Alberta Darling

Progressives Go Up With Massive Health Care Attack In Wisconsin Recall Fight (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 29, 2011, 8:29AM

State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-WI)

Before there was the war over the debt ceiling, there was the unending Democratic attack over Republican plans to change Medicare. In Wisconsin, that old fight is still raging as the recall elections approach - and progressives are firing a massive new salvo.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America are launching a new, $150,000 television buy against state Sen. Alberta Darling (R), who Democrats hope to depose with state Rep. Sandy Pasch (D). The buy will also continue an existing spot the coalition is running against state Sen. Luther Olsen (R). Both recall elections will be held Aug. 9.

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Wisconsin Recalls

PCCC And DFA Launch $100K Ad Buy For Wisconsin State Senate Seat (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 20, 2011, 9:42AM

National Democratic money is flowing into the Wisconsin state Senate recalls, with a new $100,000 ad buy from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America, in just a single targeted race.

Republicans currently control the chamber by a majority of 19-14. Democrats hope to gain a net three seats and win a majority in a backlash against GOP Gov. Scott Walker's anti-public employee union legislation. In other words, control of the chamber is up for grabs.

The ad features a local family in the central Wisconsin district of GOP Sen. Luther Olsen, who is facing Democratic state Rep. Fred Clark in an August 9 recall election, complaining of budget cuts that will result in the closure of the elementary school where their children have gone -- and where Olsen's children previously went to school.

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New Hampshire

While GOPers Debate, Progressives Blitz NH With Medicare Message

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 13, 2011, 6:45AM

Mitt Romney

The Republicans who gather on stage in New Hampshire Monday night for their first major presidential primary debate are all scrambling to position themselves on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system.

And thanks to a blanket of advertising in New Hampshire by progressive groups, primary voters in the Granite State watching tonight's debate will be confronted with the Democratic view of Ryan's budget -- namely, that it forces seniors and the poor to bear the burden of the federal budget woes while making life easier on the rich.

Major progressive groups are flooding New Hampshire with Medicare messaging, previewing the fight for Medicare they hope to have with the GOP next year. Online or on the air, it will be hard for primary voters tuning in to the debate to avoid the progressive position on the Ryan budget, providing contrast for the Republicans on stage who are expected to heap praise on Ryan, even while the big names try to put at least some distance between them and Ryan's unpopular proposal.

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Medicare

Progressives Take Medicare Fight To NH Republican (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 2, 2011, 12:23PM

Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) has become the latest Republican to face his vote for Medicare-ending House budget in the form of a TV ad. In the first major ad buy since Democrats used the issue to pull off a surprise win in the NY-26 special election, progressives are targeting Bass over his vote for Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) budget plan, which eliminates Medicare and replaces it with a voucher system.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America say they hope to do significant damage to Bass, as well as bolster their choice to replace him, Ann Kuster. She's the progressive star who barely lost to Bass in 2010 after defeating Sen. Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign chair for the Democratic nomination. Kuster's running again this year.

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Deficit

Progressive Groups: Polls Show Deficit Panic Is Republican Illusion

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 25, 2011, 8:41AM

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

A day after House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) confirmed that cuts to Medicare are a part of deficit reduction negotiations, progressives are out with new polling they say shows Democrats falling into a Republican trap.

The fresh numbers from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota jibe with what national polls have shown in the past: Americans are far more concerned about job creation than they are about deficit reduction. Progressives say that shows Democrats should be leaving the deficit panic to the GOP and getting back to an agenda that protects entitlements and stimulates job growth.

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Medicare/Medicaid

Poll: Voters Ready To Penalize Democrats Who Mess With Medicare

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 24, 2011, 8:40AM

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Voters in key Senate swing states don't want cuts to Medicare and Medicaid benefits -- and they're prepared to exact revenge on politicians who vote in favor of them.

That's according to new Public Policy Polling (D) numbers from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota, where Democratic Senators face what could be tough reelection fights. The polling, published first by TPM, was sponsored by a coalition of progressive groups.

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Social Security

New Polling Says Overwhelming Majority Wants Social Security Left Alone

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 23, 2011, 8:44AM

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)

Ask the voters and they'll tell you: Social Security cuts are off the table when it comes to cleaning up the budget mess in Washington.

