Elections

ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/bright/pnum448.php

Jean Hay Bright, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, has been campaigning on a pro-peace, anti-war platform for more than a year, but has been ignored by the media and the Washington Beltway crowd because she's opposing Olympia Snowe, who despite being one of the most pro-war, hawkish senators in Washington has been able to FOOL the media and the public by claiming she's a moderate.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of the Voters for Peace Pledge
United for Peace and Justice | http://www.unitedforpeace.org

Congress has the power to cut off funding for the Iraq war. If we want to end the war, the peace movement must make Congress a key target of our pressure. The 2006 mid-term Congressional elections give us the opportunity to exercise increased leverage over all Congressional candidates, be they incumbents or challengers.

By William Rivers Pitt, Progressive Democrats of America
www.pdamerica.org

There are three Senate races taking place today that may come to swing the Senate back to Democratic control, and Progressive Democrats of America is right in the middle of all of them. Sherrod Brown is running against Republican Mike DeWine in Ohio, Jonathan Tasini is putting forth a primary challenge against Democrat Hillary Clinton in New York; and Kweisi Mfume is challenging Democrat Ben Cardin for Maryland's open Senate seat. Each of these candidates carries with them a compelling story.

An emergency public meeting

HOW TO GET OUT OF IRAQ...
AND WHY ATTACKING IRAN WOULD BE REALLY DUMB

Featuring two intelligence experts (who happen to be New Yorkers)

SCOTT RITTER
Former U.N. Weapons Inspector

and

RAY McGOVERN
Former Senior CIA Analyst (27-year veteran)

With observations by

JEFF COHEN
Author of “Cable News Confidential” and the founder of FAIR

and

By BRIAN COOK
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2784/

To illustrate how human consciousness cannot be understood solely through observable behavior, cognitive scientists came up with a thought experiment known as the “zombie problem.” They defined a zombie as a mindless drone, a mere automaton, but one that behaves in ways completely indistinguishable from other sentient human beings. As philosopher Daniel Dennett put the problem rather chillingly, “Since [external behavior] is all we get to see of our friends and neighbors, some of your best friends may be zombies.”

By David Sirota

Eric Alterman writes that "one the country's most significant problems is the stupidity of our political discourse." He says "It's not just inconvenient and annoying; it interferes without our ability to address our problems and allows thugs to get away with metaphorical murder." He's absolutely right - and one of the things that really bothers me are the definitions used to describe political positions - definitions that progressives themselves repeat, even though they imply dishonest storylines about the progressive movement.

By Hotline

Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA 08) is one of the first GOPers to publicly and sharply criticize Pres. Bush's handling of the Iraq war. In a mailer sent to Bucks County voters, Fitzpatrick called the admin's "stay the course" strategy "extreme" while also criticizing Iraq war vet Patrick Murphy's (D) "cut and run" proposals.

-- While several members (Gil Gutknecht, Jo Ann Davis) have criticized the president's handling of Iraq, Fitzpatrick went one step further. The mailer's headline, "America Needs a Better, Smarter Plan in Iraq," could come straight from the DCCC. His comments will likely provide Dems ammo against more steadfast supporters of Bush on Iraq.

By Jim VandeHei
http://www.washingtonpost.com

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. -- When it comes to President Bush and the Republican Congress, Rep. Jim Gerlach says voters in his suburban Philadelphia district are in a "sour mood."

That's why when it comes to his reelection, the two-term incumbent says "the name of the game" is to convince those same voters that he can be independent of his own party. He has turned his standard line about Bush -- "When I think he's wrong, I let him know" -- into a virtual campaign slogan, repeated in interviews and TV ads.

By Norman Solomon, www.huffingtonpost.com

The leading pro-war Democrat in the Senate is hoping for a landslide in the New York primary next month. And unless progressives quickly mobilize to dent her vote total, she’s likely to get it.

Hillary Clinton, of course, intends to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2008. But first there’s her quest to win big for reelection.

If antiwar voters cut into Clinton’s percentage in the primary on Sept. 12, despite overwhelming media visibility and a massive campaign war chest, her momentum would take a hit.

