OMG: A progressive Democrat who actually is principled. Leadership requires clear and independent thinking and action. I worked for Tasini because he made clear the essential issues that this Senate race should be about.

Again, he brings clarity on issues to New York voters. I am surprised that he did not include a civil rights issue that was a core issue during his primary run. That of the right of same sex couples to participate in civil marriage legal procedures.

Perhaps Jonathon will explain why this core issue of his campaign has been left out of his criteria for endorsement. Clinton has and continues to be opposed to equal rights for gay and lesbians citizens.

As a progressive Democrat who believes the Democratic Party must return to the very principles that identify it, as different from the Republican Party, am supporting Green Party candidate Howe Hawkins for US Senate.

Note: I did support both Gore and Kerry in the Presidential race and would not support a third party candidate, no matter how much I admired their clear positions on the very issues that Jonathon Tasini has laid out. However, in this Senate race the conditions are not the same. A vote against Clinton and for Hawkins will not put at danger the election of a NY Democrat for the US Senate.

A vote for Hawkins will put on notice Clinton and the so-called progressives that some voters will not betray their principles in order to be on the winning team.

I believe that every single vote for Hawkins can be seen as a vote in favor of the very same principles and issues that made Tasini a candidate that excited progressive voters in NY.

I did not come to this choice easily. Nor do I do it out of anger and disappointment at the results of the primary race. I did compare the positions of Clinton vs. the positions of Hawkins. Here is a link that makes clear their positions on issues critical to the Tasini campaign. I hope progressives Democrats will read this link before making a choice on whom to vote for in New York US Senate race.

http://www.hawkinsforsenate.org/

The news on Howie Hawkin's website is updated with the most recent article listed at the top, not because of favoritism to the article. We are posting any published articles (unless merely one-sentence) mentioning Howie Hawkins.

Howie Hawkins has made his support for Tasini very clear in the primary. His campaign has released multiple pro- Tasini news releases:

**Hawkins Criticizes NY1 for Refusing Tasini-Clinton Debate
**Hawkins Defends Tasini, Criticizes Clinton on Middle East Statements

And, Howie talks about Tasini and Tasini's supporters in:

** Hawkins Calls for Multi-Party Debates, Urges Progressive Dems to Go Green vs. Clinton
**Hawkins Says Clinton Must Debate; Appeals to Tasini Supporters//Hawkins Welcomes Clinton to General Election; Praises Tasini's Peace Campaign
(Look under http://www.hawkinsforsenate.net/press/pr.php for specific articles and the news blog,
http://syracusegreens.wordpress.com/tag/news-articles/)

Howie Hawkins publicly appealed to Tasini supporters in his statement and thanked Tasini in his "Hawkins Says Clinton Must Debate; Appeals to Tasini Supporters" statement:

"Hawkins also congratulated Jonathan Tasini on his spirited anti-war campaign.

“Mr. Tasini did a good job in articulating the reasons why we need a more even handed approach to the Middle East and why we need to bring our troops home immediately from Iraq. He showed courage as a former Israeli in being willing to say that Israel’s bombing of Lebanon and Gaza was wrong,” said Hawkins.

“Clinton, on the other hand, disrespected her Democratic base by refusing to debate Tasini. The question now is whether Clinton will disrespect all of her New York constituents by refusing to participate in debates in the general election,” added Hawkins.

Hawkins noted that he will continue Tasini’s call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq and publicly financed national health insurance and invited Tasini supporters to join him in the general election campaign.

Hawkins supports bringing troops home from Iraq immediately. Clinton continues to defend her votes to invade Iraq and fund the occupation...."

Howie Hawkins has welcomed Tasini supporters (and Tasini) with open arms, as he understands we need all anti-war, pro-justice New Yorkers on board with his campaign to make ending the war an electoral discussion that can't be ignored.

I wish Tasini had publicly supported and endorsed Howie Hawkins for US Senate campaign to make the strongest anti-war impact in this election. However I know Tasini supporters can carry this torch themselves by actively engaging in the Hawkins campaign now. We thank Tasini supporters who are now campaigning for Howie and we hope to work with more of you to make this election a race Hillary will never forget!

Towards a war-free future,
Sally Kim
Campaign Manager, Hawkins for US Senate
www.HawkinsForSenate.net

As I say in the excerpt below of a media statement I released at a news conference in Albany with Ralph Nader on September 19, "I respect the sincerity and effort of progressive Democrats who are trying to reform their party." And I deeply appreciate the support many Tasini supporters have given since the primary.

