PDA's own Marcy Winograd Kicks off Congressional Campaign

Marcy Winograd

Amid "Win with Winograd" and "Save our Democracy" signs, Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles President Marcy Winograd launched her grassroots California congressional campaign on the lawn of Eleanor Belser's home, an organizer of Mar Vista Neighbors for Peace and Justice. Winograd and friends – Gore Vidal, PDA Chair Mimi Kennedy and Board Members Tom Hayden and Lila Garrett and a crowd of 125 supporters – vowed to unseat pro-war Democrat Jane Harman in the 36th congressional district primary on June 6th.

"When elected, I will work to redirect the war billions into education, health care, and the environment," Winograd told the crowd. "When our leaders fail us, the people must lead."

Winograd denounced Harman's votes for the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, suspension of due process, the bankruptcy bill, and the development of new space-based weapons.

Earlier, PDA Board member and radio host Lila Garrett made a point of ensuring the crowd that the 36th CD, which stretches from San Pedro up to West LA, is a safe Democratic district. "A Democrat will win this seat," said Garrett, "the question is this: Will it be a Bush Democrat in the hip pocket of the defense industry or a real Democrat who believes that peace is possible through the rule of law?"

To underscore the importance of the rule of law, Stephen Rohde, a civil liberties attorney and past president of the American Civil Liberties Union, entrusted Winograd with copies of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. "Marcy understands the importance of these documents," said Rohde, "and can protect our rights. Harman is all too willing to surrender our democracy."

Harman, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, remained silent for over a year while the Bush administration briefed her on its violations of federal wiretapping law. On a recent "Meet the Press" appearance, Harman said she deplored the leak of the violations to the American public.

In addition, Harman sat on the House Intelligence Committee during the run-up to the Iraq war, failing to investigate intelligence objections to charges that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

"Either she didn't read the objections in the National Intelligence Estimate and was negligent," said Winograd, "or she read the objections and was complicit."

Three weeks into the campaign, the United Auto Workers western region formally endorsed Winograd, while a teacher-driven petition drive spurred the United Teachers of Los Angeles to rescind its endorsement of Harman -- an unusual move in light of the union's past practice of automatically endorsing Democratic incumbents. "A war budget leaves every child behind," Winograd told teacher union members voting to rescind the Harman endorsement.

Winograd's "New Schools Initiative" calls for massive federal funding of rigorous early childhood education, as well as grant programs to promote union-university-school district partnerships to provide quality training and professional development.

Other Winograd for Congress endorsers include Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame, Ron Kovic, a founder of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, as well as Tim Goodrich, co-founder of Iraq Vets Against the War.

For more information, visit winogradforcongress.com and see Quicktime video clip at http://www.gomarcygo.com/.

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PDA's own Marcy Winograd Kicks off Congressional Campaign