Jerry Northington, better known to us as possum, is running for the U.S. House of Representatives, DE-01, At Large.  Delaware’s people are quite fortunate to have someone of his caliber willing to go to bat for them.  There is not a more genuine candidate anywhere.  He is one of those true public servants of whom we have so precious little in DC.  Jerry knows what is worth fighting for and what can wait.  He knows how to state emphatically what he believes without antagonizing the listener.  

The AC in the fancy bus was broken but Howard Dean's fervor was still on target this morning on Canal Street.  When he shook my hand, he thanked me for running a great campaign and complimented my website.  To remember the winning candidates in 50 states is difficult enough.  To remember the losing ones is nothing short of amazing.

I am thrilled with the House voting NO to the Iraq War funding today.  I am thrilled with CA passing marriage legislation for gays today.  I am thrilled that MS and LA and IL picked up Dem seats recently.  I am disgusted with the crack-pot we have as commander-in-chief, his golf "sacrifice" and his fear-mongering, low political blow in Israel yesterday.  But I have a personal story to tell.  Campaign finance reform cannot come soon enough!  I have given myself almost 2 weeks post-election to let things settle.  ‘Tis time for me to record what I have learned in the political arena for 18 months.  I initially entered the congressional race for LA-01 because not enough was being done to help us recover from the broken levees fiasco and Hurricane Katrina.  15 months after the tragedy, the landscape looked hardly different than the day after the storm had passed.  Knowing my district needed a fighter who would not take no for an answer, I dove in head-first.  My district’s needs were paramount and I would defy even my own party if it stood in the way.  

Please do not hurt for me.  I am fine with my election loss last night and, in fact, am relieved to become a regular American mom, grammy and teacher again.  Many of you worked hard and I fully appreciate every single thing you did to spread the word.  I have made life-long friends among you.  

To my dKos friends and supporters---

We won the primary with 70% of the vote!  We are making the naysayer "experts" eat their words.  And there is more on the menu for them with the next election.  Bon appetit!

A feisty, independent-minded, fiscally conservative Democrat is not any run-of-the-mill candidate.  I cannot be bought and am a fighter who will give our district the only chance it has to fully recover from the aftermath of Katrina.  Scalise is a right-wing extremist Republican who is masquerading as a conservative and funded by big money fat cats.  He has little chance of getting legislation passed in a Democratically-controlled House.  (Former FEMA director Michael Brown has more chance of being elected LA governor!)  

In between campaign stops, I came home to find a majestic American bald eagle perched in the cypress tree next to our home.  Stirring the soul of neighbors, this national symbol completed a picture of patriotism with our waving U.S. flag and big red, white and blue campaign sign.  

"Round-The-Clock Gilda Reed Fundraiser Finale!"
(This is the last diary in a 24-hour fundraiser for Gilda Reed, Democratic Candidate for Katrina-Burdened LA-01.)

My name is Gilda Reed and I am a loyal patriot and strong Democrat who fervently believes that our government belongs to us.  We can take back what is rightfully ours!  

This is not a government of, by and for a few large corporations and those who make over $250,000 a year.  It is a government of, by and for WE the people.  It is a government that enables its people to take care of themselves without unneeded giveaways.  It is a government that reprioritizes to put people first again and manages its funds more equitably.  It is a government that reverses the class warfare policies of some in Washington who give tax breaks to the upper 1% and raw deals to the remaining 99% of us.  

Christmas Eve is not the best time to post, but last night I saw another newscast that ignored the viable Democratic candidate in Louisiana’s 1st District race for the U.S. House and I am angry.  The Democratic candidate is me.  NBC News spent several minutes covering Republican candidates, including those who have not made a decision yet and even those who have opted against the run.  An afterthought was added at the end saying that there was one declared Democratic candidate.  Indeed, they underestimate my threat.

My name is Gilda Reed.   I am a life-long resident of Louisiana’s Katrina-burdened First District and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.  I am determined to make a positive difference in the lives of my people.

Representatives are NOT supposed to bend over backwards for big businesses allowing their interests to take precedence over the welfare of the rest of us.  Representatives ARE supposed to fight tooth and nail for their constituents like I have done for years for my children and my community.  Beat on doors when your people are hurting!  Leave no stone unturned when your people need you!  Be a thorn in the side of those on Capitol Hill until the plight of your people is reconciled!  

My name is Gilda Reed.   I am a life-long resident of Louisiana’s Katrina-burdened First District and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Fifteen months after Katrina, I was powerfully moved to enter the political arena to make a positive difference in the lives of fellow Louisianans.  There was still destruction all around me and so many people in all 6 parishes (counties) in District 1 were desperate.  I am not at all happy with the Iraq War, the Katrina insensitive fiasco, the unfair shake that our working men and women receive, the reality that the richest nation in the world has so many medically uninsured citizens, the travesty of "No Child Left Behind", the disregard for protecting our environment, the band-aid approach to rebuilding our levees or restoring our wetlands, the erosion of our Constitutional rights, our border insecurity, and fiscal irresponsibility.  This disdain compels me.  It is time for a change.

