The Honorable Sherrod Brown
US House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Brown,

On Friday June 2, 2006, 250 copies of the book “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” were distributed to Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. Members of the FireDogLake blog community are now contacting those members of Congress by phone and email to ask them if they have read the book (it’s a fast read) and what response they have to the ideas presented in the book about the lack of organization and infrastructure within the party and the progressive movement.

Highlights from an Amazon.com reviewer.
“Armstrong and Zuniga discuss some of the key disadvantages progressive candidates and activists face in today’s political landscape and some of the changes that should be made to even the playing field. While I was familiar with much of what they discussed, I thought the chapter on media consultants and the relationship between the DNC and those consultants was very interesting and illuminating. As a donor to both the DNC and Democratic campaigns, I certainly agree that more transparency and accountability is necessary in spending by the party.”

I would be pleased to receive your personal comments and share them with the FireDogLake blog community.

Best Wishes to you on your campaign for the United States Senate.

Go Blue!

Ray Mann

OH-01

I still haven’t received a response to this email I sent to Congressman Brown on June 3, 2006. Hopefully Howie Klein will follow up on the questions raised in the book.

Dear Congressman Brown,

On Friday June 2, 2006, 250 copies of the book “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” were distributed to Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. Members of the FireDogLake blog community are now contacting those members of Congress by phone and email to ask them if they have read the book (it’s a fast read) and what response they have to the ideas presented in the book about the lack of organization and infrastructure within the party and the progressive movement.

Highlights from an Amazon.com reviewer.
“Armstrong and Zuniga discuss some of the key disadvantages progressive candidates and activists face in today’s political landscape and some of the changes that should be made to even the playing field. While I was familiar with much of what they discussed, I thought the chapter on media consultants and the relationship between the DNC and those consultants was very interesting and illuminating. As a donor to both the DNC and Democratic campaigns, I certainly agree that more transparency and accountability is necessary in spending by the party.”

I would be pleased to receive your personal comments and share them with the FireDogLake blog community.

Best Wishes to you on your campaign for the United States Senate.

Go Blue!

Ray Mann

OH-01

We must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.

Or, as an early typing teacher chose as a typing exercise:
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party”. (I never understood why this makes such a good typing exercise. It lacks a lot of letters).Never mind.

Just get behind all Dems in all ways.

He’s exactly what we need!!!!!

“ It would be ‘irresponsible’ not to continue campaign.”

Bush:

It would be irresponsible to cut and run.

Too much money makes you stupid.

I was thrilled to hear Hackett decided pull out of the Senate race, and is now working with Sherrod Brown.

Gee. How can these seemingly irreconcilable thots coexist such a small brain? Okay, pull up a chair & listen a spell…

We’ve lived in OH a long time (over 30 yrs). Sherrod represented us for many of those years, UNTIL the repubs recently gerrymandered him away from us in an effort to – well – let’s just say the decidedly ‘creative’ boundaries of our strung-out, cobbled-together district would make that TX bugkiller gasp in admiration, grump.

Our long history of watching and listening to Sherrod Brown work for the people he represents easily convinces us he would very quickly become one of the best Senators in D.C. He’s a bundle of energy, like Ned. He also has a similar personality in being friendly, outgoing, and unflappable, but tough, articulate and aggressive in fighting for what he believes in. He’s very bright, very savvy, and very dedicated.

When he represented us, he visited his district often, and always stayed in touch with the people through regular ‘town meetings’, newsletters & personal correspondence. His campaign for the Senate so far reflects a lot of what I’ve seen from him in the past. He TRULY MEANS IT when he says he wants to represent the people. He’s all over the state these days. My guess is he could really some manpower help.

His environmental voting record is impeccable, ditto in human rights & privacy issues. He’s been fighting a long time to get legislation passed to improve health care. He acts, innovates, and speaks out eloquently on the floor of the House, where he’s gained considerable seniority at a relatively young age, and has earned the respect of his colleagues.

He already has terrific name recognition in the state, and has been working hard to improve that aspect of his campaign.

I could babble forever, but I promised myself not to.

Again, he’s like Ned, I think, in that the more you know about him, the more you’ll like him and trust that he knows what to do, and he means what he says.

The only ’stain’ on his campaign that I can think of was when Schumer and Emanuel intruded so oaf-ishly. What they were thinking, I can only guess, but the 2 of THEM handled it badly, NOT Sherrod! I think proof of that feeling is borne out by Paul Hackett being so willing to dive right in and work with the campaign. (And yes indeed, that also says a lot about Hackett’s dedication and personal values.)

Oh, and last time I noticed, Sherrod seems to understand just fine how the toobz work ‘n all.

I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve decided to help him. I’m thoroughly convinced he has a terrific chance of unseating DeWine.

By the way, DeWine’s campaign has already turned nasty. Sherrod has a solid reputation for being a clean, very savvy campaigner, but he’s plenty tough enough to handle the rough-&-tumble with class and spark.

Go to others to gather the ‘tough’ questions you need for a meet-up. We’ve already seen his talent, commitment and style in action.

When you get around to it, our questions would be more in line with,”What can we at FDL do to help your campaign?”

p.s., I’m Adie, and I approved this message ;->

This the best quote I have seen today. I saw Joe on ABC this morning whining about how he wants to save Connectinut and America. He needs to be a MAN and just admit that he screwed up and didn’t take care of business—his constituents.

Of course he had to throw in that his wife told him he could make more money out of Congress. The more I see him the less of a man I see. Now he’s going to become our savior.