“This Memorial Day, we are reminded once again of the great commitment and sacrifice of all those who’ve given their lives in service to our country. Since our nation was founded, brave Americans have answered the call to serve, doing so with honor and pride. We owe an immeasurable debt of gratitude to those who have devoted their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our way of life and ensure we live in a free and prosperous America.

“On Memorial Day, while we honor those who have died in service, we are also reminded of the families who mourn for loved ones lost while serving in our Armed Forces. We must remain committed to these husbands and wives and sons and daughters.  While our gratitude will never replace the people we have lost, we must make sure that we as a nation show them the respect and give them the support they deserve.”

“Republican Gabriel Gomez falsely claims his opponent in the Massachusetts Senate race blamed him for the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., and compared him to Osama bin Laden.” – Factcheck.org

“So what we have here is a group that is in the active process of ‘violating the pledge’ on behalf of the candidate who prevented the pledge from being in effect, berating the other candidate for allegedly violating the pledge.” – Boston Magazine

Ed Markey Is “Dirty and Low…Pond Scum” – Gabriel Gomez, GOP Candidate for United States Senate

There is a good rule of thumb in life and in politics: If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Gabriel Gomez’ campaign for Senate just can’t stop digging this week. A series of missteps have revealed a candidate who isn’t ready for prime time and a campaign that is turning to desperate, false and malicious smears a month out from Election Day. It’s a tactic that is the last resort of campaigns that have nothing to say on the issues that are important to voters and it’s clear from this last week that Gabriel Gomez has nothing of substance to say to the people of Massachusetts.

Act of Desperation #1: False Ads Slammed by Fact Checkers

On Tuesday, the Gomez campaign released an ad called “Something New” that claimed Ed Markey has compared Gabriel Gomez to Osama Bin Laden and blamed Gabriel Gomez for the tragic school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Before the ad was even released, the Boston Globe pre-emptively dismissed the Newtown claim saying:

“Despite what the ad says, Markey has not blamed Gomez for the Newtown shooting. Markey has released an ad that highlights Gomez’s opposition to an assault weapons ban and to limits on high-capacity magazines, ‘like the ones used in the Newtown school shooting.”

FactCheck.org followed suit and completely dismantled the Gomez ad that “falsely claims his opponent in the Massachusetts Senate race… compared him to Osama bin Laden.” In reality, the Markey campaign used footage from a Republican Super PAC ad that Gomez appeared in during 2012. The Super PAC was dedicated to bringing down President Barack Obama with Swift Boat style attacks.

Act of Desperation #2: Absurd Attacks from National Republicans

On Thursday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee broke out their fainting couches and released a statement: Markey First to Violate the People's Pledge.

The only problem is that the People’s Pledge was rejected by Gabriel Gomez, who wanted to reserve his right to rely on millions in outside group spending to bombard Massachusetts with more false ads. Ed Markey was the only candidate who wanted to keep outside groups out. Boston Magazine labeled the attack the “Eye Roller of the Day.”

Gabriel Gomez and the NRSC thought it was a brilliant bit of political strategy to have an outside group attack Ed Markey over a pledge to keep outside groups out of the race that Ed Markey agreed to and Gabriel Gomez did not.

Good luck with that.

Act of Desperation #3: Gabriel Gomez Starts Slinging Mud

On Thursday, Gabriel Gomez showed once again that he is not ready for prime time. In response to a reporter’s question about his discredited ad, Gabriel Gomez called Ed Markey “dirty and low” and referred to the Congressman as “pond scum.”

Gabriel Gomez called Ed Markey “pond scum” for highlighting Gabriel Gomez’ own positions on the issues. It makes you wonder what Gabriel Gomez finds more objectionable about his own positions. Is it that he actively campaigned for a Republican Super PAC that employed Swift Boat style attacks on the President over the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden? Or is it Gabriel Gomez’ opposition to an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity magazines? Maybe it’s Gabriel Gomez’ disinterest in learning about the Blunt Amendment and why women don’t want their employer involved in personal medical decisions?

Gabriel Gomez is trying to distract from his own positions, which are out of step with Massachusetts voters, by attacking Ed Markey’s character.  It’s a classic desperate move from a flailing campaign and it’s unbecoming of someone who is asking Massachusetts voters to send him to the United States Senate.

