One Senator Needed for January 6th Challenge

We all
remember that early scene in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, where
one African American after another stands up in the well of the House
of Representatives to challenge the 2000 Florida vote, only to be ruled out of order
due to the lack of a single signature from a single Senator.



Not this time.



On
January 6, 2005, the House and Senate will once again meet to consider
the electoral vote count. And once again, that vote count is likely to
be challenged by a group of progressive House members, who will make
the case that the misallocation of voting machines (especially in
Ohio), the abuse of provisional balloting in numerous states, and the
refusal and/or inability to conduct the recount in an open and
auditable manner in Ohio, in Florida, and in so many other key states,
mean that the certified electors should not be seated.



This
time, we want several U.S. Senators to join with them, to make a
serious voting rights challenge that the entire world will hear. This
time, we want so much polite-but-firm grassroots contact from
progressive voters beforehand that a whole group of Senators will
choose to stand up and fight for the voting rights of
African-Americans, Latinos, and youth voters that the Republican Party
targeted for disruption and disenfranchisement in the 2004 election.



Some who
need to hear from us are new, such as Barak Obama of Illinois and Ken
Salazar of Colorado. These new Senators could use cover from the new
leadership of the Senate, especially Dick Durbin, who also hails from
Obama's home state.



Some
Senators depend on African American and Latino votes to be elected, and
thus could be expected to stand up tall when voting rights issues are
on the line, including Joe Biden of Delaware, Carl Levin of Michigan,
Bill Nelson of Florida, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Jeff Bingaman of
New Mexico, Barbara Mikulski and Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Jon Corzine
and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.



Senator
Byrd of West Virginia was once a Klansman; but his eloquent leadership
against the Iraq War has inspired us all, and he has the courage and
fortitude to cap his career with an outspoken battle on behalf of
abused African American voters. Senator Lieberman of Connecticut
rightfully brags about his youthful efforts to register voters in the
Old South in the 1960s; on 1/6/05, he will have the chance to
demonstrate that his youthful idealism still survives.



There
are Senators who are safe, and could do the right thing – like Chris
Dodd of Connecticut, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, Charles Schumer of New
York, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin.



There is
Jim Jeffords of Vermont, an Independent who was brave enough to stand
up to the Bush White House once before. There is Senator Lincoln
Chafee, a Republican in a solid Democratic state, the namesake of
Lincoln, a moderate caught in a far right party.



And, of course, there is John Kerry.



To
remind them why they're in Washington, click here. Ask them to stand
for every American's right to vote (and have it counted.)



Go to pdamerica.org to take action.

Standing tall in solidarity,



Tim Carpenter

Progressive Democrats of America

 

email: info@pdamerica.org

phone: (877) 368-9221

web: www.pdamerica.org

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