I just got a call from my friend and DNC Vice Chair Susie Turnbull who is on the ground in OH-2.  She wanted me to pass on some comments from being there on-the-ground to all her friends here at MyDD and over at Daily Kos.

Susie said that everyone there is "buzzing" and the office is full of "constant activity."  She also said that everyone there is very appreciative of all of the netroots support the Hackett campaign has received.

Lastly, she said that she had just met Paul Hackett and was really impressed by his confidence and friendliness.  Hackett said that he was "bracing for a fight" and expected to win.

Last week, Lt. Governor and Senate candidate Michael "Principles? What Principles" Steele (R-MD) refused to condemn a fundraiser held by his boss, Gov. Ehrlich, at a an all-white country club that discriminates against African-Americans like himself.  After all, they were helping his boss raise money for his campaign.

This week, I found out that Karl Rove will be hosting a fundraiser for Michael Steele's Senate campaign.  I guess among Republicans, money is more important that principles. Why else would Michael Steele be willing to receive fundraising help, heck even be willing to be in the same room, with a man who disclosed the identity of an undercover CIA agent.  I sure hope someone gets a photo of Steele and Rove together so that Steele's opponent can run a campaign ad showing Steele hanging out with someone who will hopefully be a known criminal by the election.

From the diaries--Chris

The Republican Party's phony outreach to the African-American community is exposed for what it really is by stories such as this one that I found over at the Think Progress blog  Here we have Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich holding a $100,000 fundraiser at the "exclusive" Elkridge (Country) Club.  The Elkridge club uses the word "exclusive" to describe itself because it's a more PR friendly way of saying "we don't let black people join our club."  When I first read that such a place still existed in today's world, I was rather shocked.  I was on the other hand not all that surprised that Governor Ehrlich would choose to hold a fundraiser there.  After all, this is the same Governor who said that "multiculturalism is crap."

Even worse, check out how Governor Ehrlich and Michael Ehrlich have responded to the criticism of their association with Elkridge by prominent African-Americans:

Essentially Ehrlich and Steele's comments translate into "if you donate money to us, we don't care if you're a bigot and wouldn't even accept one of us as a member of your club." I guess this is a belief that Ehrlich picked up from his golfing buddy, Tom DeLay.

I can't wait until we kick Ehrlich out in 2006 so that he'll have plenty of time to play golf with his buddies at the Elkridge Club.  Then Marylanders will have a Governor we can be proud of.

I received the following email from the Maryland Democratic Party Chair Terry Lierman and it is truly shocking.  Apparently Michael Zak, a speaker at a GOP dinner in Calvert County, said that "mastery over blacks has always been Democratic policy."  And get this: Lt. Governor Michael Steele, a likely candidate for Senate and favorite of the rightwing blogosphere, called Zak's book "his favorite book!"

And so much for our SCLM.  Howard Dean mispeaks a few times and they are all over him but Steele endorses a crazy speaker like Zak and it doesn't get a peep of media coverage even by the major Maryland papers.  Read the whole thing below and sign the petition.  And then recommend this diary.  Maybe then the conservative media will actually pay attention.  I suppose it couldn't hurt to write the Post's ombudsman or letters to the editor too.

I received the following email today:

Senator Sarbanes Decides not to Seek Re-Election
Dear Brian,
As you may know, Senator Paul Sarbanes has decided not to seek re-election to the US Senate in 2006. I am seriously considering running for the Senate and I'm now discussing this with my family, friends and supporters.

I value your input. Please take a few moments today to let me know your thoughts. You may use my website's feedback form, or reply to this email. I will post a sampling of the comments on the website.

Running for Senate will require a much more ambitious statewide campaign. We'll need more of everything. More dedicated supporters, more organizers, more volunteers, more resources, more money.

If I can count on you in this effort, please let me know.  You can volunteer or contribute today, or pledge your support to help later in the campaign.

In case you missed it, please visit my website to read my press release on Senator Sarbanes' decision not to seek re-election

Thanks for your tireless energy and support. I cannot do this without you!

Dutch

Here's a little thing us MyDDers can do to help (preferably if you're from MD, but feel free to make the long-distance call if you're not).  WBAL-TV Batltimore just (11pm news) read a quote from newly elected MD Democratic Party Chairman, Terry Lierman, about some radio ads being run by the MD Rep. Party.  Unfortunately, they pronounced his name as "Liar Man" rather than "Leer man" (as in Lear jet)(either carelessly or a demonstration of conservative media bias).  This is a little step and we can make a difference into shocking them into never making this mistake again.  Tell them to pronounce Terry's name correctly and stop showing their conservative media bias.
Here are the numbers for WBAL-TV:

WBAL-TV11
3800 Hooper Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21211
410-467-3000

If you call, please leave a note in the comments.
Use the breaking news story line. That will make sure it gets their attention. Say your're a regular viewer and you'd jsut likme to make a quick complaint. Never give an inch. Fight all the battles, large and small.

Ok here is my Wednesday morning Quarterbacking.  First let me say that this time it wasn't money that was the problem: Bush's money advantage over Kerry was much smaller than his over Gore's and when you add in the 527s practically nonexistent.  After looking over the results of last night it becomes apparent that we lost this election predominantly based on three things.  These three things are GOTV, the Air War, and Message/Personality ("Our Ammunition").  If we want to win in '08, we need to fix all three.

Jerome,

I hope you got a chance to talk to the OK delegation about this, considering their reaction might be a bit of "real" news.  I'm looking forward to seeing this.