the democratic party understands only one thing -- money, or the lack of!

which is why i returned four democratic party postage-paid envelopes this morning with no check and a message -- and am asking you to do the same.

i asked nancy pelosi (dccc 2006 NEW DIRECTIONS SURVEY), "when will we have congresswomen from new jersey and massachusetts?" i asked the dnc, "when will howard dean answer my letter?" (yet another copy included).

millions of women have earned the right to use those envelopes to tell the democratic party what we think and what we want -- especially when they want us to work and vote for democrats year-after-year with pitifully few seats at decision-making tables to show for it. the u.s. is 68th in the world for electing women with 15.4% of congress, and there are no women in either house of congress from 19 states -- have i said that before?

we can still be good democrats (or republicans) by giving directly to campaigns of our choice rather than to party entities. first and foremost, we can and must support women candidates -- and there are plenty out there who deserve our help.

until both major political parties come up with CONCRETE PLANS TO ELECT MORE WOMEN TO CONGRESS so we can achieve 5050x2020, they do not deserve our dollars so they can give them to candidates of their choice who are mostly men. we can only make headway if women leverage their dollars and both parties stop using women to perpetuate the status quo.

support your party with dollars to candidates, not to party machines that have made no real commitment to equal representation. congressional majorities can be built just as easily with women in those seats -- and don't let them tell you otherwise!

re more OPEN SEATs!

(NOTE: forget it, gallegly has now changed his mind -- but since then there are 2 more OPEN SEATS [NY24 (Boehlert -R) & MN05 (Sabo-D)] for a total of 29, including the 4/11 special election for CA50)

it's CA24, but with some complications -- per today's "house race hotline":

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R) "announced hours" before the 3/10 filing deadline that "he will not seek re-election" because of a medical condition. He pulled out "just before candidates" had to turn in the paperwork to local county offices in order to appear on the 6/6 ballot. Gallegly, in a statement: "I have been dealing with a medical issue that is yet to be resolved. Although I am hopeful it will be resolved positively, it would not be fair to my constituents and supporters should I be forced to withdraw from the race mid-year" (Hatfield, Lompo Record, 3/13). Gallegly apparently thought he could "unfile his candidacy" and therefore extend the filing deadline. He was "wrong on both accounts" (Fleischman, Flash Report, 3/12).


Because of the timing of Gallegly's withdrawal, his name "will appear on the June primary" ballot. Harvard-educated atty. Michael Tenenbaum (R) is the only other GOPer to file for the seat. If Gallegly "receives more votes" than Tenenbaum in the primary, people can vote for him in the general -- his name will "also appear on the November general election ballot." Gallegly initially "filed his candidate forms" for the election on 2/17. Only one Dem, Presbyterian minister Jill Martinez qualified for the Dem nomination (Hatfield, Lompo Record, 3/13).

28th OPEN SEAT in u.s. house!!

monday morning qb: some food for thought..

this is as good a time as any to focus on the bigger picture -- too much time is spent on the devil's details, and not many people give much thought to the box that we are in.

the self-proclaimed "world's greatest democracy" needs to take a lesson or two from our south american neighbors -- and in order for there to be real progress (i.e. equal representation), a lot of people have to change a lot of things. our democracy will not become whole by osmossis.

last friday's miami herald talked about "in americas, women rising to top jobs" -- and not just about the plethora of women leaders, but how the passage of quota laws guaranteeing seats for women in legislatures (usually 20-25%) had made such a difference. argentina passed such in 1991 and immediately went from 6 t0 26%, and today is seventh in the world at 37.2%. seems like some people took the beijing conference to heart while we still promote party hacks who say, "we don't do that here."

there is never a good time to reform a political system, because change doesn't happen overnight -- but we need to start sometime, like now. political leaders and party leaders, past and present, must make changing the rules and fixing our system a priority -- and that is just the bottom line. talk is cheap, and we are tired of lip service.

we need real ideas and the stomach to make things happen. big ideas (like those of lani guinier for full representation) and proven strategies (like "every open seat a woman's seat") must rise to the top of the political priority list -- and this is what howard dean, jimmy carter, and hillary clinton should be talking about!

who will be that visionary who gets the ball rolling for real change? who will have the courage to put party politics aside and show the way? who really cares about equal representation?

and i bet the american people are more interested in saving our democracy than our alleged leaders might think.

have a great week!