Here’s another bummer for the GOP: Jim Cappuccilli, the lone remaining Republican candidate for the open seat of retiring GOP Rep. Jim Walsh is dropping out of the race due to health reasons:
Former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli has dropped out of the race for the 25th Congressional District after suffering symptoms of what is commonly known as a “mini stroke.” […]
Cappuccilli was the only remaining Republican in the race. The only other person currently running is Democrat Dan Maffei, who narrowly lost to Walsh in 2006. Republican Randy Wolken, president of the Manufacturers’ Association of Central New York, dropped out of the race on March 13th.
In the race for Kentucky’s First Congressional District, the differences between Exxon Ed Whitfield and Heather Ryan are like night and day. There are huge differences that have monumental implications for the first district, but not only that the state of Kentucky, our nation, and indeed the world. There is no issue that shows this more than the fight against torture.
This is one issue that Exxon Eddie either wants to have both ways, or simply lacks the courage of his own convictions to stand up to President Bush and his chickenhawk lackeys within the Republican Party. Why would I say that? I wrote him as a constituent asking him to vote to override President Bush’s veto that would allow America to torture. Here is a telling part of his response about why he refused to vote to override Bush’s veto:
I do have some concerns about how this legislation may affect our country’s policies on torture of enemy combatants. I am opposed to acts of torture and other human rights abuses and believe that the United States should continue to be a leader in ending such atrocities. For that reason I supported the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 109-163), which included provisions to require uniform standards for interrogated people in the custody of the Department of Defense. This law expressly bans cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment of detainees in the custody of any U.S. agency anywhere overseas. I will continue to work in the Congress to ensure that individuals in U.S. custody are treated humanely.
So which is it Exxon Eddie? Why was torture OK to fight against in 2006, but suddenly it is not? It seems if his “concerns” were that great, he would have enough courage to stand up to Bush and his own party when they are wrong. The people of the first district deserve a Representative with the courage of his own convictions.
What of the reasons why he opposed this veto? Well, lets look:
I opposed the override because I believe this bill adversely impacts our intelligence community’s ability to protect Americans from future terrorist attacks.
So, Exxon Eddie is playing the fear card of further terrorist attacks to justify the fact that he doesn’t have the courage to stand up for his own stated beliefs. Do we need to remind him that the incompetence of this Administration which was rubber-stamped before and after 9-11 by both he and Mitch McConnell, his mentor, played a role in those attacks? If he has forgotten the memo Bush got that said, “Bin-Laden determined to attack America”, we sure haven’t. He and his Republican cohorts will do anything to keep from admitting a competent administration could have avoided these attacks in the first place.
But the next reason is most telling as to why Exxon Eddie could not follow his convictions and vote to override:
Among other problems, I am concerned that this bill makes serious cuts to our Human Intelligence program, directs our intelligence community to unrelated activities such as studying global climate change, and contains too many unneccesary and costly earmarks.
Now, this explains it!!! Ed Whitfield votes his stock options!! His Exxon and Chevron stocks dictate that the study of climate change is against HIS interests. Forget the fact that global climate change poses a greater threat to our planet than terrorist attack, it could spurn investment in Renewable Energy which would benefit our state and the world not himself and Big Oil. And where was all this concern about earmarks when he was voting for subsidies and corporate welfare for Big Oil and drug companies, while voting against investment in renewables and SCHIP?
We need a Representative who believes in American values and isn’t afraid to fight for them. Most of all, we need a Representative who is beholden to US, not his own stocks, his special interest contributors, and his “bosses”, Mitch McConnell or President Bush.
Heather Ryan is just that Representative. She is young, energetic, and smart. She is a veteran, mother, and wife as well as attending Drake University and attaining a degree in Political Science. This is her first run for public office, so she is an outsider who knows how people in our district live, because she lives here with us not in Florida like Exxon Eddie.
Her campaign does not take special interest or lobbyist money so she is beholden only to the grassroots Americans who want change, and support candidates who will fight for it. She makes us all lobbyists, as we are her special interest group. Want to know how she feels about torture and fighting for Big Oil? Here:
You can also see my video of her in Benton, Ky here, alhough the quality is pretty poor. I am investing in a better camera soon!!:
I hope everyone sees just how badly we need Heather fighting for us in the Congress. She shares our disgust with the direction of this country and will fight for us with every fibre of her being.
That is why we need your help. We desperately need to get our message to the people of our district. To do this we need money. Although we don’t like the system, we are playing within it. Unfortunately we are running in one of the largest, and poorest districts in the nation. Exxon Eddie and men the likes of Mitch McConnell’s handiwork.
The Democrats in this district deserve the support of our party too. We are respectfully asking for it. We want to fight for the ideals of our party!!
