Howie Klein will be leading a chat with Pennsylvania's Daylin Leach over at Blue America.

Come join us to talk with a strong progressive we need to have in Congress. To be clear, the chat will take place on this Blue America post, not in the comments below.

Feel free to ask him questions on gun safety regulations, the GOP obstructionism, the War on Women and all the other issues facing us.

Editor's note: Daylin is not only a great progressive, he's funny! Go ask him some questions!

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People who know me best know I have a VERY low threshold for tolerating B.S.. So when the boss (and several others) here at C&L started complaining two days after the election that "President Obama needs to change if Democrats are going to win again in 2016", even though it is probably never a good idea to argue with the boss, I took umbrage.

After being told for six months how close the race was, turns out, No. No it wasn't. How big of a win was it? In the end, it wasn't even close. President Obama won BOTH the Electoral College AND the Popular Vote... and not just by a little, but by A LOT... 126 Electoral votes and nearly 3 Million in the Popular Vote (though I'm of the opinion that "just because we won doesn't mean millions weren't disenfranchised." Expect to hear more from me on that in the coming days.)

Republicans think if they keep telling us "this is a Center-Right nation", eventually it'll be true. But 2006, 2008 & 2012 clearly show just the opposite. America is FAR more Progressive than you'd ever know watching the MSM.

Here is just a partial rundown of Progressive victories Tuesday night:

• Obama re-elected, winning every swing state (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and Virgina.)
• Democrats gain seats in both the House (preliminary: +6) & Senate (+2 from 51+2 to 53+2 Inde.), retaining control of the Senate. We had 23 incumbent Senate seats to defend while Republicans only had to defend 10. Not only did we (nearly) SWEEP all but one of 23 Democratic races (Bob Kerrey did not hold Bill Nelson's NE seat), but we picked up two more (UPDATE: The AZ race is back in play).
• Maryland, Maine, and Washington all voted FOR Marriage Equality. Minnesota upheld their existing law.
• Iowa judge David Wiggins who upheld Marriage Equality in his state won reelection despite a concentrated effort to unseat him.
• Sherrod Brown retained his Senate seat despite being the most heavily targeted Democratic Senator in the country by the Right Wing SuperPAC's.
• Wisconsin elected the nations' first openly gay Senator, Tammy Baldwin.
• Tammy Duckworth took out "deadbeat dad" and all-around super-douchbag Joe Walsh.
• Washington State & Colorado decriminalized recreational Marijuana. Massachusetts passes a law allowing medical Marijuana.
• Democrats win Senate seats in deep red North Dakota & West Virginia (Heidi Heitkamp & Joe Manchin.)
• Swing state New Hampshire elects women to EVERY seat (Both Senate and both House seats).
• The "Redefine Rape" guys, Todd Akin, Roscoe Bartlett & Richard Mourdock all lost... BIG. (side note: Akin & Bartlet were also both on the House Science Committee. No joke.)
• Allen West is out (but not gracefully).
• Alan Grayson is back in.
• Most women in Senate EVER (18 20).
• Missouri, Montana, West Virginia elected Democratic governors.
• Obama becomes first Democrat since FDR to win two elections with more than 50% of the popular vote.
• Obama won 70% of the Jewish vote despite all the fear-mongering over Israel.
• Obama won 73% of the Asian vote.
• Obama won 71% of the Latino vote.
• Democrats have won the popular vote in 5 of the past 6 presidential elections (2004 being the outlier.)

(Arguably, I think Michele Bachmann's reelection helps too, if for no other reason but to keep an active reminder of just how Looney Tunes the Far Right is. Basically, a backup wingnut. Had they of ALL lost, it would be much easier for voters to forget by 2016 just how crazy they are.)

Republicans just didn't see it coming. Never straying outside the comfortable confines of their Bubble, when the final result in Ohio came down, Republicans were quite literally in total disbelief. "How could it be? How could this country re-elect a Kenyan Muslim Socialist Atheist that goes around apologizing for America to a second term?" Fox News questioned the Ohio result when first announced and refused to concede the race, which is the likely reason behind Governor Romney's own delay before finally conceding two hours later. Let us all hope that a significant number of Republicans will question everything the Right Wing Media tells them next time around.

