PDA Campaign News News about candidates endorsed by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) en Fri, 09 May 2008 Fri, 09 May 2008 60 May use with attribution link to http://pdamerica.org/ http://pdamerica.org/ Battle of the Hawks Truthdig. In the increasingly unlikely event of a McCain-Clinton election, folks who care about the peace issue would have serious reason to worry. Both of these candidates are inveterate hawks, and what we would be up against is a choice between the neoconservatives and the neoliberals as to who could be more adventurous in getting us into unjustifiable foreign wars. Both not only voted to authorize President Bush’s irrational invasion of Iraq but also have failed to apply those lessons to the real challenges we face, particularly concerning Iran. On the one hand, we have Sen. John McCain’s wildly inane “bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” singing refrain, and on the other, Sen. Hillary Clinton’s commitment to “totally obliterate” Iran in response to any nuclear attack by Tehran on Israel. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-05-09-08-57-29-campaigns.php Campaign Update: Durston Campaign Shows Up at Cheney Event The Bill Durston for Congress campaign continues full steam ahead towards the upcoming June 3 CA Primary. Although Bill has no opponent in his CD3 Democratic primary, he is not taking any voters for granted. The campaign has been setting up house parties and phone banking for the last several months. Durston got a late start in the 2006 campaign against his opponent, Republican incumbent Dan Lungren, but an early start in this cycle has already exceeded the accomplishments of the last campaign. Check out the newly revamped website: www.durstonforcongress.org. Vice President Dick Cheney came to Sacramento--at the expense of local taxpayers!--a couple of weeks ago for a Lungren fundraiser. Lungren has given years of loyal service to the Bush administration and has embraced and voted for all of the Bush/Cheney policies. Speaking to reporters about the fundraiser, Lungren said of Cheney, “I happen to think he's one of the finest public servants we've had in my lifetime.” [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-05-04-14-19-19-campaigns.php PDA-Endorsed Candidate Donna Edwards Expected to Get an Early Start

Recent local decisions virtually ensure Donna will win a special election June 17

Donna Edwards won the backing of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Democratic Party Central Committee May 22nd by a 22 to 1 vote. Two days later, the Prince Georges County Democratic Party Central Committee also recommended Edwards, this by a 17 to 0 vote. These actions clear the way for Edwards to serve the remaining portion of Rep. Albert Wynn's term in Maryland's 4th Congressional District. The two counties' central committees will refer their decisions to the Maryland State Democratic Party Central Committee, which will then formalize the recommendations and ask Governor Martin O'Malley to place Edwards on the ballot. This process will determine the Democratic nominee for the special election in lieu of a special primary election. The Republican Party will determine a nominee most likely primary winner Peter James—through a similar process. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-27-09-04-30-campaigns.php The Fallon Campaign in Iowa's Third Congressional District The official campaign for the Democratic nomination in Iowa’s Third District is in its fourth month. Ed Fallon, a progressive Democrat who served in the Iowa Legislature for 14 years is challenging Blue Dog incumbent Leonard Boswell. “PDA's priorities are ending the Iraq war, universal health care, economic justice, global climate change, and clean, fair, transparent elections,” said Des Moines PDA chapter secretary Peg Smith. “Those are the issues Ed Fallon has been talking about for years and are the focus of his campaign, so it was an easy choice for us. The vote was unanimous and enthusiastic.” Smith said that the local chapter sent both candidates invitations to a candidate forum, but received no answer from Congressman Boswell’s campaign to two invitations. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-27-09-18-10-campaigns.php Harry Taylor Endorsed by PDA At its April 23 meeting, PDA endorsed Harry Taylor in North Carolina's 9th Congressional race. “Progressive Democrats of America,” Taylor said, “is bold and proactive. Their principles are far-reaching, pragmatic and compassionate-thus easy to adopt as my own. I am honored by this endorsement.” The local chapter endorsed Taylor in March. Gray Newman, Chairman of the North Carolina 9th District Progressive Democrats of America, said, “We are very pleased to announce our endorsement of Harry Taylor for Congress. Mr. Taylor has shown us that he will work for our issues and will use his seat in Congress to restore integrity and respect to our national government.” Throughout his life, Harry Taylor has given generously of his time and energy to such organizations as Big Brothers, Habitat for Humanity, Outward Bound, the Sierra Club and the Charlotte Folk Society, associations in which he has served as both leader and participant. Helping to develop hope, self-esteem and courage in disadvantaged youth has been a lifetime pursuit, as has his advocacy for a clean, safe planet for our youth to inherit. Harry has also been a tireless political activist, working through grassroots organizations to protect and defend the principles he holds sacred. He is known for his courageous--and courteous--confrontation of President Bush in Charlotte in April, 2006. