Elections - RSS Feed

Candidate Forum, Special Election for At-Large City Council

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:35:16 -0700

Last week, we attended a candidate forum for candidates in the special election for Washington, DC's At-Large City Council. We were hosted by DC for Democracy, Greater Greater Washington, and the DC Environmental Network. This event was streamed live and you can watch the entire recording of that livefeed here. Below, you will find videos broken out by question. We have posted every question that was asked, in the order it was asked. Enjoy!

Sen Feingold Accepts 23,000 Thank You Cards From DFA

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 16:29:44 -0700

I was honored today to join folks from DC for Democracy, the local Democracy for America affiliate, to personally deliver over 23,000 thank you notes to Senator Russ Feingold. Shortly after the the 2010 election, Jim Dean asked DFA members from all across the country to send the Senator messages of appreciation. In an email to all members, he wrote:

We lost a lot of bold leaders on Tuesday, but Senator Russ Feingold is in a class all his own.

He is one of the great heroes of the progressive movement -- standing up and fighting for the people of his state and Americans across the country time and again -- often when no one else had the courage to lead.

When other Democrats in Washington capitulated to President Bush and supported the war in Iraq, Senator Feingold stood up and voted against war. Two years later, he became the first Senator to call a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

When the Bush administration pushed the Patriot Act on Congress, Senator Feingold was the only person is the Senate to recognize the bill as an attack on American civil liberties and vote "No."

And when unlimited and unregulated "soft money" threatened to overwhelm our political system, Senator Feingold authored and passed into law the most powerful campaign finance reform in history.

Senator Feingold has always been there for us. Please, join me in writing Senator Feingold a short thank you message for all the work he's done for us over the years.

We met up at Senator Feingold's campaign office, a short walk from Union Station, and waited patiently for the Senator to get back from voting on the START Treaty. The staff asked me not to film the meeting so they could have a casual conversation, but I did get the opportunity to catch the DC4D folks at Senator Feingold's office getting their first look at the tens of thousands of thank you messages:

Sumofchange - DFA Thanks Sen Feingold

In our meeting, the Senator told us he is looking forward to the coming fights and while his role will change we should expect him to continue to lead on any number of issues.

Thank you, Senator, for your years of service, courage, and integrity. To everyone who wrote a thank you message, I wish you could have seen the look on his face when we presented them to him. Know that he appreciates it.

[UPDATE w/ video] Origin of Fake Election-Night Robo-Calls Confirmed

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:29:24 -0600

Last Tuesday, election day, some voters in Maryland were listening to a robo-call telling them that "Governor O'Malley and President Obama have been successful. Our goals have been met." That evening, we received a recording of the call in question, which you can hear for yourself:

In Maryland, Eyes Turn to PG County

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:16:04 -0600

Governor Martin O'Malley, "We move forward, not back"

UPPER MARLBORO: Democrats in Maryland have directed a lot of their GOTV efforts this election cycle towards Prince George's County, an area that President Obama carried with almost 89% of the vote in 2008. Several Democratic candidates, including Governor O'Malley, held a rally in Upper Marlboro late Monday night, making one final push in PG County to urge supporters to vote and volunteer.

Democrats Rally in Silver Spring to Early Vote

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:13:42 -0600

SILVER SPRING: Hundreds of people came out for a rally with Democratic candidates in Silver Spring Maryland on Saturday outside one of the early voting centers. This is only the second time that voters in Maryland have had the chance to exercise early voting (the first was this recent primary), and party leaders are focusing large portions of GOTV efforts on educating voters about the new process and getting supporters to cast their ballot early.

And initial turnout numbers indicate that these efforts are working out for the Democrats. Over 55,000 votes have already come in. Prince George's County, one of the most Democratic counties in the state, is showing strong relative turnout.

We spoke with Susie Turnbull, the Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, and Congresswoman Donna Edwards from Maryland's 4th District, just after the rally. Both Turnbull and Edwards told us that they expect turnout to increase because of early voting and urged people not to wait until election day to fill out a ballot.

When I asked Mrs. Turnbull whether or not early voting benefits Democrats more than Republicans, a common theory, she replied, "Early voting benefits all Maryland voters."

Congresswoman Edwards and I also spoke briefly about the Citizens United ruling, a topic we discussed over the summer at Netroots Nation as well. I asked her if she still has hope that Congress will take action to curb political spending on elections. The Congresswoman Edwards has sponsored a Constitutional Amendment to give government the right to restrict corporate, political spending. She told me that in the 2010 election cycle "We're seeing the effects of this decision."

So far, the Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads have each spent over $20 million on elections, almost exclusively to help Republicans, from anonymous contributors.

To find information on voting early in Maryland, please visit Maryland State Board of Elections website.

[UPDATE] MD Early Voting: Enthusiasm Gap Favoring Democrats?

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:39:16 -0600

[UPDATE 10/23]: Turnout numbers coming in today continue along these trends. Prince George's County (which Obama won with almost 89% of the vote) continues to demonstrate strong relative turnout.

Early voting in Maryland, new for the state, started this morning. The numbers we are seeing so far bode well for Democrats. We have received reports of 20 minutes lines in Bowie (second highest turnout in Prince George's County so far) and poll workers in Rockville tell us it has been busier than they expected.