Things we WON'T have to worry about now? Rachel had an excellent rundown the next night (more video below the fold):

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While Mitt Romney continues to dash the hopes of all but the most stalwart conservatives, the Senate is slipping from Republicans' grasp, state by state, drip by drip. Nate Silver has the latest:

An unusually large number of Senate races remain competitive, meaning that a wide range of outcomes are still possible. Republicans have about a 10 percent chance of winning a net of at least six seats from Democrats, according to the forecast, which would give them control of at least 53 seats next year. However, there is also about a 20 percent chance that Democrats could actually gain Senate seats on balance, giving them at least 54. The only thing that seems completely assured is that neither party will control enough seats next year to hold a filibuster-proof majority.

But the odds of a favorable overall outcome for Democrats have increased in recent weeks. The forecast model now gives them a 70 percent chance of controlling the chamber, either by having at least 50 seats and the presidency, or 51 without it.

As Elizabeth Warren's odds get better, Todd Akin's are falling farther and farther short. Just yesterday his wife likened the GOP abandonment of her husband's candidacy to -- wait for it -- rape.

Continue reading »

Guitar lovers, Green Day fans, Alan Grayson supporters, eBay investors... have until midnight tonight (any U.S. time zone) to get in a last minute contribution to Alan Grayson's campaign and be eligible to wind up with the beautiful blue and white Squier stratocaster that was autographed by all three members of Green Day.

Friday morning we'll announce to whom Blue America randomly selected to give the guitar. Alan's final e-mail on the subject Monday night was pretty funny... and what an honor for me personally.

But what this is all about is neither Green Day, the guitar nor me. It's about getting Alan Grayson, one of the most effective leaders progressives have had in my lifetime, back into Congress. (And I'm old.)

We want Alan in Congress for a lot of reasons, and it's not just because he can be counted on as "a good vote on progressive issues." Much more valuable than that is Alan's ability to figure out how to approach problems and come up with solutions, his abilities as a galvanizing leader and his unshakable integrity.

There's an incredible behind-the-scenes cat fight going on in the Democratic House caucus to determine who will be the next leader-- and perhaps Speaker-- after Nancy Pelosi retires, something her daughter flatly stated would be soon. The prospects are horrifying. All the most corrupt hacks vomited up from the bowels of empty, cash-driven power politics think it's their turn: Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Steve Israel, Joe Crowley.

This is the bottom of the barrel, not just of the Democratic Party, but of our whole model of national politics-- an ugly dead end. Is there a giant progressive leader waiting in the wings, building power the way Pelosi did? Not that I've noticed. Is there even someone grassroots Democrats would rally behind?

That's why I was happy to contribute one of my most prized mementos of my years at Warner Bros, the beautiful signed Green Day guitar that the band gave me as a retirement present. I want to see Alan Grayson back in Congress-- and back in Congress with a safe seat this time like the Florida legislature drew him in the Orlando area. So, like I said... you have until midnight your time. Any amount gets you a chance at the guitar. And any amount gets our country a chance at leadership that isn't based on grotesque corruption and the art of a**-kissing.

We usually have our live chats with Blue America candidates on Tuesdays at 11am (PT)/2pm (ET). But our newest candidate, Dr. Syed Taj, sees patients on Tuesdays and he asked if we could move the chat to Wednesday. I think that's a good reason to move the chat-- so, we'll be meeting Dr. Taj live tomorrow here, same time.

Dr. Taj's Michigan district is the newly drawn 11th, covering southwestern Oakland and northwestern Wayne counties. He’s spent 40-plus years in the medical field, working his way up to Chief of Medicine at Oakwood Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, and in 2008 became a rare Democrat elected to the Canton Board of Trustees. You might know the 11th district from the electoral scandal that led to former Congressman and failed-Presidential candidate Thaddeus McCotter’s resignation earlier this year. This leaves taxpayers on the hook for a $650,000 special election to fill his remaining term, which Dr. Taj has opposed and will not participate in.