Fresh polling from Ohio, Missouri, Montana and Minnesota published first by TPM show voters in the states overwhelmingly oppose any cuts to the Social Security entitlement program, even in the name of reducing the national debt. The coalition of progressive groups which sponsored the survey say the polls send a clear message to the Democratic Senate incumbents up for reelection in each state: cut Social Security and you'll incur the wrath of an angry electorate.

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Wisconsin Protests

National Progressives Amp Up Recall Air War In Wisconsin (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 29, 2011, 11:03AM

National progressive groups are launching a new series of television ads in Wisconsin calling for the recall of Republican state senators.

The new $100,000 campaign by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America comes on the heels of weeks of spending by the two groups hoping to boot some of the senators who voted to kill collective bargaining for thousands of state workers at the urging of Gov. Scott Walker (R).

The new ads will run on broadcast and cable in the Milwaukee and Green Bay media markets. As with past Wisconsin ad campaigns by the PCCC/DFA partnership, the size and scope of the campaign will be determined by online donations. Each group has about 25,000 members in Wisconsin and the pair have around 1.7 million members nationwide.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressive Groups Step Up Recall Ad Campaign (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 17, 2011, 9:05AM

They've asked the voters, they've filled the airwaves and now they're getting down to business: Starting Thursday, a coalition of national progressives is openly calling for the recall of several Republican state Senators in Wisconsin with new TV ads aimed directly at them.

Recall fever is catching among the Wisconsin left these days. The state Democratic party has collected just about half of the signatures necessary to make a run at recalling eight state Senators eligible to have their terms cut short (Wisconsin law says only a politician who's been in office for a year or more can be recalled.)

The progressive coalition of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America is banging the recall drum, too, after spending more than a half-million dollars on TV ads lambasting the Republican state Senate and Gov. Scott Walker (R). Now the groups are launching the first TV spots to call for recall directly.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressives Get Serious About Wisconsin Recalls

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 8, 2011, 8:49AM

Demonstrators outside the Wisconsin state Capitol, February 16, 2011.

A coalition of progressive groups are taking their threats to recall several Republican members of the state Senate in Wisconsin to the next level this week.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America say they've raised more than a half million dollars from a TV ad the groups have been running in two Wisconsin media markets for a week. Now they plan to take that money and refocus their attention on recalling three Republican Senators.

PCCC and DFA first raised the recall threat last week, launching an automated phone campaign to gauge voters interest in recall in several state Senate districts. The response? Voters are ready to give their Senators the boot -- and the PCCC and DFA are ready to help.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressive Pro-Union Ad In Wisconsin Raises $225K In A Day

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 3, 2011, 2:35PM

If the money pouring in is any indication, supporters of union workers in Wisconsin like the TV ad campaign launched by two national progressive groups on Wednesday.

The groups behind the ad, which targets Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the Republican majority in the legislature, tell TPM they've raised "over $225,000" from "10,000 grassroots donors" since the ad and its accompanying online fundraising campaign went live yesterday.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressive Groups Take Aim At Walker In Wisconsin TV Campaign (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 2, 2011, 9:05AM

On the heels of their nascent campaign to (maybe) recall five GOP state Senators in Wisconsin, a coalition of national progressive groups is going on the air with ads aimed directly at embattled Gov. Scott Walker (R) and the state GOP.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America are sponsoring the ad, which will air in the Milwaukee and Madison markets on broadcast and cable for the rest of the week. The sponsors tell TPM that the buy will allow the message to reach as much as 57% of Wisconsin voters.

PCCC and DFA have already raised more than $160,000 for the AWOL state Senate Democrats in just the last week alone, and PCCC says they expect the TV spot to bring a "significant" new round of fundraising. As money comes in, PCCC and DFA will expand the markets for the TV ad and extend its run. The ad is running alongside an online fundraising effort run by PCCC and DFA.

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Wisconsin Protests

Progressives Target GOP State Senators In WI With Recall Threat

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 1, 2011, 8:30AM

Demonstrators outside the Wisconsin state Capitol, February 16, 2011.

