Senator gives big boost to Byrd (Obama's MoveOn appeal worked)

[Rose Siding]

Early Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., sent an appeal over the Internet urging people to contribute to the re-election campaign of Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va.

In less than 24 hours, more than 15,000 contributors gave $634,000 to Byrd’s campaign, according to the National Journal’s daily Internet publication “Hotline.” The average donation was about $42.25.
....
Obama told The Charleston Gazette on Wednesday, “Sen. Byrd has spent his career in the Senate standing up for the Constitution and putting principle over politics. The people of West Virginia are lucky to have such a distinguished and powerful advocate fighting for them who consistently delivers results.”

Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., said Wednesday, “I have no doubt that George Bush and Karl Rove will try to defeat him because they do not like Sen. Byrd. But I think they misjudge the character of West Virginians.

“They totally overlook the deep-seated respect West Virginians have for Sen. Byrd. I think West Virginia will embrace his re-election. It is to our benefit that his national reputation rallies supporters from around the country to contribute and to take notice of West Virginia,” Mollohan said.

http://wvgazette.com/section/News/200503313

[TheFarseer]

1. Is he supposed to be in trouble?

it's hard to believe Senator Byrd could be defeated without a great candidate and a huge effort - if at all. Then again, I can't claim to know that much about WV politics.

[Toots]

3. Who would have thought Tom Daschle would have been beaten by a nobody

After all Daschle had done for his state and how powerful he actually was the GOP pulled the rug out from under him. They are capable of anything. Remember Caligula made his horse head consul. They will stop at nothing. we must get rid of the voting machines or we will never see democracy again.

[Lone Pawn]

14. Proconsul would be the term

;)

[bearfan454]

19. 3 words - ELECTRONIC VOTE STEALING n/t

[JohnnyBoots]

5. The god, guns, and gays mantra has

crept in here. If an evangelical ran i bet he would win. It is a rope-a-dope tactic that makes blue collar folks vote against their own interests. I am at a high school in SW WV right now and if I were to walk down the hall I would be blinded by Christian tee shirts and sweat shirts. It has become an increased fad to be ultra Christian and have no tolerance for anyone else and believe what ever is told to you. This school has its share of right wing fundamentalist teachers here who instead of teach spew propaganda. The schiavo case was utterly ridiculous in terms of what the kids were "taught." It truly sickens me.

[TheFarseer]

6. Who would have though ultra-christian would be a fad?

I live in red-state hell, where Ben Nelson can be portrayed as a raging out of touch liberal so I kind of know what you're talking about. It's sickening how, if you ignore about 3/4 of the information in the Shiavo case you might actually believe the "culture of death" = democrats rhetoric and alot of people are. Those kids that were bringing her water - God only knows what they are going to be like when they are older after that kind of upbringing.

[JohnnyBoots]

9. Yeah, our only hope is

hit them first with all the information and teach them to think for themselves. Don't beleive the hype. Hopefully they will get just enough rope to hang themselves. I have thought that highly organized religion is a tool to control the masses, I thought it hit its high point during the inquisition, I don't want to think where we are headed. Too bad Karl and Co. are students of history.

[AnnInLa]

11. JohnnyBoots.....I hope there are more like you in the WV high schools

and Welcome to DU...most here will be interested in hearing a young person's opinions and take on things political.

[JohnnyBoots]

21. WV has given me insight in how to turn red to blue please read-

I had an epiphany on the way to work today and because of a book I am reading on poverty. I intend to clean this post up and start a thread, but here is the general gist. the evangelical church is so successfull in red america beacause it is a form of cheap entertainment, which is a staple in the poverty culture. If the dems, grass roots or not, were to sponsor such things( in a not so visible way) like four wheeler/dirt bike racing, rodeo, fishing/hunting contests, gun and tools shows, concerts, etc. It would give us a platform to speak to the reds. A lot of ex dem red staters say that they didn't leave the party, the party left them-it will help us to lose the "blue state elitist wall- so lets go back to them on thier terms and show them that liberal is not a a dirty word and that we are the party of workers rigths and health care and that the wing nuts a corporate whores. Also, I am sure that there are plenty of devout christian dems out there, we could have them there to show people that there is an alternative to rep corporate religion, let's actually care for the poor and the sick. It will give us a chance to get past the liberal " sticker shock" and explain ourselves and what we stand for. Also, we need to start ASAP with this or in '06 and '08 meeting them on thier terms will again be a picture of Kerry or whoever duck hunting in $1000 camo. It will be too little, too late! Let me know what you think.

[AnnInLa]

22. I live in Louisiana, so I agree with your idea, in fact,

why don't you send it to Gov. Dean so it can be put into effect on a national scale. One of the problems with Kerry, was that he just couldn't be pictured as being one of the good-old-boys. Yes, nothing will get the attention of red-staters like entertainment ( witness Jerry Springer). I hope you send your idea to all the liberal websites, blogs, and WV Dem organizations.....and keep bringing up your idea on the General Discussion board, in different ways...it's bound to catch on sooner or later. Hope you are studying political science...you could be a political strategist...for our side.

[JohnnyBoots]

23. new to this game help....

went to UNH got a BA in Anthropology and poli-sci minor. I am new to the whole internet posting/blog world_ I think I am one of three people in the world with out a cell phone). How do I go about contacting the people you mentioned. A democratic strategist would be a dream job.

[AnnInLa]

28. Let me see what I can find out and get back to you with

some websites....I will DU mail you....probably tomorrow.

