DFA announces Missouri Grassroots All-Star!!

Thank you to all who voted in the DFA Grassroots All-Star Competition! Jim Dean at Democracy for America sent the following notice announcing Kelly Schultz (running for State House District 21) as DFA's Missouri Grassroots All-Star!!

Jim Dean's Message:

DFA endorsements have always been driven by our members on the ground across the country -- that's what makes Democracy for America the country's only people-powered PAC. But the Missouri All-Star endorsement is different because it's chosen entirely by DFA members in Missouri.

All the votes have been cast and I'm honored to announce DFA's Missouri All-Star -- Kelly Schultz.

It's not difficult to see why Kelly won this hard-fought endorsement. Just look at how she describes the grassroots campaign she's running:

"I am very proud of our grassroots campaign. We reach out to voters individually on their doorstep to listen to the issues that are important to them and ask them in person for their support. In a rural district, this takes a strong coalition of volunteers."

Join the campaign -- Contribute or Volunteer right now. www.kellyschultzforhouse.com

Democracy for America is committed to electing progressives up and down the ballot -- to school boards, city councils and state legislatures. These offices have a huge impact on local communities and help build a bench of progressive talent that will grow and sustain a long-term progressive movement.

Every campaign we run, every candidate we support is powered by you -- our members on the ground. Join me today in support of the Missouri All-Star. Sign up to volunteer or contribute right now to help elect a progressive fighter.

Join the campaign -- Contribute or Volunteer right now.
www.kellyschultzforhouse.com

Thank you for all that you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

Sean Spence awarded National DFA endorsement

Sean Spence, a candidates running for the 25th District House seat in Missouri who in May received the endorsement of Democracy for Missouri was endorsed by the National DFA in headquartered in Burlington Vermont.

In the Columbia Tribune 'Politics Blog' Jason Rosenbaum quoted Jim Dean from a statement:

“Sean Spence is a true progressive fighter and Democracy for America is proud to endorse his campaign,” said Jim Dean, Chair of DFA, in a statement. “Missouri needs Sean Spence in Jefferson City to tackle problems like our broken health care system and a lack of quality jobs.”

Congratulations to Sean on this endorsement.

Judy Baker applies for DFA endorsement

Over the last ten years, the Missouri 9th Congressional district has been represented by one of the strongest supporters of the Bush administration policies of economics and war. This election year, Kenny Hulshof will not be running for Congress and instead decided to enter Missouri 's gubernatorial race. This leaves the 9th open for anyone who has at least attended a social studies class in junior high. Now over the years, the Democrats put up candidates against Hulshof, but it usually ended up that our candidate getting close to the Democrat base vote in each of those elections. This was due, for the most part, to the lack of fund raising and support these candidates received.

However this election cycle was different. With Hulshof still in the race, Judy Baker decided to challenge him. In a matter of a few weeks, she raised over $100,000 before the New Year. She was a serious challenger and was going to take the fight to him. We all knew what happened next. Kenny decided to run for governor and 3 primary challengers joined Baker in vying the Democratic party's nomination.

So why should DFA endorse Judy for Congress, there are 7 main reasons

1. Judy has amassed at least 250,000 dollars in this race.
2. She is a unabashed progressive and served in the state legislature
   
3. She is running for an open seat.
4. She has received the endorsement of Emily's list, a rather large and influential PAC.
5. Being married to a pastor, she will have appeal to those independent rural swing voters.
6. She is one of ActBlue's top ten fundraisers
7. This one is the most important, she entered the race when the fight was on. Her challengers entered the race when it was easier.
   

To me, the 50 state strategy of leaving no republican unchallenged is the credo of Howard Dean and DFA as well. There is no other candidate that illustrates this more clearly than Judy Baker

Thank you for your support with DFA Netroots Nation

I like to thank those supporters who nominated me for a Netroots scholarship in Austin this year. Not only did I get support from friends, but people who liked what I had to say and wished me luck and support. However DFA apparently felt that either my Technorati rating wasn't high enough or not enough grassroots support. Unfortunately I really don;t have had the time to blog events as they have happened. I usually was part of those events. I had canvassed, phone banked, and supported candidates from city council to Congress. This is what I thought DFA was all about, getting progressive candidates elected to further those values. However DFA thought that instead of choosing bloggers that though DIRECT action furthered this mission, DFA rewarded the most vocal bloggers, the preachers to the choir, some of these scholarships. This is a shame and makes me feel that Vermont might not know what's going on here in the midwest. Here in DFA Columbia, we have elected members to county central committees, sent a member to the National Convention as an Obama Delegate, and we even had one of our steering committee members go to Iran as a citizen delegate. In addition, we held 2 primary debates for the 23rd and 25th state legislative districts and held endorsement votes. DFA Columbia is not a social club. We know that changing America will not be accomplished by having weenie roasts and walking around with our Buck Fush shirts on.
However DFA, with all its flaws is the leading progressive organization in this country. My post here is a friendly reminder to DFA is not to discount Missouri and really make an effort to see what's really going on in the grassroots that DFA holds dear.