Conclusion: Voters Can Smell a Desperate Campaign

There is still one month to go in this campaign and already Gabriel Gomez is out of ideas. Gomez can’t defend his own out of touch positions, so he invents attacks to rebut that Ed Markey hasn’t made. Gomez knows his campaign will need big spending Republican outside groups to prop up his campaign, so he tried to distract from that by attacking Ed Markey over  a pledge he himself didn’t take. Gomez is resorting to name calling because when confronted with his own positions, he has nothing to say to Massachusetts voters.

After this week, there is only one way to describe the Gomez campaign: flailing and failing.

To download the memo as a PDF, click here.

Friend --

Getting in President Obama's way has been the top priority for Republicans in Congress since day one. But now they've gone too far.

They've been caught red-handed making up so-called 'scandals' out of thin air to stir up false rumors of vast 'cover-ups' happening in the White House.

Did they find a single shred of evidence to back up their outrageous claims? No.

But rather than let the truth stand in their way, Republicans actually doctored emails between administration officials about Benghazi. Then, they released them to the press, trying to pass them off as real in order to create their scandal. Fortunately, they got caught in the act when the White House released all of the actual emails.

Tell President Obama you've got his back right now, no matter what Republicans come up with next.

While Republican leaders were focused on stirring up controversy, Michele Bachmann was talking about impeaching President Obama for absolutely no reason, and Republicans in the House voted to repeal Obamacare -- for the 37th time.

That's how they think they should be spending their time and your money.

Make sure the President knows that you stand behind him and his agenda right now -- and that you won't let Republican games distract you from advocating for real change that will benefit all Americans.

Stand with President Obama today -- and send the message to Republicans that it's time to stop playing political games and get back to work for the American people:

http://my.democrats.org/Stand-With-The-President

Its time for them to do their damn jobs.

Thanks,

Brad

Brad Woodhouse
Communications Director
Democratic National Committee

 

My daughter Zoe was born with a congenital heart defect that required her to have multiple open heart surgeries in the first few months of her life. By the time she was six months old, she had already reached over half of her lifetime health insurance cap, which would have left us unable to pay for the continuing care and future surgeries required for Zoe to survive.

I can't tell you how relieved I was when Obamacare passed. I got a letter from our insurance company telling us that Zoe's lifetime cap had been removed. It meant my family wouldn't have to lose everything to keep my daughter alive.

By re-electing Barack Obama, Americans sent the clear message that we want Obamacare.

But for some reason, Republicans continue to fight against the will of the American people. Maybe it's because they'll do anything to stop the President from succeeding or maybe they want to keep giving insurance companies record profits. Either way, I don't care. What I care about is keeping my child healthy — and that's what Obamacare makes possible.

My family, and hundreds of thousands of families like mine across the country, have been through so much. We deserve better than Republicans continuously fighting against a policy that's been voted on, upheld by the Supreme Court, and reaffirmed by the American people.

Join me and sign this petition telling Republicans to stop trying to repeal Obamacare.

As an AAPI, I offer that the history of the AAPI’s in America has not always been an easy one; we suffered bigotry, injustice, and discrimination as early as the mid-19th century, with violence and injustice applied through a series of highly discriminatory and prejudicial laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907, the Asiatic Barred Zone Act of 1917, the National Origins Act of 1924, and Executive Order 9066 of 1942.  These laws denied AAPIs citizenship, stopped AAPI immigration, and separated families. Executive Order 9066 created the internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II.  But it wasn’t until the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 -- in the wake of massive Civil Rights changes in this country -- that we began to affect changes through the political process that had before worked against us. With this act, barriers to AAPI immigration were reduced and families began to be reunited. We began our struggle for rights as Americans, not our right to be Americans. AAPI political activism, though a relatively late entry in the U.S. political landscape, is nonetheless very strong, and continually growing. 

Our hopes and aspirations are the same as those of all Americans. We care greatly about our families. Because of historical inequities, AAPI families were separated, and when the egregious laws were repealed, we were faced with a huge backlog in getting our families reunited. That is why, at a time when Immigration reform is being considered, it is critical that Family Reunification be part of this comprehensive Immigration Reform. Comprehensive Immigration Reform cannot be addressed piecemeal, and it cannot be looked at only from the business and economic perspective.  It must address all aspects of Immigration, including Family Reunification. We can do it! Together we can do anything!

