Francine Busby was one of the first candidates Blue America ever endorsed. 1,216 members of our community contributed $22,828 to her campaign to succeed Republican bribe taker Randy "Duke" Cunningham in 2006. She took 43% of the vote (to lobbyist Brian Bilbray's 54%).

Both houses of the Vermont legislature overrode the veto of Republican governor Jim Douglas and that state became the 4th state to pass a same sex marriage bill. Today let's spend some time getting to know one of the legislators behind that hard-fought victory--that most people said was impossible--Representative David Zuckerman, a member of Vermont's Progressive Party.

We invited DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen over to FDL today to talk about Wednesday's incendiary Politico piece by Alex Isenstadt. In what Van Hollen's office claims were out of context remarks, Isenstadt seems to have framed Van Hollen as "calling on liberal groups to back off in their efforts to target moderate Democrats who have been skeptical of President Barack Obama's ambitious budget." Van Hollen couldn't make our chat today but his office claimed a NY Times report on the same day by Kate Phillips more accurately-- less Drudgily-- described what the chairman was saying.

Yesterday we saw how both Inside-the-Beltway political establishments are going broke. Donations are down--way down, possibly because Americans are wising up to the correlation between big money politics and the kinds of special interests-driven policies that have led the country's economy right off a cliff. At the same time, many of us have watched with great pride as some of the Blue America-endorsed candidates from 2006 and 2008 have gone on to distinguish themselves in Congress, fighting daily for the aspirations of America's working families.

We asked Sam to come back today to talk about her brand new job as president of the Woman's Campaign Forum, a non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing the political participation and leadership of pro-choice women by providing the necessary encouragement, education and resources. They recruit and support women to run for office beginning in their earliest days in politics. They're also building a national network of women voters, donors and activists whose efforts and venture capital ensure women’s voices are heard.

A couple weeks ago western North Carolina activist and blogger Gordon Smith of Scrutiny Hooligans penned an expose about what went wrong with the highest ranking local Democratic elected official in his area, Blue Dog Congressman Health Shuler. Two weeks later-- yesterday, to be precise, Gordon officially announced his own campaign for city council in the biggest city in Shuler's district, Asheville (population 90,000/greater metro area is 370,000). Today we've asked Gordon to join us at Firedoglake to talk about his grassroots efforts in the district and about transitioning from blogger/activist to actually running for office.

When Obama nominated longtime Blue America fave Hilda Solis for a cabinet position, I got a call from another Blue America alum, Roberto Rodriguez, who had run against GOP crook Buck McKeon in a district northeast of Los Angeles in 2006. Roberto wanted to introduce me to an old friend of his who is running for Congress in CA-32, the East L.A./San Gabriel Valley district that Hilda has represented.

I don't think Chris Bowers owes anyone an apology for backing Tom Geoghegan, he's a great guy and a true progressive who really inspired people. But I do appreciate him offering his thoughts on what his decision making process was, so I thought I would offer mine as well.

Live interview with the New Hampshire Speaker of the House

A certain major financial institution is seeking some new members for their Board of Directors. I've got a few suggestions for them.