My friend Adam Green recently called out the DSCC for a lackluster petition about Norm Coeman’s never-ending fight to keep the rightful winner of that Minnesota Senate election, Al Franken, from being seated in the Senate:

Every activist email must have a plausible “theory of change.” People should see some concrete theory about why taking action could lead to a desired result.

But some people choose to inflame people’s passions just to get their email addresses (and, more likely than not, to fundraise from them — as opposed to later engaging them in quality activism). This sullys the online activism process for the rest of us.

And he’s right. The DSCC petition asked for Norm Coleman to step aside, but there was no information on how this petition would be delivered, and no reasoning why anyone in the media or Norm Coleman’s camp would actually listen to what the DSCC had to say. There was no “theory of change.”

Adam had a better idea to get Norm Coleman to step aside, one with a real theory of change. And he put it into action, with the help of the PCCC and Democracy for America. It’s called NormDollar.com:

Al Franken won.

But DC Republicans keep bankrolling Norm Coleman’s continued court challenges. For them, it’s worth the money to block the seating of Senator Franken.

But if thousands of us donate $1 to help progressives defeat Republicans in 2010 for each day Norm Coleman refuses to concede, we’ll reverse the incentives for DC Republicans. They’ll tell Norm, “Go away!”

Can you give a dollar a day to make Norm go away?

See the theory of change there? If Republicans realize progressives are raising all kinds of money for electoral work off of Norm Coleman, it suddenly becomes a lot less attractive to keep Norm in cash and lawsuits until the cows come home.

So, if you agree, head over to NormDollar.com and donate to get the recalcitrant Norm Coleman, who conservatives are already asking to step aside, out of the way so Al Franken, this election’s rightful winner, can be seated.

Keith Olbermann sent a buzz through the progressive community with this announcement Tuesday on his diary at DailyKos:

Happy Now?  MSNBC will be formally announcing this tomorrow, but I am pleased to inform you in this fully authorized leak, that as of Monday, September 8, our mutual friend Ms. Maddow will become host of her own show, on MSNBC, at 9 PM Eastern Time.

Maddow, who currently hosts a radio show on Air America, has also gained popularity as a frequent guest and substitute host on Olbermann’s show “Countdown.”  The one-two punch of Olbermann and Maddow will now give left-leaning political junkies two hours of nightly guilty pleasure.

Maddow’s promotion, however, means a lot more than just the addition of another strong progressive voice to a medium that has been dominated by conservative blowhards.  Her new show shatters multiple glass ceilings and proves that substance and intelligence can win out over flash and fluff.  As Rebeccas Traister of Salon points out:

In the United States, in 2008, brains and liberalism (in a woman, no less!) have just been rewarded. Promoted. Given their own show. I recently profiled Maddow for the Nation and noted how remarkable it is that this season’s political punditry sensation “isn’t a glossy matinee idol or a smooth-talking partisan hack but a PhD Rhodes scholar lesbian policy wonk who started as a prison AIDS activist.” How do you like them apples, Ann Coulter?

Most significant of all might be the fact that Maddow is the first woman to have her own “pundit” show - a medium that has been overrun by straight white males for far too long - no offense, Keith.   Katie Couric might have been the first woman to read the news as a network anchor, but Rachel Maddow will be the first to give her opinion on the news on her own show.  For my money, that’s more important.

Congratulations, Rachel!  We look forward to watching your show.

I thought this was cool:

Al Franken draws a map of the United States freehand from memory while answering questions about healthcare and other topics at a fundraiser for his Senate campaign at Capitol City Brewing Company, 14 Jul 2008. He later auctioned off the map.

I knew I should have gone to that event. Thanks to KC IVEY of DC Drinking Liberally for the photo.

Not exactly breaking news, I know. His campaign manager, Mike Tibbles, sent an attack email to supporters the other day which indicates exactly how clueless they are.

Just last quarter, the mayor raised more than $37,000 from just one liberal Lower 48 Internet campaign known as ActBlue (the 1,500 out-of-state donors he gained through this site amounted to a third of the “grassroots” support he received last quarter).

I hope you will help us in ensuring that Outsiders don’t buy a Senate seat in Alaska.

Fortunately, his opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, has Matt Browner-Hamlin working to keep the Stevens campaign honest. Here is a snip of the epic smackdown, but be sure to read it in full as well.

What sort of website is ActBlue? Well, it is a website that allows Americans to make donations to candidates they support. That’s it. It processes credit cards. So when you imply that we raised money “from” ActBlue, it’s kind of like attacking us for raising money “from” PayPal or American Express or personal checks.

And it sure would be silly for you to criticize us for taking money “from” American Express (I’ll spill the beans — some of our donors gave with their AmEx cards).

I’m sure that the first email you’re sending as Campaign Manager is an indication of what we can expect from the Stevens campaign: False attacks that stir up fear and don’t do anything to help Alaska families. Of course, falsely smearing Mark might be all you have recourse to when a majority of Alaskans support him for US Senate in this election

That said, I’m happy to educate you and feel free to come back for future lessons into how the internet works and why Alaskans can’t trust what the Stevens’ campaign tells them.

Brilliant. This race is going to be a lot of fun to watch. Want to help us get rid of Ted “series of tubes” Stevens? Contribute now.

Remember a couple of months ago when Republican congressman decided that, with the cloud of scandal getting closer and with the Republicans being in the minority for the foreseeable future, that he would like to leave Congress and change jobs.  With the Republicans so desperate for candidates and a record number of GOP retirements already in place, they somehow convinced Shadegg to stick it out.  However, Shadegg is not going to have an easy race.

The Democratic candidate, Bob Lord, is both knowledgeable and engaging.  He is running a strong campaign in a district in the Phoenix area — an area that continues to turn towards the Democrats in recent elections.  While Shadegg is in full support of staying in Iraq, Bob wants to start bringing the troops home.  While Shadegg votes against stem-cell research and the Children’s health care program expansion, Bob is dedicated to both expanding health care and research. Shadegg is also anti-choice and anti-environment. Bob Lord would reverse those trends.

So if you can get to Dupont Circle tonight, come have a beer with Bob and see why he is the candidate who can turn this seat blue. 

6PM to 8PM at James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant (1 Dupont Circle in Washington, DC) — Suggested contribution, $25

NOTE: This event is sponsored by my PAC, Blue Catapult, which focuses on helping Democrats running for Congress challenging Republican seats.

Eager to fall in line with the fools on the Hill, Colorado’s GOP candidate for senate Bob Schaffer is echoing Bush-McCain in the call for more domestic oil production. The answer to soaring energy prices is right under our feet, they claim, and environmentalists like Democratic candidate Mark Udall are only keeping us from swimming in oil instead of debt.

In a New York Times op-ed Paul Krugman dispelled doubts that such a view was anything more than another example of GOP myopia:

the McCain/Bush policy on offshore drilling doesn’t make sense as a response to $4-a-gallon gas: the White House’s own Energy Information Administration says that exploiting the outer shelf wouldn’t yield noticeable amounts of oil until the 2020s, and even at peak production its impact on oil prices would be “insignificant.”

[snip]

I’m reasonably sure that Mr. McCain’s advisers realize that offshore drilling would do nothing for current gas prices. But they may believe that the public can be conned. A Rasmussen poll taken before Mr. McCain’s announcement suggests that the public favors expanded offshore drilling, and believes (wrongly) that this would lower gasoline prices.

And Mr. McCain may also hope to shore up his still fragile relations with the Republican base. As anyone who has read what’s in his inbox after publishing an article on oil prices can testify, there are many people on the right who believe that all our energy problems have been caused by sanctimonious tree-huggers. Mr. McCain has just thrown that constituency some red meat.

Schaffer, too, is trying to pull the wool over voters’ eyes, letting political expediency trump national good. But there’s another element to Dirty Bobby’s enthusiasm; he enjoys a particularly cozy relationship with the energy industry.

Colorado’s 9News recently ran a “Truth Test” on Schaffer’s ties to big oil, using allegations made by the League of Conservation Voters (Schaffer earned a position on the LCV’s Dirty Dozen list, and so it is actively campaigning against him). The results were yet one more indictment of the shameless, sweatshop-enthusiast Bob Schaffer:

QUOTE: When you look at Bob Schaffer’s resume, one thing comes through. Oil. In Congress, Bob Schaffer voted to give $13 billion in tax breaks to gas and big oil…

TRUTH: This is true.

QUOTE: Schaffer then became an executive at a big oil company. . .

TRUTH: It is true that Bob Schaffer went to become an executive at an energy company after he left Congress. Whether Aspect Energy is a “big oil company” depends on how you define big…

QUOTE: And went to Iraq to secure a contract for Iraqi oil…

TRUTH: This is also true.

QUOTE: So, it’s no surprise that Schaffer’s campaigns have taken $150,000 from gas and big oil.

TRUTH: This is true.

Fortunately, Schaffer dirt is not going unnoticed; more and more Coloradans recognize that Colorado deserves cleaner representation in Washington. A new Rasmussen poll of 500 Colorado voters gives Udall a 9-point lead over Schaffer — the biggest lead of the still young race.

The same poll shows Obama with a narrow lead over McCain in Colorado, where the convention will be held in August. Could it be that this (formerly?) red state is ready to fully embrace the blues? Only time will tell, but with the GOP so clearly putting corporate before national interest, it’s no wonder if they are.

