364 candidates have signed the Voters First Pledge!
From the field: Voters Putting Candidates on Record
People all over the country are writing and calling candidates for office in their districts and asking them to go on record to clean up Congress by signing the Voters First Pledge. Take a look at what others are doing, and keep up the calls, the emails, and the letters.
Thanks to all who have filed field reports after contacting candidates - here's what some of you have reported:
NH-02: Who will sign first to put voters first?
Submitted by David Donnelly on Fri, 2006-10-20 15:52.
Incumbent NH Rep. Charlie Bass and challenger Paul Hodes are locked in a tight battle this election. And voters are beginning to pay attention whether they've signed the Pledge. If one signs and the other doesn't, voters will have a clear choice. Since Bass has reform impulses and Hodes' campaign says their looking at it, it may be a matter of time before a breakthrough.
Zo contacted Hodes' office and filed this report:
Just talked to Emily, Director of Operations, who I think is the gal to talk to about this. She liked it, she is a fan of Common Cause, and she'll ask Paul if he wants to sign the Pledge. I think that's good news. :)
IL-07: Success story -- Rep. Danny Davis signed after your calls
Submitted by David Donnelly on Fri, 2006-10-20 15:42.
You've demonstrated how a representaitve democracy is supposed to work. Earlier this month, on October 5th, scores of activists called into Rep. Danny Davis's office urging that he sign the Pledge. Here's how CandaceofChicago reported in:
Called, got a polite (rather overwhelmed sounding) woman-who I told why I was calling. She said thank you, and that was that.
Others called too -- and Davis responded one day later by signing (pdf). Way to go!
NJ-Sen: Will Tom Kean Jr.'s campaign give an answer?
Submitted by David Donnelly on Fri, 2006-10-20 15:04.
Lots of calls and emails into NJ Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr.'s office. Here's what one person reported:
I called at 5:25 pm on Thursday, and requested that Tom Kean Jr, sign the voters first pledge, and the person I spoke with said she would pass the information on. I asked if she needed any information from me such as name, etc, she said no, and that they have received a lot of call about this topic.
But according to Andrea, another Pledge activist who posted a field report, it doesn't look like the people answering the phone at Kean Jr. HQ's are well-versed regarding what to do:
VT-AL: Reports from contacting Martha Rainville
Submitted by David Donnelly on Fri, 2006-10-20 14:52.
Hundreds of people -- my estimate, anyway -- contacted Martha Rainville yesterday to ask her to sign the pledge. Vermont Public Interest Research Group, VPIRG, sent an alert to its members, as did Public Campaign Action Fund.
Rainville is campaigning as a "clean campaigner." But her proposals to clean up Congress fail to address campaign finance reform at all, except for a self-imposed limit on her own spending -- at $1 million. The Voters First Pledge calls for Clean Elections-style public financing, a policy Rainville has yet to support. Her opponent, Peter Welch, has signed on to the Pledge.
