Hullabaloo

Sunday, March 18, 2012

 
Blue America challenges the DCCC

by digby

So the DCCC is is sending out more scare emails about the threat to America from Paul Ryan and his Medicare killing plans. And it is a very real threat to be sure. But once again, for reasons one can only speculate about, they are failing to support the Democrat who's trying to take his seat from him.

Remember, Ryan's in a purple district that Obama won --- and he's got a serious challenger in Rob Zerban. Howie writes:

Last cycle they did absolutely nothing to go after Ryan, Boehner or Cantor-- NOTHING. Zilch! Zippo! Instead they put millions of dollars of contributions into ineffective, lame ads like the one below to protect Blue Dogs who vote half the time with the GOP anyway. Not a single nickel or even a courtesy call to the Democrats running against Boehner or Ryan, but tens of millions on garbage like this:

And this year... here they go again. Ryan and his plan want to take away your Medicare-- apparently everywhere but Racine, Kenosha, Janesville and the southern Milwaukee suburbs. For the last two weeks, the DCCC has urged candidates to found Ryan's anti-Medicare budget. That's fine. But do they do anything for Rob Zerban? Not that I've seen. And when I speak to DCCC-connected major donors, they tell me Steve Israel discourages them from donating to Zerban's campaign.

Last week dozens of Democratic candidates all over the country sent out DCCC-written e-mails like this:

Medicare, along with Social Security and Medicaid, are the foundation of the middle class. I was outraged when I heard that Republicans like Paul Ryan were suggesting ending Medicare as we know it, and I'm sure you were too. Now Republicans are starting to revive those plans, but our Republican opponents haven't let the public know whether they support this vital program... [yadda, yadda, yadda.]

Very nice!

I challenge the DCCC to help Rob Zerban actually beat Paul Ryan and put an end to the gravest threat facing the American middle class. If the DCCC writes a check to Zerban's campaign this week for $5,000, Blue America will match it, dollar for dollar. Come on, big shots. What about you, Israel? Crowley? Wasserman Schultz? Let's see a DCCC check for Rob Zerban's campaign to actually put an end to Ryan's career instead of all the bullshit sending petitions to Republicans so they have something to laugh about.

And what can you do? You can contribute directly to Rob Zerban here at the Stop Paul Ryan ActBlue page. No phony baloney petitions there, just a place for concerned Americans to actually try to do something to stop Ryan before his financiers on Wall Street make him president and doom us all.

This is a serious challenge. If the DCCC wants to stop Paul Ryan, they have a perfect vehicle: it's called an election. It's true that Ryan has more corrupt Wall Street money than God at his disposal --- but then, so does Mitt Romney. I think his rivals have proven that even in GOP politics you don't need as much money as Randian plutocrats to make a run at it --- you just need enough.

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digby 3/18/2012 06:00:00 PM