The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. I have try mixing my own rants and ideas, with national issues, news items, and some very local groups and events in an attempt to both help shape debate and to help people find their own ways of getting involved.

This week I highlight Bill O'Reilly's latest insult: denying the existence of some 200,000 homeless Veterans. For my NYC readers I highlight a very important attempt in the City Council to require permits for citizens to use devices that detect harmful materials in the air, water and soil. For my North Carolina readers I highlight a Democratic candidate for Congress, Marshall Adame, who is pissing off the mercenary firm Blackwater. I am urging people to support Marshall Adame for his willingness to challenge Blackwater. And I continue to highlight local events in all the states where I have had a good number of readers. Interestingly, Florida and Texas are joining New York and California as states where I have lots of readers. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

Dear voter (in an early voting state), I hear 1 of 5 of you are pushing off until the last moment making your mind up who to favor in the race for the Democratic nominee.  If it's true, then the outcomes in NH and Nevada are not known yet. So I will be bold and ask you,

please, please pick us a winner who will pull through the one moment that will matter most, next November.

Realize, as a primary voter, that the race for Prez in '08 will be like no other — YouTube candid camera replays, viral emails, cellphone mass messaging, voter roll purging (inspired by the US Dept of Justice, no less), and reasoned, provocative debate all in equal parts.

With all of that in play, we can't this time afford to seek a standardbearer who will draw just 51% or 52% of the national vote, tops. To prevail in the fall, we must assure a decisive win. Eking out a 51% majority won't cut it.            

We'll need a near landslide.

Cross-posted at   deariowaAndnewhampshire.com

Dear voter, I hear 1 of 5 of you are pushing off until the last moment  making your mind up  who to favor in the race for the Democratic nominee.  If it's true, then the outcome in your early state is not known yet. So I will be bold and ask you,

please, please pick us a winner who will pull through the one moment that will matter most, next November.

Realize, as a primary voter, that the race for Prez in '08 will be like no other — YouTube candid camera replays, cellphone mass messaging, voter roll purging (inspired by the US Dept of Justice, no less), and reasoned, provocative debate all in equal parts.

With all of that in play, we can't this time afford to seek a standardbearer who will draw just  51% or 52% of the national vote, tops. To prevail  next fall, we'll need to assure a decisive victory. Eking out a 51% win won't cut it.            

We'll need a near landslide.            
  Cross-posted at deariowaAndnewhampshire.com

Today, a new project of "top Democrats" launched and named Ellen Tauscher as the Democratic Party's #1 Worst Offender. Called the Working for Us PAC the goal of the new org is to hold people like Tauscher to account for being out of tune with their districts.

This has changed the dynamics of the 2008 CA-10 primary by fundamentally upending conventional wisdom on the race, especially in the following areas:

Lisa Vorderbrueggen has an article in today's Contra Costa Times, titled, Bloggers take Tauscher to task. The article has a number of huge problems, let me list some of mine and I'm sure other bloggers will have their own complaints.

First off, I don't see how this story could be written without mentioning that the exact same thing happened to Congressman Jeffery Cohelan in the next district over. OK, maybe not the exact same thing because Cohelan went into his unsuccessful 1970 primary with strong labor support. But the complete lack of historical perspective does damage to the analysis.

But not as much damage as this:

Yes, Tauscher voted to allow President Bush to start the Iraq war. But so did every other Democrat in the nation except one.

That is a lie. A lie in the pages of the Contra Costa Times. In reality, Tauscher was one of only two Bay Area Democrats to support the unnecessary, unilateral, invasion of Iraq with the vast majority opposed. In all, only 81 Democrats voted the wrong way on the biggest issue of our time with 126 voting no, meaning 60% of house Democrats were opposed.

This failure to understand even the most basic dynamics and history means this isn't the type of article I would recommend people reading.

If last week was defined by Katie Merrill catapulting a primary campaign against Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, this was the week that Tauscher tried in vain to distance herself from Joe Lieberman.

The following is how the week developed, you can sign up to get this delivered by email at the Ellen Tauscher Weekly.

This is an unfortunate follow-up on this post.

The fallout from the deal Ellen Tauscher cut with George Bush has claimed the 300th Californian. This didn't have to happen, but Tauscher cut a deal to allow it. She needs to be held accountable for each death, because none were necessary.

None of them. But Tauscher thought she would use the seat she bought to try and prove that she knew better.

#300:

Spc. Nicholas P. Steinbacher, 22, of La Crescenta, Calif., died of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV in Baghdad, Iraq, on Dec. 10. Steinbacher was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

I am disgusted by Tauscher and I'm too pissed off to write what I really think. I don't mind swearing in blog posts, but I lack the words to describe how I fell about Ellen Tauscher.

The diary below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal on August 27th.

Richard Nixon manipulated Americans into believing he had an honorable exit strategy from Vietnam. Ronald Reagan successfully convinced voters he championed a Norman Rockwell society that valued hard work and neighborhood generosity. In 1988, oilman George Herbert Walker Bush won in part as the "environmentalist" candidate. Twelve years later his son stole the presidency after campaigning as a "plain spoken" truth telling man of the people with a "humble" foreign policy.

After further review and agonizing soul-searching (which explains why I didn't write a diary yesterday), I have decided that I can no longer support Russ Feingold for President. I am well and truly beaten. I did not realize that a twice-divorced candidate would be such a big liability. I fear that it would be such a great liability that we would be beaten even worse than McGovern and Mondale did.

As much as we might agree with Feingold 100% on the issues, he is simply not electable. People want a candidate who represents America, and they would always go for the man who best represents their ideals. This includes having a traditional family. After all, if a man can't run his family, then how can he run this country?