With the open seat, Dr. Taj has a more than favorable chance to win. His opponent is Kerry Bentivolio, reindeer rancher, failed business owner and part-time actor who has never held elected office. He has strong ties to libertarian financiers and Tea Party activists but has been ostracized by the Republican Party establishment, having taken large donations from Liberty for All Super PAC, affiliated with Ron Paul. Bentivolio sells his candidacy on the belief that America’s greatest achievements were gross infringements of government that are bankrupting our nation, all while lauding the tax giveaways for the rich that left us in this mess in the first place. Although he never balanced a budget, he did bankrupt a company but Bentivolio claims to know how best to address our federal deficit. With student loans, tax reform, the environment, energy, education and health care, he supports the Ron Paul, everyone-for-themselves prescription. These are dangerous Tea Party talking points, not real solutions.

Dr. Taj likes his chances and knows that, with the right help, Democrats can take back a district once designed to be a Republican stronghold. “I’m running to bring sanity and reason back to our political process,” he tells us.

“As a physician and small business owner, I know how the medical and financial sides of our health care system actually work. This experience has taught me how to treat the symptoms of a problem and when to treat the actual problem. My number one priority in Congress is to protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as we know it because these are public trusts, not merely entitlements. We need proactive leadership in Congress, not more of the same obstructionism that’s left faith in public institutions at historic lows.”

This is a guy who knows his stuff, and people across Michigan are taking notice. The Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Observer and Eccentric Newspapers, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), the Michigan Nurses Association, the American Federation of Teachers, among others, have endorsed him. Dr. Taj is enthusiastic about his campaign and with good reason: as well as President Obama, Senator Carl Levin would also have won in the new district in 2008, making it not as conservative as people have come to believe.

Coming off a clear primary victory against a lunatic LaRouche Democrat in August 7, Democrats' first task is presenting voters with the stark choice they face in November: Bentivolio, a Ron Paul minion and star of a low-budget conspiracy film that blamed the Bush administration for 9/11; or Dr. Syed Taj, a distinguished physician, public servant and proven champion of the progressive movement with fantastic ideas to bring to the table. Health care is much more than a consumer good or service, which is why we need real medical professionals in Congress to write healthcare legislation, not lawyers or career politicians.

Dr. Taj can win this race, but he needs our help. Please consider helping his campaign and Blue America prevent another Tea Party, right wing extremist from shutting down Congress by contributing here on our Act Blue page. And come meet Dr. Taj tomorrow at 2pm (ET) at here at CrooksandLiars.

On Friday we explained a Facebook ad campaign Blue America embarked on to remind 18-26 year olds in 8 congressional districts that their congressmembers voted to kick them off their parents' health insurance plan-- and without even caring enough to come up with an alternative for their healthcare. As of this morning there had been over 3 million impressions in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, California, North Carolina, Florida and New York, where our targets are, respectively, Paul Ryan, Frank Guinta & Charlie Bass, Buck McKeon, Patrick McHenry, John Mica & Sandy Adams, and Tom Reed-- 8 dirtbags. Have you been to our DefeatDirtBags page?

I'll tell you why I want you to take a look at it. We turned the whole ad campaign into a kind of competition. And you pick the winner. Each of the opponents to the anti-healthcare dirtbags is getting a week of free Facebook ads from Blue America. But we want to give one of the campaigns a full month of ads. You tell us who-- Patsy Keever (NC-10), Ann Kuster (NH-2), Lee Rogers (CA-25), Nick Ruiz (FL-7), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1), Nate Shinagawa (NY-23) or Rob Zerban (WI-1). And the way to vote is by contributing-- any amount, even just one dollar-- to the candidate of your choice on this page. And you can vote as many times as you'd like-- and tell you're friends to vote too. No ID required!

