Jane Harman leads effort to take back Congress in 2006
SecureUS trains Democratic candidates to be tough and smart on national security issues

Rep. Jane Harman is running strong in her own re-election bid to the U.S. Congress -- but even in the midst of her own campaign, she's working overtime to help Democrats take back control of Congress in 2006.

Harman founded SecureUS to do just that -- to strengthen the voice of Democrats on critical national security issues, a policy area that hurt the party at the polls in 2004, and help regain Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

In April, SecureUS and Third Way brought 32 Democratic challengers to Washington, DC for a rigorous series of panel discussions, presentations, break-out sessions and media training exercises. The day-long event was designed to help the candidates think and talk about security policy in ways that convey strength to voters, and to learn about the Democrats' smart and tough approach to terrorism, nonproliferation, an exit strategy for Iraq, and homeland security.

The central message was this: when it comes to security policy, the right policy is also the right politics -- and the latest polling by the DSCC and others confirms that this strategy is working. When voters were asked who they would choose this November if they were voting solely based on who could best protect America, 41% chose the Democratic candidate and 39% chose the Republican. Among independents, that gap was even greater, with Democrats holding a 33% to 23% edge.

There was more good news recently for SecureUS: just last week, the DCCC identified the party's 22 most promising House challengers and made them part of its highly competitive "Red to Blue" program -- a sign of strong party support and viability. The list included 10 SecureUS-supported candidates (learn more about all the candidates at www.secureuspac.com) -- that's almost half of the ‹Red to BlueŠ list, and it's extremely exciting that these challengers are faring so well. They are:

• Phyllis Busansky (FL-9)
• Francine Busby (CA-50)
• Joe Courtney (CT-2)
• Diane Farrell (CT-4)
• Steve Filson (CA-11)
• Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20)
• Baron Hill (IN-9)
• Ron Klein (FL-22)
• Patsy Madrid (NM-1)
• Lois Murphy (PA-6)

If you'd like to support any of these or other SecureUS-endorsed candidates in your area, please visit Jane's SecureUS ActBlue fundraising page to donate to their campaigns directly.

There is still an enormous amount to do in the weeks and months ahead, but the SecureUS/Third Way training session was not only groundbreaking, it was a tremendous first step towards helping Democrats take back the House in 2006.