I’d like to start off here by introducing myself, my handle is “kid oakland” and I’m neither a kid, nor do I live in Oakland any longer.
My blog name dates back to the comment section here on dailykos pre-Scoop where lots of folks used to just post up a name that said where we were from. That’s pretty much the 2002/2003 days.
I used to write a lot here (look it up, if you’d like) but lately I’ve just been super busy and blog posts are harder to come by.
So here’s two in one. Part 2 will add a kicker to part 1.
1. A list for you
My wife and I made a bunch of donations this year and as we’ve seen the returns from primaries coming in we’ve felt pretty good about them.
I thought I’d share the list with you all in case someone might get inspired by a name or two that you’ve missed.
TX-23 we gave directly to Gina Ortiz Jones and are happy we did so.
IA-01 we gave directly to Abby Finkenauer, and have liked everything we’ve seen from her since.
FL-26 we proudly support Debbie Murcasel Powell.
IL-14 we’ve been following Lauren Underwood ever since we donated and are so, so impressed. Her voice is quite powerful and her honesty is impressive.
MN-2 Angie Craig sent us a handwritten post card to thank us for our donation. She gets it.
In MI-07 we’ve been impressed by Gretchen Driskell’s history in local office and fundraising.
When we went looking for a race that might be a long shot, but had a chance to make the progressive argument in a red district, Liz Watson in IN-09 proved a good choice.
Rashida Tlaib in MI-13 similarly impressed us with her progressive positions and we hope that voters choose her.
We love Aftab Pureval in OH-01 and we think he’d be an amazing addition to US Congress.
We also added a donation to Stacey Abrams for GA-Gov, and want to celebrate as she makes history.
We also took full advantage of a Dailykos’ ActBlue page that promised to donate to the eventual Democratic winner of the primaries in KS-03, AZ-02, MI-11, NE-02 (yay Kara Eastman), TX-32 (go Colin Allred), TX-07 (yay Lizzie Fletcher) and VA-02 (go Elaine Luria!)
We appreciated that opportunity to punish Republicans for their atrocious votes against the ACA and we would donate to support Democratic primary winners again, as well.
2. A thought about Democrats and 2018
We made our donations (not our last) because a Democratic Congress is our family’s best bulwark against the very real impact of the GOP and Donald Trump on our lives, our community and the people we love.
We looked for women, progressives, people of color running in districts where they can make a real difference for decades to come.
That’s nothing new.
Over ten years ago I founded a scholarship to bring diverse voices to an annual netroots gathering then called Yearlykos. One of the recipients, an immigrant rights activist, asked me why I spent so much time and energy building the Democratic Party and working to elect better Democrats.
I had a simple answer.
Because elected officials write the law.
Throughout the recent history of the Democratic Party, it has been the vehicle for women, gays, immigrants, people of color, unions, working people, people with disabilities, children and the elderly to win legislative victories.
These communities represent the MAJORITY of Americans. When they win, we all win.
Right now, when it comes to passing laws, we are losing.
People, and our planet, are suffering because of it.
The first step is to elect more and better Democrats; and for each of us, in our own way to do what we can.
We are nowhere close to passing the legislation we need to secure a just and prosperous future for our nation.
In 2018 we must keep our eyes on the prize and fight like hell to take our country back. So many people are counting on us.
There is a world to win.