Benson for Congress Blog
A Letter to Barrack Obama
8/20/2008
Letter from Nels and Dorothy Anderson to Barack Obama
Interference in Alaska Politics
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Senator Obama:
As a former Democrat, I would like to tell you that I resent the supportive statement of one of your campaign people, Mr. Rouse. (See quote below from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. He is stating as if it is fact BEFORE the primary election the chosen candidate of the Obama campaign for president. I do not like that assumption BEFORE we have had a chance to vote for the candidate of OUR choice in Alaska. The Obama campaign has no business interfering with our election process in Alaska. I for one am an undeclared voter who had made up my mind to vote for the Obama campaign. However, I am rethinking that because of what I see as interference in our election process in Alaska. Alaskans, like myself, do not appreciate interference in our election process. I am supporting Diane Benson for Congress. The Alaska Democratic Party seems to be backing her opponent. That in my view is not fair. I was once involved in a campaign for Alaska State Representative against a 10 year veteran. The Democratic governor at that time endorsed my opponent BEFORE the primary. We were of the same party and that made me very angry. I called the governor on that and told him point blank to back off. He did and I beat the veteran. Diane Benson is an Alaska Native that has good credentials. As good as any of the the other Democratic candideates running for Congress. She is a Democrat and she should be given the a fair shot at getting the Democratic nomination as any of her opponents in the Democratic party. I hope that you will straighten this out and please stop any statements that shows a clear choice BEFORE we in Alaska get to express our preference at the polls. Diane Benson deserves a fair shot at the Democrat nomination and we don't need any outside interference from your campaign or/ the apprearance of unfair support from the Alaska State Democratic Party. Thank you, Nels Anderson, Jr. |
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Russ Feingold Is Looking For BETTER Democrats
8/15/2008
Down With Tyrany!
Russ Feingold Is Looking For BETTER Democrats
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This morning Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund launched a new effort to spotlight and support 9 Democratic challengers, only one of whom are on Debbie Wasserman Schultz' corrupt and widely discredited Red to Blue list. Senator Feingold-- unlike most of the behind-the-scenes power brokers in the DCCC Establishment voted against retroactive immunity for Telecom executives. These lawbreakers have been huge campaign donors for corrupt Republicans and for corrupt Democrats-- of course, McCain was their # 1 recipient, but, aside from presidential candidates, this year's biggest Telecom bribes went to immunity proponents Jay Rockefeller (D-WV- $53,000), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL- $49,950), and Ted Stevens (R-AK- $41,400)-- and the legislation was only able to pass because corrupt Democratic leaders like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Jim Clyburn and Nancy Pelosi skulked across the aisle with enough Democrats so that Bush's FISA bill could be enacted.
Feingold seems to understand that what America needs is not just more Democrats to take orders from a hideous monstrosity like Rahm Emanuel but better Democrats who are capable of thinking for themselves and serving the interests of working families, not of the special interests that finance the political careers of the Hoyers and Emanuels of the Beltway Establishment. Although, in the interests of self perpetuation, the crooked DCCC power brokers have included some progressive and grassroots candidates on their list of recommended candidates, much of the list reads like a hall of shame from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. It is stuffed full of shills and reactionaries like...Ethan Berkowitz (AK)... |
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Diane Benson Takes On Corrupt Republicans and Democrats
8/13/2008
Democrats.com
Diane Benson Takes On Corrupt Republicans and Democrats
In Alaska, the state tied most closely to corruption, two credible candidates have emerged to challenge the structural problems that led to so much unbridled fraud and naked venality. On the Right, current Governor Sarah Palin emerged two years ago, to challenge big oil's longtime dominance of the state's executive branch. On the Left, Diane Benson emerged around the same time to challenge both Alaska GOP Rep. Don Young for his seat in the U.S. Congress, and her own party, the Alaska Democrats.
DCCC Opposes Progressives in Upcoming Primaries
8/10/2008
Democrats.com
Congress Needs Dine Benson
In the next few weeks, we'll have the final round of Democcratic primaries for Congress. And Howie Klein is rightfully outraged that the DCCC is endorsing rank mediocrities instead of talented progressives, all of whom we endorsed on our Replace Bush Democrats Actblue page.