I just got off the phone with a few of the County Boards of Elections, and the initial numbers confirm these reports. If you compare Prince George's County, one of the most pro-Obama counties in '08, with Carroll County, one of the most pro-McCain in '08, you can see what I mean.

Total votes as of 2:00pm today
Prince George's: 2,738
Carroll: 379

Carroll County votes come in at 13.8% of the total votes cast in Prince George's country. In other words, nearly 9 times as many people have voted in PG County as in Carroll. But PG is expected to have higher turnout, so it helps to look at how the two Counties compared in the 2008 election.

Total votes cast in 2008
Prince George's: 363,249
Carroll: 94,127

In 2008, Carroll County votes were equal to 25.9% of the total votes in PG County. That's almost 4 times as many people voting in PG as in Carroll, not nearly as impressive as the almost 9 times as many people voting in PG as Carroll this morning and afternoon.

As of right now, Democrats in Maryland appear to be on track to perform well in the 2010 elections, outperforming comparable results for the 2008 elections. There are plenty of days left for these numbers to change, but it would seem that if there is an enthusiasm gap in Maryland, it may be favoring the Democrats.

There's Pandering, And There's This

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:53:25 -0600

Representative James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, while on the Tom Joyner's show said, "Reelect me, keep Democrats on the field. And when we come back next year, maybe we will get to the public option."

Hail mary!!!

Please stop. Please stop treating us like imbeciles. No one in their right mind thinks the public option is getting passed next year, regardless of the outcome this November.

Yet, Rep. Clyburn expects us to believe that, although they could not muster the political will necessary to pass the public option with an almost super majority, they will pass it with slim majorities. I have a few questions for our House Majority Whip. If you succeed in passing the public option in the House, how on earth do you expect to overcome a filibuster in the Senate? Maybe the question I should be asking is, how on earth do you expect to get 51 votes for the public option in the Senate? Last I checked the progressive whip counts (last winter), we had 51 votes in the Senate, at most. So, House Majority Whip, how do you propose to pass the public option if Democrats retain the House and Senate with smaller majorities?

The simple truth is this: Congressman Clyburn knows full well that any hope of passing a public option next year is unfounded. This is a rather lame attempt to get progressives to the polls by misleading them. Sir, the time to campaign on the public option is passed. We gave you the largest majorities the House and Senate has seen in some time and you failed to pass the public option. That hurt. We felt that loss. It is, simply, insulting for you to throw that at us weeks before an election when you know full well that it is a pipe dream at best.

If you want our votes, treat us with some respect. Give us the honest truth about what you will do and why it is better than what your opponent will do.

Trumka on Enthusiasm Gap: Democrats Are "Absolutely" Overcoming It

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:30:39 -0600

At the One Nation Working Together rally on October 2nd, I got the chance to talk with Richard Trumka, the President of the AFL-CIO, about the upcoming elections and the enthusiasm gap. Mr. Trumka claims that the Democrats are "Absolutely" going to overcome the enthusiasm gap. He goes on to say that union members stood with the Democrats in 2008 and will do so again this year.

When asked what message he has for discouraged voters who feel there has not been enough progress, Trumka blamed the pace of progress on a "determined Republican opposition to stop everything... They told you what they'll do if they get elected. They'll take us back to when the time Wall St and corporate America ruled America and controlled the agenda. They told you that they'll raise the age of retirement and social security. There will be no more jobs legislation. There will be no more unemployment extension. We have to keep the progress going that we started."

You can watch my entire interaction with Trumka:

CA-GOV: Whitman Wants to Have Her Pie and Deport the Cook (Or Not?)

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:32:26 -0600

When Meg Whitman was asked about recent reports that she had employed an illegal immigrant and may or may not have been aware of that status, she reacted sharply:

"Jerry, you should be ashamed," Whitman said. "You and your surrogates put her deportation at risk. You put her out there. You should be ashamed for sacrificing Nicky Diaz on the altar of your political ambitions."

She went on to ask what she should have done, if she should have called INS and had Nicky Diaz deported.

What Whitman fails to recognize, is the gaping hole in anti-immigrant philosophy that she highlights in that question: that anti-immigrant advocates a never in favor of going after the people who hire illegals.

We must not go after the well-to-do, white Americans that hire illegal immigrants, they are just doing the best they can. But those down-right mean immigrants coming here and taking the jobs being offered to them should be deported by any means necessary, even if it means splitting families and endangering children.

To answer Whitman's question (should she have had Diaz deported?), well, no, I don't believe that way, but doesn't she? Isn't that exactly the position of the GOP and their candidate? If not, I am confused. I thought they were against illegal immigrants taking jobs from Americans?

90 Second Summaries

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:59:23 -0600

A while back, a couple of us here at Sum of Change got involved in meetings with a great group of folks about working together to provide insider reporting of Capitol Hill with an outsider perspective. In time, we became Main Street Insider. Today, Main Street Insider released a new show, 90 Second Summaries.

The purpose of 90 Second Summaries is simple, provide citizens on Main Street with a quick synopsis of what a bill is all about. The first three episodes come out today, tomorrow and Thursday, with new ones every following Monday. Each video comes with a one-page summary (which you can view online or download as a pdf) containing everything you will need to learn even more about any piece of legislation.

Without further ado, presenting Season 1, Episode 1: H.R. 4790, Shareholder Protection Act

The following is cross-posted from Main Street Insider: