MoveOn endorses Free

[OKNancy]

Dear Oklahoma MoveOn member,

Kalyn Free needs our help in her race to make history in Oklahoma.

Political elections are regularly won and lost by just a handful of votes, from state legislative races to the presidential campaign. Grassroots momentum can make all the difference.

That is why we hope you can take some time out over this coming weekend or on Election day, this coming Tuesday, July 27th to help Kalyn Free win her race to become the Democratic nominee for the 2nd Congressional District of Oklahoma.

If you are interested in volunteering this coming weekend or on Election Day to help Kalyn Free win next week, sign-up online at:

http://www.freeforcongress.com/modules/signup/signup.php

We endorsed Kalyn Free because MoveOn members from Oklahoma wrote in and told us that Kalyn is a highly qualified, hardworking, and progressive candidate. Her experience prosecuting big corporations that pollute the environment, her Oklahoman roots and her Native American heritage make her a unique and outstanding candidate. If elected, Kalyn would be the first Native American woman in U.S. History to be elected to Congress.

Kalyn is taking on a conservative Democrat who has voted against working people and who has repeatedly sided with big corporations. But her opponent has a recognizable name and a family political legacy. Helping Kalyn Free win this primary will prove that hardworking people can win out over family connections.

Sean, a MoveOn member from Oklahoma nominated Kalyn and wrote, "She would be the first member of the Choctaw Nation to be represented in Congress. She has proven herself as a protector of those who can't protect themselves, namely as a federal prosecutor and a district attorney. She is the real deal."

The most recent polls show this race to be a dead heat. The final tally may well come down to just a few votes. Therefore, making sure all of Kalyn's supporters get to the polls is immensely important.

Again, if you are interested in volunteering call Karen Agostisi at the Free campaign at [phone].

Or sign-up online to volunteer at:

http://www.freeforcongress.com/modules/signup/signup.php

Since primary day is this coming Tuesday, the majority of volunteer activities will be focused on getting out the vote, from making phone calls to driving people to the polls.

In addition, the best campaigning is often personal. Another extremely important thing you can do to help Kalyn win on Tuesday is to start your own get out the vote effort. Write an email to your whole email list (or all the people you know living in the Oklahoma 2nd district) telling them why you support Kalyn Free and asking them to vote on Tuesday. You can also pick up the telephone and remind your friends to vote or drive an elderly Free supporter to the polls.

With thousands of MoveOn members across Oklahoma, we can make a real difference on Tuesday. Vote!

Sincerely,

--Eli Pariser & Hannah Pingree
MoveOn PAC
Friday, July 23rd, 2004

[Tosca]

1. KerryOkies!

I love it.

[David__77]

2. Best of luck to Free!

It would be wonderful to have a progressive Native-American woman like Free elected to Congress from Oklahoma.

[RummyTheDummy]

3. Before this thread gets dominated

By a certain poster who is utterly consumed by veterans issues and bitterness, I'd like to wish Free good luck in her battle with the corrupt Boren political machine and its Repug-Lite foot soliders.

From what I've read, she seems like a great candidate and would be a great Rep. for CD2.

[OKNancy]

4. Well MoveON is a fantastic

endorsement. I've got an easy decision, since I'm in CD1.

[Pegleg Thd]

5. Here in Muskogee

we are hearing a lot of good things about Kayln Free. As far as we are concerned she has 2 votes here. We are damned tired of the boren crap machine and would give them the same consideration we would a repukelican.

[yelladawg]

6. I've learned something this election cycle

I knew before that some people didn't like pro-choice folks, or labor, or trial lawyers or etc. But I really thought that Veterans would be a group everyone would like. I was very wrong. There are people out there who do not like Veterans. Free is one of them.

Now I will say this about Free. If elected I can safely say I would be very happy with about 99% of her voting record.

Now about Vets. For years people have been saying, Rusty organize the Veterans. Make them a force.

