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From the Acting Executive Director: Rion Dennis
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world..." Margaret Mead assured us. Yet as true as that is, small activist groups can achieve ever greater change the more they work together effectively in coalitions and campaigns. Progressive Maryland proved that with our state, local and national allies by helping 86 of the 93 candidates we endorsed win their party's nomination in the Maryland Primary elections Sept. 14. Our extensive door-knocking and phoning to "Get Out The Vote" were vital in the David vs. Goliath defeat of three powerful incumbent senators by dynamic progressive state delegates. That gives us the most progressive state Senate and best prospects ever to pass clean elections and other major reforms blocked up until now. The three winners pictured here include Del. Karen Montgomery, who beat out well-funded corporate beneficiary Sen. Rona Kramer. The margin was a mere 100 votes or about 0.1 percent of those cast – a stunning display of how active grassroots support can make all the difference!
In all, 61 of our 65 endorsed candidates for General Assembly won, as did 18 of the 21 candidates for County Council, and all 7 Members of Congress PM had endorsed for re-election because of their leadership to pass federal health reform and other key working family reforms. Find all listed in boldface with links to their endorsement campaign websites, questionnaire responses, and links for latest results and other election information in our 2010 Voting Guide at ProgressiveMaryland.net As we continue supporting them through the Nov. 2 elections, please support PM's electoral work -- Join or Donate Now!
Top Stories, Photos & Cartoons
In Focus: by Sam Pizzigati, PM co-founder; editor, Too Much
Average Americans, the new annual Census data make plain, didn't fare particularly well - even before the Great Recession. The middle fifth of America's households opened the decade averaging $52,547, after adjusting for inflation. In 2007, just before America's economic meltdown, this middle fifth of households averaged $51,691. Last year, after two years of Great Recession, that middle class average stood at just $49,534. Our new century has begun, as Harvard economist Lawrence Katz noted after the new Census figures appeared, with a "decade of decline" ... after a generation of income stagnation. America's average incomes rose consistently in the decades right after World War II. But those crisp increases ended in the 1970s. Between 1969 and 1999, the Census data show, incomes of households in America's middle fifth increased by an average of only $315 a year, less than 1 percent annually after inflation... Read More
Progressive Maryland in the News "This election sends a message voters want progressive solutions in these tough times," said Rion Dennis, acting director of Progressive Maryland -Md. Politics Watch: Duchy Doesn't Want Union Support… Except; Sep 9
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• Sign the petition to Stop Social Security Cuts, age increases and privatization • March with tens of thousands for jobs, education and the economy at "One Nation" Oct. 2, DC • Help 16 progressive groups win over $750,000 in Pepsi Refresh Everything Contest Baltimore City Residents:
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Speaking Out "Republicans were able to keep this country moving to the right for nearly four decades using a fake populist appeal based on cultural issues, portraying a "liberal elite" contemptuous of the values of working-class white voters.. The strategy succeeded because Democrats refused to make the obvious economic populist appeal to the real interests of these voters - who were getting hammered by the loss of manufacturing jobs, weakening of labour and redistribution of income that was engineered by the leadership of both parties." Reports & Resources
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State Headquarters: 8720 Georgia Ave., Suite 500 Silver Spring, MD 20910 • (301) 495 7004 |
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