We may disagree on the question of independent politics vs. reforming the Democrats, but we agree on troops home now, medicare for all, and many other issues. And I hope most of us can agree that a vote for me as the Green candidate in the general election is the most effective way to advance those causes at this point in this Senate race.

My suggestion to Tasini supporters is that the more publicly you do that, the more leverage you will have inside the Democratic Party in the future, if that is your orientation. Don't let the Clinton campaign get away with responding to Tasini's "vote your conscience" statement with "Who cares?" as their spokesperson, Howard Wolfson told AP. Make them care. Show them they can't take the anti-war, progressive majority of Democratic voters for granted.

Solidarity,

Howie Hawkins

Excerpt from Sept 19 release (full release under in the Press Info section at www.hawkinsforsenate.org):

Hawkins also called upon the leadership and activists of the peace movement and progressive Democratic clubs and organizations to vigorously join in the campaign debate by publicly supporting his candidacy.

"Leaders of the corporate wing of the Democratic party like Clinton are caught in a contradiction between their base of Democratic voters, the majority of which are anti-war and progressive, and their base of corporate funders, which is pro-war and conservative. I personally believe the majority of voters are already closer to the Greens than the corporate Democrats on most issues and that we will be more effective by mobilizing that progressive majority independently of the corporate-funded Democrats than by getting mired internal Democratic Party fights with its corporate wing. However, I respect the sincerity and effort of progressive Democrats who are trying to reform their party. I greatly appreciate that many supporters of the progressive, antiwar Democratic challenger to Clinton, Jonathan Tasini, have said since the September 12 primary that they will privately urge their people to vote for me in November. Now I urge them to take next step, to take stronger action, and to publicly endorse my campaign. That is the most powerful way they can make their voices heard in this election and give leadership to the progressive, pro-peace majority of Democratic voters," Hawkins said.

"The shameful exclusion of Tasini from a real debate on the war at the state Democratic convention and in the campaign debates by Clinton and the corporate wing of the Democratic Party should not go publicly unchallenged from Democrats who are leaders and activists in the peace and progressive movements. They should make this a public issue. If they don't make the corporate Democrats pay a price for their exclusion of antiwar and progressive voices, they are effectively telling Clinton and the corporate Democrats to take their support for granted in the future. If they want leverage inside the Democratic Party in the future against the corporate Democrats, they need take the outside option and go Green in this election and cost the Democrats a big block of votes for backing a corporate militarist like Hillary Clinton," Hawkins said.

Hawkins noted that after Ned Lamont's recent stunning antiwar upset of Joe Lieberman in Connecticut, the outcome of the many September 12 primaries around the county did not send a clear antiwar message from the Democrats. Hawkins pointed to the losses of antiwar challengers Tasini and Kwesi Mfume of Maryland, on the one hand, and the victories of half a dozen antiwar Democrats, on the other.

"Progressive, antiwar Democrats are fighting with the corporate wing of the Democrats for the heart and soul of their party. Especially with Clinton as the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2008, this is a make or break moment in our effort to bring our troops home. It is a time for strong public action and leadership, not furtive politics behind the scenes," said Hawkins.

Mr. Hawkins:

We know you want our votes. That's logical. Posting your consistent appeals for our votes does not answer the basic question.

Why don't you just say, straight out, whether or not you personally agree with the Joshua Frank piece?

If you don't agree, you should a) state clearly that you think Frank is wrong, and b) remove the article from your website.

You must understand that it is not possible for visitors to a candidate's official campaign website to assume that the content posted by the candidate on that site does not represent the candidate's viewpoint. Quite the contrary, we assume you cleared the posting. If you're honestly claiming Frank has it wrong, disavow his statements and pull the story from your site.

With all due respect, Howie, you can't come to us claiming to have supported our honest anti-war efforts while at the same time posting articles on you website that attack us, and Jonathan, for having harmed the anti-war movement.

None of us want to vote for anyone but a firmly anti-war candidate. It's pretty clear a lot of us think you'd be the logical choice of the three anti-war balloted candidates in the general election. But we don't want to be played for fools. If Jonathan's campaign built an anti-war voting bloc that can now be transferred to your campaign, and you believe your campaign is good for the peace movement, then it cannot be logically argued that our efforts harmed the peace movement. See what I'm saying? You should make this your official position, post it prominently on your site, and disavow the Frank opinion piece.

Remove the article and reject this kind of divisive rhetoric. Then you might see a more serious groundswell of support from anti-war Democrats.