We are trying to do that. In CD2 we registered 3,812 new voters in the past 4 months. ALL VETERANS. We will be a factor. We have stayed under the radar and will march to the polls next Tuesday.

Watch the numbers in the countries north of I-40. Free will lose there 60 - 40. That's where we have most of our numbers.

Statewide we have over 8,000 new veteran voters. We will vote and we will become a factor. Wait till the next state convention. We will have a Veteran caucus that will be larger than the labor caucus and we will vote as one.

If you don't believe Veterans are organizing, you should have seen the candidates in my house yesterday asking for Veteran support.

Like I said, some people just don't like Veterans.

[RoyGBiv]

8. I've learned something too...

Well, I didn't so much learn it as have it slapped in my face.

The rank and file of the Democratic party in Oklahoma (that's us, folks) are screwed precisely because we can't get our act together long enough to present a unified voice that any candidate would bother to listen to. We send them a constant stream of mixed messages, first this way, then that, almost never sending the candidates any kind of message that makes sense. We focus on our private interests and show little indication that we have anything that could be defined as a party principle.

The CD2 and the Senate races are perfect examples.

Dan Boren and Brad Carson are virtual clones of each other on the issues. They're both very conservative Democrats. Both hold some position on a few policies that still make them more identifiable as Democrats than the Republicans of this state. (Inhofe and Coburn *are* the voice of rank and file Oklahoma Republicans, scary as that may be.) But, on the whole, both would probably end up supporting fewer Kerry initiatives in the future than they would Bush initiatives.

Kaylyn Free and Monte Johnson are the progressives in their respective campaigns. Free has a good chance to win. Monte has none. This is another odd message. For CD2, Democrats are about evenly split in their show of support for a progressive candidate. For Senate, the vast majority Democrats are supporting either a Blue Dog Democrat or a likely criminal.

For the record, I include myself in this criticism. I'm sending a mixed message about support Brad Carson and not Dan Boren every bit as much odd on the surface as yelladawg's support of Boren and not Carson. However, there are distinct differences in the way we are approaching our respective supports.

In the primary, I don't so much support Carson as accept that he will be the candidate come November. I'm not voting for him next week, and I'm not suggesting anyone else do so either. However, neither am I willing to spread the kind of rhetoric that will make my job in getting a Democrat elected over either Humphreys or Coburn any harder in the general election, not when it serves so little purpose in the primary. That would be counter-productive to my interests and quite frankly a little bit dumb. At this point, I'm more concerned about the leadership of at least one chamber of Congress being returned to Democratic control. On the national scene, that is far more important than any individual complaints I have with the specific candidate that could help make that happen.

With regard to Free v. Boren, I am very much supporting her candidacy over that of her opponent because she has a chance, a very good chance, to be the one and only progressive voice in Oklahoma's national delegation. Boren would merely reinforce Oklahoma's image of a backward looking, ultra-conservative state in which progressives have no hope of being represented. Should she lose the primary, I'll support Boren in the same way I'll support Carson, reluctantly in order hopefully to affect leadership in Congress.

It may or may not be true that Free is weaker on Veteran's issues than Boren. I personally think it's all an act on Boren's part and that the rhetoric in opposition to Free is extremist hyperbole. He seems to have learned little as the "son of David Boren" other than how to play the politics of personality. He says the right things to certain people, kisses the right pinky rings, and makes people think he has a conscience by playing more off his name and the perceived record of his father than anything he has actually done or plans to do. He may (again, or may not) hold the better position on Veterans, but that would be the only thing for which he holds the better, more progressive position. In a tight race where a true progressive has a very real chance of success, that's not near enough for me.

Yelladawg has a bone to pick with Free on one issue, and that's fine. No candidate should be safe from all criticism. But quite frankly, I find it odd that the very same things for which he criticizes Carson to the point of nearly suggesting he will not support him at all happen to be things for which Boren can be criticized as well, yet with the latter he's actively trying to drum up support for that candidate. The one issue seems to trump everything else. It makes me wonder whether the message being sent to our candidates is that if they play to the right groups in the right way, that is soothe their particular interests with meaningless rhetoric and recognition, their real positions on a larger range of issues don't matter. That's the message they've gotten for decades, and it's precisely why they act as they do when they are elected.

