This was posted as an OpEd on Fighting Dems.com and we are trying to build up support for this concept. With all the talk but little action on support for the troops and vets, this is a solid proposal that could net enough money to seriously address the needs of vets. They have served their country courageously and they deserve more than window dressing to give them the care they deserve.

Noel Schutz, Publisher Fighting Dems.com
Randy Risener, Editor, Fighting Dems News Service

It has been a pleasure to see the leadership roles taken by those Fighting Dem Vets who went to Congress and Senate. Jim Webb has been amazing in the Senate, moving more boldly than is normal for freshmen Senators. And in the House Vice Admiral Sestak has been an advisor up and down the halls of Congress and makes the chickenhawks on talk shows sheepish (sorry for  the mixed metaphor!) when he speaks of commanding a battle fleet. His newly elected Fighting Dem colleagues have been equally powerful voices on the Hill. You can see a video of Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy speaking out against escalation of the Iraq War here.And Fighting Dem activists like Jerry McNerney in California and Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, both of whom are near relatives of active duty military or veterans, are the kind of grassroots Fighting Dems that go hand in hand with our vet candidates.

More below the fold

Bernie Quigley is a prize-winning writer and has worked more than 30 years as a book and magazine editor, political commentator and book, movie, music and art reviewer. He lives in the White Mountains with his wife and four children.  He is a strong proponent of the New Democrats and believes the Fighting Dems are the vanguard. He has supported Jim Webb and Wes Clark as two who have been in the forefront of the battle for the soul of America. I would, of course, add Eric Massa who will be live blogging with the kossacks in about an hour.

Check out Bernie’s latest ruminations latest below the bump and talk to him about them. This piece was sent informally as part of an email and unfolded into an OpEd!

The point is that ALL races matter in this mid-term election. That is true of Fighting Dem races as well as many grassroots activists who have jumped into the trenches to reclaim territory long ceded to the Republican Party. And with the momentum of the "Blue Wave" continuing, races are being upgraded constantly even as election day is upon us. The feeling of movement on the ground is not reflected in some polls that underrate Fighting Dems, nor in polls that give excessive margins of victory to FDs. The feeling is one of a roiling beneath the waters that is moving in with the tied, mounting into swells and ready to break into whitecaps at its crest. Some polls seem to catch this momentum, some less so, but the momentum is there and election day might be a surprise to many.

Carol will be our first non-vet military family Fighting Dem to be spotlighted by Fighting-Dems.com. Carol will be live blogging with us today. A special essay on General Clark and Carol was written especially for this occasion by the noted writer, Bernie Quigley, who will be the Guest Host for our live blogging today.

We love polls, we hate polls, but pundits, prognosticators and pollsters are poll-driven. If your campaign has not had even an internal poll, it will be under the radar and national independent pollsters will not have any means to evaluate your campaign other than the figures from the '04 election - and in so many cases in "Red" districts that are migrating to Purple and Blue this is a travesty that marks you a long shot or a no shot. They are mostly number crunchers and that is that.

A poll by a nationally known polling agency (you see them at Electoral-vote.com, Pollster.com and PollingReport.comis expensive, say off hand pushing $10,000 bucks. How can an under funded, understaffed, underdog, and under the radar campaigns manage a poll?

We are in the home stretch. A last minute poll might be of value. It is the candidates' call. But for what it is worth, the rest is beyond the fold.

"It's a ship of fools. We're on the edge of a disaster."--WES CLARK

Corning, NY - Retired Navy Commander Eric Massa is leading incumbent Rep. Randy Kuhl by a margin of 12 percentage points in a new poll conducted by the independent organization Majority Watch. The poll showed Massa leading in the race with 52% of likely voters preferring him compared to only 40% selecting Kuhl.

The 'Super Tuesday' primaries on September 12th were the last great battle for who would be the Democratic Party's nominees to face the Republican incumbents in the November Mid-term Election. We now have 56 vets who are the official nominees

62 Fighting Dem Vets currently running.
50 are the Democratic Party nominees.
 7 have September 12th primary battles.
 4 are unopposed (and thus will be the official nominees).
 1 is a write in.

54 are certain nominees; 0-10 more are possible.
54-62 possible nominees to face Republican incumbents in the GE

Below the fold see what Ted and the bloggers have to say about this poll.

Fighting Dem Vets (http://www.fighting-dems.com) is pleased to sponsor this live blog by Carl Sheeler (RI-Senate). Like Jim Webb, Carl is a Fighting Dem straight-shooter; like Ned Lamont, Carl is a new face to politics. And like both of these superb candidates Carl is facing an entrenched establishment Dem in next month's primary. And Netroots bloggers are taking notice of Carl's campaign. Two recent blog interviews are worth a read. The first is Interview with Fighting Dem Carl Sheeler by David Nalle on blogcritics.com. The second is by Steve Wanczyk on Wicked Philosophy Webzine: Carl Sheeler: The Next Ned Lamont?/

Below the fold is what Carl wrote for his Fighting Dem Vets Diary today.

Tomorrow from 2-4 pm on daily dKos, Fighting Dem Vets Diary will feature Carl Sheeler (RI-Senate). It will feature Carl's take on the Israel-Lebanon conflict and two recent blog interviews. Stay tuned Sunday afternoon.  

The fighting dem vets are alive and well, holding at circa 60 FDs despite primary casualties. Here is the current count as best I can make out from this week's survey. Anyone having additional information or corrections, please let me know. You can check the most recent chart on the main page of Fighting-Dems.com. The Muster Roll has not been revised to reflect the chart but will be updated soon. Information from the F-D.com site and VetPAC has been updated to reflect primary results.

Here are the opening statements by the candidates. More details following:

Meanwhile, John Hlinko of StemPAC, which has put up an ActBlue donation page for "Stem Cell Champions," has four candidates meeting their criteria: Eric Massa, Jim Webb, Patrick Murphy and Victoria Wulsin. The criteria are that these candidates "1) have been strongly and vocally supportive of embryonic stem cell research, 2) Have opponents who have not been supportive, and 3) Have a real chance of winning--with our help." You can donate to these Stem Cell Champions on ActBlue here:StemCellCandidates.org.

I suppose this question could be asked of any candidate in any primary race. But why has it so persistently come up in the Rhode Island Senate race? Part of the answer is in the following. Lincoln Chafee, the first term Republican incumbent (the most vulnerable of candidates), is running a neck to neck race with a "Reagan Republican" challenger in the GOP primary. For this and other reasons, the DC Political Report gives this race a five star (most competitive) rating with a likely Democratic win. This alone should make the Democratic field for the campaign a crowded one. Yet there are only two serious candidates left: Carl Sheeler and Sheldon Whitehouse. Other candidates have dropped out or are simply out of play. Whitehouse has a larger treasure chest than Chafee, he has greater name recognition as an ex-Attorney General and former candidate for Governor of Rhodes Island, and he is supported by the Democratic establishment who fear a repeat of the race in 2000 where a contentious primary battle among Dems paved the way for the Lincoln Chafee win.