A pair of national progressive groups are firing the first shots in what could become a full-scale recall campaign against Republican state Senators in Wisconsin, TPM has learned.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America are launching a robocall campaign to test the waters for the immediate recall of several state Senators as well as Senate President Michael Ellis and moderate Senator Dale Schultz, who voters would be able to recall in a year under Wisconsin law.

The robocall, voiced by a New London, WI teacher, will be dispatched to 50,000 constituents of Republican Sens. Luther Olsen (District 14), Robert Cowles (2), Dan Kapanke (32), Schultz and Ellis.

The calls gauge voter interest in recalling their Senator.

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Barack Obama

After 'Tough Week,' Progressive Advocate Says Obama Is Still The Left's Man

Evan McMorris-Santoro | December 15, 2010, 10:15AM

President Barack Obama

Despite the tax cut deal they hate, progressive forces will be on the fighting lines for President Obama in 2012. That's the word from Democracy For America, the progressive advocacy PAC forged from the remnants of Howard Dean's 2004 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

In a wide-ranging interview Friday, DFA communications director Levana Layendecker discussed the ways Obama has hurt progressives over the past couple weeks. But she said that despite it all, the left will still stand by the man they backed in 2008 when he runs again in 2012.

The comments echoed those from Dean himself, who was briefly mentioned as a possible primary opponent for Obama by liberals angered by the tax cut deal's two-year extension of the Bush cuts on the highest incomes. Dean has said he won't run against Obama in a primary and that he doesn't expect anyone else will, either.

But if they don't primary him, will progressives just stay home, leaving Obama without an important part of his activist base? Layendecker says no. They may be mad at him now, sure. But the liberals are coming home to Obama.

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Oil Spill

DFA Calls On Progressives To Boycott BP

Evan McMorris-Santoro | May 27, 2010, 4:38PM

Democracy For America is calling on its million-plus members to buy gasoline from "anyone but BP" until the Gulf Coast oil spill is cleaned up.

"Even as we await the results of the latest attempt to stop the flow of oil gushing from the well," DFA chair Jim Dean wrote in an email to members today, "BP continues to not allow anyone other than themselves the ability and access to fully investigate the extent of the problems."

"Enough is enough," Dean continues. "It's time to speak to BP in a language they will understand."

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Bart Stupak

Nat'l Progressives Make First Moves Toward Backing A Stupak Primary

Evan McMorris-Santoro | March 16, 2010, 6:58PM

Former Charlevoix County Commissioner Connie Saltonstall

When I interviewed Connie Saltonstall last week, the former Charlevoix County, MI commissioner told me she's aiming to become the next Bill Halter with her primary bid against Rep. Bart Stupak (D). Now it looks like her prediction may be coming true.

Democracy For America, one of the progressive groups that helped push Halter into his primary race against Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) in Arkansas, is now polling its membership to ask them if the group should turn some of its resources to Saltonstall, who is running on a platform of opposition to Stupak's focus on abortion in the health care debate.

"We don't just jump into a primary race without the overwhelming support of members making it clear exactly where the DFA community stands," DFA deputy political director Michael Langenmayr wrote in an email message today.

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Democracy for America

Poll: Vast Majority Say Anti-Public Option Dems Should Face Primaries

Brian Beutler | December 14, 2009, 9:33AM

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Here's a snapshot of the electorate, at the moment when a small handful of Democrats have teamed up to tank the public option. A new Research 2000 poll, commissioned by Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee finds that the overwhelming majority of likely voters believe Democrats who vote against the public option should face primaries from their left.

When asked: "If a Democratic member of Congress votes against a public health insurance option, would you want a more progressive candidate to run against them in a Democratic primary?" 84 percent of respondents said "yes," 11 percent said "no," and 5 percent said they weren't sure.

Those are fairly striking numbers, particularly given last night's news that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is standing in the way of public option alternatives. Lieberman, along with Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) joined forces several weeks ago, insisting they'd filibuster a health care reform bill if it included a public option. That threat laid the groundwork for a new compromise, but Lieberman's saying even that's a no-go.

The overall survey, which will be released later today, polled 802 from December 11 through the 13th--it's margin of error is 3.5%. For the above question, which went to Democrats only question, 256 were polled, yielding a 6.1% margin of error.