Jane Mitakides, a Responsible Plan endorsee running in the Ohio Third, has reported $164,252.53 in total receipts for the first quarter of fundraising.

With money coming in at more than twice the rate of her opponent, Jane will be able to run an aggressive campaign that builds on the record-breaking Democratic turn-out in the March 4th primary and the changing dynamic of a district that is trending blue.

Some speculate that Mike Turner's dwindling support is due to ethical issues and frequent exaggerations that are affecting his campaign's bottom-line.

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The Say Anything Senator may have topped himself with his latest contradiction.

Open Left documents how Gordon Smith won't support the Responsible Plan to End The War In Iraq, a plan that Oregon's leading Democratic U.S. Senate candidates support.

No surprise as that position dovetails with Smith's five votes in 2007 to continue the war. Five votes that cancelled out Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden's votes.

But, the Say Anything Senator, rather than standing by his opposition to the Responsible Plan and standing by his voting record to continue the war, takes hypocrisy to a new level by seeking credit for authoring the plan.

Open Left pinpoints the hypocrisy.

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Today, President Bush will be in the Dayton area, less than a week after US service member deaths in Iraq reached the grim milestone of 4,000. Bush will speak about the "global war on terror" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, no doubt using this solemn moment to conflate the GWOT with the war in Iraq.

From there, he will honor the memory of our fallen soldiers by shaking hands and cracking jokes at a $10,000 per person private reception co-sponsored by a major outsourcer of jobs and a convicted money launderer. $1,000 gets you a seat at the luncheon. The fundraiser is for the Ohio GOP's Victory '08 coordinated campaign in support of John McCain and Ohio's Republican congressional candidates, ostensibly helping Mike Turner. And why not? Turner has been a reliable ally in the House, voting for the failed Bush agenda 87% of the time. He has even voted against expanding benefits for our veterans, earning a grade C from the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Let's send a message to the President and Mike Turner by contributing to his opponent, Jane Mitakides. Jane is ready to bring the kind of change that the people of the Ohio 3rd and the nation at-large are seeking - ending an irresponsible war, fixing a broken economy, and restoring America to its pre-Bush greatness.  Jane recently endorsed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, putting her in the company of some of the best Democratic challengers in the nation, like Darcy Burner and Donna Edwards.

This morning, Jane spoke at a press conference with the Ohio Democratic Party about how Bush's policies have maligned our nation - news to those that can pay $10,000 to take a photo with the President - and met with some anti-war protesters.

The March 31st filing deadline is around the corner - please take this opportunity to learn more about Jane and help out the campaign.  While Mr. 29% approval rating is raising money, we can do the same thing - we've done it before.

(Full disclosure: I am the New Media/Voter Outreach Director for Jane's campaign)

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(Full disclosure: I am the New Media/Voter Outreach Director for Jane's campaign)

Today, Jane Mitakides, Democratic challenger in OH-03, proudly endorsed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, adding her to a list of leading Democratic candidates that are standing up to move the country forward.

The Responsible Plan fills the void of leadership in Washington, yet relies only on common sense solutions, basing its objectives on Iraq Study Group recommendations and legislation currently in the hopper. Perhaps it is a measure of how bad things have gotten when "respect the Constitution,""fund veterans care," and "stop torture" are ideas that cannot get traction in DC.

The American people are ahead of the politicians on these issues, and they want change. They know that Iraq is not only a cause of many of our ills, but a symptom of even larger ones. Luckily, the people will soon be able to exercise their most basic right, and vote for candidates that truly represent them: Jane Mitakides is one of those candidates.

Click here to view the press release.

With a filing deadline on the 31st, it's a great time to support Jane in this winnable swing district. Here's her ActBlue page.

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Since the United States invaded Iraq five years ago this week, nearly 4,000 American troops have lost their lives, and nearly thirty thousand more have suffered serious injuries, while as many as a million Iraqis may now be dead. We have already spent more than $500 billion, and the costs of the war to the U.S. economy are expected to ultimately exceed $3 trillion.

There is still no end in sight. And the war goes on endlessly at a time the U.S. economy is slipping into a very serious financial crisis, and hundreds of thousands of American families risk losing their homes to foreclosure.

For five years we've asked our leaders in Washington D.C., how are you going to end the war in Iraq? How do we bring our troops home?  How do we redirect the hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on the war to solving our problems here at home? And how do we prevent the mistakes that led to this fiasco from happening again in the future?

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