My name is Gilda Reed, and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana's 1st Congressional District.

In the Washington Post, Spencer Hsu wrote that the Bush administration ignored local and state emergency officials when recently revising the National Response Plan.  Behind closed doors, with Bushesque secrecy, the plan's revision was formulated. If Katrina taught us anything, it is that waiting for a centralized "response" from Homeland Security is no more than a trickle down policy leading us down the path to needless death and suffering of our people.

Why were disaster officials, who are the first responders to any tragedy, not consulted?

Climate change and environmental stewardship are important issues that we must begin addressing now. The consequences of doing nothing are too grave.  It will take extended effort over several decades to counter and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, so we must develop constructive solutions now.  We must shift our cultural, political and corporate mindsets towards protecting that part of our environment of which we have some control.

Why should taxpayers be forced to make the profit margin of wealthy investors fatter?  For over 4 hours on Thursday, July 26, I sat through a Louisiana State Bond Commission meeting in Senate Room A in Baton Rouge.  Covington Mayor Candice Watkins and Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price defended the interests of their communities as did many local residents and myself, as candidate for the U.S. House, Louisiana District 1.

Nor Du Lac is a privately owned development planned for the intersection of I-12 and Highway 21 near Covington, Louisiana.  The developers had applied to fund infrastructure of their retail shopping complex with Tax Increment Financing bonds (TIF).  TIF bonds use tax revenue from sales tax or property tax to develop blighted, depressed areas.  This would have required a ¾ cent additional local sales tax plus 1-cent out of the state's 4-cent state sales tax netting the developers $24 million to pay for infrastructure.

I am Gilda Reed and I am running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 1st District to give my people the representation they deserve.  All of us are Katrina survivors.  We must have a Democrat who feels the pulse of the people.  Republicans have held the seat for 30 years and it is time for a change.  Government is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people—not a government created by the rich to protect their own interests.  Over 90% of our Congress members are millionaires.  I have no ill will for rich folks and can properly represent them.  However, I do not know too many who have walked a mile in the shoes of my constituents.  How can a person empathize when he/she is so far removed from our wants, needs and desires?  A few courtesy visits, handshakes and empty rhetoric are not what we need.  My people need me, one of their own, to fight for them.

Am I up to the task?  You bet I am.  

I just bailed out my bookkeeper and treasurer by figuring out why my campaign’s electronic quarterly report would not validate.  There was no help to be had over the weekend but plenty of patient tech help on Monday.  Yet it took me all day and total isolation in my robe.  I was a prisoner in my room with no campaigning, no TV, no news, no e-mails, no writing and no dKos.  Woe is me!  I called CPA’s and strangers out of the phone book, to no avail.  So success tasted ever more sweet when the file was accepted and officially filed a few hours ago, one day late.   I profess to walk the extra mile for my people.  Today I did far more.  The next quarterly report will be a cakewalk.  Not because I have all this well-learned practice, but because by then I will have befriended an accountant who doubles as a computer super-hero.

Campaigning in Franklinton, LA Thursday, I talked at length with Mayor Earle Brown.  The leaders of this proud town hit hard by Katrina, did not wait for non-existent help from FEMA or anyone else.  They pulled themselves up by their collective bootstraps and toiled to remove debris.  A contractor with working machinery in place nearby was hired at a fair price.  Now, FEMA refuses to pay promised reimbursements citing no evidence of bids.  Give me a break!  No one could have done the work for less, nor were there any other contractors ready or willing.  FEMA is being irrational and low-balling all charges to prevent paying.  It continues to send a tortuous amount of senseless questions delaying what should have been paid long ago.  

Bobby Jindal (R) is the U.S. Representative for Louisiana’s First District. He was elected to the seat in 2004 and re-elected in 2006. The big question is, "Where is Bobby Jindal?"

Unfortunately for the residents of District 1, Bobby Jindal has spent the last several months campaigning all over Louisiana for the Governor’s seat. If you are actively campaigning then you cannot also be legislating in Washington. So he is receiving taxpayers’ dollars while campaigning throughout the state, instead of doing the job for which he is being paid.  His campaign website states that he began the campaign for the Governors race on July 16th, but this is untrue. He has been actively campaigning since the beginning of 2007. In fact, he recently missed an important congressional vote on the Iraq War to deliver a campaign speech to the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association in New Orleans (July 13, 2007, Times Picayune). What current issue is more important than the ongoing War in Iraq? Why would he miss such a crucial vote?

The Times-Picayune in New Orleans is not fair and balanced--surprise!