Election Day is nine months away, but we have some big election news, centering on a few non-traditional candidates who have decided to run for public office.
Rumored for a while now, this morning Clay Aiken (yes, that Clay Aiken), made it official. He’s running for Congress from North Carolina. His candidacy was officially announced via this video
Although my initial reaction upon hearing the rumors was disdain, I’m truly impressed with this video and think I may have jumped too quickly to a negative conclusion. Stay tuned.
This week, we’d been hearing the rumblings of a possible congressional run by Sandra Fluke, the woman who became famous by being smeared, slandered and slut-shamed by Rush Limbaugh (who incredulously still has a job). After graduating from Georgetown law school, Fluke moved to LA and passed the California bar. Although as recently as yesterday, the general consensus had her jumping into the congressional race in CA-33, vying for the seat being vacated by Henry Waxman.
But this morning came the news that Fluke will instead run for the California State Senate seat being vacated by Ted Lieu, who is running for Waxman’s soon-to-be-former seat.
I’ve learned from some friends who’ve lived in Lieu’s district that they love him, consider him a true progressive, and are ready to endorse him. He’s certainly a better candidate than another contender, failed mayoral candidate Wendy Gruel.
But most seem to be underestimating the power of miracles.
Marianne Williamson became world famous for A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a “Course in Miracles”, and for her nine other books, lectures and teachings about spirituality.
She announced her intention to challenge Henry Waxman for his seat back in November as an independent. I had the opportunity to speak with her on the show today, and think that anyone who underestimates her in this race is making a mistake.
Our discussion comes in at the start of the second hour, but I’ve excerpted it on this video for easy viewing/listening:
If only every congressional district had two great progressive candidates to choose between!
Also on the show today, we met Mikey Franklin, the man behind the Fair Pay Campaign to do away with unpaid internships. And Crooks and Liars‘ Susie Madrak joined in to talk about the news that CVS will stop selling tobacco products and more.
