On the road again

By Stephanie Schriock on 12/06/2011 @ 11:15 AM

Tags: Stephanie's Take, Suzanne Bonamici, Ann Kirkpatrick, Denise Ducheny

My work at EMILY’s List means I get to travel. A lot. I have become a world class packer. I can remove my cowboy boots at the security line in under 5 seconds. That sign in the airport with the picture of the “expert traveler”? That’s me.

But there’s more to my travel than learning everything there is to learn about airport food. Eventually I get to land and take a look around. I’ve been all over this country, and I can tell you it’s absolutely full of inspiring people. Not just the awesome Democratic women candidates, but the generous women and men who make our work electing them possible.

But my favorite part of traveling? It often takes me back West – where I can really connect with those folks just like me. Who grew up having an appreciation for big sky and an independent streak.

Yesterday, I landed back in DC after a week’s long swing out West (though, no stop in my home state of Montana – this time). And though it’s nice to be back in HQ with the staff humming along, I sure do like being with the amazing women we’re supporting out there.

We’d kicked the trip off in southern California where I caught up with our “On the List” candidate Denise Moreno Ducheny – she’s such a tough fighter, and she has the potential to be a real leader in the House. Exactly what we need these days to fight back against the GOP agenda. I also met with several of our Majority Council members while I was in San Diego. And wow did they have feedback for me! It wasn’t a coincidence that many of them were beaming about EMILY’s List – our training staff had just been out there and had talked to almost half of these women just before I showed up, telling them to RUN! By the time I arrived, we were talking strategy and resources. And we couldn’t possibly move this fast without our partners. I have to give a shout-out to Francine Busby, a great community leader in California who now serves as the Executive Director of Run Women Run.

Traveling as much as I do, flights are bound to go wrong every now and then. And this trip was no exception. We almost didn’t make it to Arizona, but I was still able to connect with EMILY’s List Candidate, former Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick. Ann’s a real western woman – the kind who raised me and who have always been my role models. We got to talk about her campaign to unseat her Tea Party opponent and take back the district. And she’s incredibly resilient – this is absolutely a race to watch.

Our visit to Portland, Oregon was another reminder: there’s no such thing as an off year! No one knows that better than Suzanne Bonamici, who’s just a few short weeks away from her own Election Day. She’s running one of the best campaigns in the country – and I was lucky to sit down with some of her supporters and hear how hard they’ve been fighting. They know that Suzanne’s win will be historic – it will mean the largest number of women in the House ever! AND, she’ll be the only woman currently in Oregon’s delegation.

"I look at the young women of today that look at Congress, and they can't understand why [there aren't more women,]” Suzanne said. "It's important to have a woman's voice at the table."

Here are just a few of our photos from the trip – and I’ll post more next trip, which will be soon. (The next trip is always soon.) But there are incredible upsides to life on the road. And meeting the EMILY”s List community is the best part – can’t wait to meet you one of these days!

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Great week for Warren, Titus, Bustos, & Heitkamp but Stabenow and Hirono Need YOU!

By Sarah Burris on 12/05/2011 @ 12:15 PM

Tags: Debbie Stabenow, Mazie Hirono, Elizabeth Warren, Suzanne Bonamici, Dina Titus, Cheri Bustos

We've had a lot of success stories in the past week with great women candidates and two major calls to action we need your help on. First the good news:

• Dina Titus has just garnered 7 major endorsements from former and current elected officials in southern Nevada for her race for Congress. Dina is in a primary race against state Senator Ruben Kihuen, and these endorsements further prove that many Nevada Democrats are behind her as a candidate and behind her leadership.
• Elizabeth Warren has just overtaken Senator Scott Brown in the latest poll for the Massachusetts Senate race. Brown had previously held a lead over Warren, but we knew that once Massachusetts voters heard her message about helping middle class families they'd agree she's the right one for the job. Elizabeth now leads Brown 43% to 39%. He's not right for the middle class, and he is not right for Massachusetts.
• Hold onto your mittens, North Dakota is in play! According to the Cook Political Report, Heidi Heitkamp's announcement that she's running has pushed this into a "toss-up" column.

  "As part of the case for Heitkamp's candidacy, Democrats released a poll that had been taken in August which showed presumptive GOP nominee At-Large U.S. Rep. Rick Berg with a slim advantage over a generic Democratic candidate," Jennifer Duffy writes.

• This week, the Oregon Democratic Party released a web ad with the GOP's OR-1 candidate Rob Cornilles talking about his anti-choice beliefs -- he assures us he wouldn't have received the endorsement of the Oregon Right to Life it he wasn't pro-life. The questionnaire for the Oregon Right to Life requires that endorsees be against stem-cell research and oppose abortion even in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother.
  
