One of the wonderful parts of campaigning for my brother in 2004 was getting to know political leaders around the country who are making a difference. One of these was Tom Allen in Maine, where I did a lot of campaigning.
I am helping many candidates this year, but I feel a special connection with Tom Allen. It’s close to home, and Tom is one of the most thoughtful members of Congress. Electing him to the Senate will add a voice for Maine that represents the real interests of working families, the environment, and America’s leadership in the world – in the place of another Roadblock Republican whose votes have helped George Bush when it really counted. We need Tom Allen if Democrats are going to get to 60 votes in the Senate.
On September 23, there’s an opportunity to meet and support Tom Allen in Boston. (In counterpoint to BMG’s highbrow Obama musicale) the special guests will be Stephen King and Jimmy Tingle and contributors will receive a bookplate autographed by Stephen King. It’s at 5:30 p.m. at Mintz Levin, 1 Financial Center, Boston, 38th floor. Contributions requested are $100 and up. You can RSVP to pholmes@tomallen.com or via this link.
…remember that Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican Tom’s looking to replace, is Holy Joe’s best friend forever. Joe won’t be running again until 2012, so sending Susan Collins to an early retirement is the next best thing you can do in this election cycle. If you can’t afford or don’t have time to attend this event, you can make a donation to Tom at my ActBlue page:
<
p>http://www.actblue.com/page/so…
<
p>I’ve raised over $2,500 for Tom by pointing this out every chance I get – please don’t let me down, BMGers!
I remember well during the first few dismal years of the Bush administration the many, many times I held my breath during a senate vote, waiting to see if Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Lincoln Chafee would show some integrity and vote their consciences instead of their party.
<
p>Needless to say, that was a foolish waste of time on my part. I was disappointed nearly 100% of the time. Susan Collins seems like a nice enough person, but she has to go.
Last year on a vote that was supposed to go along party lines, Collins voted no like a good Republican and Snowe voted yes. I can’t remember what bill it was, but I do remember the look she shot at Snowe – daggers! Snowe really is a moderate, Collins just pretends to be one and she sure hated that her true colors were hung out on the line for everyone to see that day…