* AK00: Ethan Berkowitz over Diane Benson
* AZ01: Ann Kirkpatrick over Howard Shanker
* FL24: Suzanne Kosmas over Clint Curtis
* NY13: Michael McMahon over Steve Harrison
[When] Chris Van Hollen first took over the chair of the DCCC from Stalinist Rahm Emanuel he promised-- in accord with democratic norms and Party rules-- to allow hotly contested primaries to play themselves out and not take sides the way Emanuel had done. Emanuel, you may recall, backed reactionary Establishment candidates in tough primaries against dozens of progressive and grassroots Democrats. In some cases his shills won and we wound up with pseudo-Democrats who vote with the GOP, like Tim Mahoney in Florida, or with a victorious Republican, like Vern Buchanan, who was able to beat a weak, vacillating me-too-Democratic who stood for nothing. In other cases the grassroots beat back Emanuel's anti-democratic strategy and that is why we now have progressives in Congress like John Hall (D-NY), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), and Jerry McNerney (D-CA). Van Hollen promised to not follow the Stalinist path Emanuel had lain out. But he has.
4 of the 5 endorsed candidates still contesting primaries [see list above] are conservative, Establishment hacks fighting progressives. The DCCC's strategy of funneling money and the sense of inevitability into the candidacies of the conservatives makes it extremely difficult for the grassroots candidates to tap into traditional sources of Democratic funding.
Races Worth Watching
8/1/2008
Swing State Project
August Election Preview: Races Worth Watching
"...Native activist Diane Benson, who mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Young in 2006, is very much in the race."
The Song of Diane Benson
7/2/2008
The Song of Diane Benson
I heard this historic woman sing yesterday.
She smiled. She didn't cry. Others listening and watching did both, understanding the power and beauty of the song.
U.S. House Democratic Party candidate Diane Benson has always been a combination of modesty, pride and assertiveness. These elements have often played out in an environment where she either was fighting for sheer survival on an Alaskan scale, or raging against injustices commonly undergone by Alaska Natives. Even now.
Diane's Statement on Clean Elections
7/2/2008
Diane Benson endorses Clean Elections
"As a grassroots candidate with a history of running against the establishment; I'm well aware of the effect special interests can have on politics. This nation was founded on the principle that government should be by the people and for the people. For too long, special interests, lobbyists, and big business have controlled the political landscape in Alaska. It's time that we had less corporate representation and more Alaskan representation and Clean Elections are the perfect way to get there."
Volunteer Night at the Benson Office
We have kicked off our volunteer nights here at the Benson for Congress campaign! We have some excited supporters here helping us put together material to send to supporters all over the state. Here are some pics of
We want to thank all the volunteers who came out tonight to help the campaign spread our message of change.
Diane Speaks Out Against Racism on KUDO
Diane appeared on KUDO 1080 AM today with CC on The Cutting Edge to give her thoughts on the racist and sexist comments made by disc jockeys Greg Wood and Chris Wilcox of KBFX-FM 100.5. Diane spoke to the divisiveness of these comments an the need for an increased awareness of the cultural and ethnic diversity in Alaska.
Greg Wood and Chris Wilcox of KBFX-FM 100.5 have since been suspended without pay and will be taking cultural sensitivity classes led by Anchorage Healing Racism and Alaska Native Heritage Center.
Diane Interviewed on Antiwar Radio
Diane's interview on Anti-War Radio has been posted online! Here is a decription of the interview:
Diane Benson, an antiwar Democrat running for Congress in Alaska, discusses the stop loss and severe injuries suffered by her son, the invisibility of the tens of thousands of wounded American soldiers from the Iraq war, the unfairness of the stop loss system, the cowardice of all those who “support” the war with stickers on their truck while others fight for them, the belief of young soldiers that they’d be off to fight bin Laden, the VA’s directing of soldiers to other welfare programs for medical care, the true cost of war in human and financial terms, her son’s partial recovery from his injuries, economic worries, the premium she puts on dialog over military action to deal with terrorism problems and the danger to al Qaeda in Iraq if the U.S. withdraws.
You can listen to this interview by viisiting http://antiwar.com/radio/2008/04/14/diane-benson.