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-26-10-08-20-campaigns.php The Democratic Race Will Continue... How much longer will the Democratic nomination fight last? Cast your vote in The Nation poll. Published April 22, 2008 by The Nation. Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania primary, and something akin to formal permission to continue campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton's winning margin of 55-45 represents a credible victory, if not perhaps so dramatic a finish as was needed to fundamentally change the reality that the senator from New York is unlikely to win the Democratic nod. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-23-08-58-22-campaigns.php Will Pennsylvania Matter At All?... Published on April 21, 2008 by The Nation. There is a chance that, after a month and a half of campaigning and record spending by both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Tuesday's Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary will settle nothing. Of course, if Obama pulls an upset and beats Clinton--even by the narrowest of margins--the senator from New York will be finished. Clinton's campaign is essentially broke and a defeat of any kind will make it impossible for her to muster the resources or the energy to carry on for much longer. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-22-10-14-10-campaigns.php Party Like It's 1932: The Obama Option Seventy-six years ago, to many ears on the left, Franklin D. Roosevelt sounded way too much like a centrist. True, he was eloquent, and he’d generated enthusiasm in a Democratic base eager to evict Republicans from the White House. But his campaign was moderate--with policy proposals that didn’t indicate he would try to take the country in bold new directions if he won the presidency. Yet FDR’s triumph in 1932 opened the door for progressives. After several years of hitting the Hoover administration’s immovable walls, the organizing capacities of labor and other downtrodden constituencies could have major impacts on policy decisions in Washington. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-21-08-10-34-campaigns.php Obama Is Right The Nation. Right-wing ABC radio talkshow host John Batchelor has filled my in box in these last 18 hours with e-mails dissecting and skewering what Obama meant when he said at a private April 6 fundraiser that small-town voters in economically distressed areas of Pennsylvania are “bitter.” Batchelor and Laura Ingraham and Monica Crowley and Sean Hannity and Rush and O'Reilly are ready and rearing to go, quick to their guns to paint Obama as an elitist. (Read the excerpt from Nation columnist Eric Alterman's “Why We're Liberals” in the April 14th issue of The Nation to understand the cynicism and hypocrisy at the root of the conservative cabal's forty-year campaign.) The Right has its reasons to play this cynical card. It is the Clinton campaign's rapid-fire, right-wing populist response to Obama's remarks that I find so troubling and cynical, and sure to hurt the party and the country in the general election. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-15-08-24-21-campaigns.php PDA Catapults Copass to State Visibility Mar. 29, 2008, California Democratic Convention--PDAers, creating “street heat” in the San Jose Convention Center today, knew something important was happening. But they could not have predicted the excitement, which would fill a room beyond capacity and launch a campaign's new plateau by day's end. In the 53rd District, incumbent Susan Davis enjoys a large core of stalwart supporters among convention delegates, including the staff of the San Diego County Democratic Party, party regulars, and long time friends. That didn't keep PDA's nationally endorsed Candidate Mike Copass from firing a shot across Davis's bow. Through a hard-won challenge to the state party's endorsement already gained through the district's caucus on March 13, Copass was granted a district endorsement caucus at the convention and he went head-to-head against his opponent. Copass exhorted the Delegates to summon their better selves and vote against the war, which Davis has consistently voted to fund, even going so far as voting to fund with area Republicans Bilbray and Hunter and against Pelosi and Filner last May. