Steve Cobble on Huffington Post urges Massachusetts Democrats to put John Bonifaz on the ballot this weekend. John is speaking first tomorrow...

UPDATE: John Bonifaz got nearly 30% of the vote this afternoon, twice what he needs! He will be on the September 19th primary ballot. This is an amazing outcome, and we are delighted. Now the public debate will happen.

(Mark met John Bonifaz at a Democratic event in Hudson, MA, and was impressed. We invited him to write a guest post for the blog. -- Ofer)

Thereisnospoon's Diary at DailyKos says we should take a stand. He (or she) is right. It is easy to be against something. That is not the same as being for something. Being against something just means that someone else sets the agenda to which we must react. We become the tail of the dog.

It is time to be the dog. We must take stands.

Following on the heels of winning the Cambridge city committee straw poll last week, John collected several more progressive endorsements. Last Tuesday evening, the ward 6 Democratic committee voted to formally endorse John Bonifaz, with no objections. On Wednesday evening, Progressive Democrats of Cambridge endorsed John Bonifaz by concensus.

Today, Democracy for America: Boston announced their endorsement of John Bonifaz with a vote of 100%!

John Bonifaz needs two things in order to get on the September ballot: 5,000 certified signatures from Massachusetts voters, and 15% of the delegate vote at this weekend's Democratic State Convention. Today, the first one of those is done.

Our grassroots campaign set an ambitious goal: to collect more than twice as many "raw" signatures as we need certified. You helped us exceed the goal by collecting 11,000 signatures! Today, Bonifaz submitted over 7,000 certified signatures to the state - and we have another 2,000 to submit before the June 6th deadline.

On to the convention!

Congratulations to Ari Fertig from Brandeis Democracy for America, the new summer intern at Democracy for America's national office. He writes: "I'm looking forward to researching amazing candidates for local office across the country to take our country back from the ground up."

Speaking of amazing candidates and DFA, recommend John Bonifaz to them for endorsement!

Thursday evening, MoveOn members around the country will gather for Positive Agenda House Parties to decide MoveOn's priorities for the next year. Attend one, and urge MoveOn to put Democracy at the top of their agenda. Get MoveOn to promote public financing, election day registration, instant runoff voting, paper ballots... find a house party near you!

Hot off the presses: the Cambridge Democratic City Committee held its straw poll this evening, and for Secretary, John Bonifaz won! Jesse Gordon, a progressive organizer and member of the city committee, reported the results on Blue Mass Group.

Yesterday was candidates night in Weymouth, an event hosted by a coalition of Democratic Town Committees from 8 south shore towns. John spoke, and tells me it was a great event, with a very energized crowd.

Susan H of the blog Below Boston was there, and saw the enthusiastic reaction to John's speech:

Blogger Jan A also wrote about it:

Have you seen Bonifaz speak at a candidates night, house party, or similar event? What was it like? Comment here and tell us about it.

Last night I attended a MoveOn house party in Cambridge. In a member's living room, we gathered with the New England MoveOn field organizer to discuss MoveOn's goals for the coming year.

When she asked us what we wanted MoveOn's top policy priorities to be, I sat back at first to listen. I was very happy to hear almost everyone bring up an election reform issue, such as public financing, or paper ballots. When all was done, enhancing democracy through election reform was one of the three priorities our group recommended to MoveOn.

The house party I went to was a pilot, one of a small number held yesterday. Next week, MoveOn is inviting supporters everywhere to hold "Positive Agenda House Parties" on Thursday, May 25th.

You want public financing, and instant runoff voting, and paper ballots, and election day registration. Electing John Bonifaz is a great way to makes these happen, but we also need promote our goals in other ways.

MoveOn is one of the largest progressive organizations in the country today, with tremendous power to put issues in the spotlight, get media coverage, and get the attention of lawmakers. So sign up to host a house party on Thursday! You can help make elections one of MoveOn's top priorities in the coming year.

On this rainy Saturday afternoon, I want to call your attention to a great letter to the editor by Jack Carroll of Democracy for New Hampshire's Fair Elections Committee. Responding to an editorial in the San Antonio Express-News, Bexar voting system must be dependable, Carroll made the case for paper ballots and outlined New Hampshire's election laws that protect open, honest elections. It's well worth reading.

And now, I'm heading up to see John in Somervlle - if you're nearby, come join us! For those of you in western MA, see below.