I just returned from a completely uplifting campaign event in Portland's Pearl District for Democratic Congressman David Wu. As I wrote earlier, Wu is mired in a tough reelection battle against wealthy challenger Goli Ameri. Ameri is a staunch conservative posing as a moderate, and she is receiving substantial support from rich Persians across the country (she gets about 2/3 of her funds from out of state), the NRCC, and Beltway Republicans like Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (who have both held six-figure fundraisers for her as of late).

Wu's support is definitely different. Though it's true that he also gets a substantial amount of his funds from out-of-state (as the nation's only Congressman born in Taiwan, he brings in money from many Chinese-Americans), Representative Wu derives much of his support from local grassroots activists. Tonight's event was a perfect example of this.

A casual event at EcoTrust in the trendy Pearl District, the $25 a plate event featured great pizza and some of Portland's famous microbrews. Congressman Wu, who was introduced by a woman who has been volunteering for his campaign on a regular basis, spoke on many themes he hit on at the 50,000-person Kerry rally on Friday.

Wu, a self-described "New Democrat" who is very progressive on some issues (he was one of the handful of legislators to vote against the PATRIOT Act) and moderate on others (he voted for the Medicare Rx Bill), spoke about how he is disappointed about the division he sees in America and hopes that we can reconcile our differences (I'm paraphrasing). In a very touching moment, he spoke about how his ancestors in China and all of our ancestors around the world had no self-determination or role in government before 250 years ago, and that we should be ashamed of our lack of involvement if we are unhappy with our leadership. As a result, he called on all of us to donate our money and (more importantly) our time to ensure that we elect a Democratic Majority. He finished by introducing "the man who will make sure every vote is counted," Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.

Bradbury, who was the 2002 Democratic nominee for the US Senate, has been a wonderful Secretary of State over the past 4+ years. Not only does Oregon have one of the nation's highest voter turnout rates with the vote-by-mail system, the Optical Scan technology implemented by his department ensures that almost every vote is counted. What is more, Bradbury rewrote the state's districts two years ago (after Republicans tried a Texas-style redistricting coup) to be very favorable to the Democrats. He spoke very well (as he always does), and I had a nice conversation with him as well (he asked for the link to my blog!).

Back to Wu. As you might remember, Wu is running in a district that Democrat Elizabeth Furse won by only 301 votes 10 years ago. Although the Democrats do lead in registration, it is definitely the most highly contested congressional race in this swing state. If you are able to give any money to the Wu campaign, the Congressman will spend it on important campaign efforts like ads and outreach. What is more, every dollar David Wu spends on GOTV in this Democratic-leaning district is a dollar John Kerry wont have to spend. Click here to give to Congressman Wu if you can. Thanks!

PS: I promise this is the last time I ask you to give to an Oregon politician... for a while at least.