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-04-01-16-49-26-campaigns.php Des Moines PDA Chapter Endorses Fallon in Democratic House Primary March 26, 2008--Today, the Des Moines chapter of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) unanimously endorsed Ed Fallon in the Democratic primary in Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. The district includes the greater Des Moines metropolitan area, Oskallosa, Newton,and Ankeney--stretching south to Chariton and Albia and north to Vinton and Reinbeck. “PDA's priorities are ending the Iraq war, universal health care, economic justice, global climate change, and clean, fair, transparent elections,” said chapter secretary Peg Smith. “Those are the issues Ed has been talking about for years and are the focus of his campaign, so it was an easy choice for us.” Fallon is challenging incumbent Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell, who is completing his sixth term in the House this year. Boswell is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-03-31-10-41-32-campaigns.php Mary Pallant Receives Ventura County Chapter Endorsement On the evening of March 3, PDA's Ventura County Chapter overwhelmingly endorsed Mary Pallant as candidate for California's 24th Congressional District. Mary stated “I am proud to call myself a Progressive Democrat, proud of this endorsement and very proud to be a part of this national movement.” Member Brian Levy chaired the endorsement vote, which took place in the Oak Park Library with about twenty chapter members attending the regular monthly meeting. Results were withheld until March 8, the day after filing had closed. All candidates were invited to attend the endorsement vote, but only Marta Jorgensen responded to the invitation; Jill Martinez did not respond in time. Nonetheless, many at the meeting were already familiar with Martinez, and she was included in the vote. Mary, a founding member of PDLA making her second run for Congress, has built her campaign on four pillars: Out of Iraq, Universal Single Payer, Energy Independence and green technology, and Economic Strength and self sufficiency. During the discussion before the endorsement vote, several chapter members made special note of how Mary's campaign was aligned with their values, and progressive values in general. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-03-27-09-26-30-campaigns.php Clinton Has What It Takes During this campaign, my admiration for Barack Obama has grown. He is a man of great intellect and vision. But my admiration has grown even more for Hillary Clinton, whom I first endorsed one year ago. She has demonstrated a resilience and a strength that will serve her and our nation well if she becomes our next president. It won't be easy to end this miserable war in Iraq--which Hillary has promised to do. I had hoped that by now a Democratic Congress would have brought all our troops back home--reflecting the clear will of the American people. Sadly, I was wrong. However, I strongly believe that Hillary has the political will, the courage, the toughness and the skill to end this war once and for all. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be supporting her. She also has it right on the issue of health care. She is the only candidate in this race who has a plan for universal health care--a plan that will cover every single American. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-03-24-08-20-41-campaigns.php Barack the Vote In the Remaining States Massive voter turnouts in state after state. Record-breaking online fundraising. Two talented and impressive candidates going toe-to-toe in one exciting primary or caucus after another. Unheard of participation by young people. Excitement and interest that seems unprecedented. And the mind-boggling truth that, one way or another, we are about to make an historic nomination. This has been quite an election so far. I'll be sad when it's over. As someone with a lifelong interest in politics, it has been nothing short of amazing. As someone who believes it's time to end the conservative era of Reagan and Bush, the turnout and participation in this election have been uplifting and inspiring. As someone committed to the power of "bottom-up" progressive change, it's been a very hopeful time. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-03-24-08-25-45-campaigns.php Thank You PDA The following letter was received from PDa endorsed candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer who is running for the Senate in Minnesota. He embraces the progressive agenda and is a “Healthcare NOT Warfare” candidate. Nelson-Pallmeyer is facing off against conservative Democrat Al Franken, who has used his fame to raise significant campaign funds. Help us elect Jack by making a donation here, enter JNP in the special funds drive box. Dear Friend, Thank you for the Progressive Democrats of America endorsement. Over the past six months, I have had the opportunity to talk to thousands of Minnesotans about the future of our state and nation. We are hungry for a new direction and for leaders who have the courage to work for a hopeful vision. [more] http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/2008-03-21-09-31-49-campaigns.php