Author: 21st Century Democrats

(Cross posted from 21st Century Democrats)

You can search this nation far and wide and still wind up with very few elected moderate Republicans. As I've discussed before, the Republican tent is shrinking: those who don't subscribe to a narrow set of backward ideas are pushed out. Some have reacted courageously, like the trio of Republican moderates who voted for the stimulus bill. Some however, take the convenient route. Case in point: New York congressman Peter King, who represents the moderate 3rd district, was an original co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act in 2003. This was back when President Bush was certain to veto the bill if it passed, so King hopped on board, appeased the unions in his home district, and kept everyone content. Now that we have a President who supports the measure, King has jumped off the wagon. From his official statement:

“I do not, however, intend to support EFCA in this Congress. Our country is facing its most severe economic crisis in 75 years. It is a crisis different from previous recessions in that it includes restricted credit, massive job loss, a plunging stock market and increased foreclosures and bankruptcies. Virtually every component of our economy is suffering. While I am confident we will recover, I believe the road ahead will be long and difficult. Under these conditions, I have concluded that the Employee Free Choice Act would be too severe a shock to our economy at this time and would be counterproductive.“

 He concludes the statement with a telling sentence: “I will continue, of course, to monitor the situation but that is my current thinking.” From that statement, you might actually think that Congressman King is going to monitor the economic situation. However, what he's really going to be watching are his chances to defeat Kirsten Gillibrand in the 2010 Senate race (Gillibrand is a 21st Century Democrats endorsee and a strong Employee Free Choice supporter). As we've heard, NRSC Chairman John Cornyn is reaching back in time for his 2010 candidates, and he seems to have his sights set on former-Governor George Pataki. If Peter King wants Party money for his Senate bid, he needs to look like the “better Republican.” It'll be Pataki vs. King in a beauty contest of conservatism. He can't be doing things like – gasp – protecting the rights of working people. It would be so un-Republican of him. And while we're at it, let's talk about the idea that the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act would be a “shock” to our economy in these troubled times. Look, the economy is already shocked; working families are shocked by the $2,000 on average that disappeared from their income between 2001 and 2007. The bill does NOT get rid of the option for the NRLB secret ballot election, even though the current election system is rife with flaws. And despite popular belief, when management and labor bargain on equal terms, it helps the workers as well as the management. Just ask this group of 40 leading economists, including two Nobel laureates, who put a full page ad in the Washington Post last month supporting the bill.

Peter King isn't watching the economic situation. He's watching John Cornyn and George Pataki, and he's watching Senator Gillibrand's poll numbers to see if he has a shot at her seat.Meanwhile, Politico reports that numerous Freshman Democrats are voting for the bill despite their electoral vulnerability. There's something to be said for political courage: not everyone has it.

by Doug Foote

Cross posted at www.21stdems.org/blog

This month we won a historic electoral victory. But our work didn’t end on election day – it only started.

As President-elect Obama said on election night:

“This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.”

The time to make real, lasting change is upon us.

Now we must repair the damage inflicted by eight years of Republican misrule, and put our country back on track. As progressives, we must fight to ensure that the Democrats in control of our government respect the voters and enact policies that put the American people first.

The first 100 days of our new government could very well determine America’s path for years to come. To make sure our voices are heard, 21st Century Democrats has drafted a petition outlining our priorities to the Democratic leadership. The petition was based on feedback from our membership, and our desire to see progressive activism extend beyond the election and into

This is a critical time for our country. We can’t sit back and let the Republicans in Washington push the Democrats to the right. We’d like to as everyone to take a moment to check out our Progressive Priorities 2009 petition, and share it with your friends. Your signing the petition will let our leadership know that we want progressive change, not a Republican-lite government.

Thanks!

Cross-posted at 21st Century Democrats blog.

Afraid that they will lose this election, Republicans have turned ACORN into the boogie man. They are making baseless claims that ACORN is perpetuating voter fraud due to its voter registration activities.

In fact, the Republican National Committee’s chief lawyer has labeled ACORN a “quasi-criminal organization,” and McCain’s campaign has launched ads accusing the group of “massive voter fraud” and bullying banks into making risky home loans. McCain’s camp is also trying to link Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to ACORN. Last night, McCain said, “ACORN is destroying the fabric of democracy.”

Rather than cower in fear, 21st Century Democrats is proud we honored Katy Gall of Ohio Acorn with our 2008 Paul and Sheila Wellstone Award. And we are equally proud to have honored Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, as one of our Leaders-in-Action – another target of Republican voter suppression tactics.

Now we will be partnering with No Voter Left Behind to fight voter suppression and vote theft in Ohio and throughout the country because these charges are just another chapter in the long history of conservatives trying to suppress and steal votes.

Paul Weyrich, “father” of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups telling a gathering of conservatives that he doesn’t want people to vote. In fact he says, “Our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

Here are some additional facts:

• ACORN has helped 1.3 million citizens from all parties and all walks of life register to vote.
• In most states, ACORN is required by law to turn in every voter registration card – even in cases where the cards are not valid.
• It is ACORN that has reported almost all of the issues regarding voter registration cards.
• Invalid voter registration cards do NOT constitute voter fraud. Even RNC General Counsel Sean Cairncross has recently acknowledged he is not aware of a single improper vote cast as a result of bad cards submitted in the course of an organized voter registration effort.
• A 2005 study by the League of Women Voters and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio found that only 4 of about 9, 000,000 votes cast in the state from 2002-2004 were fraudulent.

Here are some additional links to the voter suppression efforts in Michigan this cycle: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

During the last six months of our work around the country, it became evident to us that potential activists who lived in cities did not have the opportunity to receive state-of-the-art political training. At 21st Century Democrats we believe that an essential component to Get-Out-the-Vote activities in urban areas is a trained force of people in precincts and Wards who know how to speak to voters in their neighborhoods. We have been fortunate to work in partnership with several Representatives all around the country in launching our Urban Youth Initiative. This weekend, we have a free training in Kansas City, open to anyone who is interested.

Our plans call for training 500 urban activists in field skills such as targeting, door-to-door communications, canvassing, data collection and analysis, message development and other important elements for winning elections. We’re excited about the political potential of all the people who have signed-up for these trainings. We strongly believe that these efforts will make our cities a better place to live in with equality for all.

The introduction video from our political team is below the jump…

If you’d like to know more details and specifics, sign up here.

As you can imagine, these training’s aren’t free. If you’d like to kick in $10 to buy us a round in appreciation, we’d be very grateful.