  
  
  Kari Chisholm at BlueOregon reports

  "He's can parse the issue thirty-two different ways, but the bottom line is this: Rob Cornilles doesn't believe that women should have the right to make their own health care choices."

• A big development over the weekend: the political situation in the 17th district in Illinois has changed dramatically, with political pundits now saying Cheri Bustos is in the lead. Cheri is still going to need our help in the primary election, and as she moves forward to the general election to defeat tea party Republican Bobby Schilling. We put Shilling On Notice earlier this year because he not only supports the Ryan Budget which would gut Medicare, but also supports tax policies that subsidize millionaires and billionaires instead of middle class families. With her record as a community advocate for transparency in government and supporting working families with simple solutions that make a big difference in their daily lives, we’re confident Cheri can win in November. With your help, we’re going to get Cheri past the primary and on to victory in 2012!

We also have two candidates who need your help this week!

• In Michigan, Senator Debbie Stabenow is in a tough re-election bid against right winger Pete Hoekstra who has been pulling out all the stops to raise money in the GOP primary against Clark Durant. He set a benchmark to raise $500,000 last quarter and doubled the goal with $1 million in donations. Hoekstra is racking up endorsements from national right-wing stars like Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and 2010 Nevada GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle, while Durant is going after Michigan establishment figures like former Senator Spencer Abraham (whom Stabenow defeated in 2002 with EMILY’s List’s help). This is exactly why Debbie needs our help TODAY!
• Congresswoman Mazie Hirono is in a primary with a conservative Democrat before she faces off against Sarah Palin and Karl Rove's friend Linda Lingle. Lingle has been traveling around the mainland raising money so we've got to do our part for Mazie! With your help we can get her through the primary and help her stand strong against Lingle in the general.

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Corrupt Scott Brown Calls for Stop of Corruption

By Sarah Burris on 12/02/2011 @ 11:15 AM

Tags: Elizabeth Warren

Thursday, Scott Brown had an op-ed in the Boston Herald voicing his disgust with lawmakers who benefit financially from policies on which they are passing laws. "I've always thought legislators should live by the same laws that govern everyone else. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case," Brown said.

Funny he mentions that, because Senator Scott Brown directly impacts issues pertaining to the banking and oil industries - both of which he holds stock in. According to his personal financial disclosure documents, Brown holds some substantial stock in Bank of America, Exxon Mobile, and GE.

This is particularly interesting because as a U.S. Senator, Brown worked to convince lawmakers that they should drop a $19 billion tax on hedge funds and big banks that would have paid for the provisions in the 2010 financial reform. As Ezra Klein said,

"So rather than a bank tax, which Scott Brown worried would take capital out of the banking system, we're going to drop part of the TARP program that was ... putting capital into the banking system. And rather than making big banks and big hedge funds foot the bill, FDIC fees will be hiked so that small banks have to pay in but hedge funds don't."

Just a few weeks ago, the League of Conservation Voters launched an ad campaign in Massachusetts accusing Brown of having an unethical relationship with big oil companies. The ad says "Brown sided with big oil -- taking thousands from oil companies just weeks before he voted to keep their special tax breaks. And Brown voted repeatedly against protecting our environment and public health."

More specifically, Brown voted against ending $21 billion in tax breaks from oil companies. $21 billion that could have gone into our economy, helped rebuild our infrastructure, or pay down our debt. Brown said no on S. 940 at the same time that he was profiting from stock in Exxon Mobile.

Now that Brown is running against one of the loudest advocates for the middle class in the country, he's trying to seem mainstream. Posting op-eds that claim everyone in Congress is corrupt when he himself is corrupt isn't the way to convince Massachusetts voters that he can be trusted with our tax dollars. His support of the STOCK Act, which he signed to co-sponsor before Thanksgiving, is just an attempt to rebrand himself as "good government." The Huffington Post reports

"since Brown has been a longtime shareholder in all three companies, any legislative efforts that boosted the value of those stocks would not run afoul of the new rules included in his bill. A spokesman for Brown agreed that the bill would not curb members of Congress from voting on provisions that affect companies they have a stake in."

This is just another of the many reasons that we MUST have Elizabeth Warren in the U.S. Senate. With her we not only have ethics but accountability. With Scott Brown all we have is a Senator trying to make a buck off of his influence.

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Top 5 Reasons Tommy Thompson is Bad for Wisconsin

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Top 5 Reasons Tommy Thompson is Bad for Wisconsin

By Sarah Burris on 12/01/2011 @ 12:15 PM

Tags: Tammy Baldwin, WI-Sen, Why Women

Earlier this year we told you why Mark Neumann was one of the worst options for Wisconsin voters, but today Tommy Thompson formally announced he's in the race for the U.S. Senate, and we have another “worst option” in the mix. Here are some of just a few reasons that Tommy Thompson has no business being in the U.S. Senate.

