When I arrived at the event, I was met by a diverse group of progressives at a backyard picnic table…
We chatted for a while and ate a delicious assortment of foods – our hostess, Sabine (a naturalized US citizen, sworn in just this past February!) was quite gracious, as she kept the wine and veggie burgers flowing. We talked about the climate crisis for a while, and I eventually asked if anyone had heard of Jamie Eldridge. A few folks had, but many had not heard of him – I ran down the race for them and handed out some literature from the campaign. Then I hit them with the big question – would they like to meet Jamie? The response was an overwhelming yes, and by this time there was at least a dozen attendees – I called the campaign.
After dinner, we went inside to have dessert – our hosts have a rather large wicker bear that I felt was worth a picture:
We settled into couches and chairs and began to watch a collection of video clips of each Democratic candidate responding to MoveOn member questions about the climate crisis – we got as far as Obama when the doorbell rang, and our host announced “Jamie Eldridge – Candidate for Congress!!”
As you can see, we wasted no time in putting him on the hot seat – our hostess asked the first question, “Tell us, why should we vote for you?” Jamie laid out his progressive stand on the most vital issues we face: he wants to bring the troops home from Iraq, he wants dramtaic action on global warming now, he supports HR 676 for universal single-payer health care. But most importantly, he said, he’ll earn their votes by standing up to the entrenched power structure in Washington, just like he did in Massachusetts when he stood up to the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House, Tom Finneran, on the day he was sworn into office.
We went around the room after that, with everyone asking questions on a myriad of topics, and Jamie handled them all with substantive, thoughtful answers. He spent the better part of an hour on this discussion, and I think the crowd was duly impressed. I got to announce “last question”, but Jamie stayed for quite a while after that and mingled with the crowd. One last photo of Jamie and our hostess, Sabine (blonde), and another attendee whose name escapes me at the moment:
Absolutely the best MoveOn party experience I’ve ever had – how was yours?
…I’m confident that somewhere in the Fifth District, instead of showing her commitment to the environment, Niki Tsongas was handing out free ice cream cones, and showing her breadth of knowledge on the issues by telling some blue collar worker struggling to feed and house his family how she’s going to make his life better by “changing the tone in Washington.”
…and she was also telling him not to worry about health care for his family, since the market will take care of that!
John, thanks for posting this. Jamie did indeed attend several Live Earth events, arriving at his last event at about 10:30 PM. Jamie is working hard to become known by the voters throughout the Fifth Congressional District. He will bring the same personal energy and commitment to Congress that he has brought to the race. I only managed two parties myself. There is not as much demand for campaign Vice Chairs as there is for candidates!
where some friends and I joined up. That’s one town beyond the district where Jamie is running, but I canvassed for him in Wayland on Sunday. I had canvassed for him before, once in Wayland and once in Maynard.
<
p>
I’m glad to hear that the questions and answers were substantive. That’s good to know, both about the voters and about Jamie.
<
p>
So tell us, how did Jamie stand up to Finneran, on his first day and afterwards? I know he’s the only successful Clean Elections candidate in Massachusetts, and I know he fought to get the money that was supposed to be allocated to the Clean Elections candidates. I also know how Finneran did his best to cut off that money. Is that where the battle took place?
…he was one of only a handful who voted against Tom Finneran for speaker. It was more symbolic than anything else, but it signalled the beginning of the end for Tom.
He wants me and you to pay for his nascism.
One reason why I am proud to support Jamie is because he is the only candidate to run successfully as a Clean Election candidate during that sadly short lived experiment in real democracy – torpedoed by Tom Finneran and friends.
<
p>
Apparently some of us (who don’t know how to spell) prefer the system where candidates are forced to rely on financial contributions, where moneyed special interests have a clear advantage.
<
p>
I want a Congressman who will represent the people, not the billionaires.
<
p>
What I would really like to see, vis-a-vis campaign spending, is a system similar to the British in which TV stations are required to give free time to candidates. A TV station license has been compared to a license to print money, so they can damn well afford it. This would remove much of the incentive for vast fund raising and therefore result in more democratic elections.