(Proudly cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama&The Liberal OC)

You know, we hear the term "change" used so often as little more than a cheap political slogan. That's why it's been so refreshing to see Barack Obama give us reason to belive change is more than just a word. That's why I'm so proud of our Democratic Party for standing up for real change that helps real people. And yes, that's why I'm excited about some great Democratic candidates who are bringing home the message of change.

Follow me after the flip to see what change is coming...

There's more...

In the last couple days, there have been several posts across the blogosphere citing what various candidates running for Congress have said on FISA and retroactive immunity for the telecoms.  But so far, it's been all over the map.  I'll try to corral all their statements into this diary, so you can see who the "good guys" are.

First, let's start off with the current House and Senate members who voted against this bill.  They do deserve credit, as it's their jobs on the line.

Follow me below the fold to see the dozens of Democratic challengers who are standing up for the Constitution, and are against this FISA bill and retroactive immunity.

There's more...

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Russ Warner who's running for Congress in CA-26, the seat currently held by 14-term incumbent David Dreier. This district, which runs east from Pasadena along the San Gabriel foothills to Rancho Cucamonga, has a PVI of R+5 and voted for Bush over Kerry 55%-44%; the partisan breakdown and voting history are roughly comparable to CA-11, which sent Pombo packing last year by a 53%-47% margin. In 2008, CA-26 offers Southern California its best opportunity for a Democratic pickup.

Warner impressed me with his earnest everyman style and his passion for changing the direction of the country, a challenge he's taken on as a result of his son's serving in Iraq. Dreier, like WA-08's Dave Reichert, is a faux-moderate, pretending he actually represents his district when time and time again he merely serves as another rubberstamp Bush Republican. Dreier knows he's vulnerable; after being kept to under 54% in 2004, Dreier spent $28 per vote in 2006 and ended up winning 57%. Russ didn't win the primary last time but he is out in front both in fundraising (check out his impressive ActBlue take) and outreach to the netroots (go take a look at his liveblogs over at FireDogLake and at calitics) and is our best shot to finally send Dreier packing.

The event yesterday was a small dollar fundraiser in Hollywood both to fill his campaign coffers and build his name ID with the grassroots and netroots (Jane Hamsher and Howie Klein were featured attendees.) If you can take a second and throw a few dollars Russ's way, it would go a long way toward establishing him as the inevitable nominee in the event of a likely primary challenge and hell, you saw what our fundraising heft did for Burner, it might even scare one off.

(pictured counter-clockwise from bottom left: Jane Hamsher, Russ Warner, Howie Klein of Down With Tyranny, Lucas Gardner of The Battle School, me and David Dayen of calitics.)

There's more...

[cross-posted at SethInCA, Daily Kos, and Calitics]

A week ago, I wrote a diary here asking for suggestions for starting a new blog to cover the race in CA-26. Two nights ago, I watched and reloaded, slightly disbelieving the preliminary results in the Democratic primary in CA-26, David Dreier (R-Closet)'s district. Russ Warner, endorsed by Gen. Wesley Clark, ran on a moderate platform of "protecting the middle class, promoting small business, and supporting our troops, honoring our veterans." Clark came to the district, raised money for Warner, and even recorded a robocall for him. Warner was supposed to be the best chance in awhile to defeat Dreier, a tough prospect considering Dreier's power as Rules Committee chairman and the Republican registration advantage in the district (46% R to 35% D).

Meanwhile, Cynthia Rodriguez Matthews, who came out of the closet during the 2004 election and challenged Dreier to do the same ran again. Matthews gave Dreier the closest margin of any reelected congressman in California in 2004 (<font face="Verdana"><span style="font-family: Verdana">54-42)</span&gt</font&gt, thanks in no small part to the anti-Dreier activism of two radio hosts surrounding immigration. Yet Matthews had raised only $516 as of mid-May and $5,361 as of June 1. Her website is a nightmare. Watching the election from afar, I pretty much wrote her off.

So what were the results on election day?

There's more...

Bumped because David Dreier is the Chairman of the corruptly powerful Rules Committee, and because single candidate blogs rock. Matt

[cross-posted at calitics and Daily Kos]

Hello MyDD! I'm spending this summer in Claremont, CA and I thought, what better way to spend some of my time then to start a blog to cover the local congressional race. CA-26 is home to Rep. David Dreier, 13-term incumbent. His opponent looks to be Russ Warner, recently endorsed  by Wesley Clark; the primary isn't until next week, but no one else seems to be doing much fund-raising. I couldn't find much blog coverage of the race, and Warner's website, though nice, doesn't have a blog. I've been very impressed by other blogs covering specific races, like the various Ned Lamont blogs. So I took the plunge:

Seth in CA (for the summer)

And now I'm looking for tips on getting this blog going. Specifically, does anyone have tips for:

• Connecting up with other Warner supporters
  
• Exposing Dreier's various shenanigans
  
• Letting other California blogs know I exist
  
• Any other useful roles I can play?
  

Thanks.

There's more...