[RummyTheDummy]

10. No Yella, it's not veterans people don't like

It's just veterans like you.

[yelladawg]

13. Wow, the name calling.....

All this name calling hurts my feelings.

Stop complaining and get out and do some door knocking. Host a meeting at your house. Volunteer. Elect your candidate.

[RummyTheDummy]

14. Not name calling

Unless you're not really a veteran (relax, I believe you are, how the hell could any of us forget) but more or less a statement of fact.

[yelladawg]

15. All you do is complain

Why don't you volunteer for the party?

Stop complaining and go to work.

Build up the party in your area. Everyone here knows how bad it is in OKC. Small wonder with your attitude.

[RummyTheDummy]

20. Whatever, DINO

NT

[yelladawg]

7. Rummy, what you doing this afternoon?

This afternoon, we will have over 300 Veterans waving Boren signs up and down HW 69. We will wave signs from Muskogee up north for the next 60 miles.

300 Veterans over 60 miles of Highway waving Dan Boren signs.

Hey, Rummy. What have you organized for Free lately? Do you only come here to bitch or do you actually try to volunteer for Democratic candidates?

Please tell us any activity you organized for the Democratic party. Please tell us, we want to know.

Give us some insight on your GOTV efforts.

Please tell us any other candidates you support this next Tuesday. Do they have an opponent? Don't worry, according to Free, "Vets don't vote".

[RummyTheDummy]

9. You're just an underling in the Boren Politcial Machine

You're Dan Boren's slave and a willing participant in electing a complete DINO to the US Congress.

What was I doing on Saturday, douche bag? I was WORKING. Some of us have to do that to pay the bills. You know, food, electricity, TAXES. I mean who do you think pays for your veterans benefits anyway, the tooth fairy?

[yelladawg]

11. I thought you could do better than this

All you do is complain. Work as a volunteer to elect Democrats.

[RummyTheDummy]

12. You're not electing a Democrat.

You're electing a DINO. Big difference. As for complaining, you do your fair share of that as well. Every person who starts a thread in this forum is hijacked by your obsession with one issue.

For instance I could start a thread, say about, a group of young Democrats having a bake sale to benefit candidate X. You would chime in with something like: "Young Democrats hate veterans. Refused to meet with us and consider our recipe for Coconut Cream Pie!"

[yelladawg]

16. What have you done lately to elect Democrats?

Have you sent money? Have you volunteered? Have you organized anything?

You are lazy if all you do is whine and bitch but do nothing.

You deserve the repugs whose districts you live in. They can count on people like you to do nothing and their jobs are secure with your inactivity.

How did you help Kayln Free? You didn't. All you did was act like a crybaby.

Get out and work.

[RummyTheDummy]

19. I work to pay for your veterans benefits while you have your playtime

You know, the benefits you constantly bitch about and are totally ungrateful for.

[yelladawg]

17. We didn't get 300 Veterans to help Boren yesterday

We had 410 sign our worksheets.

We waved sign over a 60 mile stretch of road.

It was quite a sight. Hundreds of people driving up and HW 69 waved and greeted us.

Hey Rummy, what did you do for Kayln Free yesterday?

[RummyTheDummy]

18. Yada Yada Yada

Nobody cares Yellow. Nobody cares. And as I've said before, Einstein, I don't live in CD2.

You're a broken record and totally devoid of any ideas -- outside harassing candidates over your piddly veterans crap.

[OKNancy]

21. I can't believe I have to lock my own thread

I'm not posting this anonymously either. I am also not going to go delete a bunch of posts.

I will say this: knock it off.
Rusty, this is a moderated board unlike yours. We don't allow Republicans, freepers or disruptors. We also expect civil discussions....although I know it is difficult sometimes.

Rummy, you know the rules too.