Grassroots Volunteers for Jerry McNerney in CA-11

Thom K from the blog This Is What Democracy Looks Like has asked a few of us BARBARians to post something about a local Democrat running for the House who needs some cash and support. Being the obliging sort that I sometimes am (when I'm not being a snarky, surly curmudgeon), I'm happy to reprint his request here, and to place the ad he provided over on the right. This is what Thom had to say:

As a grassroots activist I sometimes feel powerless against the Washington insiders. That all changed as Christine Cegelis and her volunteers proved it is possible for us to have a fighting chance against the beltway bureaucrats. Cegelis proved that the grassroots candidates are competitive in 2006 and I'm here to tell you the primaries aren't over yet!

Just like kid oakland blogs about how "We all live in Richard Pombo's district", I felt like I also lived in Christine Cegelis' district. I followed Cegelis' race closely because I'm a grassroots volunteer for Jerry McNerney, running for congress in CA-11. Jerry's Democratic primary fight is similar to that of Cegelis'. In 2004 Cegelis and McNerney stood up to incumbent Republicans when no other Democrat would. Now, in 2006 they both face(d) Washington supported primary opponents. Another similarity that pisses me off to no end is that the last time I had checked, both candidates couldn't get their biographies and pictures posted on the DCCC candidate site while their Washington supported opponents did.

I know the McNerney campaign finance dude will not be happy with me for saying this, but I guess that's the advantage of being an unpaid volunteer:-) There's a grassroots approved way to make your contribution to the McNerney campaign. We've got a lot of bloggers out there writing stuff about the CA-11 race, and it would be great if you could make your contribution to the McNerney campaign as a statement supporting blue bloggers. Jerry does have a blog too and you may have caught his posting about "The Real Fighting Dems" a few months ago. Matt, at the Say Not to Pombo blog, has an ActBlue contribution page where you can contribute your green grassroots bucks to Jerry McNerney. Scroll down to the bottom and make sure you contribute in the correct box for Jerry McNerney. Make your contribution with 11 cents added so Matt knows we are showing him some grassroots green. As an example, you would enter $50.11 in the Jerry McNerney box at:

http://www.actblue.com/page/saynotopombo

I can't say enough about how great it is to work for a campaign that really is grassroots. Jerry McNerney has hired not just one, but two, yes T-W-O, of the Bay Area DFA 1.0 and 2.0 people as paid campaign staffers. Many of you may have heard of Vicki Cosgrove and Eden James from Northern California and Oakland DFA. I thought I knew a lot of people in the area, but they are amazing.

I know from reading the posts that there are some people who want to give up on the Democratic Party, but we're not ready to do that. We volunteers are not only fighting to put a great candidate in office, but we're also fighting for the future of our party, so let's get to work. We have only a few days till the Friday deadline.