Cross-posted at The Albany Project

Draft movements are hot this fall.  Many of us have watched with high hopes as DraftUdall.com has given voice to the progressive grassroots in New Mexico.  It's almost hard to remember that a few short weeks ago, Congressman Tom Udall was very clear that he wasn't running for the Senate seat held for so long by the honorable troglodyte from the great state of New Mexico, Pete Domenici.  Now we're on the verge of Udall getting into the race and we've got Alex Flores and a network of progressives in New Mexico and across the country to thank for it.  Although recent DailyKos poll numbers may not show it, the NM Senate race should be a competitive one.

This kind of draft movement is a reflection of new energy and increasingly strategic activism.  Progressives are pumped, or at least as pumped as we can be after 7 years of Bush and a difficult to explain failure to bring an end to the War in Iraq.  This draft movement in NM and others like it reflect the energy we feel.  We can go out and demand the best candidate for these pivotal races.  We're looking for progressives with proven track records in office and on the campaign trail.  It's a level of sophistication from the grassroots that should give us all hope for the future of our politics.

But I'm not here to talk about those draft movements, which could be part of a cycle that takes us to 60 seats in the U.S. Senate.  Wow do I get excited typing that.  No, as the title of this post suggests, I'm here to talk about a different kind of draft movement.

The draft movement I'm launching is in the NY-21 Congressional District, where longtime Rep. Michael McNulty is stepping down after 20 years in the seat.  I'm hoping that my Assemblyman, the current Majority Leader in the New York State Assembly, Ron Canestrari will get in the race, and that's why I've launched DraftRon.com

The NY-21 is a pretty safe seat for Democrats, with a +9 PVI, although anything is possible when it's an open seat.  The reason I'm getting involved is because I believe strongly that unless we stand up and demand the candidate we want, we can't complain about the ones we get.

That's particularly true in the NY-21, a district that includes what's left of the Democratic machine in Albany, as well as parts of Rensselaer County across the Hudson river, and west to cities of Schenectady, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Schoharie County.  McNulty was a good Congressman, although not a true progressive, and his record on choice was abysmal.  McNulty's nomination was decided in a back room deal in 1988, when then Congressman Stratton backed out of the race at the last moment because of failing health.  McNulty was thrust upon voters as the machine pick and with the exception of a challenge from the left in 1996, has never faced very serious opposition.

I may live in Washington, DC, but I still vote and pay taxes in New York and I'm not going to stand by and let some DINO like Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings get the Democratic nomination.  Incumbency is too potent a force and none of us want to say we didn't do enough when the next Liberdem gets elected.

This time, it is going to be different.  I'm trying to draft Ron, and I think I'll have a lot of people in Upstate NY joining in on this, because Ron is the right guy for the job.  He was the beloved mayor of Cohoes for 13 years, a former mill town that has seen its share of hard times.  He went on to the State Assembly where he chaired the higher education committee and last year, was made the day-to-day manager of the Assembly as Majority Leader, second only to Shelly Silver.  I won't bore you with his whole bio for national readers on MyDD, who may not be as interested, and for those of you seeing this on The Albany Project, who probably already know it.