We couldn't have chosen a better day to release our first campaign video. Today, many in our district received another one of Lamar Smith's taxpayer funded self-promotion newsletters. This time, he uses a quote from the majority leader, Steny Hoyer, which he claims supports his assertion that the Democratic majority is irresponsible. The quote was lifted completely out of context from an article dated May 11, 2006 and entitled "The American People Are Not the Only Ones Rejecting Republican Policies - So Are the Republicans." The statement was in response to the Republican majority being unable to bring their party together to do the job for America. In this article, he says, "Republicans cannot escape responsibility and accountability for their fiscal failures."
On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favor of HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Only eight Republicans - we'll call them the "Enlightened Eight" - voted "aye." These Republicans were Mary Bono-Mack (CA-45), Mike Castle (DE-AL), John McHugh (NY-23), Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2), Leonard Lance (NJ-7), Mark Kirk (IL-10), Dave Reichert (WA-8), and Christopher Smith (NJ-4).
Republicans voting for cap and trade in the year of the Tea Party? You'd think that they'd be dumped in the harbor by now. Instead, they're all doing fine. In fact, to date, not a single one of these Republicans has been successfully primaried by the "tea party" (or otherwise). Instead, we have two - Castle and Kirk - running for U.S. Senate, one (McHugh) who was appointed Secretary of the Army by President Obama, and five others - Bono-Mack, LoBiondo, Lance, Reichert, Smith - running for reelection.
Rep. Lance actually was challenged by not one, not two, but three "Tea Party" candidates. One of Lance's opponents, David Larsen, even produced this nifty video, helpfully explaining that "Leonard Lance Loves Cap & Trade Taxes." So, did this work? Did the Tea Partiers overthrow the tyrannical, crypto-liberal Lance? Uh, no. Instead, in the end, Lance received 56% of the vote, easily moving on to November.
Meanwhile, 100 miles or so south on the Jersey Turnpike, Rep. LoBiondo faced two "Tea Party" candidates - Donna Ward and Linda Biamonte - who also attacked on the cap-and-trade issue. According to Biamonte, cap and trade "is insidious and another tax policy... a funneling of money to Goldman Sachs and Al Gore through derivatives creating a carbon bubble like the housing bubble." You'd think that Republican primary voters in the year of the Tea Party would agree with this line of attack. Yet LoBiondo won with 75% of the vote.
Last but not least in New Jersey, Christopher Smith easily turned back a Tea Party challenger - Alan Bateman - by a more than 2:1 margin. Bateman had argued that "Obama knows he can count on Smith to support the United Nations' agenda to redistribute American wealth to foreign countries through international Cap & Trade agreements and other programs that threaten our sovereignty." Apparently, Republican voters in NJ-4 didn't buy that argument.
Across the country in California's 45th District, Mary Bono-Mack won 71% of the vote over Tea Party candidate Clayton Thibodeau on June 8. This, despite Thibodeau attacking Bono-Mack as "the only Republican west of the Mississippi to vote for Cap and Trade." Thibodeau also called cap and trade "frightening," claiming that government could force you to renovate your home or meet requirements before you purchase a home. Thibodeau's scare tactics on cap-and-trade clearly didn't play in CA-45.
Finally, in Washington's 8th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Dave Reichert has drawn a Tea Party challenger named Ernest Huber, who writes that Cap and Trade "is widely viewed as an attempt at Soviet-style dictatorship using the environmental scam of global warming/climate change... written by the communist Apollo Alliance, which was led by the communist Van Jones, Obama's green jobs czar." We'll see how this argument plays with voters in Washington's 8th Congressional District, but something tells us it's not going to go over any better than in the New Jersey or California primaries.
In sum, it appears that it's quite possible for Republicans to vote for comprehensive, clean energy and climate legislation and live (politically) to tell about it. The proof is in the primaries.
Today marks the 80th day since this crisis began. This disaster is now the largest offshore oil spill in our history. It is estimated that 35,000 to 65,000 barrels of oil are pouring into our Gulf waters everyday, and now we've seen tar balls hit our Texas shores. Our economy, our wildlife, our way of life has been decimated, but BP still finds ways to make even more bad decisions that harm Americans.
Right now the Progressive powerhouse is doing a national voting campaign to figure out who to support as a Grassroots allstar. For any race that wins it will be a huge bump for the campaign. I urge the list readers to consider helping each of the 4 campaigns who filled out the questionnaire for support and asking your friends to do the same. Brining the fight to a place like TX - 03 and forcing Sam Johnson to work because he has a credible opponent this year is worth the time to make the vote. http://www.grassrootsallstars....
July 16th the first round wins, the top 10 then get pitted against one another to make it to the top two.
Note - Grier Raggio is on there but his votes do not count due to him not filling out the DFA questionnaire
Why this is important?
The winner of the 2010 Grassroots All-Star Competition will receive:
The title of "2010 DFA Grassroots All-Star"
At least one national fundraising e-mail from DFA Chair Jim Dean to over one million members with the commitment to raise $20,000 from DFA members nationwide.
In-state crowd-sourcing emails for volunteer events with a commitment to raise 500 volunteer hours from DFA members in the All-Stars' home state.
At least one national volunteer e-mail to over one million DFA members with the commitment to deliver at least 200 national phone bankers.
A $5,000 contribution from Democracy for America PAC.
Appearances by DFA Chair Jim Dean at available campaign events
Lets help the TX congressionals and put them in the running by voting and asking our friends to vote. It's a major bump to their campaigns!