Jason informs me we had 303 visitors from Nebraska last month. To you all, then: here is something to vote for:

After winning an impressive 70% of the vote in a four-candidate Democratic primary Scott Kleeb is running to represent Nebraska in the US Senate. He is a 32-year old father of two girls, a college history professor, and a former rancher, and also holds a PhD in History (with a focus on agricultural economics) from Yale. Most importantly, Kleeb is running on a progressive platform in an overwhelmingly Republican state. (My favorite: he’s a big fan of developing wind energy.)

Kleeb is running for the seat soon to be vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel. Hagel’s popularity as an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, combined with the fact that prior to Hagel’s first election to the Senate in 1996 Nebraskans elected Democratic Senators seven times in a row, indicate Kleeb just might just have a shot at defeating former Nebraska governor Mike Johanns. Most pundits are putting this race squarely in the “red” category, but with Kleeb polling at a respectable 40% and five months still to campaign, his candidacy is worth our attention.

The Seminal will be keeping an eye on this race (as well as those of other Blue Heroes) for November’s Senate elections.

Since declaring his candidacy in April, Mark Begich has travelled around the state of Alaska talking to voters.  The result, as predicted here, is that the more they get to know Anchorage’s Mayor, the more they like him. The evidence is contained in the latest poll. In a survey taken by the Alaska firm of Hellenthall and Associates in early May, 51% of respondents supported Mark Begich and 44% supported incumbent Ted Stevens, with a 6% margin of error.  Furthermore, Begich was viewed favorably by 58% of respondents and only 16% had a negative impression.  As for Stevens, 49% had a positive impression, with 40% holding a negative impression.  Importantly for Begich, only 11% of respondents did not recognize his name — a very good number for this early in the race.

There is a caveat about this poll — it only had 269 respondents so the margin of error is higher — and this is not a polling firm that is well known so that their track record can be tested.  But the news is still good. As more Alaskans meet Mark Begich, the greater the impression he makes.

So how is Ted Stevens responding to this strong challenge to his 40 year reign in the U.S. Senate? Well skipping a critical vote on the Climate Change bill in the Senate seems to be part of his strategy. The man who described the Internet as a “bunch of tubes” almost certainly would have voted against the bill, which in itself illustrates that he may be out of touch with the reality of 2008. As Mark Begich explains:

“Alaska is ground zero for climate change. The do-nothing policy of the Senate is costing Alaska families billions of dollars,” said U.S. Senate candidate Mark Begich. “Alaskans deserve reliable representation in Washington, especially on critical bills like this that will help secure a better future for our state.”

Mark Begich gets it. he understands that Climate Change is an important issue for Alaska, which is why he is also one of the most active mayors in the country when it comes to greenhouse gases and global warming. As this campaign continues, I expect more Alaskans to come to the realization that their future is with Mark Begich.

This election year many congressional races have national significance, from the special election victories of Bill Foster, Don Cayazoux, and Travis Childers to the primary victory of Donna Edwards over Al Wynn. Other races have international significance. In several contests this fall, voters will be able to select candidates with major international experience more appropriate for America’s changing role in a globalizing world than the politicians of the past. My man Andrew Rice, the Democratic Senate candidate for Oklahoma, is one example; after college Rice worked on aid projects in rural Sri Lanka and Thailand. Another example is Tom Perriello, candidate for Virginia’s 5th congressional district. Perriello’s life of service includes experiences in regions critical to America’s foreign policy such as Darfur and Afghanistan, and he has also undertaken service projects in the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Candidates like Perriello exemplify not just a rising generation of Democrats, but a rising generation of Americans who are more deeply engaged with the world through study and service. This generation’s input will be critical in reshaping America’s relationship with the world, a change we desperately need after eight years of disastrous and alienating foreign policy under George Bush. Congresspersons like Perriello will have the opportunity not only to serve the people in their districts, but to serve all Americans by spearheading new approaches to the outside world.

Perriello’s experiences and leadership style are resonating with voters, he told me when I had the opportunity to speak with him recently. During his campaign, he said, he’s seen the people of his district respond to the specifics of his story and also to his focus on generating long-term problem-solving strategies for problems, not just assigning blame. Voters “appreciate that I have been out there at risk to myself to help win this struggle,” he said.

Having worked with amputees in West Africa and village councils in Darfur, assisted the International Prosecutor against Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, and interacted with a variety of people in Afghanistan, Perriello can claim substantial insight into the processes of decision-making, problem-solving and, importantly in these times, winning hearts and minds. Having seen some of the world’s worst conflicts firsthand, he will be more than prepared for the challenges of fighting for justice in Congress, and will bring a perspective to legislative debates that understands international issues from the inside.