Jim Neal is the progressive candidate in North Carolina's Primary this Tuesday May 6.  He is up against Kay Hagan, a conservative Dem who was apparently nudged by the DSCC to run soon after Jim affirmed in a press interview that he was openly gay.  I first learned about Neal through the netroots and through an article on 365gay.com about his candidacy his candidacy.  After hearing about the campaign, I decided to take a look at the candidates' sites themselves.  Even a quick glance reveals tremendous differences.  Jim is a true progressive on everything from healthcare to gay rights to the Iraq War.  He is also taking a great step forward for all gay Americans by having the courage to be himself and run for office.  We must band together and do what we can to get Jim elected!  Please visit his site, donate, spread the word, and read below the fold for more.

My name is Matt Adler and I'm a student at Washington University in St. Louis recently elected to be the sole male Barack Obama pledged delegate from Missouri's fightin' 3rd CD.  I ran to give youth voters a voice in the process, and am excited to see that the work my friends and I put in sending out letters, making phonecalls, and leafleting the caucus convinced other delegates that we deserve a seat at the table!  I'm working with other young delegates and elected officials to make the convention a launching point for a movement to get more young people elected to office.  It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capitalize on this election's incredibly energy and organize a new generation of progressive leaders.  But I need your creativity to get there!

More below the fold

I and nine other students at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a plan to promote civic engagement on campus and now seek administration and student support. The Student Civic Initiative (SCI) started in light of the administration's refusal to allow Senator Barack Obama to speak on campus, compelling us to evaluate how the university community engages students in the political process. We crafted this initiative to address a real need for promoting voter education, registration, and protection. The initiative calls on the administration to work with students to develop a fair speakers policy that encourages political candidates from all parties to speak on campus. It also urges administration and Student Union support for a proposed voter registration plan, voter education training for Residential Advisors, and voter protection efforts.

Text of initiative below the fold

"To give youth voters a voice"

I am a senior at Washington University in St. Louis running to become a pledged delegate for Barack Obama to the Democratic National Convention because we deserve a voice at the table. The 75,000 votes of people aged 18-29 helped Senator Obama carry Missouri on Super Tuesday, where we won by a mere 10,000 votes. We've worked hard and we want to be heard.

The Tennessee Republican Party has written a press release entitled "Antisemites for Obama" decrying Obama for being praised by Louis Farrakhan, for wanting to withdraw from Iraq, for having "anti-semitic" advisors, and for "pledg[ing] to hold a Muslim Summit to determine Middle East policy with the very leaders that have as their goal to remove Israel from the map, referenced Jews to be 'dogs' and 'pigs.'"  This press release is offensive, inaccurate, and makes a mockery of Jews' REAL fight against anti-semitism.  While synagogues burn, suicide bombers attack, and neo-Nazis deface Jewish graves, the Republican Party falsely accuses one of our strongest allies, Barack Obama, of being an anti-semite!!  Obama has repeatedly stood up for Israel and against anti-semitism, including blacks' own prejudice.  Look below for how you can help combat the hate!

For those of you unfamiliar with Israeli politics, the Likud Party is the right-of-center political party headed by the infamous former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.  They are the party that helped found Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and indeed were so far to the right that even Ariel Sharon had to break with them over their insistence on keeping Gaza as a part of "Greater Israel".  I wrote a diary just two days ago lauding Barack Obama for insisting that being pro-Israel does not mean hewing to the pro-Likud line advocated by many in the American Jewish establishment.  Indeed, Glenn Greenwald demonstrates that pro-Likud and neo-con Jewish leaders do not represent most American Jews.

As a progressive Jew, I often find myself frustrated at the rhetoric coming from many in the Jewish establishment about what it means to be pro-Israel.  I consider myself pro-Israel and for me, protecting the peace, security, and rights of all humans- Israeli, Palestinian, or any other group, is paramount.  For me, then, being pro-Israel consists of advocating for safe and secure lives for Israelis and Palestinians and us all.  As a Jew, I appreciate the need for a safe haven for a historically persecuted minority as is the Jewish community.  Yet I also realize that within our people, there are those who would have us sacrifice the dignity and rights of others to achieve this goal.  I say unequivocally that we can and will promote the well-being of all people.  Obama speaks what flows through the minds of many Jews when he says we should not equate pro-Israel with being pro-Likud.

I am a student at Washington University in St. Louis, which is hosting Alberto Gonzales tomorrow for a speech here on campus.  Due to my progressive views, an acquaintance of mine in the College Republicans has invited me and 20 other Wash U students to meet with Alberto tomorrow before his speech to ask him anything we want.  I initially said "sure" to my contact, seeing this as a pretty unique opportunity to grill Gonzales on whatever I wanted.  However, now I need your help and creativity to figure out what I should do!