Bayh bye

Russ Feingold deserves more credit on his consistent efforts to avoid getting us into Iraq, efforts to extricate us from Iraq (first to call for phased and timed withdrawal) and focus on power of the purse to curb ongoing mistakes that are paid for by the troops this administration purports to "support."  Highlight a real leader, Chris, and support courage in action.  Give Russ some credit for meaningful action on Iraq.

Ah, Russ.
We hardly knew ye.

Feingold 2012
Maybe the country will be ready then.

Ironically, "electability" is not the key requirement for being elected.  It's a tautologous distraction.
Leaders are elected; collections of electable characteristics are not.
And when good leaders start acting "electable" - Gore, Kerry, and certainly Hilary - they stop being, well, electable.

Don't calculate electable characteristics.  Find a leader who is smart and has the right principles, vision and execution power.  I only see one of those in the pack and it's Russ Feingold.

I don't think Richardson is an unattractive man but he's not the leader we need in these times.

And again: he didn't carry New Mexico for Kerry in 2004.  Jeez.

Really populist Dem who is also really progressive?

Add 14 years of consistency in legislative experience; foreign affairs, constitutional expert, election reform leader, listens to people (coming up on 1,000th listening session in his state - they are for real).

Russ Feingold.  

You won't find the "I voted for it before I voted against it" record.  You'll find conscious and consistent principle before politics, even when it was unpopular.  Ahead of the pack on Iraq, Patriot Act, LGBT, trade, civil liberties - and being proven right on all of them.  Not a weathervane but a leader with best ideas.

Don't buy anybody's cheap shot effort to dismiss him as a lefty.  He's a populist from a purple state - where he won over 20 counties that voted for Bush over Kerry in 2004.

Do your homework. Look at his record.  And get ready to go to work for him.

Democrat governor to be Doyle will appoint a Democrat to succeed him.

I want a Hispanic, I want a woman, I want the glass ceiling broken, but I ain't voting just to break the ceiling.
Governor Richardson couldn't carry New Mexico for Kerry in 2004.  Was he saving it for 2008 or just couldn't deliver?  Gimme a break.

No Hillary, no Richardson, no retreads with warmed over messages they didn't have the smarts or courage to get out of their back pockets in 2004.  Courageous, smart leadership that listens and responds to real people.  Russ Feingold.  Hands down.

Is this the same guy who could not deliver New Mexico for Kerry in 2004?

Disaster?!?
Fire up the base?

How about let's keep to the basics.
Repeat again:

Our law allow us to wiretap terrorists - even up to 72 hours without a warrant.
We support wiretapping terrorists.
We support the law that allows wiretapping.
Our Constitution requires the President to follow the law.
The President broke the law - didn't even try to change the law - and violated the Constitution.
We care deeply about our Constitution.
Tell the President he broke the law.
Censure the President.

Gallup: 55% want out of Iraq within 12 months.
Kerry-Feingold said it weeks ago, but punditocracy felt this was "fringe" position.

And Iraq is not a single issue but a symbol of a broader agenda Americans thirst for: it's about truth and ethics in government; spending wisely; smart diplomacy not dumb bullying; helping real people with real health programs and better public education; deeply respecting military willingness to sacrifice, not exploiting it for private commercial and political gain.

Smell the coffee DLC, DCCC, DSCC.  It's morning in America and Democrats stand for something.  Ned Lamont stands for something.

Ignore the polls.  Get every last vote out for Ned.  Every.  Single.  Vote.

Disagree.
Iraq War $ are precisely what is crippling what most Americans care about improving: health care and education.  Next in line: fiscal sanity.

I agree Ned is green on delivery (he'll mature with more exposure), but I think he had it right on the issues.

I like Westerns and politics and think you can mix them up.
I like the idea of reclaiming our Western heritage, even if half of it is mythical, because it is part of reclaiming our American vision from those who have hijacked it.
Stampede?
Have you been to the Omak Stampede in western Washington?  Second weekend in August.  Real cowboys.  Real Indians.

And the Okanogan is home to Peter Goldmark.  This guy is the guy we need for Congress in WA-05.  So go out and do some more field work on a stampede and cowboys and help Peter's campaign.  You'd love it.  Mix it up - politics and westerns.

www.petergoldmark.org
Here's the Western short story on this cowboy:

Peter Goldmark began his education in a one-room schoolhouse at Duley Lake near Okanogan, Washington. He graduated from Okanogan High School in Okanogan and in 1967 received a degree from Haverford College near Philadelphia. After receiving his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971, he traveled to Harvard University for a postdoctoral fellowship in neurobiology. Following his marriage in 1972, he moved back to Okanogan with his wife, Georgia. Together, they raised their five children on the family ranch. Sadly, Georgia succumbed to cancer in 2003. Goldmark has had a lifelong involvement with agriculture, science, education, and public service. Included among his public service positions are the following:

Director of Agriculture for State of Washington, appointed by Governor Lowry in 1993
Chairman of the Governor's Council on Agriculture and the Environment in 1994-1996
Governor's Council for a Sustainable Washington in 2002-2003
Governor's Council on Biodiversity in 2004-2005
Founding board member and past Chairman of the Board of Farming and the Environment, a unique coalition of farmers, ranchers, and conservationists founded in 1999
Board of Regents of Washington State University, 1996-2005; President of the Board in 1999-2000
Board of the Washington State University-University of Washington Policy Consensus Center, 2003-2006
Okanogan School Board, 1998-2005

Goldmark maintains a small scientific research facility at his ranch and has published scientific articles in national and international journals. He currently maintains a wheat-breeding program at his facility and has recently released new varieties for Washington wheat farmers. Goldmark left the Washington State University Board in 2005 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 5th District. He recently remarried and lives in Spokane with his wife, Wendy, splitting his time between campaigning from his Spokane office and managing operations on the family ranch near Okanogan.

We want to see integrity and public involvement restored to election financing.  We simply and literally cannot afford shelling out big dollars each election cycle.  It's ridiculous and unsustainable.  It only enriches advertising executives and low value added consultants.

You can't fool all of us all of the time.  We respect the integrity of those who opt in and will make decisons based on the merits of the candidate, not the number of swift boat ads.

And, we have the net to increasingly break the information logjam.  Candidates can go on the web to communicate.

And all of the above is why Feingold has a higher percentage and headcount of popular support.  Cause "we the people" sometimes get it: that integrity and substance sometimes means more than high cost, repetitive advertising spin.

1.Go see what Russ is doing at www.progressivepatriotsfund.org.  His podcast is so good.  Man, the guy just has it.

2. Help Jim McDermott (WA-01) fight Boehner's attack on 1st amendment.  Give Jim $50.

3. More good cowboys: Peter Goldmark in WA-05.  Rancher, PhD in molecular biology from Berkley, post doc in neurobiology from Harvard, raises wheat and rides horses.  Give him $50 and go knock on doors in Spokane: www.petergoldmark.com

And you can catch real cowboys and Indians at the Omak Stampede & Suicide race second weekend in August.  American West: For real.

4. Stephen Stills plays to a small home audience for Darcy Burner, WA-08, next Wednesday.  Tickets going fast.  Love the one he's with.