Tag Archives: New Hampshire

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Marriage on the line: 24 hours left to fight hate


Thanks to right-wing groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), 2011 brings as much trepidation as hope. Just see the map below.

JUST 24 HOURS LEFT: The National Organization for Marriage thinks it speaks for straight America.

Show America that’s a lie.

Deadline TOMORROW. Defend marriage equality – join HRC now.

Same-sex marriage bans are in the works in no fewer than five states. In New Hampshire, where NOM shelled out $1 million in 2010, a more right-wing legislature is already preparing for major hearings on the repeal of marriage equality. In Iowa, NOM helped unseat three judges who ruled in favor of equal marriage – and now they’re going after the other four.

But it’s not all bad. In New York and Maryland, we could finally win full marriage rights for ALL loving couples. There are only 24 hours left in our campaign that can help us make it a reality.

These challenges – and our critical federal work – demand urgent resources. Carmen, thousands have stepped up to help. And after sailing past our original goal of 2,011 new members, we’ve upped our goal to 3,000 members by TOMORROW. That’s only 4 more from Washington. And we simply can’t do it without straight supporters like you.

Stand up for marriage and make sure NOM doesn’t control the debate. Stand with HRC – join by tomorrow.

Only two weeks ago, HRC staffers pressured NOM into releasing their most recent tax returns – and it turns out 75 percent of NOM’s entire multi-million dollar budget came from just five wealthy donors.

We’re different. 85 percent of our funding comes from individual donors, not from foundations or grants. And the more straight allies like you that join our cause, the more people will understand that this is an issue of basic fairness, not special rights. That grassroots power will be critical in 2011, and this map shows why:

In states marked in light blue, we have a chance to advance equality – marriage in New York and Maryland, and civil unions in Hawaii, Delaware, and Colorado. Plus we are gearing up to help Washington and Oregon achieve marriage equality in 2012.

Dark blue states show the front lines of the equality fight. In Florida we’re trying to stop rabid activists from reinstating a ban on same-sex parents adopting children. In West Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Minnesota, we face the very real prospect of NOM-backed campaigns to pass constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.

We’re working hand-in-hand with local partners across the country. We’re putting staff on the ground in some states, while in others we’re providing financial support and training – or exposing lies with the help of our “NOM Watchers.” In many states, we’ll do all of the above.

These states have one thing in common: your support, right now, can mean the difference between triumph and failure.

Stand with us. Fight for the future. Become an HRC member now.

This is one of the most critical civil rights issues of our time. Decisions by the U.S. House and Senate and by every single state will have a very real impact on everyday lives. Together, we can ensure those decisions are positive.

For all you do, and all that you will do, thank you. You’re the reason I know we will succeed.

Onward,

Joe Solmonese

President

P.S. If you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC through some other means, thank you. If you’ve yet to contribute, though, please consider making a gift now. Your gift is critical to maintaining our fight against hate and bigotry in all its forms.

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The next Prop. 8


Human Rights Campaign


Calling all straight allies: Marriage equality is at stake in states across America.

Plus, watch our video to learn how we’re working together for equality.

As a thank you, we’ll send you this handy USB car charger for your mobile phone or iPod.

Prop. 8 ended marriage equality in California and shocked a nation. I’m writing because New Hampshire could be next.

Right-wing lawmakers have taken over the New Hampshire legislature – and they’re already working on four distinct bills to take the right to marry away from loving, same-sex couples.

And that’s not all. Hateful groups are trying to ban same-sex marriage in Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and West Virginia.

Equality is under attack: along with the anti-LGBT wave in the U.S. Congress, 20 state governments are now under the control of conservative legislatures and governors – twice as many as are under more pro-equality leadership.

We have staff on the ground around the country and plans to deploy even more. We’re bolstering state groups, even as we fight against hostile federal bills and amendments. But to make it work, we need 2,011 new members like you – that works out to just 17 more from Washington – to join HRC in the next week. Once you do, we’ll stop sending reminders and get back to the work of securing equality.

You already know what we’re defending against in our nation’s capital. A U.S. House led by right-wingers. A whopping 53 more anti-equality representatives and five more anti-equality senators in Congress.