Woo-hoo-hoo!
By ROBERT L. BOROSAGE
Special to the Star-Telegram, TX

Ned Lamont's stunning upset of incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary has sent shock waves through the dead sea of American politics.
Lamont did the impossible: This virtual unknown beat an 18-year incumbent with universal name recognition, a $12 million campaign war chest and the support of Washington insiders, the punditry and the corporate lobbies.

Primary win could affect other races
By Fred Lucas, The Danbury News-Times, CT

The tremors sent through the political landscape last Tuesday will have big aftershocks in November, experts say.

That's not just on the three-way Senate race in Connecticut, but also on three high-stakes U.S. House races in the state.

Meanwhile, some political observers fear last week's election result is further evidence that moderates are becoming endangered in Washington.

Lamont win spurs Dunkelbarger
By Robert Preer, Bosaton Globe

The day after Ned Lamont's victory over US Senator Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary, Philip Dunkelbarger hit the campaign trail in Massachusetts' Ninth Congressional District with a simple message.

``People are making a very clear statement to Democrats who may have been complicit in this disaster in Iraq," Dunkelbarger told a group of residents of the Orchard Cove senior retirement community in Canton Wednesday morning. ``Yesterday was Lamont-Lieberman. Today starts Dunkelbarger-Lynch."

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Republicans determined to win in November are up against a troublesome trend: growing opposition to President Bush.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted Aug. 7-9 found that the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May. His handling of nearly every issue, from the Iraq war to foreign policy, contributed to the president's approval decline around the nation, even in the Republican-friendly South.

The Rhode Island Chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), has endorsed Carl Sheeler, a former Marine, business owner and father of five who is running for U.S. Senate (D-RI) on socially progressive, fiscally responsible policies. Carl's "family, faith and flag" platform includes strong troop withdrawal and executive branch accountability initiatives stressing common sense and allegiance to our Constitution.

By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Republicans determined to win in November are up against a troublesome trend — growing opposition to President Bush.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted this week found the president's approval rating has dropped to 33 percent, matching his low in May. His handling of nearly every issue, from the Iraq war to foreign policy, contributed to the president's decline around the nation, even in the Republican-friendly South.

PLAY

By Matthew Rothschild

Yes, Ned Lamont’s victory over Joe Lieberman was a referendum on the Iraq War.

It signals that Democrats will not abide by politicians who front for this war, especially in the shameless way that Lieberman did.

It signals the demise of the DLC and the loosening of the stranglehold that the pundits, the strategists, and the $2,000 contributors used to have on the nominating process.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Content=174

MILWAUKEE -- Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold knocked the centrist Democratic Leadership Council today, saying its strategy of hoping to win by being “a little different than Republicans” hasn’t worked. He also accused the group's adherents of instilling fear in Democrats who oppose the war.

“They are the ones that coalesced with the big corporations to pass unfair trade agreements that hurt America,” Feingold said. “It was the DLC that came up with the health care plan with the Clintons that was so complicated nobody could understand it. It’s the DLC that has cut off our ability to say things like, ‘Let’s get out of Iraq because it’s a bad idea.’”

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 8/9/06) - CAIR is calling on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact Georgia congressional candidate Hank Johnson and ask that he meet with American Muslim and Arab-American leaders to discuss his recent remarks implying that all voters with Arabic names may be "terrorists."

In a televised debate with Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Johnson said: "...But since we're talking about Middle East policy I will say that the abundant number of contributors to Mrs. McKinney's campaign are, have Palestinian and Arab surnames, now I could accuse her of being under the control of terrorists." Johnson won Tuesday's runoff for Georgia's Fourth Congressional District.

By Carl Sheeler

Some say copying good ideas is the sincerest form of flattery. And, in a matter of thinking it can be. In politics it's almost a trademark by a front-runner who has garnered the media's attention. It effectively neutralizes the momentum innovation can produce by an opponent.

In July 2005, our campaign took one of the first public anti-war positions in the nation with a clear exit strategy associated with the Iraqi's voting on their Constitution and government. It foresaw the sectarian violence of Civil War and the possible remedy of creating several nation states instead of a consolidated Iraq. The goal now, as it was then, is to limit loss of life in a war built on a series of lies. Over 80% of those who have been combat veterans (VFW) oppose the Iraq war and our campaign's position was mailed to over 7,000 veterans' households to seek an expression of support and catalyze better ideas for withdrawal.

