Fresh off Jonathan's strong performance at the Democratic Rural Conference, this past week has seen Jonathan spreading his message across the state. Over the last few days Jonathan has met with audiences in Woodstock, Ithaca and Albany, gaining supporters at every stop. These events provide a great opportunity for attendees to learn more about Jonathan's vision for New York, and to ask him about his positions in a frank and open question and answer session. Be on the lookout for events in your area, as Jonathan continues to bring his campaign to cities and towns throughout New York. In the interim, check out the feature story on Jonathan's Ithaca stop below:

Monday, Republicans in the Senate proved once again that given a choice between doing what is right, and protecting the Administration, politics will always win out. The Republicans on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee rejected a proposal to investigate the Bush administration's program of conducting electronic eavesdropping, instead calling for only greater congressional oversight.

Legal scholars have been nearly universal in declaring this program to be illegal, yet Democrats, powerless to call for hearings, are again left on the sidelines while the program continues.

As a member of the Citizens Impeachment Committee, Jonathan has called repeatedly for Bush and Cheney to be impeached.

On Monday, the Tasini campaign was part of a Code Pink protest of the Iraq War in front of the UN Building. Cindy Sheehan and four members of Code Pink were arrested for exercising their right to free speech by blocking access to the UN Mission Building.

The protests come as we prepare for the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Sheehan, the Tasini Campaign, Troops Out Now, and other peace groups will be holding a series of events the weekend of March 18-19 to honor our troops and send our government the message that we will not stand for this illegal war.

Stay tuned for updates o

Jonathan's surprising showing in the straw poll at this past Saturday's Democratic Rural Conference continues to gain coverage in the media. Yesterday, Michael Rothfield of Newsday wrote:

"It may not bode well for Suozzi that Jonathan Tasini, an almost completely unknown challenger to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, fared better than Suozzi did in the straw poll."

And later:

"Tasini, a union organizer, drew the loudest applause of the morning by calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. He was critical of Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war.

Yesterday, Jonathan spoke to the Democratic leaders of 41 upstate counties at a meeting of the Democratic Rural Conference in Ithaca. He was a virtual unknown to the group and his name did not even appear on the written straw ballot. To be able to address the conference, he needed to be nominated by a delegate, and receive a second from a different delegate. He was able to do so.

According to the conference organizers themselves, his five-minute speech (the maximum allowed for candidates) probably got the most reaction from the 150 people in the auditorium. It focused entirely on the Iraq war. And he got more votes than Tom Suozzi, the Nassau County Executive who is running for governor against Eliot Spitzer and has far more name recognition.

Our point this morning is what we have always believed: if the message is heard, if the campaign becomes about issues, people will respond.
Here’s a snippet from the fair coverage from the Albany Times Union (the rest of the article dealt with other races).