We’re Looking for the Next Jon Tester

21st Century Democrats released
our new
2007-2008
candidate questionnaire today.

Here at 21st Century Democrats, we think too many organizations endorse
candidates based on a checklist of surveys of incremental policies that won’t do
much to fix what is wrong in this country. Checklist questionnaires tell you if
a candidate supports your issue, but they don’t tell you whether a candidate is
actually going to do something about it if they get elected.

Political strategists and consultants tell our candidates to support incremental
policies which will not offend voters. The strategy is to play it safe and wait
for Republicans to fail so badly that voters will elect Democrats. This is
exactly what happened in 2006.

This strategy doesn’t inspire people to vote. When you act like a Republican,
you fail to build the political will for making the massive policy changes we
need. We believe electing a Democratic majority is not an end itself, but rather
the means to an end. Our ultimate goal is to create a real progressive society –
one that is just, fair, tolerant, and sustainable. So if you really want to get
there, you need to identify and elect candidates who want to build a progressive
society and have the leadership skills to take us there.

Leadership is about offering solutions and building the political will to
support them. That’s why we work to elect Democrats who will be leaders inside
the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill, in state Houses, counties, and cities
across the country – Democrats who will take us to the next level.

We think the best way to find visionary candidates to support is to skip the
standard checklist that a lot of DC groups use and, instead, to engage in a
conversation with candidates about their vision and bold ideas. Most candidates
find this very different and very refreshing. Filling out our
questionnaire is the first part of this conversation, a way for candidates
to introduce themselves and their ideas to us. And in the process, they learn
we’re not business as usual.

In 2006, we were proud to support
a great slate of
candidates, including
Jon
Tester and
Sherrod
Brown in the Senate, and
Keith
Ellison and
Kirsten
Gillibrand in the House. And 21st Century Dems were fighting in the trenches
of state and local races, too –
Ted
Strickland for Governor of Ohio,
Mark
Ritchie for Secretary of State of Minnesota,
Jamie
Raskin for the Maryland State Senate, and
Ike
Leggett for County Executive in Montgomery County, Maryland. We supported
Andrew
Rice for State Senate in Oklahoma and
Gabby
Giffords for Congress in Arizona. We helped candidates all across the
country, up and down the ballot, some targeted and some who were not. And we won
9 of 11 primaries we were involved in.

We’re excited about the 2008 campaign season, and we’re looking forward to
working with more visionary candidates. Last time around, 21st Century Democrats
helped get some big wins for Democratic candidates, and this time we’re looking
to do even more.