By William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | www.truthout.org

At 8:52 p.m. on Tuesday night, the report came in that Senator Joseph Lieberman had lost his home precinct in the Connecticut primary. Just after 9:00 p.m., the talking heads on Fox News began telling their viewers that Lieberman was finished. Just after 11:00 p.m., Lieberman stepped to the podium to congratulate Ned Lamont on his victory. Lieberman, with this loss, became only the fourth incumbent Senator in all of American history to be beaten in a primary.

By Susan Milligan, Boston Globe

WASHINGTON -- In October 2002, lawmakers in Congress were presented with a preelection test about where they stood on Iraq, and most answered it by siding with President Bush, voting to authorize his use of force against Saddam Hussein and promising an anxious electorate that they would be protected against a potential threat from Iraq.

Four years later, with nearly 2,600 US soldiers dead and no trace of the weapons of mass destruction that the White House said Hussein possessed, it is the Iraq war hawks who are on the defensive, ahead of midterm congressional elections that could tip the balance of power in one or both houses of Congress.

By Mark Hull-Richter

Where was the DNC and the DCCC and why did they allow the Republicans to fix Georgia's Democratic runoff and give a Republican-backed candidate the victory? Shame on Rahm Emanuel, Howard Dean and Jeanette Millender-McDonald for sitting by and taking no action as the complaints came in from voters and Democrats who tried to stop the tampering and received no assistance from their own party. Acquiescence is complicity. Anyone feel like contributing to the DNC tonight?

NEW YORK, NY: Jonathan Tasini, Democratic Senate candidate, released the following statement on the election in Connecticut:

“I want to congratulate Ned Lamont on his victory and I applaud Connecticut Democrats for standing up and declaring with a loud voice that Democratic Party politicians who vote for illegal, immoral wars will be held accountable at the ballot box. Now, New York Democratic voters have a chance to move our party another giant step towards a progressive agenda that will save lives, end the war and benefit hard-working Americans.”

By Jon Lender, Elizabeth Hamilton and David Owens, Hartford Courant

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman conceded defeat just after 11 p.m. in the bitter Connecticut primary.

But Lieberman pledged to continue his candidacy as an independent in the general election in November.

"Incidentally, we are gonna go," Lieberman told supporters shortly after stepping to a podium at the Hartford Hilton Tuesday night.

By David Sirota

At the end of every good horror movie, when the hero seems finally to have vanquished the enemy, there is always that last moment where the enemy, lying lifeless on the floor, finds a last gasp to fire off one final round, usually dealing a fatal blow to one of the good guys. In the incredible story that concluded tonight in Connecticut, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Ned Lamont was the successful hero, representing the hopes and dreams or ordinary citizens by mounting a truly grassroots campaign against Joe Lieberman's massive warchest of corporate cash and universal support from Washington, D.C.'s cabal of lobbyists, pundits and insiders. Yet, in his last coughing gasps, Lieberman is now saying he will, in fact, fire off that last spiteful round - right into the gut of the Democratic Party.

By Bob Fertik, http://www.democrats.com/node/9677

. ---- --- # --- --- %
Lamont --- 89,814 --- 52%
Lieberman --- 84,231 --- 48%

484 of 748 precincts (64%)

It's a nail biter...

FOX News says Lieberman will definitely run as an Independent if he loses tonight. They obviously haven't asked Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Max Cleland, or any of Lieberman's other Democratic supporters - all of whom will embrace Ned Lamont tomorrow and tell Lieberman to leave politics with class, not as a Sore Loserman.

By Bob Geiger, http://www.democrats.com/node/9676

You could cut the excitement with a knife when the Reverend Jesse Jackson walked into the media room for a press conference a few minutes ago. Don’t have time to write much about it right now but here's some good quotes from Jackson:

"Many Democrats have faked Left and then voted Right. With the deepening crisis, too many Democrats are hedging their bets and Ned Lamont offers another direction."

By John Whitesides, Reuter

HARTFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman trailed in early returns on Tuesday in a Democratic Party showdown that focused on the former vice presidential candidate's support for the Iraq war and President George W. Bush.

Lieberman, a three-term senator, scrambled to avoid a humiliating Democratic primary defeat at the hands of Ned Lamont, a relative unknown who had called the senator a cheerleader for Bush and urged voters to send an anti-war message to the country.