If you were at Netroots Nation, you heard Darcy Burner remind us that one in three woman in America will have an abortion at some point in their lives. Given a population in excess of 300 million, half of which are female, that is something over fifty million.
You experienced her quietly asking women in the audience if they were comfortable to stand and acknowledge having had an abortion. As Digby, John and Howie and the Leadership of Blue America put it in an email that went out yesterday, reflecting a post on their site,
One by one at first, and finally all at once, women throughout that huge crowd, in front of all their peers and friends, stood up. That's not an easy thing to do in this culture, even among friends. The right has made it a dishonorable, solitary act, borne in silence, subject to fear and social stigma.
But then Darcy did more. Quoting again from the Blue America email,
she asked all of those who supported those women to stand up. Everyone in the room came to their feet. There was no sustained applause and no celebration, just a simple public acknowledgement of solidarity and sincere support for the women in all of our lives who have made this choice.
The meaning of this is simple, quoting again
This is the essence of leadership --- a candidate for office taking a stand on one of the most contentious issues of our time, reminding the people of what they have in common, empowering those who need to be empowered and asking for solidarity from their friends and neighbors.
If you are one of the fifty million, do you not want Darcy's voice speaking for you and for all women in Congress?
If you are one who supported those women who stood, whether you were in the hall and stood yourself or only heard about it afterwards, will you not stand with Darcy now?
We have a chance to elect a real progressive to the House. Establishment Dems are trying to crush Darcy, because they cannot control her. They are backing an establishment figure who has said she does not think Democrats compromise enough and made clear she views herself not as a progressive, which Darcy clearly is, but as a "New Democrat." This women, Suzan DelBene, can dump millions of her own and her husband's money into the race.
That is about to start. The polling data has shown that Darcy has the most support among the Democrats in the race. She won a plurality of the delegates to the State Democratic Party Convention from the 1st Congressional District. She is the clear choice of the people. But that can change if she cannot get her message out, if she cannot buy advertising. With a primary in August, commitments for time must be made by the end of this month. Darcy need our financial support now.
I am going to ask two things of you.
First,
Give whatever you can do Darcy Burner, and do it NOW. I'm not just asking, I am modeling. I have just retired, we have just incurred some unexpected financial obligations with the passing of my mother-in-law. Money is tight for us. But I just gave Darcy another $100.
Second, help Darcy by letting others know she needs their support.
You can direct them to her website where they can find out where she stands on the issues, and contribute.
When you follow the link to contribute (which is through Act Blue) you will have the ability to tweet and email to others indicating support.
And perhaps you can help keep this post visible to this community by recommending it.
Darcy stood on principle at Netroot Nation.
Now she needs us to stand with her.
Please help.
Peace.