But the front line in the battle for marriage equality is in the states. Conservatives now hold more state legislative seats than they have since 1928. Hateful groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) are pushing their agenda in more states than ever before. But there are also some important new opportunities. Your support, right now, could tip the balance.

  • In Maryland and New York, we stand a strong chance of winning real marriage equality and gender identity protections. We’re counting on the support of each and every HRC member to aid our local partners and to help pay for several experienced organizers in each state.
  • In Florida, right-wing hate groups are plotting to overturn a landmark court ruling that allows gays and lesbians to adopt children. We can’t let it happen – and we’re working with coalition partners to make sure those extremists don’t come anywhere close.
  • In New Hampshire, where your support was key to winning marriage equality in 2009, we’re fighting back against those who want to repeal that right and deny loving couples the freedom to marry. We’ve already committed money and staff, and we’re working with the New Hampshire Freedom to Marry Coalition to build a rock-solid campaign.
  • In Hawaii and Delaware, passing civil union legislation is a very real possibility. We’ll be investing in both states to bolster local groups’ efforts and tip the balance in favor of equality.
  • In Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia or any state where NOM tries to pass a constitutional ban on equal marriage, we’ll be there, exposing their lies with the help of our local “NOM Watchers.”

Just as we did with the successful campaign to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” we’re always working with leaders in both parties to achieve progress on equal rights. But we won’t ever shy away from taking on new legislators who are beholden to the most conservative wing of the Republican Party – and straight, pro-equality Americans like you are a critical part of that effort.

LGBT and straight, young and old, of all backgrounds and beliefs, HRC members aren’t satisfied with just sitting back and watching what happens. They’re willing to step up and fuel this fight for equality.

In 2011, as state battles heat up and a hostile House of Representatives plays politics with our rights, we’re going to need more members, more strength, and more resolve. State legislatures are already in session; we need you now.

Congress. State capitols. Schools. Churches. Corporate headquarters. Wherever equality and acceptance are at stake, HRC is at work – and HRC members are leading the charge.

Thank you for everything,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. I’m so grateful if you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC through some other method. If you’ve yet to contribute, though, Your gift is critical to maintaining our fight against hate and bigotry in all its forms.

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Election update …Seattle -a message from Adam
 

Volunteers needed in Seattle: 1116
Volunteers signed up so far: 568
Hey,
I spent all night going over the latest numbers from across the country, and I wanted to fill you in on what we’re seeing with just 5 days left.
You’ve probably heard about some very scary polls. When you ask voters generically which party they’re going to vote for, Democrats are down by about 8 points. And it’s true that we’re playing defense for about 100 seats across the country.
But beneath the surface, when you look at specific races, we’re seeing that many of them are still quite fluid. Sure, some Democrats are losing ground, but others are surging in the polls, and there are some candidates who now seem more likely to win than they did a week or two ago (like Michael Bennet in Colorado, Patty Murray in Washington, and Ann Kuster in New Hampshire).
So it’s time to concentrate on the places where we can make the most difference.

We’ve decided to target 59 key races, including Patty Murray‘s, where we have reason to believe a flood of grassroots volunteers in the final push could make a real difference. And in those places, our volunteer numbers have been steadily climbing—we turned out about 20% more people last week than the week before, and we’re getting amazing feedback from targeted campaigns about how MoveOn volunteers are making a big impact in reaching out to voters.
Nevertheless, we’re still far short of our overall goals. In Seattle alone, we’re counting on 1116 volunteers, and so far we’ve only signed up 568. So our numbers need to improve dramatically over the next couple of days, in order for candidates like Patty Murray to run an effective voter turnout operation that can overcome the national trend.

So consider this a personal request: Will you sign up to volunteer for Patty Murray in Seattle?

Yes, I’ll sign up to volunteer.

Sorry, I can’t.

Thanks for all you do.–Adam

 

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A major announcement …


Ann Kuster and 95 Dems -- Net Neutrality protectors

Hi! This is Ann McLane Kuster, Democratic candidate for Congress in New Hampshire. I have two exciting pieces of news to report.

First, RealClearPolitics just upgraded our race from “toss up” to “leans Democrat” — thanks to the strong people-powered campaign we’re running, in which so many PCCC members have played a role.

Second, I’m proud to announce that 95 Democratic candidates are uniting to protect the biggest driver of people power in our democracy: the Internet. We’re promising to protect Net Neutrality — the First Amendment of the Internet — from recent attacks by big corporations.