1. Some of the harshest anti-abortion laws in the country were signed by Tommy Thompson. As Governor of Wisconsin in the 90s, Thompson signed a law that “would have imposed sentences up to life on doctors who performed so-called partial birth abortions.” Putting doctors in jail is about as productive as putting women seeking services in jail.
2. Tommy Thompson supports for millionaires over the middle class. These are tough times for the middle class, and Thompson thinks the rich deserve to get more. Seriously. "Reckless spending is the real issue - not taxes," Thompson said. And how exactly do we pay for those tax cuts to the wealthy? Either federal spending– which Thompson says he opposes too – or on the backs of the middle class. We’ve seen this movie before, it was on every day from 2001-2009 and starred George W. Bush. In the end it hurts working families, it hurts small businesses, it hurts the American economy.
3. Thompson used his role as a former Health and Human Services Secretary to schill for Big Pharma. In October we told you about Thompson’s answer to a question about anthrax attacks -- he promoted PharmAthene, a company that was paying his DC lobbying firm at the time, saying that our country needed to get behind them. If you're going to try and make more money or get free advertising for someone you're working for, at least disclose it to the American people. It's more honest that way.
   
   The Milwaukee Courier agrees, saying after Thompson went to work for the private sector he "continued to use his D.C. and Bush Administration connections to get his company even more federal cash, even though the company was ill-equipped to provide the health services.  From 2003 to 2007, Tommy's company's federal contracting business skyrocketed by almost 500 percent."  Wisconsin needs a great Senator that will work for them, not his own bank account.
4. Governor Scott Walker's far reaching anti-worker agenda isn't really that harmful, according to Thompson. When he appeared on CNN earlier this year, Thompson said Scott Walker’s plan was hardly a union busting bill and wouldn't eliminate collective bargaining. I don't know if Thompson just doesn't know any better or if he's playing politics. Walker's anti-worker agenda would "strip away the collective bargaining rights of many public employees - at least on health care, pension benefits, and working conditions - even after they've agreed to the financial concessions the governor said are needed to balance the state's budget."
5. Tommy Thompson's own party doesn't trust him! Today, Club for Growth compiled a report detailing Thompson’s stance on the Affordable Care Act. CFG thinks Thompson supported it, Thompson says he doesn't support it, but who knows anymore with these Republicans. The AP notes that the biggest enemy for Thompson for Senate might be Thompson himself. (For more information see: Mitt Romney) What we do know is that, like Mitt, Thompson is having a tough go at garnering support from all sides. The result isn’t someone who looks like a maverick – it’s someone who looks inconsistent and questionable.

There are a lot of reasons to oppose Thompson's policies, and when we're dealing with a tough economy where issues truly impact the daily lives of all Americans, the people in Wisconsin need a Senator they can trust. Tommy Thompson just isn't that candidate. Wisconsin needs an advocate for working families, and that’s why we’re supporting Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin. With proven leadership and dedication to the people of Wisconsin, Baldwin will ensure the people come first.

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Dan Webster FINALLY Hosts East Side Town Hall

Dan Webster FINALLY Hosts East Side Town Hall

By Sarah Burris on 11/30/2011 @ 10:15 AM

Tags: Val Demings, Why Women

In Florida’s 8th congressional district, the Orlando East Side Tea Party was excited to announce a "rare appearance for the Congressman [Daniel Webster] to appear on the East Side of Orlando!" That's right, Webster is such a loyal and dedicated Congressman that he rarely appears on the east side of Orlando and when he does it’s only to Tea Party supporters.

Why might Webster avoid east Orlando? According to the East Side Tea Party,

"It took a great deal of discussion with congressional scheduling, Valencia Community College and the Orange County Sheriff's office to bring the congressman to the East Side of Orlando again."

You might remember earlier this spring when Webster encountered a "barrage of questions from outraged constituents about the Republican budget" at a townhall in Orlando. Voters grilled Webster for nearly an hour with "one question after another about his support for ending Medicare, his desire to see tax breaks for the wealthy extended, and his vote to repeal health care reform. . . " No wonder he was avoiding that part of the city! Accountability can be tough when you're faced with the impact of the votes that you cast on your constituents, particularly critical services for seniors.

So now, Webster has decided if and only if he’s coming over to the east side he’ll only do it with his buddies in the Tea Party. Elected officials are supposed to represent ALL of their district, not only the people that they agree with.

Tea Party members were encouraged to "bring … cameras as a security measure." I hope that means we'll see more examples of constituents holding Webster accountable for not focusing on the issues that matter to them. Instead of a Representative who works for them, is attentive to their needs, and delivers constituent services to all people, eastern Orlando has Dan Webster.

This is exactly why we need Val Demings in Congress! As the former Police Chief of Orlando, Val knows how to help ALL citizens in Orlando, not just friends and the ones it's convenient to represent.

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Hey Scott Brown-Take a Stance!