I ask for your continued support of one another. We must move forward. We must make sure that old battles stay won, and fight new battles all the harder.

With four kids (including me) my mom left Haiti, the only home she had ever known. She left behind family and friends -- but she also left a country governed by an oppressive dictatorial regime.

When she came to the States, she worked hard to support her family.  While my dad worked as a teacher and social worker, she worked as a factory worker, salesperson and nurse's aid — and she taught me so much.

My mom taught me perseverance in the face of near hopeless circumstances and she instilled in me an instinct for doing the just thing instead of the expedient thing. Like so many immigrants, she risked everything so that her kids could achieve the American Dream. And I can never thank her enough.

As we celebrate Mother's Day this year, let's pause to think of immigrant moms like mine who would stop at nothing to give their kids a better life with more opportunity. Let's rededicate ourselves to finding commonsense solutions and support the President's plan to fix our broken immigration system. 

Happy mother's day to my mom, and to all the moms out there.

Our Chair @dwstweets was inspired by her 5th grade teacher. Who inspired you? #ThankATeacher democrats.org/news/blog/than…

— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) May 7, 2013

Ms. Botton, thanks for inspiring me and all of my classmates to study hard and dream big: democrats.org/news/blog/than… #ThankATeacher

— D Wasserman Schultz (@DWStweets) May 7, 2013

Congrats @greenstreetacad Ketia Stokes @baltcityschools Teacher of the Year. yum:I ate the eggs!#ThankATeacher twitter.com/MayorSRB/statu…

— Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) May 10, 2013

Thank you Mrs Sandra Whippie for inspiring me in 2nd grade to understand working for social justice is the greatest calling #thankateacher

— Raymond Buckley (@ChairmanBuckley) May 9, 2013

It's Teacher Appreciation Week, and I have plenty to appreciate. First shout out goes to Ms. Mostoller. #TheBest #DealJHS#thankateacher

— Lucas Fleischer (@lucasfleischer) May 10, 2013

Thank you Mrs. Miller-Burton for reminding me to#NeverGiveUp no matter how tough the math problems seemed. #ThankATeacher

— Steve Walker (@stevenlwalker) May 10, 2013

To my mom, Joyce Woodhouse, for teaching for 26 years. #ThankaTeacher

— Brad Woodhouse (@woodhouseb) May 10, 2013

Friend --

When I first came to Washington in 2005, there weren't a lot of people who understood why I carried around crayons in my purse.

You see, there weren't all that many moms with young kids working in Congress -- not many people who understood what it was like balancing taking care of my constituents with taking care of my three kids, Jake, Rebecca, and Shelby.

So I was excited when Michelle Obama became the first mother in years to have young children in the White House. In the time since, I've been incredibly inspired by how she's managed to balance her duties as First Lady with what she says is her most important job -- being Sasha and Malia's mom.

This Mother's Day, I want to let the First Lady know how much she's admired and appreciated.

Join me, and add your name to my card wishing the First Lady a happy Mother's Day.

Over the past few years, the First Lady has done so much to help kids, veterans, and military families -- and she's raising two strong and smart daughters while doing it.

We're lucky to have Michelle Obama as our First Lady, and Sasha and Malia are lucky to have her as a mom.

Wish her a happy Mother's Day today.

Thanks,

Debbie

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair
Democratic National Committee

P.S. -- If you haven't yet, make sure to pick up a card for your own mom!

President Obama understands this and has led the way with education reforms. Through the RESPECT project, the President has proposed a $5 billion grant to support states and districts in working with educators to develop innovative solutions that improve the teaching profession at every level. He launched the STEM Master Teacher Corps, an effort to recruit and reward 10,000 teachers in the critical fields of science, technology, engineering and math. He's also invested $800 million in scaling up innovative education reforms proven to help improve student achievement, and increase high school graduation and college completion rates.

These initiatives are in addition to the more than $4 billion our schools have received through Race to the Top, and they complement the President's plan to reform "No Child Left Behind," so that it works for States, not against them.

As we celebrate "Teacher Appreciation Week" and thank teachers like Ms. Botton, who helped me believe in myself during a time when most kids are unsure of themselves, let's recommit ourselves to supporting the professionals whose job is critical to developing the next generation of leaders, job creators and innovators.

If you're on Twitter, tweet #ThankATeacher this week.