McNerney Activist - and California for Democracy Founder - Falls on Hard Times

by Ralph Miller

Ralph Miller is Executive Director of Latinos for America... and a member of the California for Democracy steering committee. He contributes political commentary every week to Blog for America, from which this article is taken:

In case you haven't heard about the effort to organize some help for Vicki Cosgrove, early supporter of Gov. Dean for President and her family, please read on.  Without Vicki, I’m not sure that Jerry McNerney would have made it through the primaries, much less winning against Richard Pombo.  This post was first written by Babaloo, co-author with Matt Lockshin of the Say No to Pombo campaign.  This short narrative describes, to those who don't already know, how important Vicki has been to our progressive movement.  It also describes her situation and provides a way of donating online. I've sent a contribution and wanted to make sure everyone who might be interested will have an opportunity to participate as well. 

The story goes something like this….  By mid-2005, Jerry McNerney, in his second Congressional race against Richard Pombo, was shaping up to be a rerun of the first one in 2004, where he lost a write-in effort but demonstrated remarkable potential.  A small core of his earliest supporters in CA-11 were struggling to paddle against an increasingly  strong current.   The DCCC had introduced their candidate, Steve Filson, into this environment, and many in the district assumed that McNerney’s star (such as it had been) was on the decline.  Into this breach stepped a veritable force of nature named Vicki Cosgrove. 

Vicki, an iconic player in Bay Area progressive circles, was and is an ardent DFA supporter; she served as the Northern California Field Representative for the Courage Campaign and as a member of the steering committees of California for Democracy and East Bay for Democracy; additionally, she served as president of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club in Berkeley. She knows everything that's going on, and she knows everybody.  In short, Vicki is the East Bay version of Paul Revere. So when Vicki Cosgrove stood up in the fall of 2005 and said, “I’m sticking with Jerry; he’s my guy,” there was a sudden sea change in McNerney’s fortunes. 

Vicki Cosgrove moved to draw people in to Jerry’s campaign and, as much as McNerney’s election was an incredible combination of powerful forces that combined to defeat Richard Pombo, it all would never have happened without Vicki Cosgrove. In the early days, she  worked full-time in McNerney’s office on a volunteer basis. Her husband, John, worked two jobs to support their family so that she could fully commit her energies to progressive activism. In the later days of the campaign, Vicki was brought on as a (minimally) paid staffer, handling scheduling for McNerney. 

Vicki Cosgrove giving Jerry McNerney a hug as the winning votes are found in the Alameda County Registrar of Voters' office at the end of the recount for McNerney’s write-in campaign in the 2004 primary.

During this time, Vicki and her family continued to sacrifice so that she could devote herself to the campaign. Vicki started having gallbladder attacks during the months leading up to the 2006 election, but she ignored them so that she could see the McNerney race through to completion. In recent months, however, the attacks have become so much of a problem that she finally decided to have surgery to remove her gallbladder. But in the last few weeks, something has happened that pushed her surgery plans aside. Her husband, John, has become suddenly and obviously very ill, losing 40 pounds over the last month. After tests last week disclosed a growth on his pancreas, John‚s doctors scheduled a Whipple procedure for April 18. John is expected to be in the hospital for at least 14 days for this surgery, which will remove his gall bladder and portions of his pancreas and duodenum. The surgery is typically followed by a course of radiation and/or chemotherapy. John will obviously be unable to work for a long time to come, and Vicki is now unemployed. 

The progressive community, which has been so well-served by Vicki's tireless efforts should now join together and repay her for all she’s done on our behalf. The Progressive Connection is linking to a PayPal account to raise money for the Cosgrove family, to help them in their everyday expenses until they're able to get back on their feet. 

Please donate whatever you can afford -- this is our chance to really come together as an activist community and take care of our own.    Because if we don't, who will? 

When you go to the PayPal page, you can write a personalized "Message to Seller" (which is Vicki) at the bottom of PayPal's payment confirmation page. I know that your support and encouragement will mean a lot to her at this difficult time.

-Ralph Miller