We hope everyone's going to have a great holiday season and a wonderful kickoff to 2020. This is going to be our last post of the year. We want to announce the winner of our Nirvana/Pramila contest: Venetia R. of Seattle​.

In all, over 400 of you contributed close to $8,000. Thanks very, very much.

That said, I hope you can dig deep and find it in your heart to contribute to one last campaign, one last time for 2019-- this time to progressive Riverside County, CA history professor and progressive activist Liam O'Mara.

Liam, who has been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, is running for one of the last Southern California GOP held congressional seats, this one by Ken Calvert, a corrupt and extreme ideologue who was even denounced by Fox News for his crooked ways!

He likes to say

:

"I am running as a progressive populist in a red district in California... Much attention has gone to insurgent runs against Democrats by 'The Squad,' but the same ideas can work in Republican strongholds if the messaging is clear. By sticking to progressive policies which address the economic interests of American workers-- and framing those policies in ways that make sense to them-- we can go back to winning elections all across the heartland, and finally have the numbers in Congress to address the major challenges of our time."

Blue America endorsed Liam primarily because of his spirit and his platform. He's a brilliant guy who would make an incredible member of Congress These are his half dozen top priorities... what he calls "the major challenges of our time."

• Income and wealth inequality-- which he hopes to address by taking action against stagnant wages and for progressive tax policy.
• Campaign finance reform, public financing of elections. He has been speaking out about banning dark money in politics for years.
• Green New Deal with a regional emphasis on infrastructure investment.
• Single-payer Medicare-for-All health care
• Tuition-free trade schools and state colleges along with student loan debt forgiveness
• Strengthening unions and addressing the rising tide of automation and job loss

Sound familiar? It should. Liam has officially endorsed Bernie for president.

When I asked him why, he said that he looks

"at principle and policy in picking a candidate, and Senator Sanders has long stood out in my estimation in both; I have been following him since 1991. His judgement has repeatedly been proven right, and his platform-- tackling inequality, single-payer health care, a green new deal, campaign finance reform, strengthening unions, etc.-- offers the best hope for the working class in decades."

Whether you want to see Bernie in the White House or Elizabeth Warren in the White House-- or both-- they will need progressives like Liam O'Mara to help fight for their agenda.

Please consider helping Liam raise enough for his full grassroots campaign.

Ed. Note: Blue America is a separate entity from CrooksandLiars.com. Crooks and Liars has not and will not endorse any Democratic candidate in the primary.