The media are already reporting on this news today. Can you show everyone that Internet freedom is important to voters by being a “citizen signer” of our joint Net Neutrality statement? Click here to see it and sign.

(Please also donate to help pro-Net Neutrality candidates win next week. Chip in $3 here.)

Let me tell you how protecting Net Neutrality affects voters and jobs here in New Hampshire.

Phone and cable companies want to put tollbooths on the Internet — forcing businesses, organizations, and individuals to pay extra for their websites to open quickly on people’s computers.

Big corporations like Exxon Mobil could afford this cost. But small businesses, economic innovators, independent media, and grassroots groups could not. Losing Net Neutrality would stifle free speech, innovation, and jobs.

Especially in the “Live Free or Die” state, hurting Internet freedom by putting new tollbooths on the Internet is a non-starter. And across the nation, Democratic candidates agree.

Please show everyone that voters support pro-Net Neutrality candidates by being a “citizen signer” of our joint statement? Click here to see it and sign.

(And please donate $3 to help pro-Net Neutrality candidates win.)

Thanks so much — especially to the thousands of PCCC members who have used the Internet to make small-dollar donations to my campaign and make calls reminding people to vote.

Together, we’ll win next Tuesday, and fight together in the future.

Ann McLane Kuster

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Racists make good TV


Have you watched cable news lately? The Tea Baggers are everywhere!

The Tea Party is news because they’ve won a few upset primaries — but let’s be honest — that’s not the only reason they’re getting wall-to-wall coverage.  Honestly, that weirdly racist tinge makes for good TV. Bizarre, wide-eyed accusations of the President and hilariously misspelled signs demanding an English-only country will drive up news ratings. I don’t mind, though. People should know about these extremists.

But the best-kept secret of 2010 is that progressives have won primaries up and down the ballot all across the country — way more than Tea Party. That’s right — Progressive challengers have beat out fabled “Mama Grizzlies” in state after state.

Just this week, progressive champion Ann McLane Kuster won a landslide victory in New Hampshire. Earlier this year, progressives won big upset victories in Pennsylvania with Joe Sestak, in North Carolina with Elaine Marshall and in Kentucky with Jack Conway — and that’s just in U.S. Senate races.

But DFA doesn’t just support Senate candidates. We support progressives up and down the ballot in all 50 states. In fact, 67 percent of all DFA-endorsed candidates won their primaries this year. 67 percent! That’s a great record and we couldn’t do it without you. We depend on small contributions from DFA members to make it happen.

Contribute $10 right now and keep beating the Tea Party this November.

With the 2010 Democratic primaries over, just take a look at the work we did together this season:

  • 43 primary endorsements
    • 15 federal
    • 28 non-federal
  • 67.4 percent of endorsed candidates won their primaries
    • 60 percent of federal candidates won
    • 71.4 percent of non-federal candidates won

We didn’t just endorse candidates who we were sure-things or had big names, either. We endorsed local candidates like Toni Preckwinkle in Chicago. She was a reformer running against a corrupt incumbent for Cook County Board President. It was a tough fight, but she ran a grassroots campaign and scored a landslide win in the primary.

We endorsed winning candidates in tough primaries in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and a whole lot of other states. That’s the DFA strategy at work — electing progressive in primaries across the country to take our country back with people-powered campaigns.

The DFA Strategy worked for progressives in the primaries — Contribute $10 now to finish the job in November.

Can’t get enough? Here’s a few more numbers from 2010 primaries. We endorsed four U.S. Senate candidates, 11 U.S. House candidates, three gubernatorial candidates, four candidates running for other statewide office, 16 candidates for State House or State Senate, and five candidates for county or municipal offices — across 24 states.

That’s 43 candidates total — 29 wins — and we couldn’t done it without you.

Now that the primary season is over, all the focus is on winning in November and finishing the job. We must defeat Tea Party Republicans everywhere and we can’t do it without your support.

Contribute $10 today and beat the Tea Baggers in November.

Come November 3, the only reason the Tea Party should be on TV is for losing a lot of elections.

Working together, we’re going to make that happen. Thanks you for everything you do to move America forward.

-Arshad

Arshad Hasan, Executive Director
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.