Regina Thomas

Regina Thomas Scares Bush Democrat John Barrow in GA12 Primary

Bob Fertik — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:32:33 -0400

Our first endorsed candidate of 2008, State Senator Regina Thomas (GA-12), gave incumbent Bush Democrat John Barrow a very good scare in Tuesday's primary. Despite being outspent 40:1, Thomas won 24% of the vote. Here's the Examiner:

The eastern Georgia district leans Democratic with its heavily black portions of Savannah and Augusta, but it also has a large number of conservative white voters spread across 20 rural counties.

Thomas tried to persuade voters that Barrow's record betrays core Democratic values. Though well-known in her hometown of Savannah after 12 years in the state Legislature, Thomas entered the race virtually unknown in the rest of the 12th District. She raised just over $21,000 and campaigned with an all-volunteer staff.

Barrow spent more than $858,000 on the primary. He also scored a big endorsement from presumed Democratic presidential nominee Obama, who recorded a radio ad urging voters to support Barrow.

Obama's presence underscored the potential threat to Barrow, a white incumbent, of blacks voting along racial lines. Thomas is black, as are 41 percent of voters in the district - enough to form a solid majority in the Democratic primary.

Here's Howie Klein:

So if we knew Regina has virtually no chance to win, why did we work so hard for her? Someone has to stand up for progressive values and principles-- especially against a craven and corrupt jackass like Barrow. And Regina was willing to. How could we not help her?

Perhaps she'll be better known in 2010 if Barrow continues voting like a Republican. Maybe even Obama will realize the mistake he made by endorsing someone who will be opposing so much of what he tries to accomplish. And, believe me, many people will be reminding Obama of his endorsement every time Barrow votes against one of his bills.

One thing I know for sure, we managed to scare the bejesus out of the little twerp. According to the FEC, as of March 31 he had spent $303,492 on the primary. Once Blue America and Democrats.com made some very modest expenditures on behalf of Regina's campaign and raised her a little money, Barrow spent another $500,000. According to tonight's Examiner, the panic-stricken "Barrow spent more than $858,000 on the primary" -- and that was with an endorsement from Obama!

In 2006 arrogant and reactionary California Blue Dog Jane Harman was dragged into a tough primary fight. She won by a wide margin but the fight itself made her a much more loyal Democrat. Her lifetime ProgressivePunch score is a dismal 79.66. Her score since progressive activist Marcy Winograd held her down to under 65% of the primary vote is a much more working family-friendly 93.65. I don't expect such a dramatic turnaround from Barrow, but one thing for sure, if he keeps voting like a Republican he'll probably be able to bank on another primary fight in 2010.

UPDATE: MESSAGE FROM REGINA

At the exact same moment I was putting up this post, Regina sent me the kind of gracious and loving e-mail that has made me feel like she is family. She worked very hard on this campaign and I hope she will be better prepared next time. Let me share some of her e-mail:

Hello my friend. We didn't pull it out. That's ok, he knows that I will be watching him. Two years is not long. Let's talk about ActBlue. When the next check comes I want to donate it to Democrats in other states who need the money. I look to you and Blue America to help me figure that out. I do not have a campaign deficit (thanks to Blue America and the others). Once I pay back the loan that I borrowed to qualify ($3,050.00) I will send the rest to progressive candidates who we figure out can use some help.

I am fine. The Lord's will was done and I am ok with that. I have so enjoyed our talks and getting to know you. I will miss that. But...anything can happen in two years.

For now.. I will take care of some personal things-- get my house in order, complete my Senate term and enjoy my grandchildren.

I just got off the phone speaking with her. She said she was glad to have given the voters a choice and to have run an issue-oriented campaign. "Even if I knew the outcome, I would do the same thing. Tomorrow I'm going to get in my truck and drive around picking up my signs. I haven't had a vacation in 14 years and my husband just told me he's glad to get his wife back."

My life is richer for having gotten to know Regina Thomas. I consider myself very lucky for the opportunity.

And so do I. I give my deepest thanks to all 1,341 of you who contributed $25,431 to Regina for her heroic race. I also want to thank Progressive Democrats of America for enlisting volunteers all across Georgia to make hundreds of calls to GA12 voters. PDA volunteers Will Smith (right) and Cynthia Brown also joined Regina Thomas and her supporters on the streets of Savannah, where Thomas nearly beat Barrow.

And now we'll study the lessons of this race so we do even better in the remaining primaries against Bush Democrats. It will be hard to find a better candidate than Regina Thomas, but we also need to make sure our future candidates have a full-time campaign manager and an energized Netroots campaign covering the whole district.

