The No on 8 Campaign just released a new ad, this time focusing on the elimination of rights. This is one of the most effective arguments against Prop 8: never before have we voted to eliminate rights, and we shouldn’t now. It has done well in message testing in focus groups and the like, and if you are talking to friends, I highly suggest the tack. The ad trumpets a few prominent opponents to Prop 8, including the California Teachers Association.
Speaking of CTA, they have just reported a $1 million donation to No on 8. (h/t Shane Goldmacher) Thank you teachers!
(Updated with new information at the bottom… – promoted by David Dayen)
The FEC reports are starting to come in for our candidates. I’ll update them here, but the preliminary numbers are very strong.
• CA-50: Wow. Nick Leibham raised $413,000 in the third quarter, his best quarter of the cycle by a factor of four. With $334,000 cash on hand, he’s going to be able to get his message out in the final weeks. As much as anything, this is why Leibham is Red To Blue. No word on Brian Bilbray’s take yet. Leibham’s latest ad uses a local war hero to hammer Bilbray for his vote against the new GI Bill, and it’s very powerful, a great improvement over the attention-getting stunts from earlier in the year. I’m starting to feel good about this race.
• CA-45: Julie Bornstein raised around $102,000 in Q3, while Mary Bono Mack raised $245,000. The cash on hand situation shows Bono Mack with $462,548 in the bank compared to Bornstein’s $179,308. That’s not terrible, especially if the DCCC steps in with some outside help – they just added Bornstein to their emerging races list (along with Bill Durston in CA-03). Her latest ad, showing Bono Mack as a rubber-stamping bobblehead, is spot-on (“Do you think George Bush is right 92% of the time?”)
• CA-52: In our toughest winnable race, Mike Lumpkin raised $107,000 and has $125,000 CoH, and Duncan D. Hunter raised $290,000 with $321,000 CoH. It’ll take a monumental effort to win this one, but I don’t consider it impossible. Lumpkin just got put on the D-Trip’s Races To Watch page, along with Russ Warner (CA-26).
• CA-46: A nice writeup about canvassing for Debbie Cook from friend of the blog Andrew Davey (atdleft).
more money updates when they roll in…
UPDATE: Debbie Cook raised $114,000 and has $181,000 in the bank. Nothing yet from Dana Rohrabacher. Will she outraise him three quarters in a row?
UPDATE: More numbers:
CA-04:
Charlie Brown: raised $539K, $456K cash on hand. GREAT numbers.
Tom McClintock: raised $978K, but spent a ton, and has only $94,000 left, with $110,000 in debts. He is BROKE. Brown has an infinite lead in CoH.
Dan Lungren: raised $173K (wow, Durston almost outraised him), $680K CoH. Dr. Bill is going to need some help.
CA-26:
Russ Warner: raised $289K, which is great, but he’s spent a lot early. He has $119K CoH.
David Dreier: raised $255K. Wow, Warner outraised Dreier. He still has $1.7 million in the bank, and he doesn’t seem to be using the money. He only spent $345K in Q3. I don’t know if it’s for leadership purposes or what, but he has a hell of a war chest that he’s not using.
Dean Andal: raised $345K, with $850K CoH. Some prize recruit.
CA-50:
Brian Bilbray: This was the number I was waiting for. He raised $262K and has $382K CoH. OK, Nick Leibham didn’t just beat Bilbray in Q2, he destroyed him. And the cash on hand is virtually even. Wow.
CA-46:
Dana Rohrabacher: Drum roll… raised $148K. OK, he beat Debbie Cook for once. The CoH is $497K, but much like Dreier, he’s spent next to nothing. $35K in the quarter.
Overall, these are good numbers. Lots of our candidates have the resources they need. Keep up the pressure.
(Some good contenders in there… – promoted by Brian Leubitz)
One Voice PAC is an organization I created to help bring progressive change to Washington, and one of our top priorities this year is helping elect progressive candidates to Congress who will challenge the status quo.
Last month, we introduced an initial slate of endorsed candidates: Darcy Burner (WA-8), Andre Carson (IN-7), Joe Garcia (FL-25), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH-15), Ashwin Madia (MN-3), Dan Seals (IL-10), and Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1).
In addition to our initial slate, we’re asking the progressive community to tell us which challenger we should support next. We accepted nominations last week, and now we’re holding a vote on 10 Congressional challengers — including 4 Californians:
Here are short summaries of each of our nominees, ordered by Congressional District:
Jeff Morris — CA-02: Jeff is a Trinity County Supervisor and he's challenging Republican Wally Herger in California's 2nd Congressional District, which stretches from just north of Sacramento up to the Oregon border. Jeff believes that our country must redefine its role in the affairs of the world, which should start with disengaging from our fully integrated presence in Iraq. Click here to learn more at Jeff's website.
Bill Durston — CA-03: Bill is a Vietnam War veteran and is challenging Republican Dan Lungren in California's 3rd District, and a recent poll shows the race to be a statistical dead heat. Bill has pledged that he will not vote for any further funding for military operations in Iraq that is not tied to a prompt, orderly, and complete withdrawal of U.S. forces. Click here to learn more at Bill's website.
