Today, Labor Day 2006, American working families are struggling because the Bush White House and the most corrupt Congress in history have failed to keep their promises to the American people. They have broken their "Contract with America," and the basic promises of the American dream, the values we all share, are not being honored: honesty and integrity in our government, economic prosperity, a health care system that works for everyone, fiscal responsibility, and a strong public education system. I am totally committed to taking the bold steps necessary so that Texas working families can live the dream and see the promises fulfilled that are the heart of our democracy. Together we can stand for honesty, hard work, respect, and opportunity for all Americans. Together, working families in Texas can do better.

When you can keep your head while all around you are losing theirs, that takes courage. When all these redistricting plans keep falling from upon high on our campaign you might expect that we would be running around saying "the sky is falling, the sky is falling!" ---Well I'm no Chicken Little!

We entered this race to restore honesty, integrity and common sense back to Congress, and to restore the checks and balances provided by our Constitution, so sorely missing in Washington. I committed to defeating an incumbent rubberstamp Republican and that commitment has not changed. I will chase Lamar Smith all over Texas if I have to....

We remain as committed, even more so, than we were a year ago when we began this campaign, and I'm not quitting until the last vote is counted! Democratically yours,  John C."

Crossposted at Burnt Orange Report, SquareState, and TexasKos (If you agree with our message of unity, please consider recommending this diary. Thanks! We will be liveblogging at DailyKos at 10:30 a.m. CST/9:30 a.m. MST. We hope you will join us! --John and Bill)

Dear Governor Warner,

We were both very honored and excited to be a part of your Mapchangers contest throughout the past several weeks. The netroots community and all of the campaigns involved have appreciated your support of the grassroots--giving candidates a chance to be seen on the national picture, bringing attention to our respective fights against Lamar Smith and Tom Tancredo, and overall just giving us a boost in general.

Today marks the final day in the contest. The vote has swung back and forth, and one of us is usually in the lead by only a few dozen votes one way or another. Supporters all over the state in both Colorado and Texas have put their fingers to the keyboards, and have promoted this contest, voted, and spread the word more than either of us could ever have hoped for. It is incredibly encouraging to see the power of the grassroots in full effect, and by working together, we will advance to victory in November.

Today, we make an open letter, formal request to you, Governor, through the conduit of the netroots that this contest has coursed through across this country.

(Cross posted at DailyKos)

I am overwhelmed by the amount of support that our campaign has been shown by you, the netroots. We were very honored to be named the newest netroots endorsed candidate, but we couldn't have imagined that in one day (with hours still left to go) we would have received over 230 individual contributions from this community.

It is also very exciting to be able to bring attention to a part of the country that a lot of Americans assume does not have many Democrats fighting, and I can assure you that we have plenty of dedicated individuals ready and willing to do what it takes to retake the United States House.

(Crossposted at DailyKos, Burnt Orange Report, and Texas Kos--please recommend if you like what you read. Thanks.)

It's been an exciting last few months. I have been working very hard to get support in my bid to defeat Lamar Smith and bring a real voice for positive change to Texas Congressional District 21. Thanks to you, the netroots, I have been honored by becoming your Democracy for America Grassroots All-Star and your Senator Feingold Progressive Patriot.

Now I am on the threshold of getting into the final round of Governor Mark Warner's Mapchanger contest, with just a few hours left to vote, and I wanted to let you know about our campaign and what we have been up to down here in Central Texas.

It has been 9 months since I was honored by DFA members around the country and was elected as DFA's first Grassroots All-Star.

It was gratifying to know that thousands of DFA members, friends, and supporters from all over the country were interested in and committed to helping us win this campaign.

Several months later, I became Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriot and you helped catapult me to becoming the netroots candidate of Texas. This victory helped with thousands of dollars--money that has been helpful in telling my district that there are other options besides Tom DeLay's shadow.

The commitment of our campaign in the 21st District of Texas is to restore honesty and integrity to government; to preserve and protect the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, our civil liberties and privacy. We continue to fight for services and investments in our children, our seniors, our working families and our veterans. We, like many other campaigns, are committed to a better America and a better world free of fear, hunger, poverty, strife and war.

As I have said before, the stakes are too great, we cannot fail, so we each strive to win one seat at a time, but together we can take our county back.  As Howard Dean has taught us, We Have the Power! And you have the power to make an impact in Texas.

I ask one more time for your support in our efforts to carry the banner for DFA by casting a first-place vote for me in the Mapchanger poll being conducted by the Forward Together PAC. We are going for the Triple Crown of online polls. We believe that our momentum will grow and our opportunity for victory will be greatly enhanced by reaching the top of this contest, and it will bring us one step closer in our quest to take back the House.

Your votes and hard work helped me become Democracy for America's first Grassroots All-Star, as well as Russ Feingold's first Progressive Patriot, and now I need your support one more time. 

You can help me advance to the next phase of Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC Mapchangers competition.

Our work is not finished.  In this stage of the contest, the top 5 vote-getters in a field of 20 receive $5,000 per campaign, and then go on to compete for the grand prize of a fundraiser with Governor Mark Warner.

Right now, I am on the cusp of earning $5,000. Voting for me as your first-choice candidate will push me over the edge and double the amount of money Texas campaigns take home. By voting "Straight Ticket Texan" with me as your first choice, you can help bring not only $5,000 to Team Courage, but you can also send $25,000 to Texas, which in turn help candidates on the statewide level due to money being spent locally. 

Monday morning, the Team Courage Truth Squad gathered outside City Hall in Austin, TX as Lamar Smith held a press conference touting himself as an environmentalist.

The truth is that Smith has never supported the environment, and has been to the right of his party.  In 2005, Smith received ratings of "zero" from the League of Conservation Voters, The Texas Environmental Watch Alliance, and The Sierra Club.  Now, with a tough challenger who is clearly dedicated to working for the environment, Smith is trying to fool Austin voters into believing he supports the environment as well.  Not only is Smith's act dishonest, but it's degrading to Austin voters.  

The Truth Squad stole the story on Austin's local KVUE TV, with their message setting the frame for the entire piece.  The story highlighted Smith's poor environmental record, and even included an interview with campaign director Nick Lawrie, who commented that Smith's pandering was "too little, too late."