If ever there were a case study for why the Democratic model for choosing which races get support DOESN'T WORK, my race is it! I'm sure I don't have to update anyone here on what I mean about our Party's  "abandon as many Democrats as possible" strategy for taking back the House, so let me just tell you why I'm winning against Tom Tancredo, and you decide if the absolute absence of support for my race makes any sense.

Four weeks ago, Tom Tancredo had a full slate of appearances outside Colorado. He was going on a book signing tour. He was going to the early Presidential primary states to push his agenda. He was even going around the Country campaigning against incumbent Republican Congressmen.

All that stopped abruptly three weeks ago. Why, you ask?

Well here's the facts. You decide.

Yesterday morning I had the honor of having Senator Max Cleland speak on behalf of my campaign against Tom Tancredo. I want to share with you what I had to say after he spoke:

It's a real honor to be introduced today by somebody like Senator Max Cleland, who has given so much to his Country over and over and over again. And to me Senator Cleland stands out as an example of both what is good--and in some senses, what is wrong--about our Country right now.  

Senator Cleland has given so much in service to his Country, and yet when he tried to serve his home state of Georgia, what did they come out and do? They accused him of not being patriotic. And I think that speaks to what is wrong with America today. We have more people trying to divide us than trying to unite us, and we need to get back to where we're trying to be united as a Nation again.

I was asked by a person after a recent campaign event, if I were at a gathering which included some low key "Rockefeller" type Republicans, what two main points would I make to convince them to vote for me this Fall?

It got me thinking, and when I get to thinking, I often wind up here, so here I go again.

This morning I spoke at the Parker Breakfast Club, an organization that meets in my District every Monday and that is described as very Republican and very conservative. The response I received to what I had to say was overwhelmingly positive. I definitely won converts throughout the room.

I thought I would share with you what I said to them.

Much has been said, and even more written, in recent weeks regarding Ned Lamont's victory over Joe "I'm Bigger Than Democracy" Lieberman in the Connecticut primaries. Even as we watch this drama unfold we also see the Iraq War increasingly going down the drain and the Bush Administration getting increasingly desperate for ways to spin the disaster.

Yesterday brought the news that the "Marine Corps will soon begin ordering thousand of its troops back to active duty because of a shortage of volunteers for Iraq and Afghanistan--the first involuntary recall since the early days of the war.

As many as 2,500 Marines will be brought back at a time, and there is no cap on the total number who may be forced back into service..."

Last night, as promised, Governor Mark Warner from Virginia came to Colorado to help support my campaign, and I want you all to know that the results exceeded my wildest imagination in every way. We had a huge, enthusiastic crowd. We had all of our Colorado Congressional Candidates. We had our Senate Majority Leader. We had Congresswoman Diana Degette. We raised a lot of money. We got great media. And most of all we fired up a lot of Democrats to go out and fight for change in the next 84 days!

So here's the really important part:

THANK YOU!

I get asked about a lot of issues on the campaign trail, but one that comes up over and over is health care, and how we can fix a health care system that is in crisis. So let's jump right in and talk about what we need.

We need a comprehensive plan that provides full medical coverage for every man, woman and child in America! Right now we have over 100 million Americans who are underinsured for health coverage, 44 million Americans who do not have health care coverage at any given time, and at least 20 million who do not have it permanently. I'm one of the them. I don't have any health care coverage.

It is almost a mantra in America today to hear people say they support the troops. We hear it on television and radio. We see it on bumper stickers. It's almost the de facto disclaimer of any politician anymore. But it raises the question: What does it mean to support the troops?

Here's what I think it means.

To begin with, we should never ask our troops to put their lives on the line unless it is for one of two reasons: to defend against a direct attack against the United States, or to make us more secure in some easily definable way. The Iraq war fails both tests. We did not attack the country that attacked us, and we are LESS secure as a result of this war.