Lamar Smith thinks that he has found the winning campaign platform. All he needs to do is rant about how the Obama administration isn't securing our borders, use fear to connect terrorism with immigration, and gamble on your intolerance to accept that immigrants are creating our unemployment problems. The problem is that Lamar Smith has had 23 years of policy-making to show us that he has the solution, that he can make us safe, and that he can grow our economy. He has failed.
Shares Texas Values Lainey Melnick was born on a US Air Force Base in 1962. The second daughter of hard-working parents from the midwest, she has lived in two countries, seven states and has experienced the American Dream. Her search for a permanent home ended when she and her husband found the perfect community to raise their family. Lainey has spent a quarter of her life as a Texan, and is proud to call Austin home.
While Lamar Smith has gained power and prestige in Congress, Texas has become the home to the highest number of uninsured children in America. According to the 2008 Census, almost 30% of children under 18 yrs old, in our district alone, are either uninsured or are already on a government insurance program. In our district alone, the newly passed health care reform bill will give the opportunity of insurance to over 25,000 of our uninsured children, over 93,000 uninsured adults, and almost 2,000 uninsured seniors. In our district alone, over 75,000 young adults, of whom 1 of 4 lives below the poverty level, will qualify to stay on their parents' insurance policy instead of adding them to the pool of uninsured or government subsidized. In our district alone, over 35% of our population of all ages, and 95% of our seniors, almost 300,000 of our neighbors, are either uninsured or are already on a government insurance program. Yet our community suffers from only a little over 4% unemployment. Our neighbors are not trying to get something for nothing. They work hard, and they deserve an opportunity to purchase the security net of affordable health insurance for themselves and their families.
Thank you so much for your amazing support over the past 9 months. Because of your hard work and dedication, we did it. I am now officially the Democratic Nominee for the TX-21 Congressional Seat. In November 2010, I will face the 22-year Republican incumbent, Lamar Smith. Our challenge is really only just beginning. The results of the primary show that he is a skilled career politician who understands the business of re-election. His opponent was able to get about 20% of the Republican vote, denting his base, but not nearly enough to split the support. I think he put himself in a difficult position though trying to run on the right of Lamar Smith, there wasn't much wiggle room there. Smith also lost support that he had from the 2006 primary, so he came away with about 16,000 votes less than he could have had.
The Big Tent Event: Democratic Primary Election Night Watch Party (A multi-candidate, multi-club event)
Supporters, Volunteers, Friends and Family
You are invited to celebrate with ~ Lainey Melnick ~ Candidate for US Congress and Our Co-Hosts:
Capital Area Democratic Women ~ Burnt Orange Report ~ Capital Area Progressive Democrats ~ Capital City Young Democrats ~ Circle C Democrats
Plus These 2010 Democratic Primary Candidates and Their Supporters:
~ Bill White for Governor ~ Farouk Shami for Governor ~ Rebecca Bell-Metereau for District 5, Member State Board of Education ~ Judy Jennings for District 10, Member State Board of Education ~ Valinda Bolton for District 47, State Representative ~ Donna Howard for District 48, State Representative ~ Kurt Kuhn for Place 4, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals ~ Lora Livingston for District Judge, 261st Judicial District ~ David Crain for District Judge, 331st Judicial District ~ Tim Sulak for District Judge, 353rd Judicial District ~ Eric Shepperd for County Court at Law 2, Judge ~ Olga Seelig for County Court at Law 3, Judge ~ Brandy Mueller for County Court at Law 6, Judge ~ Elisabeth Earle for County Court at Law 7, Judge ~ Sarah Eckhardt for Precinct 2, County Commissioner ~ Daniel Bradford for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Yvonne Williams for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Karin Crump for Precinct 2, Justice of the Peace ~ Susan Steeg for Precinct 3, Justice of the Peace ~Raul Gonzalez for Precinct 4, Justice of the Peace ~ Herb Evans for Precinct 5, Justice of the Peace ~
The Big Tent Event: Democratic Primary Election Night Watch Party (A multi-candidate, multi-club event)
Supporters, Volunteers, Friends and Family
You are invited to celebrate with ~ Lainey Melnick ~ Candidate for US Congress and Our Co-Hosts:
Capital Area Democratic Women ~ Burnt Orange Report ~ Capital Area Progressive Democrats ~ Capital City Young Democrats ~ Circle C Democrats
Plus These 2010 Democratic Primary Candidates and Their Supporters:
Bill White for Governor ~ Farouk Shami for Governor ~ Rebecca Bell-Metereau for District 5, Member State Board of Education ~ Valinda Bolton for District 47, State Representative ~ Donna Howard for District 48, StateRepresentative ~ Kurt Kuhn for Place 4, Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals ~ Lora Livingston for District Judge, 261st Judicial District ~ David Crain for District Judge, 331st Judicial District ~Tim Sulak for District Judge, 353rd Judicial District ~ Eric Shepperd for County Court at Law 2, Judge ~ Olga Seelig for County Court at Law 3, Judge ~ Brandy Mueller for County Court at Law 6, Judge ~ Elisabeth Earle for County Court at Law 7, Judge ~ Sarah Eckhardt for Precinct 2, County Commissioner ~ Margaret J. Gómez for Precinct 4, County Commissioner ~ Daniel Bradford for Precinct 1, Justice of the Peace ~ Karin Crump for Precinct 2, Justice of the Peace ~ Susan Steeg for Precinct 3, Justice of the Peace ~ Herb Evans for Precinct 5, Justice of the Peace