Will this change America? These are 7 independent-minded grassroots progressives, none of whom owe squat to the corrupt Inside-the-Beltway party establishments. Electing men and women like these is probably the only peaceful way to change America. Electing more Republicans or more corrupt DCCC party hacks isn't going to change a thing. Let's make sure when we replace Boehner as Speaker, it isn't to install something almost as bad-- at least in terms of corruption-- like Hoyer, Israel or Wasserman-Schultz. Remember, this guy, despite what Issa's report says about him taking bribes from Countrywide, is being protected by the Beltway Establishment (especially Issa) of both corrupt political parties:

Every once in a while a righteous cause rises to the surface of our political consciousness at the very moment the right politician is ready to lead it. It doesn't happen very often, but it's happening right now. That cause is the fight against the national right wing assault on women, and the leader is Darcy Burner, running for congress in the newly drawn WA-01.

A week ago, at the Netroots Nation, Darcy gave a rousing Keynote speech to several thousand attendees. She presented them with a plan for progressive power and asked that women, in particular, empower themselves and inspire those around them to do the same. She reminded the crowd that 1/3 of all adult women will have an abortion in their lifetimes.

Then she asked all the women in the audience who'd had abortions to stand. And they did. One by one at first, and finally all at once, women throughout that huge crowd stood up. That's not an easy thing to do in this culture, even among friends. The right has made it a dishonorable, solitary act, borne in silence, subject to fear and social stigma.

So Darcy took the next step: she asked all of those who supported those women to stand up. Everyone in the room came to their feet. There was no sustained applause and no celebration, just a simple public acknowledgement of solidarity and sincere support for the women in all of our lives who have made this choice. I've never seen anything like that.

To me is the essence of leadership --- a candidate for office taking a stand on one of the most contentious issues of our time, reminding the people of what they have in common, empowering those who need to be empowered and asking for solidarity from their friends and neighbors. That's what Darcy does. That's why we need her fighting for us in Congress.

Naturally, she is being vilified for it, which I'm sure she expected from the retrograde right wing. But I doubt that she expected it from her so-called progressive primary opponents who are staging a whisper campaign in the district as well, alleging that she led "cheers" for abortion and portraying her as an extremist for illustrating that abortion is not a disgraceful choice made by a small number of irresponsible women but rather a common, everyday part of the lives of our mothers, daughters, friends and wives. The local press is eating it up.

Darcy is a leader on many issues, from the war in Afghanistan to economic fairness. But on this, she has done something that no other Democrat has done --- she has attempted to redefine the battle lines on women's reproductive rights. And until the Democratic Party follows her lead, women's rights will continue to be whittled away in bits and pieces all over the country until one day we will find that more than 50 million of our people will have been denied the right to decide their own futures, take care of their families and otherwise be full and equal citizens.

Please donate what you can to her campaign.

If we let them destroy her, it will send a message to all other progressive politicians that they must not challenge the prevailing, cowardly orthodoxy on abortion rights.

Please welcome Darcy Burner to Blue America.

No Blue America live chat this week. We'll be back next week with Trevor Thomas, the progressive pro-Choice candidate running in MI-3. This week, though, we want to tell you about Blue America's new Independent Expenditures Committee. You can find it here and, unlike our other ActBlue pages, it isn't raising money for candidates. Instead it's raising money for actions-- like TV and radio ads and billboards and get out the vote efforts. First goal-- making sure voters in WI-1 know there's an actual alternative to Paul Ryan this year.

We started complaining that DC Democrats were giving Paul Ryan an easy pass even before Rahm Emanuel first took over the DCCC. The DCCC never-- and I mean never-- does anything to defeat Ryan in his own district. They talk smack about him everywhere in America-- same as they do with Boehner and Cantor-- but they never challenge any of these galoots in the one place where it really counts: back home. And even if you could say that Boehner's district and Catnor's district are two red to bother with-- McCain won Boehner's district with 60% and won in Cantor's with 53%-- you sure can't say that about Ryan's. A traditionally Democratic district, Obama beat McCain 51-48%. The only role the DCCC has played in WI-1 is to help a series of unelectable sad cases win the primaries against progressives-- and then disappear from the scene.

It didn't get any better when Chris Van Hollen took over the DCCC and, so far, it's about par for the course with Steve Israel's DCCC. The one change is that a viable, progressive candidate, Rob Zerban, actually got the nomination without a DCCC-backed primary opponent. There's ever a rumor that they may put him on their Red-to-Blue program. Unfortunately a wealthy Democratic donor told me that when she asked Israel if it was OK to throw a fundraiser for Rob, he immediately nixed the idea.

