A couple of days ago, I wrote a diary in which I stated my intention to contribute a total of $500 to progressive candidates who have declared their intention to stand up for peace against the near-total control that AIPAC has over Congress. I asked Kossacks for suggestions, knowing there are many candidates out there I've never heard of who would be worthy recipients.
What I was hoping for was a list that I could post for the information of other like-minded potential contributors interested in altering the makeup of Congress and doing something to counter the influence of the AIPAC lobby. Unfortunately, the response to my diary was disappointing. It disappeared in only a couple of hours and generated only a few good suggestions in that time. Several Kossacks gave me the names of candidates who had failed to meet my criteria. The discussion wasn't useless, however, and I did receive some good advice.
I decided that to have my money do the most good, I would contribute only to candidates in contested primary elections.
In addition to suggestions here, I looked at the records of certain members of Congress to see how they had actually voted on the recent resolutions, and to the co-sponsors of Rep Kucinich's proposed resolution to support an immediate cease-fire in the ongoing conflict. However, and probably not coincidentally, I couldn't discover that any of these members of Congress had any primary opposition.
My final list, then, contains only challengers. Not coincidentally, these candidates either have posted online here or have supporters here. Jonathan Tasini got the largest amount because I figure his is the most uphill contest, and because his opponent particularly pisses me off.
The checks went out today:
$200 Jonathan Tasini for Senate NY
$100 Jean Hay Bright for Senate Maine
$100 Jessica Flagg for NY-17
$100 Jeeni Criscenzo for CA-49
I invite Kossacks again to suggest more names to add to this list. Perhaps others will want to contribute to this cause.