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We at Sum of Change, attended a health care town hall last night, hosted by Congresswoman Donna Edwards. The Congresswoman gave a brief speech, and then opened the floor for questions. The town hall was heated, which should come as no surprise. Not only were conservative groups organizing to get people out to these town halls (with detailed instructions about how to act and talk), OFA 2.0, several Unions, and liberal bloggers pushed progressives to turn out as well. The debate was vigorous, but not disrespectful. If anyone came there with the intent of disrupting the town hall, they failed miserably.
We'll go through a round of the Q&A's. I strongly recommend watching these all the way through, the Congresswoman knows how to finish an answer.
On Thursday, July 30th, the Progressive Caucus held a press conference to draw a line in the sand when it comes to the inclusion of a strong public option in the health care bill.
(video quality will improve once it has finished processing)
I was lucky enough to be invited to the swearing in, and my employers, having endorsed Ms. Edwards from the start, we happy to grant me a day off. I happily made the trek from Westminster to the PG County campaign office where a SUPER AWESOME PARTY BUS would whisk supporters and politicos alike away to the capital.
The Post's Maryland Moment has a nice little posting that describes Donna Edwards' first couple of days in office. This is why elections shouldn't just be about electing more democrats, but better democrats as well:
Day 1: Sworn into office. Votes in favor of H.R. 5781, giving federal employees the option of using accumulated sick and personal leave for up to 8 weeks of paid parental leave in order to take care of newly born or adopted children. How's that for actually taking action in favor of families rather than just paying lip service to family values.
Day 2: Votes against FISA changes, in opposition to giving telecom companies immunity from, you know, actually being punished for breaking a law.
...definitely makes all the phone calls and door knocking worthwhile.
If you live in the Fourth District, make sure you get out and vote tomorrow in the special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by Al Wynn. While it's a pretty sure bet that Donna Edwards will win handily, you should excercise your civic duty in any case; there's always the possibility of nobody voting except die-hard Peter James supporters, à la the Simpsons. You can find your polling place here.
Just a quick note, with links to some reporting from the ongoing SEIU Convention in Puerto Rico. Soon-to-be US Representative for MD-04, Donna Edwards, gave a speech there today. A couple postings about that, with video, are at Firedoglake and Open Left.
Update: Post edited. Also, have now heard the speech - I couldn't get the link at Open Left to work on my system, but FDL's You Tube link functioned (direct link to that is here).
At just over 5 minutes long, Donna Edwards' speech will be nothing new to anyone who has followed her campaign in MD-04 this year. She is a success story for SEIU political involvement, and as such, a very good person to bring in for a bit of cheerleading for these union leaders and activists. That is how I would characterize this speech - something to rouse the troops, so to speak. Through mention of a number of key issues, mostly economic, she reminded the assembled group of what is at stake this election year, and of the role government should be playing in fixing many of the problems we face, a number of which have been created by our current national leadership.
Update #2: Compliments of FDL guest blogger Watertiger (blog home here) - who is covering the convention on SEIU's dime - here is a post-speech blogger photo-op and mini-chat with Donna Edwards. No big thang, just FYI.
*[For those who, like me, don't follow the labor community regularly, SEIU is not without its critics among other unions. The first comment in the Open Left post (posted by "California Nurses Shum"), and the links therein, will cue you in a bit to more information/opinions/flames on all that, and further poking around at Open Left will take you further into the relevant controversies. I've tried to follow the contretemps - with limited success - and IMHO there are no clearcut heroes and villains in all that. Mostly a matter of good and passionate advocates whose specific agendas, tactics, and constituencies occasionally collide, with the expected unpleasant results.]
There is no big news in the offing for this June 17 election in MD-04 -- at least, not as far as I can tell -- but in this windy post are a few reminders and info-bits for those interested in this race...
On the election itself, the Maryland State Board of Elections' website for special elections in 2008 is here, with details on the MD-04 Special Congressional Election information at the top of the page. The next significant deadline is probably the May 30 (by 9:00 pm) deadline for voter registration - that's this Friday. Thanks to Donna Edwards' strong ground game leading up to the February primary, with a huge boost from Senator Obama's Presidential campaign, a whole bunch of new voters apparently registered already. However, at least a few folks have turned 18 in the ensuing months, and if they haven't registered to vote yet, they have until Friday to do so; ditto for any others newly eligible to vote in this election.
For those intending to vote by Absentee Ballot, the deadline to request a ballot by fax or mail is Tuesday June 10 - that's a little more than two weeks away. The state BoE Website explaining details for absentee voting is here; this site includes links to the downloadable 2-page .pdf applications for MD-04 Special Election absentee ballots, but if you want to go right to it, click on either this link for the English language application (2-page .pdf), or here for the Spanish language version (2-page .pdf).
On to the candidates themselves, after the jump...
(While we're waiting to see how the Pennsylvania primary plays out... - promoted by Isaac Smith)
Kensington, MD--Donna Edwards won the backing of the Montgomery County Democratic Party Central Committee tonight by a vote of 22 to 1. This was a key step leading up to the special election to serve the remaining portion of Rep. Albert Wynn's term in Maryland's 4th Congressional District.
The Prince Georges County Democratic Party Central Committee will hold a similar vote on Thursday, May 24. Both Committees will refer their decisions to the Maryland State Democratic Party Central Committee, which will pass along a recommendation to Governor Martin O'Malley.
This process will determine the Democratic nominee for the June 17th special election in lieu of a special primary election. The Republican Party will determine a nominee through a similar process. Jason Jennings received the remaining one vote.
There is very little time before the June 17 Special General Election to replace Al Wynn, so clearly everyone involved in the campaign has to move quickly. It seems reasonable that a light turnout would be expected for this stand-alone election. Making things more challenging, its date - just after the end of the school year, and at the start of vacation season for many - will have the likely effect of suppressing turnout even further. Here is some information about the upcoming election.
The Maryland Board of Elections has established the full schedule for this election - deadlines for candidate filings, voter registration, absentee ballots, etc. The URL for the BoE site is here. (Linking isn't working for my laptop/browser, for some reasonFixed).
Candidate filing opened on Monday (21Apr). Here are a few other key dates:
May 30 - Voter Registration Deadline (9pm)
June 10 - Deadline to Request an Absentee Ballot by fax or mail
June 11 - In-person Requests for Absentee Ballots Begins
June 17 - ELECTION DAY (7am - 8pm); and also June 17 - Deadline to Request an Absentee Ballot in Person (8pm); and also June 17 - Deadline for voters to hand deliver* (8pm) or mail Absentee Ballot
[*to local Bd. of Elec.]
The absentee ballot for this election is not yet available. According to the woman I spoke with at the Maryland Board of Elections, further information on the absentee ballot may become available as early as this Friday, and will be posted to the Website referenced above.
