Jerry McNerney: The Newest Progressive Patriot
At YearlyKos, Russ Feingold held a special Pick a Progressive Patriot vote to see which candidate would be awarded $5,000 from the Progressive Patriot Fund. I'm pleased to announce that Jerry McNerney came in first place. This is really important because the biggest thing Jerry McNerney needs now is money. If he raises a sufficient amount of money, the DCCC won't be able to walk away from this race. So thank you to all of you who voted in the Progressive Patriot Fund vote. This is an important and timely win for Team McNerney. Furthermore, everyone who is interested in fighting Pombo should make a donation, and make a donation today. Giving today will help prove McNerney's viability and will draw in more money from across the country.
Here's what the Progressive Patriot Fund said:
The Progressive Patriots Fund announced Jerry McNerney as the winner of “Pick a Progressive Patriot: YearlyKos,” a special round of its popular online voting event. McNerney is challenging Rep. Richard Pombo in California’s 11 District.
“This round of the ‘Pick a Progressive Patriot’ was a huge success,” Feingold said. “Over 50 candidates were nominated from 24 states, but in the end McNerney received the most support from a very enthusiastic group of bloggers and online activists. We are happy to send $5000 to the McNerney campaign and we thank everyone who participated in this round of ‘Pick a Progressive Patriot.’”
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posted by Matt @ 6:57 PM
7 Comments:
Last weekend at DOWN WITH TYRANNY we raised over a grand for Jerry on the ACT BLUE site there. Since it was Matt who taught me how to activate the ACT BLUE page, I just came up with an idea. For the next 24 hours (so until Thursday at 8:40 PM West Coast time) anyone who sends the SAY NO TO POMBO Act Blue Page a Jerry McNerney donation gets a mint copy of ME AND MR. JOHNSON, a cd of Eric Clapton playing bluesmaster Robert Johnson songs. Look, and if you don't like Clapton or Johnson or the blues, I'm open to discussion. The important thing is to do right by the country we love-- and that means replacing one of the worst representatives in history with someone who will not just be "better than Pombo," but someone who will bring a wealth of innovation and independence to the Congress.
Paradox, Your words remind me of the nihilistic words of my college freshman son.
The loss in your philosophy is a loss of caring. It matters to me what I care about.
I am not a democrat or a rebublican. I think the last presidential candidate I voted for that won was over 20 years ago. I am used to losing and having my political will thwarted. It does not stop me. It will not stop me.
I work because I care about right and wrong; justice and injustice. It doesn't matter if I toss 20 dollars to a losing candidate. Why would that matter? What matters is I care.
To stop caring is the only real loss.
Paradox,
I have no fricking idea what you're going on about. If McNerney wasn't a fighter, why the hell would he a) in 2004 take out a $10,000 second mortgage on his house to pay for a recount just to get on the ballot to challenge Pombo, or b) fight the DC establishment for the Democratic nomination this year? And where the hell did you get your purported quote about "disinterested voters?"
Welcome Paradox. I wrote the post on Jerry as a populist. If you read it, I was saying this is one option that he has open, since the DCCC does not seem too anxious to support him and the DCCC has a record of losing anyway. What I meant was that he could run as a Washington, DC, outsider and harness people's disgust and anger at the federal government -- the deficit, the loss of jobs, the war in Iraq gone haywire, the corruption of Congress, etc.
I just looked "Populist" up -- "a believer in, and advocate for, the rights, wisdom, and virtues of the common people". That is what I meant, maybe you have a different definition.
The idea is that instead of running as a "Democrat", he could run as a candidate for the "common people". Now, I was not saying Jerry could pull this off or even that he has the tenor to do this. Also, I did not say this was a winning approach or not. What I was saying is that it is a possible alternative for Jerry if the DCCC and Dem Party only give him minimal support
I also noted that there would be problems with this approach, such as raising the necessary cash.
Now that I have made my case, I have to add that I am a bit confused by your statement: "Jerry McNerney believes the base of populism, the great opportunity, lies in useless "disinterested voters."
Could you explain more about that and your other comments there?
Hey, I've only posted once before, but I read regularly and one part of Paradox's post caught my eye. Paradox said that McNerney will only win if he convinces people that he'd rather lose than give up his principles. In McNerney's Dublin headquarters there is a white board with a few quotes on it, one of which is something like: "A candidates number one issue is the one that they'd lose an election for." I was impressed the first time I saw it and think it applies exactly to what Paradox was saying. McNerney is principled and it is the principles that drive him.
Hey folks -
We are thrilled, of course, with the Progressive Patriot pick, especially since 50 other candidates were vying for the honor. In the end, the sheer depth of our support network -- and the increasing influence of Say No To Pombo and its readers -- put us over the top.
Thank you!
I posted on Jerry's Blog last night in response to the Feingold news. Here is an excerpt:
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"If we are going to change this country and return honesty, integrity and accountability to Congress, it will be from the bottom-up," said McNerney. "That's why I'm thrilled to receive the support of the grassroots and the netroots and I'm honored to be picked as a Progressive Patriot by Russ Feingold."
The netroots news just keeps getting better. Four hours after Jerry asked the McNerney Movement to support him in Democracy for America's "Grassroots All-Star" competition, Jerry shot from 6th to FIRST PLACE!
It's not over, of course. There are less than 48 hours to go in the competition and anything can happen. If you haven't voted yet or you haven't told your friends about the vote, please click here now:
CLICK HERE
Deadline: 2 p.m. Friday
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Hey SNTP'ers -- please vote if you haven't already.
As of 6:41 p.m. PST on Thursday, Jerry is still #1 -- out of 34 excellent congressional candidates. All Jerry has to do is make the Top 5 to make it to the next round (starting Monday) -- but it would be great to take the top spot!
You can track the standings at Blog for America (in the right sidebar).
Thanks again for everything you're doing to support Jerry.
EDJ
McNerney for Congress
Oh, and don't forget to contribute to Jerry at the...
SAY NO TO POMBO Act Blue Page
I'm throwing in 25 bones here at the last minute before DWT's deadline. I'm not a big fan of Eric Clapton but I can go for Robert Johnson ;-)
EDJ
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