If you are visiting our campaign website for the first time because of today's column by The New York Times' Bob Herbert, welcome!

First, before you go any further--we believe we can rock the political establishment. Sure, Herbert quoted me saying this race is an uphill effort--but we have always believed that if we shift the race from my opponent's celebrity to a debate on the issues, we will surprise the pundits, political insiders and Democratic machine.

This race has already attracted hundreds of volunteers. On the issues, the majority of Democratic primary voters stand with us, not with the incumbent.

We need your help. If you want there to be a debate about the war, if you want to have a voice speaking for the 2,400 American men and women who have been killed in this immoral war, if you want pro-war Democrats to be held accountable for the death and destruction in Iraq, consider making a generous contribution to our campaign right now, right here.

Herbert is right when he writes that my opponent "...in terms of overall policy, she seems to be right there with Bush, Cheney, Condi et al. She does not regret her vote to authorize the invasion, and still believes the war can be won."

Is there any better reason to cast a vote against the incumbent?

The question for New York voters is simple: should we allow the celebrity status of my opponent to erase the reality of thousands of unnecccesary deaths, the life-altering wounds inflicted on American and Iraqis and the hundreds of billions of wasted dollars?

If your answer is "no," join our campaign today.

Impeach the President

by Neil Young.

Let's impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door
He's the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war
Let's impeach the president for spying
On citizens inside their own homes
Breaking every law in the country
By tapping our computers and telephones
What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees
Would New Orleans have been safer that way

Compare the realities of two worlds. One world is that of Lee Raymond, the recently-retired CEO of Exxon Mobil. From 1993 to 2005, he received $686 million in pay and benefits. In his final year of work in 2005, he raked in more than $400 million, including a $98 million pension payout.

The other world is that of millions of workers in the country and in our state. Those folks--our family members, neighbors and co-workers--have seen their wages stand still, health care coverage dwindle, pensions disappear and personal debt reach an all time high. Not to mention having to pay more in gasoline prices, partly to finance Mr. Raymond's obscene paychecks.

Yesterday, I attended a four-hour hearing in Peekskill about the new leaks from the Indian Point nuclear power plant. It was a great display of citizen involvement: the room overflowed with hundreds of local residents who came to express their concern about the plant.

To be clear, I believe the plant should be shut down--permanently. It has one of the worst, if not THE worst, records of any nuclear power plant in the country (and that's saying a lot). Certainly, the plant should be shut down immediately until the company can find the source of the leaks and fix the problems, at least on a temporary basis--because there is no permanent safe solution to a plant and a technology that is inherently dangerous.

What struck me is how much the community distrusts the company, Entergy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). And both have earned that mistrust. The company cannot tell the community what the source of the leaks is--but, then, reassures the community that there is no health or safety risk. The NRC is hopelessly compromised because, for decades, it has not been a serious watchdog of the industry--in fact, it has acted far more as a cheerleader and apologist for the nuclear industry.

There is an opportunity here. Shutting down this unsafe plant AND, at the same time, campaigning for safe, energy alternatives in the state would send a powerful message throughout the nation that the end of nuclear power has arrived and our state wants to lead the way to a new way of thinking how to keep our lights on and businesses running.

I've always felt that politicians who are very quick to repeat the slogan "support the troops" do so only as a political rhetorical ploy--not with any honest feeling behind the slogan or, certainly not with any intention of actually doing something to support them (read: give them the right armor to take into combat).

Now, a new poll of U.S. troops serving in Iraq shows that 29 percent of the troops think that we should pull out immediately. And 72 percent think we should be out within one year.

So, the message to pro-war politicians like Hillary Clinton, who refuse to call for an immediate end to the invasion or even contemplate a timetable for withdrawal, is clear: the troops are saying that if you want to support us, bring us home now.