The existence of these ads, running months before a primary in which Lungren doesn’t even appear to face any competition for the GOP nomination, is a testament to how frightened Republicans are that Lungren will lose this November to Dr. Ami Bera.

Josh Wolf, Dr. Bera’s new campaign manager, sent out an email today to Bera supporters explaining what these ads reveal about the GOP’s deepest fears — that Lungren will lose this election as part of a wave in which Democrats will retake the majority in the US House of Representatives with great candidates like Dr. Ami Bera. 

Josh writes:

Thanks to all of you, our race is now widely identified as one of the most competitive in the nation. In fact, Dan Lungren, the Congressional Republicans and their SuperPACs are worried. Very worried.

Last week, the US Chamber of Commerce SuperPAC announced that they will spend over $350,000 on television ads to try to save Dan Lungren from defeat. The election is 10 months away and Congressman Lungren is in trouble. They know it. You know it. And I know it.

Help send a message to these SuperPACs that they cannot buy our election. We are asking all of our supporters to make a donation today. SuperPACs are spending $350,000 to shore up Dan Lungren. We are asking all of our supporters to give $35 or $350 or any amount by clicking here. Our election is not for sale.

To make matters worse for Congressman Lungren, John Boehner needed to add him to the list of of Republicans who are most vulnerable this election. You can read the story here.

If you can please give $35 or $350 or any amount please do so by clicking here.

Dan Lungren was barely re-elected with only 50.1% of the vote in 2010. Now we are in a district that is much more compact and all of the polling data suggests that more of the residents are inclined to vote for Dr. Bera instead of Dan Lungren. That is why he is calling in his SuperPAC friends to bail him out. We need to let him know he can’t buy this election.

Please show your support by making a donation of any amount. Every donation will send a message that our election cannot be bought by a SuperPAC.

Thank you for showing your support for Dr. Bera. We are going to win in November because of you. Our grassroots supporters.

The Folsom Democratic Club encourages you to support Dr. Bera any way you can. In the coming year, we’ll be doing everything in our power to elect more Democrats to represent the people of Folsom. It’s time to get involved and make a difference!

Dorothy Knable, the Sacramento-area coordinator with the California Clean Money Campaign that sponsors the DISCLOSE Act, alerts us that the Assembly will be voting on the act this Tuesday. She is seeking people to join her Monday to lobby our local assembly members on behalf of the bill. If you can join her, please call her at (916) 317-4417 and let her know you’ll join her. You can also call our assembly member, Dr. Richard Pan, at (916) 319-2005 and urge him to vote yes on AB 1148.

You may have received this particular email as well. It includes an audio clip from the radio program hosted by conservative talker Mark Levin. In it, a caller claiming to be a “brain surgeon” relates a story of how under the Affordable Care Act, patients over 70 will no longer be approved for advanced neurosurgery.

The caller gave several specific-sounding details about when and how he was informed of this “fact”, which gives it more credibility than it might otherwise carry.

But the story is a complete and total lie. 

The Snopes website, which is devoted to investigating rumors and chain emails, has a detailed post about this particular story. Such a directive from HHS does not exist, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, organizers of the conference in question, definitively refuted the caller’s story.

The AANS has repeatedly requested that Mr. Levin’s producers remove the audio clip of this conversation from his website, but so far they have refused to take it down, even though it has been definitively debunked.

Clearly Mark Levin is unconcerned with broadcasting false information to misinform his audience and confuse them about healthcare reform.

The problem is that once this kind of information is introduced into the media, it takes on a life of its own.

What can you do to stop it?

First, when in doubt, don’t pass it on. If something you read in an email or on a website alarms you, take the time to research it more yourself. Start with places like snopes.com, factcheck.org, and Media Matters.

Second, when you do discover that something you’ve received is false or misleading, send back the rebuttal to the originator of the email and everyone else who was copied on it.

This may be uncomfortable for you personally, as it may create some social difficulties for you with the person who sent it to you, but if you approach it in a friendly manner such as, “I’m so glad you sent this to me! I looked it up and the good news is it’s not true. Here’s a link to the rest of the story. Aren’t you relieved?” you can take the high road and treat the other person as someone with good intentions.

If the same person repeatedly bombards you with this kind of material, you can also just ignore it, delete it, or if you feel able, ask them to take you off your distribution list because you’re not interested in receiving them.