Please help me in meeting my goal of $1500 by May 20 and the Kentucky primary she is unopposed in. You can do so here:
I am more than a third of the way to my goal, and what could be better than supporting grassroots, “fighting Democrats” that are informed and fired up?
Teague, a former Lea County Commissioner, is a self-funder who can pour in a decent amount of cash in an attempt to close the gap with Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley. For now, at least, McCamley has the clear edge.
In the battle to replace retiring GOP crumb-bum Tom Reynolds, the GOP suffered a couple of recruiting blows this week. First it was state Sen. George Maziarz, a Reynolds protégé considered by some to be a strong candidate to hold the seat, who decided to pass on the race after signaling interest last week.
Now it looks like the GOP’s second choice, state Assemblyman Jim Hayes, is also saying no to a bid for the seat.
As The Albany Project notes, this isn’t a good development for GOP unity:
When Sen. George Maziarz announced yesterday that he would not run for Congress, the likelihood of a primary increased. With Hayes not entering, the probability of a primary just skyrocketed. Hayes and Maziarz were the top two contenders for this seat and they both don’t want it. That will leave a crowded field jockeying for position.
As many as five Republicans might run for the seat, while the Democratic field includes Iraq vet Jon Powers (whom the Cook Political Report calls the “likely Democratic nominee”) and Buffalo attorney Alice Kryzan. Kooky millionaire industrialist Jack Davis is itching to run again, and Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul is also expressing interest in the seat. Erie County Dems, however, want to get the show on the road — they plan on making an endorsement “within a week or two“.
Joe Garcia posted a guest blog at Down With Tyranny today. You can read it there or below. Also, tomorrow Joe will be live-blogging at Dailykos and Open Left at around 11:00 AM.
FL-25: FIGHTING McCARTHYISM IN 2008
by Joe Garcia
Days before I launched my campaign, my opponent tried to pre-empt my announcement by calling me a Castro-sympathizer and portraying my candidacy as a secret plot by communists to overthrow him from Congress. These suggestions have been repeated numerous times by my opponent on right-wing talk radio stations. Frankly, they get away with these ridiculous accusations because the media, once again has dropped the ball. As I have always stated, the Netroots are the courage of the Democratic Party. Together, we must push back against these red-baiting, fear-mongering, McCarthyist attacks.
We’ve seen these disgusting Republican tactics here in South Florida for a quarter century. This wasn’t always the case, however. Cuban-Americans traditionally voted Democratic before the 1980 election. In 1980, the Reagan campaign effectively targeted Cuban-Americans in a new way. They enabled local Cuban-American leaders to design a Spanish-only campaign geared specifically towards Cuban-Americans. This campaign preyed upon the real suffering of victims of the Castro regime and accused Democrats of being communist enablers and used John F. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs as examples.
Essentially, the 1980 election had Cuban-American Republicans talking directly to Cuban-Americans, in their native language, calling Democrats communist. Democrats countered with a typical campaign designed in Washington, DC. Republicans were talking with Cuban-Americans. Democrats were talking at them.
Things have not changed much since 1980. For example, in 2004 Republicans sent a Spanish language ad-piece that showed John Kerry together with Fidel Castro and warned:
“November 2nd is the last day for you to stop John Kerry and his communist friends.”
It also stated ridiculous and incendiary comments such as: “Fidel Castro has no better friend in the US Senate than John Kerry,” and “While Ronald Reagan fought against communism, John Kerry was dedicated to forming alliances with friends of Fidel Castro like Daniel Ortega.”
You might think this ad piece came from some obscure 527 group. But no, it actually came from the RNC and was authorized by Bush-Chaney ’04.
My pro-Democracy in Cuba credentials are solid. Before my opponent was in the Florida State Legislature I was marching and meeting with US lawmakers in DC advocating for democratic change in Cuba. This, however, will not stop them from disparaging my record. Similar to how they attacked national heroes like Max Cleland and John Kerry for being unpatriotic, they will try to label me as a communist sympathizer.
This, however, will not work for them in 2008.
I’ve been challenging the Republican demagoguery machine for years.
I led the Exodus Project which reunited over 10,000 families scattered throughout the world and fought against the Bush/Diaz-Balart family restrictions. My position is clear. Cubans are not part of the problem; they are part of the solution. We need to put control back into the hands of the Cuban people to make Democracy in Cuba possible. The time to act responsibly is now. We must end the demagoguery about Cuba and allow the wishes of the constituents of the 25th district to prevail.
I’m going to fight back against these Republican fear tactics in this campaign and I’m going to offer a responsible way forward. Together we will end the conventional style of foreign policy thinking in Washington. We must unite around common sense solutions that lead to progress. In this campaign we will reach out to the people of the 25th district on a grassroots level to offer a progressive alternative.
