First, I want to thank everyone at the YearlyKos conference in Las Vegas and especially my fellow panelists Ken Bernstein ( a.k.a. TeacherKen) and Jamie Volmer. I was honored to be invited and enjoyed meeting a number of bloggers.
But I didn't write this post to revisit YearlyKos. This post is about a fundamental issue in our democracy: Voting is a right, not a privilege.
From the people I met this past weekend, I am sure we can all agree that it's time to restore fairness and integrity to the electoral process in our country -- and I know many of you are involved in a number of unique efforts to do just that.
However, there is one way we can all come together and have a lasting impact: Ohio, in 2006.
Many of us despise Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell for pulling out the stops in 2004 to frustrate voters. Well, Blackwell is at it again: manipulating election laws for himself and his Republican allies. That's why it's urgent to get an Ohio Secretary of State dedicated to cleaning up Ohio elections.
I know the candidate to do it, and her name is Jennifer Brunner and on Monday, Heartland PAC endorsed her for Ohio Secretary of State.
Many of you have already discussed her race, but working together there is more we can do to help her win. We issued a challenge -- that Heartland PAC would match each contribution to Jennifer Brunner up to ten thousand dollars. Combined contributions have reached $8,874.04, and we are still giving. But her campaign needs as much support as we Democrats across the country can provide.
Working together, we need to bring more attention to the Brunner campaign and give her all the resources we can offer. This is what blog communities have always been so effective at -- helping a candidate when everyone else around the country isn't watching. Please, let's support Brunner today:
http://www.jenniferbrunner.com/...
Most of us thought 2004 in Ohio was about as bad as it could get. We remember the confusing decisions that caused literally tens of thousands of provisional ballots to be tossed in the garbage, and long lines in the college towns with only two voting machines, while voters in Republican areas breezed through the polls -- and even threats to reject voter registration forms on paper of the wrong weight.
Well, Blackwell has stooped even lower than ever. This time he's rushed "emergency" rules that leave Ohio volunteers in voter registration drives facing the risk of criminal prosecution. That's why we need to do something concrete by supporting Jennifer Brunner and cleaning up Ohio elections.
Raising adequate funds is always a challenge -- and more so in these often overlooked races . But past experience, with flawed elections reinforces how important these races are. In 2006, through the twenty-two contests for Secretaries of State -- who control the voting process, we can restore fairness and integrity to voting.
Now more than ever, we need to replace Blackwell and other election officials who abuse their power to keep Americans from having their voices heard.
Jennifer Brunner has the experience, training, and commitment to clean up Ohio elections -- and to restore confidence that voting is a right, not a privilege. Go to her site to read her four-point plan and resume:
http://www.jenniferbrunner.com/
Or you can to watch video of Jennifer Brunner explaing what she will do when she wins:
http://www.youtube.com/...
I'm confident you will agree that she is the right person at the right time for Ohio.And I hope you will join democrats in OHio and the Heartland PAC online community in helping her win.
I am traveling today, so I won't be able to respond to the comments live, but Heartland PAC will be monitoring the thread and sending your comments to me on my Blackberry and I will try to respond to some comments later today.
Thank you again for all your work.
[UPDATE: Kevin (kmthurman) -- We are halfway there. I just recieve an update from the Brunner campaign explaining that we made it $10,000 just a few minutes ago.]