I was honored to receive the endorsement of the Village Independent Democrats (as well as Brooklyn Democrats For Change). Here's one VID member's view of the Senate race:

Last night the oldest progressive Democratic club in NYC held its candidates endorsement meeting.

Hotly debated was the primary race for US Senator.

Numbers of members spoke to the club on why they were supporting the anti-war, pro-labor, immigrant rights advocate and same sex civil marriage supporter, peace and justice candidate Jonathan Tasini.

VID members who had endorsed and worked in Hilary Clinton's first US Senate election made clear that Senator Clinton with her pro-invasion vote (which even at this late point she has not repudiated), her waffling on issues like a woman's right to choose and the immigration issue has walked away from progressive issues she once seemed to embrace.

VID members want to send a strong and loud message to Senator Clinton: that she cannot take for granted liberal and progressive voters. If she continues to walk and talk like a liberal Republican she will land will loose the progressive vote in New York primary.

This failed Democratic Party strategy has contributed to the Party's recent losses at the voting booth and the successful Republican wooing of what has been traditionally the base of the Democratic Party: working people, unions, blue color workers, African-Americans, Hispanic voters, middle class liberals, parents and people of faith.

She has lost my support in this Democratic primary.

I for one want a Senator and a Presidential candidate who speaks to the real progressive values of the Democratic Party and is not afraid to find a non-combative way to present those values to the voters of America.

Hilary Clinton wants to be President.

This Senate race is simply a stepping-stone on that path to the Presidency.

I will support and work for a candidate of any gender or color who can win the Presidency by uniting US voters in a campaign that addresses the core values of the Constitution and allows people of both faith and secular values to come together to turn the US away from greed and imperial domination and focuses on equality and opportunity as the imprint of what it means to be a Democrat.

A candidate who will making our country secure from fundamentalism and promotes equal protection under fair laws and fosters a respect for difference, supports the protection of privacy, the right of an individual to control their own body, a single payer health plan, a safety net for the elderly; who endorses self-determination worldwide and works to protect the environment by halting earth warming by promoting alternative energy sources to oil, This is what I expect a Democratic Party candidate to advocate for in any election.

This is an agenda that Senator Clinton has turned her back by making nice to the Murdocks of the world.

I was so proud to be a member of the VILLAGE INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS last night when they stood together and overwhelmingly endorsed Jonathan Tasini for Senate

I am asking you to support Jonathan Tasini with your vote if you are a New York voter and to make a much need campaign contribution.

Please open and read what a real progressive candidate values are at: tasinifornewyork.org

Please join us in taking back the United States from religious fanatics and profit at any cost fringe groups who are determined to undermine and rewrite the US Constitution.

Lets do it one campaign at a time.

jim fouratt

Note: NY will elect a Democrat for Senator. Lets, all of us, unite to support a candidate who is a true progressive