So far the DCCC has put up one pathetic, generic billboard-- the same one they're putting up in various places around the country. They put it where it will get no visibility-- and in a traditionally Democratic area-- and they neglected to even put Zerban's name on it-- since name ID at this point is the single most important factor for him in the race. And who's that guy? How lame are these people who waste tens of millions of dollars every year and lose to the even lamer Republicans?

Help us put up a billboard that means something and will be seen by people in the district. We have to show the DCCC how it's done. I wonder if they're realize why we put Zerban's name on the board-- and why we used a woman instead of a man. There is no winnable race more important than knocking off Wall Street and Insurance Industry darling Paul Ryan. And Zerban is the man who can do it. In fact, there's only one way to beat Paul Ryan-- and that's to elect Rob Zerban. We're lucky we have such a good candidate running and that the DCCC didn't slip in some corporate shill or anti-Choice Blue Dog. If the DCCC won't help, let's pitch in ourselves. And if you know anyone wealthy... there are no limits to the amount anyone can give. I mean even a million dollars is OK! On the other hand, there's no such thing as a contribution too small. So, one last time, here's the new Blue America I.E. Committee page.

Earlier this week Blue America made Congressman Tim Holden (PA-17) uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. And he's going to remain uncomfortable until his primary contest with progressive Matt Cartwright on April 24th.

Everywhere he turns he, and all of his potential constituents, will be seeing this:

It will pop up all over the district on freeways and thoroughfares and rural highways. All his neighbors and potential voters will know just how friendly old Tim is with the fracking industry.

Let's just say he isn't happy. According to Politics PA Holden's campaign issued a press release calling Blue America a "Super PAC" (which is just hilarious.)

Holden’s campaign blasted the Blue America PAC as an outside group trying to meddle in the 17th district, and noted that Holden is taking heat from interest groups on both sides of the aisle.

“Throughout his career, Tim Holden has legislated from the political center, which is where most of America and the 17th district find themselves,” said campaign manager Eric Nagy. “Now he is getting hit from the right by Texas oil baron billionaires with the Primary Accountability PAC and from the left by a Hollywood record company executive with Blue America PAC. It’s clear that no matter where your political ideology falls, you run the risk of offending one of these groups.”

Nagy took a swipe at Cartwright, too.

“What we have here is a case of the rich helping the rich – billionaires and millionaires coming to the rescue of fellow millionaire Matt Cartwright.”

The PAC’s press release highlighted this article from Republic Report, a watchdog website that features writings from former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Cartwright echoed their criticism of Holden.

“I am thrilled by Blue America’s endorsement. The people of Northeastern PA need to know Tim Holden’s record over the past 19 years that he is trying to hide,” he said. “It is not just the Halliburton loophole, but his vote against health care reform, his opposition to legislation that would have made it harder for banks to foreclose on struggling families at the height of the recession, and the fact that he voted with George W. Bush 60% of the time.”

Yes, there's another group coming at Holden from the right. Seems a Blue Dog just can't get a break these days.

There has been a flurry of press in Pennsylvania, from PoliticsPA to the Scranton Times-Tribune and The Pocono-Record, among others. Progressive blogs in the area such as NEPArtisan are all over it. Holden is clearly rattled.

And for Howie, it's now personal:

I don't write a lot about my days in the music business here at DWT but then I've never been attacked-- not even by a Republican-- for being in the music business before. Yesterday was the first time and it was in a press release from corrupt Blue Dog, Tim Holden. Reacting to the billboards Blue America put up revealing his shady role in the fracking industry he decided to ignore the substance and attack our PAC and my old job instead. Holden sent out a press release calling Blue America a SuperPAC-- our average contribution is $45-- and whining he's being attacked "from the left by a Hollywood record company executive with Blue America PAC."

