Blue America has been especially thankful this cycle that progressive champions-- particularly Raúl Grijalva and Alan Grayson-- have been lending a much-needed hand to progressive challengers all over the country. As co-chair of the Progressive Caucus and a proven fighter for working families, Grijalva's endorsement has become the gold standard for first-time candidates looking for credibility with national progressive donors. And now he's working towards institutionalizing this through the Progressive Caucus itself, which is expected to start endorsing candidates next week.

As for Grayson, there isn't another Democrat anywhere in the country who has been as generous in helping to raise money-- both for his old colleagues (like Dennis Kucinich, John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, Jr. etc) and for a wide range of progressive challengers. In the past this function has been attended to by corrupt careerists like Steny Hoyer, Joe Crowley, Wasserman-Schultz, etc. Grayson is setting an example for progressives to help each other.

And today something extraordinary happened. Michigan progressive activist, Trevor Thomas, sent a fund-raising letter to his own donor list, 130,000 people, thanking them for the support they gave his campaign and asking them to contribute to the campaign of Dr. Lee Rogers in California.

Trevor and Lee see eye to eye on the issues and both are committed young Democrats but there's something else that unites them as well. Trevor:

"Dr. Lee Rogers is up against extreme, Republican Congressman Buck McKeon who is also the chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. I'll never forget Buck because when I was working on the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' he did everything possible to stop our efforts, along with his notoriously anti-choice record on women's rights and his strong opposition to helping kids stay in the U.S. through the DREAM Act.

Please stand with Dr. Rogers-- an amazing progressive-- and offer your support today. Together, we can help Dr. Rogers win and turn the U.S. House blue.

Blue America has activated a special Trevor Thomas Backs Lee Rogers ActBlue page to collect contributions. Please consider helping out. Lee is an independent-minded Democrat who isn't beholden to the corrupt Beltway organizations. This will help allow him stick to his guns on important bills that come up in Congress, represent his constituents and help make him impervious to the blandishments of party bosses.