Democracy

Governor Howard Dean has it right: "We have to show up in every state, in every election, in every community... not just in 18 of 50 states, and not just in blue areas."

And you know what? That strategy works. Just look at Ohio. The grassroots uprising we helped lead this summer nearly elected Paul Hackett to Congress. In just three months, we rocked the GOP in one of its safest districts. We proved that by fighting hardÐ'--rather than taking defeat for grantedÐ'--we can put Republicans on the run everywhere.

People can only hear us if they can see us, so we have to stop abandoning entire statesÐ'--and the Americans who live thereÐ'--as lost causes. Why? Because if politics is the art of the possible, Hackett proved that the red-versus-blue divide doesn't really matterÐ'--that progressives can fight, and win elections, by convincing people one at a time.

Want more progressive victories? Then we have to fight. Our money and energy made the difference in Ohio, and that model can make wavesÐ'--and win elections all over the country.

Starting today, Democracy for America will host an online vote to determine which congressional candidate will receive our first DFA-List endorsement of 2006. The vote will be open to all challengers and open seat candidates. The candidate with the most votes at the end of balloting will receive a DFA-List endorsement and a national e-mail from DFA?s Chair Jim Dean.

The voting will take place in two stages. First, we will hold an online vote to narrow the field of 30+ candidates that have applied for DFA's endorsement down to ten. We will then hold a second round amongst those 10 candidates to determine our first endorsement of 2006.

The voting for each round will last for five days and will be open to all visitors to www.democracyforamerica.com.

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