Finally, you can also use email and other social media to share with your friends and relatives truthful, accurate reports about current events, the claims of politicians, and stories that research issues in depth. We here at the FDC use our website, Facebook and Twitter accounts to bring you timely information that highlights the accomplishments of our Democratic elected officials. When you read something that you think your circle of friends might benefit from reading, share it.

Our club has fewer than 100 members, but when you add up all the people in each of our social circles, it’s amazing how many people we can influence. Here’s an amazing statistic: according to Facebook, the 57 people who “like” our page have a total of 23,179 Facebook friends.

If you receive a disturbing chain email or read something on a website that portrays our President, other Democratic elected officials or candidates, or existing/proposed legislation in an unflattering light, and you’re not able to debunk it yourself, share it with us and we’ll be glad to help you get the facts so you can pass them along.

Our featured speaker will be Reg Bronner, the Democratic candidate for the newly formed State Assembly District 6. Join us to hear from Mr. Bronner!

Our new State Assembly District is a challenging terrain for a Democratic candidate. It covers parts of three counties, and the GOP has a large registration advantage over us.

You can read more about Reg Bronner at his website. Come prepared with your questions, and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting!

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has announced the candidates who have been selected for its Red to Blue program, which provides additional funding and support to the Democratic Congressional candidates who have the best shot at taking back a seat from the Republicans. And thanks to the support of the many donors who helped him blow through his goals for contributions, Dr. Ami Bera, Democratic Congressional candidate for CA’s new 7th District which includes Folsom, has made the list!

Here’s the full list of Red to Blue candidates on the DCCC’s website. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also recorded the following announcement.

The 2012 primary is less than six months away and there is a lot of work to be done between now and June. Though I am the only Democrat in the race, I still need to take the important step of collecting signatures for me to be on the ballot. These signatures must come from registered voters in the district and I need your help to collect them by February 23rd.

There are three ways you can help. The easiest way is by simply signing up your friends, coworkers, neighbors… anybody you know who is registered to vote in Congressional District 7 (click here to see a map). The second way is going door to door in your neighborhood with a list supporters who we think will sign. The third way is by signing up to participate in and bring friends to our day of action and strategy session that I will kick off on January 28th. Whatever option you choose, getting signatures will give you a stake in the race, and ownership in my candidacy. If you’re interested, please go here to sign up so we can send you all of the necessary information: www.beraforcongress.com/signaturedrive.

As a reward, the volunteer with the most signatures will be invited to have dinner with me! We have until February 23rd so let’s get to work!

Can you contribute today to Dr. Ami Bera’s campaign for Congress?

Click here to give him your support via ActBlue.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) selects key Congressional races around the country for additional support in its Red to Blue Campaign. Candidates who have the greatest likelihood of removing a Republican candidate are singled out for more contributions and advertising.

A key metric the DCCC evaluates is the strength of a candidate’s support as measured by his/her fundraising ability.

Donating now to Dr. Ami Bera’s campaign helps him earn the support he will need to unseat Dan Lungren and turn the entire Sacramento County Congressional delegation blue.

Your responses to this survey will help us determine how to structure our meetings most effectively, and identify activities that are most likely to engage and attract our members. Please take a few minutes to complete this ten-question survey.

Click here to take survey.

The Democratic Party of Sacramento County has a full-time office in midtown that serves a vital role in connecting area Democrats with their party and its candidates. Their office space is used for meetings, organizing, phone-banking, distribution of campaign materials, and the sale of Democratic merchandise. And the DPSC employs a full-time office manager to coordinate the office activities and the work of volunteers.

However, for those of us in the suburban reaches of the county, the trip to downtown Sacramento and back is a long commute, and Democrats in the redder parts of Sacramento County could really benefit from having an office to help us overcome the feeling of “invisibility” that so many Democrats here in Folsom experience.

Join others on Tuesday, January 10th 6:00pm at the Round Table Pizza at 8822 Madison Ave (Hazel and Madison in the Raley’s Shopping Center). The discussion will focus on how such an office can be funded and staffed, as maintaining the DPSC office in midtown is already a financial challenge for the organization. Potential strategies involve co-locating office space with the campaigns of candidates, and raising funds to open, maintain and staff the office.