NY-29 Netroots Challenge

[trillian]

Cross posted from Eric Massa's post at dkos.


NY-29 Netroots Challenge: Outraise Cheney Fundraiser for Randy Kuhl

Today, I want to talk about V.P. Dick Cheney. Last week, while Senator Max Cleland, a true American hero, was touring the district with me and working tirelessly to help bring a new majority to Congress, I learned that V.P. Dick Cheney would be coming to Rochester for a fundraiser and a $1,000-a-head photo-opportunity on behalf of my opponent, Randy Kuhl. The media learned about this news not from Kuhl or from Cheney, but from me. I announced this event to the media myself, with Senator Cleland, at our press conference on Homeland Security. (Details of that press conference here)

It’s no surprise that Kuhl would be reluctant to publicize the event, since Cheney has managed to earn a reputation as the least-popular politician in America. After our announcement, the only public acknowledgement of the event that I am aware of, in addition to the invitation itself, came from Cheney’s office.

To me, there are several things worth noting about this visit, and one is that is was hidden from the voters in our district. It’s certainly consistent with Cheney’s well-known penchant for secrecy – for example, the secret white-house meetings with oil industry executives and lobbyists to re-write our nation’s energy policy.

In response to the secrecy of the Cheney fundraiser, I will be hosting an open-to-the-public fundraiser in a public park in Rochester. Pictures with me will be free and the money we raise at the park will go to a local Veterans Charity.

Admission to the Cheney event is actually $150/person (link) with a “4:30 pm Private Photo Opportunity: $2,000 per couple – $1,000 per person.” Think about it. Given the time it takes to snap a picture, this says that they’re selling the spot next to Cheney for $5,000 a minute

This means they will raise a lot of money fast, but the combined fundraising power of the netroots is greater than the few individuals in the 29th district who can afford to pay $1000 for a picture with the Vice-President. We’re asking for your help to raise more money than Kuhl’s event with Cheney.



Third, as veterans in my district all know, in addition to politics, ideology, and money, Kuhl and Cheney have one thing in common. Both have escaped service in the military. Randy Kuhl got through Vietnam on the basis of 9 years worth of deferments, while he spent his time in college and law school. Vice-President Cheney had five different deferments and also escaped service in the military. (link) And yet both are ready, at the first sign of resistance, to paint anyone who questions them as unpatriotic or worse. In today’s NY Times Magazine, Kuhl described my serious thinking and proposals about the Iraq fiasco that his friend got us into as “tantamount to surrender. ‘That’s the old cut and run,’ Mr. Kuhl said. ‘I will not send up the white flag as my opponent says he will.’
(link)

That’s their strategy. Challenge them, and they call you a coward. A chicken.
And that’s from people who never served a day in uniform in their lives, who have never seen the tragedy of war, or lost their closest friends and stood up to fight on.

We’ve all heard this before. It’s the old tactics and the language of a schoolyard bully. “Chicken!” “I dare you!” “Prove it!”

And they call this leadership.

But what it amounts to, really, is one more reason for sending a new majority to Washington, one with a healthy balance of veterans and military experience.

We’re not going to stop challenging them. We’re going to carry this fight into Election day and beyond. And when they slime and swift-boat and attack one veteran, and defame our patriotism and character, they attack us all. We will not allow it. We will stand against it together, and we will vote together, and we will take back this country and this government.

Help us take the fight to the lying bullies Dick Cheney and Randy Kuhl by donating today. (link) Or if you are in the district you can volunteer for the campaign. (link)

[Jai4WKC08]

1. And if all that's not enough

I got an e-mail from Eric's daughter, Alex. It's his 47th birthday, so she's trying to raise $4700 as a present.

This is a picture of Alex Massa:

And this is the link that credits her fundraiser:
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