It's wonderful to be here with you all today. All of the netroots support for my campaign has just blown me away. I am proud to have the support of not only Daily Kos, but also Open Left, AMERICAblog, the Blue America communities, and of course, Blue Jersey.
As you might be learning, Scott Garrett is one of the most extreme right-wing members of Congress. With a 100% lifetime score from the American Conservative Union, he's so extreme that he was the only Northerner to have voted against reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act! I've detailed just a few of his more heinous votes at my website. And he's supposedly representing Northern New Jersey.
While the district is rated as slightly Republican (PVI R+4), it is certainly not the most conservative district in New Jersey, let alone the Northeast or the entire country!
We're doing everything we can to expose Scott Garrett's extreme ideology and history of corruption through paid and earned media, through a strong grassroots field campaign in every corner of the district, and through an internet strategy including several microsites:
At www.OilmenForGarrett.com, we've produced a creative parody of "The Office" to help expose Garrett's ties to Big Oil. The video was so successful that another group (cough, cough) even copied the idea to use in another race!
At www.GarrettShrubs.com, we're exposing Garrett's personal tax scheme in which he classifies his multi-acre estate as a "farm" to save up to $41,000 a year in taxes even though he sells only $700 worth of "shrubs." His numbers don't add up to us, and they won't add up to the hardworking voters in the Fifth District either.
And at our newest site, www.YourChoiceNotScotts.com, we have video of Scott Garrett denouncing Roe v. Wade as a "dark cloud" over our country. The district is 70% pro-choice. Watch it for yourself:
I was encouraged by the Daily Kos commissioned poll of my race for several reasons: Garrett is under 50%, and many independents (who make up 54% of the electorate) are undecided or have no opinion of me yet. Further, this poll was taken before my ad went on the air, before the financial crisis became forefront in the political dialogue, and before Obama and "generic Democrat" began to rebound nationally.
About that financial crisis, by the way -- Scott Garrett sits on the Housing Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, and his chief of staff was a lobbyist for Countrywide Financial.
The district is located right across the river from New York City, situated squarely in the ultra-expensive and hyper-saturated New York media market, where it can be tough to get your message out. I like to say in my stump speeches that the people in my district know more about what New York's mayor Mike Bloomberg eats for breakfast than they do about who their Congressman is or what he votes for in Washington.
But the good news is that when folks learn about Scott Garrett's record, even in the conservative-leaning western parts of the district, they don't like what they hear. And that's exactly why it's so important that we do everything we can to reach people in all corners of the district.
We can win this race. Really, we can, if we all work together to deliver our message. Thanks again for all your support -- you've been some of my strongest allies in this hard fight. Please continue to spread the word.
I'm excited to answer your questions in the comments!