Charlie Brown — CA-04: 26–year Air Force veteran Charlie Brown is running for the open seat in California's 4th District. This is a reprise of 2006, when Charlie ran a strong campaign and finished within 3 points of the incumbent Republican. This year, the polls show him in a statistical tie with right–wing Republican Tom McClintock. Click here to learn more at Charlie's website.
Debbie Cook — CA-46: Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook is challenging Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher. As a former PTA president and school volunteer, Debbie believes that the best education solutions are created locally by teachers and parents. Click hear to learn more at Debbie's website.
Alan Grayson — FL-08: Alan is running against Republican incumbent Ric Keller in Florida's 8th Congressional District. Alan has spent the last four years of his life combating some of the worst abuses of the Iraq war, filing dozens of citizen lawsuits against crooked contractors who have cheated American troops and taxpayers. Click here to learn more at Alan's website.
Annette Taddeo — FL-18: Annette is challenging Republican incumbent Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida's 18th district. Annette is running for Congress to put her experience as a business owner to work and to bring real change to Florida's 18th Congressional District — which won't be hard considering Ros-Lehtinen's record of strong support for President Bush. Click here to learn more at Annette's website.
Colleen Callahan — IL-18: Colleen is running for an open seat in Illinois' 18th Congressional District. Colleen wants to bring our troops home from Iraq and use some of the billions of dollars spent each month on the war on domestic programs such as schools, healthcare and infrastructure. Click here to learn more at Colleen's website.
Gary Peters — MI-9: Gary is challenging Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg in Michigan's 9th District. Gary is a former Lieutenant Commander in the Navy Reserve, and an accomplished businessman who served as Vice President for two major investment firms. Click here to learn more at Gary's website.
Dennis Shulman – NJ-05: Author, educator, and clinical psychologist, Dr. Dennis Shulman is challenging right-wing Republican Scott Garrett in New Jersey's 5th District. Blind since childhood, he has overcome significant obstacles to earn an Ivy League diploma and rise to the top of his profession — and become an ordained rabbi. Click here to learn more at Dennis' website.
Sharen Neuhardt — OH-07: Sharen is challenging Republican incumbent David Hobson in Ohio's 7th Congressional District. Sharen has promised to end the war in Iraq and to bring our troops home safely and responsibly, and is also committed to expanding health care coverage for the tens of millions of Americans who are uninsured. Click here to learn more at Sharen's website.
The response to our request for nominations was tremendous, and I have little doubt that the members of the progressive community will make their voices heard on which of these fine candidates to support.
For the last few election cycles Speak Out California has been distributing a progressive voter guide, including recommendations on ballot propositions and a chart of how California progressive groups have endorsed. Their guide was a popular, useful way for California progressives to navigate the sometimes confusing propositions. Speak Out is on hiatus until after the election, but the need for a progressive voter guide remains.
The Courage Campaign Issues Committee (disclosure: I’m proud to work with them) has taken up the task, and put together the 2008 Progressive Voter Guide. It includes Courage Campaign’s positions on the 12 propositions, and includes the ever-useful chart of how prominent California progressive organizations have endorsed on the 2008 propositions.
The guide can be downloaded as a PDF or you can get it for your mobile phone by texting VOTECA to 69866.
We are on the cusp of a major progressive breakthrough in California, and part of that involves the 12 ballot measures. This guide can help California progressive make the right choices.
Below is the email we sent out earlier this afternoon to our members announcing the guide:
Dear Robert,
You asked for it. And here it is.
A few weeks ago, we surveyed our members about whether or not the Courage Campaign should provide recommendations on California ballot measures to our nearly 100,000 members and supporters.
Your overwhelming answer: Yes, absolutely!
So, today, we’re launching our 2008 Progressive Voter Guide for the 12 — that’s right, 12 — propositions on California’s November ballot. Our Voter Guide includes not only Courage Campaign recommendations, but also the recommendations of nine other leading California progressive organizations.
Click here to download and print the Courage Campaign’s 2008 Progressive Voter Guide from our web site:
The choices you make on this ballot will impact you, your family and friends for decades to come.
We’ve already talked about why we think you should vote “No” on Proposition 8, which would eliminate equal rights for same-sex couples. We’ve also talked about why we think you should vote “No” on Proposition 4, which would undermine teen safety and abortion rights.
But what about the 10 other propositions on the ballot? To help you make your choices in this momentous election, our printable 2008 Progressive Voter Guide includes:
(1) Short, easy-to-read, recommendations from the Courage Campaign.
(2) A handy chart of recommendations from numerous leading progressive organizations across California.
(3) A mobile phone guide that you can easily take into your polling place and send to your friends.
To download our two-page Voter Guide directly to your computer, please click on the button below for a printable PDF document (click the link above to download it from our web site). Then print the guide and take it to the polls or have it at your side as you fill out your vote-by-mail ballot.
With many vote-by-mail ballots already in the hands of voters, please help us spread the word to as many progressives as possible in California. You can start today by forwarding this email and Voter Guide to your family and friends.
Even better: Print your voter guide right now and pass it out to your friends tonight when you watch the presidential debate.
The November election is about more than who will occupy the White House. It is also about California’s future. Together, we can rescue our state and make 2008 a new era for progressive politics in California.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
Courage Campaign
P.S. You can also get this 2008 Progressive Voter Guide sent to your mobile phone:
