Monday, April 10, 2006

Two OR Candidates Make (Jim) Dean's List

What used to be called Dean's Dozen, named for Democracy for America's ebullient founder, has under his brother's direction expanded to become the DFA List, Candidates for America. In much the way the World Bank might dole out microloans to help small numbers of people get ahead on this planet, DFA has built a process whereby good progressive candidates, no matter how small their potential constituency, can get crucial funding for their races. Operating on the (solid) principle that the county commissioners and statehouse delegates of today are the federal candidates of tomorrow, DFA is fulfilling Howard's DNC mandate to re-grow the party from the ground up.

As a state where progressives are allowed to at least flower if not always win, Oregon has a wide body of potential endorsees to choose from, and DFA has picked two good ones: Sal Peralta for HD 24; and Lew Frederick for Multno Commissioner. Since they do such a nice job formatting the message for me, I'll take the liberty of passing on the 411 verbatim:

Democracy for America is proud to announce the addition of Salvador Peralta and Lew Frederick to the DFA-List, Candidates for America. These DFA members have dozens of years of experience in their communities. They have managed businesses and organized community initiatives. Now, we have a chance to help them take the next step and bring progressive leadership toOregon.

Salvador PeraltaSalvador Peralta is running for State Representative in Oregon HD 24. A small business-owner, Sal was instrumental in leading Oregonians in the fight to save Social Security, and is a long-standing champion of campaign finance reform and public interest media policy. An Oregon DFA leader, Sal is running because he is concerned about the direction that Oregon and America are headed, particularly with regard to funding for education, health care, and the shift in tax burden to Oregon's working families. When Sal is elected, he will immediately introduce legislation to enable small businesses and working families to opt-in to the state's prescription drug pool. Sal will also fight to close tax breaks and loopholes for companies that are taking Oregon jobs out of state. Please help elect Salvador Peralta to the Oregon House of Representatives.
http://www.peraltafororegon.org/

Lew FrederickLew Frederick is a longtime television journalist, educator, civil rights activist and a 30 year resident of Northeast Portland. He has co-hosted the DFA group in Portland since September 2003 and helped organize the Democracy for Oregon steering committee. Lew is running for the Multnomah County Board because he feels it is time to move Portland in a new direction by bringing together information from stakeholders in the community, experts and service providers, and work together to craft priorities for public service. Join DFA and DFO in supporting Lew Frederick for Multnomah County Commissioner.
http://www.vote4lew.com/

Salvador and Lew have been added to the "DFA-List" because of their commitment to taking our country back. But they need your help to build winning campaigns and get out the progressive vote. Please visit their websites and help them in any way you can.
http://www.dfalist.com