(Excellent news to hear all of these CA Congressional Candidates lining up behind the Responsible Plan. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

As a responsible citizen and congressional candidate I have decided to endorse the Responsible Plan to end the occupation of Iraq. This plan encompasses more than withdrawal from Iraq: it addresses other imperative issues that have arisen as a result of our invasion. Iraq is one of the worst foreign policy debacles in the history of our nation and has resulted in far more devastating consequences beyond Iraq.  The Responsible Plan is a responsible course of action with steps to be taken that we as a nation must embrace in order to ensure that when we leave Iraq we restore more than Iraq.

Many of our troops may have avoided death in Samarra, but the only way we can avoid future deaths is withdraw and then follow a course that will avoid steering us down the same path that led us to pre-emptive war.  We begin to reverse the terrible fate we have inflicted on the Iraqi people, our military, and our standing in the world by leaving Iraq, instituting diplomacy, and instilling humanitarian aid for Iraqi civilians and refugees.

Our mission to accomplish is to urge our Congress to sign on to the Responsible Plan to end the occupation, replace our troops with diplomats, restore Habeas Corpus and work to restore our 4th Estate, the media, to the independent watchdog it needs to be.

I therefore heartily endorse the Responsible Plan and look forward to joining forces with other candidates who have embraced and endorsed this plan.  

(As a friend of both Mary and David, I couldn’t be happier to see them teaming up and bringing a progressive message to Ventura County. – promoted by David Dayen)

Hello Calitics!  My name is David Atkins–though most of you probably know me better on the blogs as thereisnospoon.  I’m writing today on behalf of Mary Pallant, the candidate I believe is best-suited to take CA-24 by storm and turn this district a bright shade of Progressive blue!  I’ve had several meetings with Mary over the last few years, and she has impressed me greatly with her tough-mindedness, can-do spirit, strong knowledge of the issues, organizational prowess, and personal charisma and charm.  I believe in Mary and her ability to win this seat–and now that I live and work in Ventura County, I’ve signed on to be the Netroots Coordinator for her campaign.  From now until November, you’ll see Mary and I posting under this account to give you updates on the progress of our campaign to get rid of Elton Gallegly, one of the worst rubber-stamp Republicans in the Congress.

As you may have seen in dday’s excellent House Races Roundup, California’s 24th district is on the map for Democrats this year.  The 24th, spanning most of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, has gotten some attention partly because of the turnout numbers for Democrats in the district (R 78,422-D 82,293 in an R+5 district!), and partly because the district itself is getting bluer and bluer.  In fact, Ventura County–a longtime bellwether county that has voted for the eventual presidential winner in every contest but one since 1920–just recently flipped from red to blue in overall voter registration figures, flipping by over 6,000 voters since April of last year.  It’s also worth noting that decline-to-state voters in Ventura county and in the 24th district are up by huge margins compared to the state as a whole–and most of them are defecting from the Republican ranks.

In short, this district is fed up with Republican rule, even if many voters still need a push to show them that there are socially progressive and economically responsible Democrats to lead the way to a better future for the 24th and for the nation as a whole.

Fortunately, Mary is the progressive leader who can provide that push.  Her bio says it all: as a successful small business owner, she can connect with voters here on issues of fiscal responsibility, work ethic and personal accountability.  As a stalwart figure in the local community–she is founder and host of the Ventura County Speaker Series, Commissioner and Chair of the Ventura County Commission for Women, and trustee of the Community Foundation of Oak Park–she has the connections and the obvious civic spirit to demonstrate her commitment to making our local district a better place.  And as an uncompromising progressive, her record speaks for itself: longtime advocacy for end the occupation of Iraq; membership in the ACLU, the Sierra Club and Americans United for Separation of Church and State as well as the Progressive, Environmental and Women’s Caucuses of the CDP; founder of the Ventura County chapter of the PDA; founding steering committee member of Democrats for Kerry; and much more.  Mary has what it takes to show the voters of the 24th district that progressive is the new black, that Democrats are tough and ready to take on the challenges facing Southern California and the country.

And the campaign is starting to heat up.  As dday noted, on Tuesday Mary had an op-ed in the Ventura County Star slamming Elton Gallegly for his rubber-stamp approval of the Bush Administration’s debt-fueled, irresponsible tax policy:

The congressman plays a numbers game with the people’s money, while distorting history and facts. He feigns compassion for the nation’s middle class and poor while protecting tax loopholes for megamillionaires and the well-connected few.

Gallegly’s tax policy is inconsistent and unsound because it is too simplistic and relies upon the discredited notion of supply-side economics. The only thing that trickles down is massive debt to those least able to pay….

The Democrats are doing the right thing in allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. The tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 clearly favored those at the highest rungs on the economic ladder. The rising tide of President Bush’s economy managed to lift the yachts, but failed to lift other boats in the harbor. His claim that the tax hike would result in an average increase of $3,331 per California taxpayer is correct, but fails to point out that there is no increase in taxes for anyone in California earning less than $200,000 a year under this same proposal.

Instead of playing on people’s fears and painting a false picture of how the current budget proposal would raise taxes on the poor and elderly, Gallegly would better serve this district if he started telling the whole truth and started looking out for the other 91 percent of his constituents.

This sort of honest, tough talk is exactly why I’m proud to say that the Progressive Democrats of America have strongly endorsed Mary Pallant:

On the evening of March 3, PDA’s Ventura County Chapter overwhelmingly endorsed Mary Pallant as candidate for California’s 24th Congressional District. Mary stated “I am proud to call myself a Progressive Democrat, proud of this endorsement and very proud to be a part of this national movement.”   [snip]

Mary, who has also been endorsed by PDLA and PD/Santa Monica Mountains, has said, “I am proud to call myself a Progressive Democrat without being an apologist for a tradition consistent with the life, the works and the convictions of John F. Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, and Senator Paul Wellstone.” Another fan is PDA’s own Jeff Cohen, who stated, “I’ve rarely come across a community leader as talented, knowledgeable and public-spirited as Mary Pallant. I heartily endorse Mary Pallant for Congress.”

Mary is also doing the rounds of local radio interviews–look for a post with more info on her radio interview schedule in the coming days.

If you live in or near the 24th District and can help out, please help us make the dream of turning our beautiful district blue by volunteering for the campaign.  And of course, ActBlue donations are always welcome.

Mary will see many of you in San Jose this weekend–and you’ll be seeing more of both of us on the blogs in the coming weeks and months.  Let’s make Gallegly’s rubber-stamp Republicanism a thing of the past.