"The Kind of Vision and Leadership We Need"

We had a wonderful event last night here at my home in Pennsylvania's sixth district, where SNAP has endorsed Lois Murphy in her run to unseat Congressman Jim Gerlach in what the Times has called "the top swing county in the country." Lois is a progressive lawyer and former president of NARAL PA. She's devoted her life to representing those who need it most, and we're all very fortunate that she's chosen to take that mission to Washington DC, where her voice and her work are sorely needed. Lois values what we value: an economy which rewards work rather than wealth, a court system which protects our fundamental values, and a foreign policy which promotes peace and security through responsible leadership.

Lois spoke with grace, vision, and candor last night as she explained why she's running, how she plans to raise the bar on ethics reform, and what it will take to win. And she explained why she's so excited to be working with SNAP:

Your vision - and taking your vision beyond paper to fundraising, to implementation, to selecting candidates, to recruiting students, to doing the work - is something that you can be proud of, and that I'm excited to be a part of, and we're very very grateful for the help and support that we expect we will get from students this summer, and we're really grateful to be part of your first nine candidates. And we hope that you'll continue to grow, and expand, and do this kind of work, and spread your message. Because this is the kind of vision and leadership that we need, don't you think? For our future, for our country - all these students, doing this wonderful work. This is the way we want to govern: we want people who have vision and imagination to take an idea, and say that we can actually make this happen. And we can do better than we're doing in Washington today. So I'm really proud to be associated with you guys, and I'm proud to be here tonight.

Lois came within 6400 votes of victory when she ran in 2004. Her race is exactly the kind that drives SNAP's mission: a close contest in which one candidate is a visionary progressive. We're honored by her help and support.

The checks are still coming in, but we've already raised nearly $6,000 from last night's event. That's more than enough to sennd two students on full stipend to devote the whole summer to campaigns like Lois'. You can build on that total here.

Many thanks to our Host Committee - Gloria Steinem, Bob Arsenault, Philip Eidelson, Elisabeth Kalogris, Daylin Leach, Dan Levinthal, Ed Schwartz, and Eileen Sherman - and to everyone who came out to support SNAP.