Update 1: Digby puts this race in perspective:

The point isn't that anyone thought they would win these races. Indeed, they didn't expect to even come close. What they did believe is that activists need to take the opportunity to get into these races, see what they have to learn and educate people in these districts about their representatives. Primary challenges are the institutional vehicle for changing the party apparatus. If you don't lay the groundwork, nothing will ever happen...

The netroots are out here trying to do some things that all the very smart people consider pointless. But then they consider fighting for liberal values in any way to be pointless. What else is new? If we cared what they think we'd be doing something else, wouldn't we? It's not like online activism is great resume builder or anything.

Keep the faith, folks. Blue America has backed a bunch of winners since 2006 and they're going to have more winners in the fall. But primary challenges are always going to be the toughest thing they do, and probably have the highest failure rate. It's the nature of the beast. But every time they put up a fight and make some noise, the easier it's going to be for the next progressive challenger to put a little fear into a fat cat politician. We'll get there.

Exactly!

Regina Thomas Uses Your Money for Final Ad Blitz

Bob Fertik — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:24:24 -0400

Our first endorsed candidate of 2008, State Senator Regina Thomas (GA-12), is just one week away from her primary against BushDemocrat John Barrow, so I called for an update.

Thomas was overjoyed to receive a check from Actblue worth $28,387. Most of that money - nearly $25,000 - came from you via our "Replace Bush Democrats" page:
http://www.actblue.com/page/bushdemocrats

The check arrived after she filed her June 30 FEC report with a cash-on-hand balance of $10,601. Thomas is running a completely grassroots campaign from her dining room, with no office rent and no paid staff, so every dollar she receives from us will go to a final week media blitz including TV, radio, billboards, and local newspapers.

Barrow, of course, has a lot more money - over $1 million in cash. Thomas says his TV and radio ads are saturating the local media. While his ads feature African-Americans, their message is conspicuously vague - "I trust John Barrow." Thomas says Barrow's ads give voters no reason why they should trust Barrow, and are backfiring as voters see through them.

Thomas is preparing two ads. One underscores her 12 years of service to her community in the State Legislature, and the other says she's "the real Democrat" compared with BlueDog Barrow.

Thomas expects a very large turnout on July 15 because there are many hot races, both statewide and local. Voting in the Democratic primary is open to all parties, but voters must choose either a Democratic or a Republican ballot for all races. So Thomas doesn't have to turn out voters, she just has to convince those who are already voting to vote for her.

So if you know anyone who lives in GA12 (interactive map here), tell them to vote for Regina Thomas for Congress on Tuesday!

Update 1: Thomas is getting some excellent coverage in the news and blogs. Here's part a great interview in Connect Savannah by Jim Morekis (read it all):

What about privacy issues such as the wiretapping bill, which Barrow fully supports and Obama seems to be moving towards approving?

Regina Thomas: Well, John Barrow’s basically a Republican. But I don’t know what’s wrong with Obama. Why in the world would you give immunity to anyone who illegally wiretaps American citizens and then give them carte blanche to do that, then using terrorism as the excuse?

I would go back and try and repeal some provisions of that bill, because that’s a direct conflict to the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. John has tried to defend that, saying that it doesn’t give them the right to wiretap American citizens, but it is a direct violation. Who else would be able to get immunity for doing something illegal like that?

Is it just the telecom money talking?

Regina Thomas: I tell you what, they have given the Democrats that supported that bill big money, and Barrow has received $13,500 from telecom companies. So you tell me what that is. That’s pandering to lobbyists and big corporations at the expense of American citizens.

And here's Howie Klein:

This morning I spoke to a reporter for the Savannah Morning News, the biggest newspaper in John Barrow's district. He mentioned to me, and he seemed surprised, that Regina Thomas has been making warrantless wiretaps an issue in a race where Regina's own best issues, employment and high gas prices have been front and center. But Regina remembers when the government wiretapped Martin Luther King and she finds it deplorable that the congressman from GA-12 should support Bush doing the same thing to untold millions of American citizens without legal warrants. The same reporter asked Barrow, who has been one of Bush's most dependable allies on this, and Regina about warrantless wiretaps and retroactive immunity in their Savannah debate last night. It was obvious that Barrow-- for all his touting of his Harvard education-- has no understanding of the Constitution, separation of powers or the oath of office he took. Although Regina is just a state Senator, her intuitive understanding of Justice and the respect with which Americans hold the Rule of Law, puts her light years ahead of Mr. Smarty Pants.