although Kuhl has just been serving for 2 years and isn't well-known or entrenched, he's loaded with corporate bribes cash and Kuhl was the very first incumbent in the whole country Bush and Rove rushed to campaign for. The only publicly available polling of the district was done by Coopers and Seacrest. Things seem to have turned around a bit since NY-29 gave Bush 56% of its vote in 2004. His approval ratings are in the low 30s and 71% of voters in the district say the country has been headed in the wrong direction since Bush took over. I asked Eric if people in the sprawling 29th are connecting that disapproval of Bush with their congressman.
"People might not be associating Bush with Kuhl. Kuhl is associating himself with Bush! He's voted with Bush 93% of the time; he's the ultimate rubber stamp. This week he took the gavel and gaveled in the President's only veto in five and a half years. And later he voted to sustain that veto [which will deprive Americans of the benefits of stem cell research]... Kuhl went to Washington and married Tom DeLay. In fact he has still refused to give back the $20,000 DeLay gave him."
In 2004 the AFL-CIO endorsed Kuhl, calling him a "strong advocate for working men and women and their families." They have been kicking themselves ever since as Kuhl voted against every single labor issue that has come before Congress. This year labor unions are stepping all over themselves to endorse Eric-- and endorse him early and strongly. The day I was on the phone with Eric, the Sheet Metal Workers of New York voted unanimously to endorse him. Last week the United Auto Workers endorsed him and the week before the United Plumbers did the same.
"This Administration," says Eric, "believes in something called 'Yo-Yo'-- you're on your own. Whether we're talking about privatizing Social Security, the donuthole in Medicare part D, sending troops to Baghdad without adequate body armor... you're on your own... Americans know the Mission has not been accomplished-- not in Iraq, not in our schools, not in our hospitals, not in New Orleans, not in our military, not in our economy... If we don't stop the neo-Con minority in 2006, they will have 24 months of unfettered unaccountability to complete their destructive agenda."
Thank you Fire Dog Lake, and thank you Kos. I have outraised Kuhl for two consecutive quarters, but he is still fat from donations from special interest groups and has a larger treasure chest than I do. I would rather lose than take money from the kind of groups that support my opponent. My fundraising has been driven by small donations from many people and this is the way we can win and still hold our heads high.
Please help take back the Hill and put America back on course with your contributions.