I retired from my job at Warner Bros almost a decade ago and work full time running by blog, DownWithTyranny, exposing corrupt politicians on both sides of the aisle, like Holden. But, for Holden's sake, I'll give a brief run-down of my experience as "a Hollywood record company executive." I started a small, independent label called 415 in San Francisco in 1978, on of the country's first "alternative rock" labels. It was funny when I heard from Borys Krawczeniuk at the Scranton Times-Tribune yesterday morning. He asked me if I was the same Howie Klein he used to chat with about SVT and Romeo Void when he was music director at WRKC (88.5 fm) at King's College in Wilkes-Barre. What a hoot; we hadn't talked in 30 years!!! Funny how music brings people together!

A small indie label with absolutely no capital-- I lived in a $90/month apartment in the Mission District and often had to decide if I wanted to put $2 of gas in my car or eat a meal-- 415 thrived and eventually attracted the attention of the major labels. CBS bought the label and my life changed, although I keep my old Fairlane and stayed in my old Mission District apartment. But I could at least afford health care for the people working at 415. I ran the label for CBS for a few years and then went to work for Warner Bros, as general manager of Sire Records, where I helped guide the careers of the Ramones, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, k.d. lang, The Pretenders, The Smiths, Morrissey, Ice-T, Ministry, Tommy Page and dozens of other musicians who have probably had more of a positive impact on people's lives than a hack politician in Washington. And speaking of Tommy Page, he was just a teenager when Seymour Stein signed him to the label and we released the #1 worldwide smash hit "I'll Be Your Everything".

But the career of a teen idol doesn't usually last forever. When Tommy came to me and told me he had decided to go back to college and get a degree he asked me if I would give him a job at the label when he graduated. Four years later he was back and he started at the bottom of the ladder-- a promotion department assistant, where his hard work and dedication earned him promotion after promotion until he was an A& R man and then a senior vice president of promotion. Around that time I had bought an old house in gorgeous Monroe County in what is now the 17th CD. Many of my music business friends, hearing from me how beautiful the Poconos are, also bought homes there. One was Tommy and his growing family. Tommy still calls Stroudsburg home-- and now he's the publisher of Billboard Magazine.

Read on for the full screed. It's priceless.

We'd like to keep the pressure on Holden all the way through the primary. If you can help with a few bucks we'd really appreciate it. This is a newly drawn Democratic district --- no Republican can win it. So, it's a race between a progressive Democrat and a corrupt, conservative Democrat who half the district has never heard of. Holden's so desperate that he's bringing in Steny Hoyer to prop him up. And he's clearly nervous about Cartwright's excellent fundraising and support. These billboards are sending him over the edge.

Holden is a plodding Beta Blue Dog foot soldier who does whatever he's told by the people who run him. He's a super social conservative, anti-choice, anti-gay rights and a guy that Steny can always count on to vote on behalf of the 1%. He has no business representing working families. And he's beatable.

If you can help, please send a couple of bucks to our Fracking Holden campaign. Let's make him lose some sleep before he loses his seat.

You can also follow this campaign at Facebook.com/FrackersHeartHolden

So tomorrow for our Blue America Live Chat we're hosting Democratic Congressional challenger Lee Rogers of California, and this afternoon I came across this hilarious story about Lee that just makes me adore him:

When one of his aides suggested that U.S. Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon hold an auction for a charity offering a lunch for four as the prize, he probably didn't think there was any danger of the idea blowing up in his stupid face like it has. McKeon (R-Ca), the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, is used to being in the news, but he'll be getting a lot more free publicity in the future.

Buck McKeon is a real piece of work. You might remember him grandstanding during the last session of Congress, threatening to hold up the last defense authorization bill because he was offended by the Don't Ask, Don't Tell repeal. You see, McKeon's opposed to gays serving openly in our military, and was willing to risk funding for the entire enterprise to make his opinions known.

Well, ol' Buck has auctioned off a lunch for a lucky winner, along with three guests, and that winner turns out to be none other than McKeon's opponent in the coming election, one Dr. Lee Rogers. Rogers bid $300 for the lunch, and because his was the only bid, he wins! He's already announced who he'll invite to break bread with Rep. McKeon: three reporters.

Awesome! And you can live chat with Lee Rogers tomorrow at 2 pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific, here at Crooks and Liars.

Open thread below...