Let me also state that while Cuba is an important issue in District 25, it is not the only issue. It should not distract us from the 14,500 children who today don’t have health care because my opponent voted against expanding SCHIP. We should not be distracted from the degradation of the Everglades and the environment while my opponent has accumulated a shameful 10% rating by the League of Conservation Voters. We will not let demagoguery distract us from the brave men and women who have performed their duty in Iraq and deserve a safe and responsible return home. We will not be distracted from my opponent’s rubber stamping of George Bush’s assault on our Constitutional rights.
Cuba will be an important issue, but we cannot allow it to be used as a political tool to vilify, scare and distract. I especially need you, the Netroots to help us fight back against the shameful, despicable, red-baiting tactics of my opponent. I would be humbled if you would join our campaign to take them on.
With gratitude for everything you do to make a difference,
-Joe Garcia
There are six days left until the end of the quarter for fundraising. Please help out by contributing and becoming one of a thousand people to own this campaign.
We’d like to poll our readers again on the issue of presidential endorsements. This site has mercifully avoided this cycle’s primary wars. But the math has been clear for some time to rational observers: Barack Obama will hold the lead in elected delegates after the last primary is conducted, and the only way Hillary Clinton can secure the nomination is if unpledged superdelegates choose to subvert the will of the pledged delegates. Given that Clinton’s rolled up very few superdelegate endorsements since Super Tuesday, and the discord a superdelegate-based victory might foment within the party, this is an extremely unlikely development.
So our question to you is, should Blue Majority endorse Obama now? I will admit I’m not some perfectly un-biased neutral observer – I voted for Obama, I’d like to see him be the nominee, and I no longer see a reason to hold off. But we’d like to see how our readership feels, too.
I also want to address one question which came up previously, which is, won’t adding our presidential candidate “take away” from donations to the downballot races that make up the rest of Blue Majority? The answer (perhaps surprisingly) is no. Having observed our list closely for several years, there is a definite “spillover” effect from the more prominent races. Last cycle, the Lamont, Tester & Webb races provided that “top-of-the-ticket” spark – this time, Obama can.
What happens is that, quite frequently, people come to the Blue Majority page with the intention of giving only to a better-known candidate on the list (eg, Tester). But, once there, they wind up giving to other candidates as well. And this isn’t speculation. I ran the numbers last year. As the number of races on our page grew, average donations per candidate dropped slightly, but total donations per donor went up. In other words, the more candidates on the page, the more people gave overall. Obviously, there’s a point of diminishing returns, but we haven’t reached it yet. And I’m pretty confident that Obama could provide an even greater “spark” than any of our senate races did last cycle.
So let us know what you think in the poll. Thanks!
“She is considered the first legitimate challenger to Feeney, whom Democratic insiders see as vulnerable because of criticism targeting him as one of the “most corrupt” members of Congress.” Daytona Beach News-Journal, October 11, 2007.
I’m glad I didn’t, because really, it would appall me to violate long-standing tradition like this. I’m a big believer in habeas corpus, I despise the designated hitter rule, and after all, it’s my people that Tevye sings about. So when DCCC Executive Director Brian Wolff says:
Brian Wolff, executive director of the DCCC, says the bloggers are making “much ado about nothing,” noting that it’s “customary” for members to remain neutral in races involving GOP members of their respective congressional delegations.
I have to wonder what Debbie Wasserman Schultz is thinking. Clearly she didn’t get the message.
The spat between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama shows no sign of ending anytime soon. McCain is going to win this election, likely by 6-10%. Obama is damaged goods and Hillary’s negative are simply too high. I believe voters are in the process of rejecting both candidates.
And I don’t think there’s a realistic way of getting through McCain’s huge teflon coating and getting swing voters to doudt his :maverick” image.
So how does this impact the Congressional elections? Right now, not yet. But it’s important that this long battle between Obama and Clinton could weaken the Democratic brand. And I actually think Barack Obama would more of a drag on downballot races than Clinton would be.
I know that’s contrary to the CW, but I just don’t think Hillary Clinton is as radioactive to other Democrats.
So the leaders of the DSCC and DCCC have to make a decision. How and when to separate from the presidential race? And waht about the 527s who are about to pour millions in to a likely hopeless presidential election? Will they save enough for House and Senate races?
So I’m ready to forget about the presidential election and concentrate on Congress. Then, what’s the best way do this?
1. The fundamental dynamics still favor Democrats. We must still run on the economy, offering relief from the foreclosure crisis and ending giveaways. I would like to see a united Democratic proposal on health care.
2. Instead of just opposing Iraq, emphasize our opposition to Republicans’ “war-first” approach, and tie the current economic climate to this costly war on Iraq.
3. Most importantly, we can’t run away from Democratic values and principles. On most issues, the Democrats are still favored.
4. More leadership needs to forthcoming, starting with the removal of Debbie Dubya from the Red-to-Blue Committee. That’s an unconscionable conflict of interest.
