My podcast, LeftAhead, welcomed State Rep and Candidate for the US Congress Jamie Eldridge on to discuss the race and his issues in detail. He's one of five Democrats running for the Fifth Congressional Seat and unabashedly supports single-payer, getting out of Iraq ASAP, marriage equality, clean elections and fair trade... kind of awesome, huh?

Well, if people are interested in the race, we chatted about it for almost the entire episode, but fast forward to 39 minutes in if you want to hear our interview with Eldridge. He chats, at length, about single-payer Universal insurance and all his other progressive positions. We asked the tough ones too!

With a safe Democratic seat, there's a real chance to elect a progressive candidate who will be a leader at the US House. Just listen in and you'll all see why. He speaks with clarity and has the record to back it up.

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When I heard Jamie Eldridge received 70% of the support from the local members of Democracy for America - out of FIVE candidates - I wasn't shocked to learn he would get their endorsement. However, still, it's a very nice thing to hear. The Fifth Congressional race in Massachusetts offers this state a unique chance: the ability to send a true progressive to DC who can help lead our caucus to greatness. If people want someone who will timidly capitulate on Iraq supplementals, or will vote for faux-universal health care systems that amount to little more than corporate welfare to the HMOs... then Jamie Eldridge isn't your guy. If people want someone who can lead us in standing up to Mr. 28% and who will fight for true, single-payer, Universal coverage - then we want Jamie Eldridge as a Representative in Congress.

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Boston's Pride Parade changed routes this year, to walk in front of the State House on Beacon Hill - less than a week before a Constitutional Convention threatens marriage equality. Two candidates, Niki Tsongas and Jamie Eldridge, had people show up to support them, as pictures in that link. Jamie Eldridge was the only candidate in the 5th, that I'm aware of, who actually went. He marched with Jarret Barrios, one of the few openly gay Massachusetts state legislators.

Jamie Eldridge also had an interesting diary he posted at Blue Mass Group. Eldridge has announced that there will be no campaigning by anyone on his staff this Thursday, during the ConCon. Instead, he and all his people are going to do all that they can to make sure the anti-marriage equality amendment is defeated. Here's the gist:

This campaign has momentum because the voters know that we need strong leadership to make progress in our country.  And the voters are learning about the campaign because volunteers are bringing it directly to them.  I ask for your help in that effort...

But not this week.

This week must be about the Constitutional Convention.  I've been a leader in the fight for marriage equality and full equal rights for all since before I was even elected to office.  I serve as what's called a division whip on the issue which means that I am the point person for the efforts to persuade a number of legislators to oppose the amendment.  I know firsthand that your efforts are making a difference, but there is more to be done this week.  Please find a way to contact your legislators and support MassEquality's actions.

I have discussed the issue with my campaign staff, interns, and lead volunteers, and they are taking this Thursday off from campaigning to join up with the efforts in Boston.  Please join us!  People will be arriving at the Statehouse at 7:00am and I promise you the show of support for equality sends a strong message to those last legislators who are struggling to make up their minds.

Pretty cool.

Lastly, LeftinLowell posted videos of the Iraq War forum between all the Democratic Candidates. Of particular note are the questions, which you can go directly to by following that link, on Don't Ask Don't Tell and allowing colleges to ban military recruiters because it violates their non-discrimination clauses because of DADT. There are some very revealing answers on that.

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The five candidates in the MA-05 race. From left to right, Eileen Donoghue, Barry Finegold, Niki Tsongas, Jamie Eldridge and James Meceli. Source: The MA-05 Campaign Flickr

Since there's been a clear interest in the race, I think I owe it to the MyDD community to report on Massachusetts's Fifth Congressional District. I recently attended and live blogged a Health Care Forum, which all of the MA-05 candidates attended and wrote about below the fold.

However, first I'd like to give some personal background information - so people know who the hell I am. I've been mostly lurking at MyDD since August, 2005 and write a progressive Massachusetts blog that's been what I'd consider a success. Heck, I've even been linked to here once or twice.

At the time that I attended the Health Care forum, I didn't know who I was going to support in this race. Since the forum, the answer has been crystal clear. At first, I was leaning toward Niki Tsongas, but her health care record scared me away. Since then, I've looked closely at all the four "liberal" candidates (there's a socially conservative Dem in the race to, but I'm not going to comment a whole lot about him) and have decided to support Jamie Eldridge. My support couldn't be more enthusiastic and hopefully the blogosphere will rally around him.

My thoughts on the Health Care Forum below, including links to my actual liveblogging which were written before I had decided on any candidate.

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It had to happen sooner or later: Youtube is being hit for a billion dollars by Viacomm in a nasty lawsuit, money Viacomm is probably more than happy to pry from Google's hands. More importantly, it's the media's message to the internet: stop the copyright infringements or else. In some ways, it's just like what happened to Napster and other internet music (stealing) software, except for the fact that youtube - in large part - has an almost altruistic sense: catching a moment of truth on film. Obviously, the potential loss of youtube has serious implications for bloggers (and readers) everywhere. Expect a lot of deleted content, which sucks not only for blogging, but also the truth.

A lot more below the fold -

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