[AnnInLa]

30. Some links for you

If you can join a Dem meetup group in your area, and get your group to test out your ideas, that would be great. Your meetup leaders can tell you how to get your ideas to those on top:

http://www.meetup.com/cities/us/wv

On this site, click on the people's names to send emails with your ideas or comments...which they may or may not read your emails!

http://wvfordemocracy.sites.morgantowns.com/index.php?bust=1&cid=0

More sites you can check out, click on "contact us" on each site:

http://www.blogforamerica.com
http://www.democrats.org

May be interesting to you, click on Federal Internships:

http://www.21stcenturydems.org

[JohnOneillsMemory]

24. More 'progressives with Telecasters.'

The populist labor movement was spread through folk songs. Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Paul Robeson, etc.

We need more than just Bruce Springsteen taking back the idea of a better America. We need our popular culture artists to have the courage to speak to issues that the corporate media avoid.

While religious zealots foolishly feared that Beatlemania was a commie mind-control plot, they were absolutely correct in their assessment of the power of pre-literate emotions unleashed by music and rhythm.

Beatlemania spread like a virus behind the Iron Curtain and was part of the cultural rejection of joyless totalitarianism.

Liberals have been painted (for good reason) as joyless and find it hard to place in the 'marketplace of ideas.'

We need another Frank Zappa who warned of theocratic fascism AND played killer guitar solos.

[JohnnyBoots]

25. Yeah

Doesn't Shiek Ya Booty actually run Saudi Arabia. I think the real way to fight Religious fanatiscism is with pop culture in some form or another.

[dmr]

29. Welcome to DU, Johnny

:hi:

I think your idea is not only excellent, it makes total sense.

I'm looking forward to reading more of your posts.

:)

[NashVegas]

31. Not Just Cheap Entertainment

It's network.

People get involved with a church because they want to be a part of something larger than their living room. And there's Sunday church, a reliable place to go and socialize and think about something other than your own needs, once a week.

If non-religious people want to combat that, they've got to come up with something that can draw people together as a community that goes beyond politics.

[Arugula Latte]

20. Welcome to DU, JohnnyBoots!

:hi:

[wicket]

7. the right-wing is targeting Byrd for defeat big time

Who knows what kind of dirty tricks they will pull :grr:

[GHOSTDANCER]

16. I wouldn't put it past Bush to push a few diebold buttons.

I mean Wolfie is head of the World Bank now. It seems they annoit who every they damn well please.

[Triana]

2. Awesome!!!

This is great news!

[Marnieworld]

4. A very impressive early action for Obama

If he is taking steps to help Byrd (my favorite senator) then he gets an A+ in my book!:toast:

[GHOSTDANCER]

17. Aint it though? Thats what I was thinking.

Anyone who understands and respects what Byrd is saying/said, is ok in my book.

[latebloomer]

8. Wow, I'm happily surprised he's running again!

What with his age, and his Parkinsons'.

[Tamyrlin79]

10. What I don't comprehend...

Is why Obama had to intercede for Robert Byrd? Robert Byrd is an old, distiguished Senator with a long history. Why did he need Obama, a freshman Senator, to intercede in his behalf? Surely, after the Rice votes, the Iraq war, the filibuster debate, etc. the "left" has enough respect and admiration for Byrd to give him money without his relying on Obama... So, why couldn't Byrd make this appeal through Moveon himself? I mean, I could see Byrd helping out Obama, but vice versa??? Just not clear on what prompted this sort of upside-down set up in this case... Did they think that using Obama would yeild more donations for Byrd?? Maybe, but I honestly think Byrd has enough street cred with us to gain our financial support without Obama's help.

[AnneD]

12. EMILY

Early money is like yeast. It also serves as a first shot across the bow to the GOP-we are armed and dangerous.....Look for it to get ugly. This needs to be done for every Dem up for re-election. I don't care how well respected they are. Remember, they branded Max Cleland unpatriotic........and he lost (they also rigged the eletronic vote, but that's another story).

[adwon]

13. Courtesy and strategy

It's rather fitting that one of the newest senators goes to bat for the oldest senator. New senators are expected to show a good amount of deference to older senators. It continues the genteel tradition of the Senate and shows a fair amount of unity among Democrats.

As for the strategy, now the GOP will begin to realize that new Democratic icons are on the move and they can raise funds with the best of them. This will make the GOP either shake down their corporate sponsors more vigorously (which will hurt them ultimately) or it will force them into more judicious use of their money. Either way, it appears the GOP money dominance in politics is ending.

[Laurab]

15. Maybe he didn't "have" to, but dems need all the help they can get

Obama being a rising star, and quite popular, even outside of WV, can only help the popular, but aging Senator Byrd. They are fighting a very powerful political machine (not to mention Diebold), so it's a win-win situation, whether it was actually needed or not.

I love Byrd. I read his speeches - he knows the Constitution like the back of his hand, and he knows EXACTLY what the repukes are up to. He is, however, elderly, and sometimes it's almost painful to watch him give a speech. I'm sure the rethugs will use his age against him. His mind is still sharp as a tack, and I want him around as long as he wants to stay around. There are things he can say and do that Obama, being new, may not be able to. I am quite glad Obama has chosen to step to the plate here.

[tabasco]

27. Obama appeals to young people.

Byrd is a fixture in the Senate, but I think he needed the help. He is up in years and probably needed an injection of excitement. Good for Obama to pitch in. It gives me hope to see stuff like this.

[bobbieinok]

18. Obama support also helps counter the RW attack: Byrd member of KKK

[enki23]

26. thus the wording "career in the senate"

obama didn't say anything about his "lifelong" fight for anything.