Any other thoughts? I know, writing off the Presidency is a huge step, but we may have to settle for winning enough seats in Congress to keep McCain in check (that’s another issue for another post).
There is still a lot more work to do if we want to get Barack Obama elected. But if we want to truly change this country we need to do more then that. We need to build strong Democratic majority in the House and Senate committed to passing Obama’s agenda of change. In short we need an Obamajority.
So I e-mailed a few people who had helped out with the Obamathon and came up with the idea for a fundraising drive like the Obamathon but for congressional candidates who will help build a Obamajority. Using the amazing ActBlue we have set up a fundraising page to build The New Obamajority. To start out it features three great candidates. Rick Noriega, Darcy Burner and Patrick Murphy. More will be added as time goes on (suggestions are welcome at obamathon (AT) gmail (DOT) com) but for now let me introduce you to those three great candidates who will help build an Obamajority.
Rick Noriega
First off, Rick Noriega. Rick is running for Senate in Texas to take back LBJ’s old seat from Bush rubber stamp John Cornyn.
Rick is a Lt. Colonel in the Texas Army National Guard and has served in Afghanistan, he has been a accomplished state representative since 1998 and he managed the evacuee shelter operation in Houston. He was “drafted” into the Senate race by Texas activists and is now running a strong campaign against John Cornyn who is one of the worst Senators in the nation. But why should this race matter to Obama supporters?
Many presidents have been swept into office with a progressive agenda of reform but then faced the Senate. We don’t want Barack to have the same experience. The Republican minority has set a record in filibusters and has been able to over and over block progress on key issues. If we want Obama to be able to succeed in changing the country we will need more Democrats in the Senate. There are some races like Virgina that are likely going to be pickups but were we can help the most is in states like Texas that are at the verge of at least turning purple but are under the national radar. Money and energy at this point will help give Rick the resources needed to run a grassroots, people-powered campaign so he can defeat John Cornyn and help build an Obamajority. Donate today via the New Obamajority page and together we can do it. And if your wondering who Rick prefers in the presidential race read this quote from a newspaper:
“I’m for whoever wins,” he replies diplomatically, before twirling into the second half of his answer: “I’m for who’s going to come back to Texas and help us fight (to) win Texas.”
…
Noriega falls back to Alamo imagery. “I’m drawing a line in the sand. My focus is which one of you (Obama or Clinton) is committed to help us win Texas back.
“At the end of the day,” Noriega said, “I want to know who’s going to be in the foxhole with us.”
We know Barack Obama will be in that foxhole with him, and will execute the 50-state strategy to turn Texas blue and elect Rick Noriega to the Senate seat once held by Lyndon Baines Johnson. Donate today and make it a reality!
Darcy Burner:
Next up is Darcy Burner. She is running for Congress in Washington’s 8th congressional district against Rep. Dave Reichert. Bush and Reichert are such great pals that Bush decided to fly across the country to do a big fundraiser for him. In response we in the netroots raised almost 100,000 dollars for Darcy Burner in less then a week. She is a great candidate and stands a great shot to win and send a message of change to congress.
Darcy is a software engineer who got fed up of Reichert and his pal Bush and ran a underdog, grassroots campaign in 2006 and nearly won. She has learned from that campaign and is running again and stands a great shot of winning.
She won’t just be another vote in Congress. She will be a leader. As a congressional candidate she worked with other candidates, security experts, military leaders and others to develop the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. That is the kind of leadership she will bring to congress.
If we want to enact Obama’s agenda we need more leaders. So help send one to congress. Donate to Darcy!
Patrick Murphy:
And finally Patrick Murphy. He is the first and only Iraq War veteran to serve in Congress and has helped lead the fight to bring our troops home from Iraq and ensure they receive the care and benefits they receive when they come back. With Barack Obama as President we can finish that job.
In 2006 by running a people-powered campaign similar to the one Obama is now running Patrick upset Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick. But the Republicans have recruited a top-tier candidate and this will be a tough race.
Back in August 2007, Murphy stepped to the plate to endorse Barack Obama, and spent a great deal of time in Iowa and New Hampshire on the stump for Barack Obama. Patrick has stood with us and now let’s return the favor and help return him to congress. Donate to Murphy for an Obamajority.
There you go. Three great candidates who will help build an Obamajority to help Barack Obama achieve real change. Supporting Barack isn’t enough because he won’t be able to do anything if he doesn’t have an Obamajority. So let’s build one. Donate today. Spread the word. Have a idea for another canidate? Post it in the comments or e-mail obamathon (AT) gmail (DOT) com.
With a margin of error that high, the quality of this poll is a somewhat questionable. Still, it’s not hard to believe the results, given the district’s clear Democratic lean: John Kerry won the CD by 2% in 2004, and Al Gore took the district by 6% four years earlier. With the GOP brand cratering in New York state, Maffei is the clear front-runner here.
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