Bill Winter has no money, no organization, no volunteers, no support and no chance.
Read the original post here. It's talking to you.Until I met him, I hadn't volunteered for a political candidate in my whole life.
But I hadn't met someone like Bill.
The first time I met him was at our local Young Dems meeting. He came in representing an organization called Be The Change. This was a spinoff group from Mike Miles' Senate run. He would lose to Ken Salazar in the primary, and of course Ken went on to be an anti-Democrat Democrat later.
Mr. Winter gave an empassioned speech about the state of things in our country. His voice raised with fire. He turned red with anger -- and he pointed a determined finger at the US flag on our wall and said, "THAT IS OUR FLAG AND THEY CAN'T TAKE IT FROM US!"
This speech didn't come as a rally cry in front of hundreds of paying supporters. Most of us didn't even know who he was.
He was giving this speech in front of about 8 Young Dems, and that's all. In a small room.
And I loved the man.
I met him a few more times after this, again as part of Be The Change. Once when Ed Schultz did a live show at the DCPA in Denver, and again after he announced his Congressional bid. It was a meeting I'll never forget.
It was March 8th, 2006. He came to talk with the Young Dems once more, as the lone Democratic candidate running against Tom Tancredo in the Colorado 6th. It was a snowy, sleety evening, and with added guests joining us to hear Bill Winter talk, the anticipation was high.
But he hadn't arrived. Complicating the meeting was that a caucus was going on in the same room. It was distracting, and we felt uncomfortable as we had a gathering of about 15 people -- half Young Dems, half guests -- wondering why Bill hadn't arrived. Perhaps it was the weather we thought, he's cancelled...?
The meeting ended, and some left. Those who left missed something magical, however.
Bill Winter had showed up. Snow and ice in his hair, a clean 45 minutes late. He'd drive up from Castle Rock with his campaign manager. For those not in Colorado, Castle Rock is at least 30 minutes away from where our meeting was being held -- and this was a snowy evening indeed.
Determined to make it, he never turned back. About 10 of us had remained. The caucus continued, but paused to hear him speak. He gave a short speech, flustered by the weather and late arrival -- pressured to wrap things up as the caucus needed to continue despite their interest.
When he was done, he wanted to talk to us some more. But, we had to leave the room. We walked with Bill through a dimly-lit, empty office building, looking for a room -- any room -- to talk. There was none.
So there it was, in the hallway. With no other recourse. Bill Winter decided to talk to us in the hallway. We slumped down to the floor, some cross-legged.
And so did Bill Winter.
He talked about what was going on in the world. He talked about social security, education, health care. He answered our questions, and he showed us the dogtags of a young man killed in Iraq -- the son of a friend.
It was emotional, and it was a close bond. There he was. He was giving up hours of his time. HOURS. For what? To speak to a group of about 10 Young Democrats. Probably unable to donate very much -- if at all. And he did it with kindness, respect, and purpose.
But now it's September 9th. There is less than two months until election day. We all have our candidates in our districts, the Daily Kos has its list of candidates to target our support for.
Bill Winter is not on that list.
I don't know why, but I know the list has to be targeted and minimal to be effective. I can understand. But let's not forget who Bill Winter is running against.
Tom Tancredo represents the new right-wing in America. He represents hatred towards Mexicans. He represents votes against women's protections. He's advocated for the bombing of Mecca.
He is running on a platform of rounding up every illegal immigrant in the country and sending them back -- even if it's absolutely, logistically impossible.
He is running on a platform of building a wall along our southern border? Who will pay for it, Tom?
He is running on a platform of complete and total war with the entire Islamic populace. Does he have a military record? Not at all.
As Progressives, we pick and choose our battles. The race for the Congress is one seat at a time. However, we need a symbology. We need a representative message.
We must defeat Tom Tancredo!
Please support Bill Winter for Congress. Support him because he's a man with no healthcare coverage. Why? Because he's a former kidney donor. You know he'll fight for yours.
Support him because he's a Marine and Naval officer. He knows what's at stake and he supports ending this sham of a war.
Support him because he's a teacher. A volunteer. Just like you.
And, for damn sure, support him because cretins who say Bill Winter has no support and no volunteers haven't met the likes of me and the many others working their tails off to support this great candidate for Congress in 2006.
Who dares tell any of us we stand for nothing? Who dares tell us that this movement we've been a part of for years now doesn't exist?
A political donation is akin to a missle. Every dollar, and every cent, the explosive material. When combined, the missles merge to form a bigger, more dangerous explosive that -- when fired -- can propel a candidate to victory.
We here in the netroots are the factory that can create the biggest explosive, the biggest change.
Take a moment, if you can, and donate to help take down one of the greatest fearmongers the House has ever known. Tom Tancredo defeated. It can be less than 2 months away. Can you hear it? How great would it feel to read it?
And let's scrawl on the side of that missle:
"Goodbye Tom. Love, The Daily Kos"