It's full of exclusive lunches with stars like Paul Rudd,Jon Hamm,Cheryl Hines,Michelle Williams,Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson,Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris,Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban, Rosanna Arquette, Gina Gershon, and Lili Taylor.We have VIP tickets and meet and greets at Joan Rivers' new stand-up show, Maroon 5, Dar Williams; VIP tickets and walk-on roles. So bid now!

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My guest today is Ostroy Report blogger, Andy Ostroy. Welcome back to OpEdNews, Andy. What's new since we last spoke?

Thanks. Nice to chat again. Well, on the political front I, like everyone else, am focused on the midterm elections. This is a critical time in American politics, and there's a great deal at stake. Democrats must hold onto the majorities in the House and Senate or the country will fall into the hands of the Tea Party crazies who seek to undermine and overturn the economic, social and racial progress our nation has made during the last 50 years.

What's your assessment of Obama's performance so far?

I know Obama's been taking a lot of heat these days, mainly from progressives who believe he's let them down on many a campaign promise. But it's important to keep perspective. Since Obama took office 19 months ago he's delivered on his promise to end the Iraq war; reform health care and the financial industry; and bring about an economic recovery. In the process, he's also had to contend with the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, the BP oil spill.

I'd say he's had his hands full, yet has still managed to accomplish much of what he promised. Where I find fault is in his inability to connect with voters now on the same sweeping level he did while campaigning. He lacks the folksiness of a George W. Bush or Bill Clinton. While I think he definitely "feels their pain," he just doesn't know how to show it. And that's why his approval rating has plummeted. He's failed miserably at articulating the huge accomplishments of his administration, and has let Republicans define him and Democrats.

You're right about the tremendous disconnect between Obama's charismatic campaign persona and his present one where he often comes off as aloof, wooden and pretty uninspiring. How much of an effect will Obama and his accomplishments, or lack thereof, have on the midterms? And how can such a centrist Democrat continue to be so successfully vilified by the Right as a socialist? â?¨

This election will not be a referendum on Obama as much as it will be on Congress and the electorate's general disenchantment with the economy. Unfortunately, again, Obama has done a poor job convincing voters that the economy is far better than when he took office. As a result, Democratic Congressmen/women may suffer. That said, I think there's been a bigger anti-Republican (read: Tea Party) backlash, and the reprise of Gingrich's 1994 "Revolution" this year is more of a Republican civil war.

I for one am not convinced Democrats will lose big, or much at all. Voters dislike Republicans more than Democrats, and still favor the left when it comes to fixing the economy. And, we have a bunch of ticket-splitters like Charlie Crist, Mike Castle, Lisa Murkowski and Doug Hoffman causing heartburn in the GOP. These write-in/Conservative Party candidates, having lost to Tea Baggers Christine O'Donnell (DE), Joe Miller (AK), Marco Rubio (FL and Matt Doheny (NY), will have a disastrous impact on critical races Repubs hope to win.

Let's not forget the substantial but unmeasurable variables of electronic voting and the activities of some to suppress voter turnout. Regarding the latter factor, there was an article Wisconsin GOP plots vote suppression about efforts by Rove, the billionaire Koch brothers and Tea Party members to do their dirty work in the close Wisconsin race of Russ Feingold vs. milllionaire business man Ron Johnson. As you know, it's easier to affect or flip results in a close race, which this one is. [For what it's worth, an appeal for an investigation has been made to the DOJ.]

Personally, I tend to stay away from the whole voter fraud subject. That's not to say I don't think it exists--because I believe it does and has for a long time--but rather that it's not going to change, and I feel Democrats' time must be spent on campaign strategy and crafting the right message, and on winning elections by wide enough margins.

I know you feel this way. We've had this conversation before. But,allow me an important point of clarification before we move on. The problem is, most emphatically, not voter fraud - voter fraud is when people illegally misrepresent themselves or others in order to cast votes where they're not entitled to. While Republicans are often raising Cain about this, studies have shown it's a negligible phenomenon at best. What we're talking about is quite different. Voting fraud includes voter suppression (keeping legitimate voters from voting through illegal tactics) and tampering with vote counts, including electronically, which is the easiest way to commit large-scale vote fraud.

[If readers would like to see just how easy it is to pull off, they can watch the excellent HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy, on the subject. Warning: After delving into this subject, concerned citizens won't sleep so easy knowing just how much our elections and our democracy - depend upon unsecured, eminently hackable, nontransparent, unobserved and unobservable electronic black boxes.]

Thanks. I'm done. On another front altogether, what's new with the Adrienne Shelly Foundation? I understand you have interesting things going on over there at this very moment.

Yes, thank you. The Foundation is named after my late wife, writer/actor/director Adrienne Shelly (Waitress), who was murdered back in November 2006. Our mission is simple: to support women filmmakers with grants and scholarships. Our 3rd annual eBay celebrity auction is currently live and available at www.ebay.com/asfoundation. It's full of amazing items like exclusive lunches with stars like Paul Rudd, Jon Hamm, Cheryl Hines, Michelle Williams, Kevin Smith, Rosario Dawson, Patricia Clarkson, Rachael Harris, Keri Russell, Susie Essman, Bill Hader, Jeremy Sisto, Mark Cuban, Rosanna Arquette, Gina Gershon, and Lili Taylor, among others. We also have VIP tickets and meet and greets at Joan Rivers' new stand-up show, Maroon 5, Dar Williams; VIP tickets to The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, Ellen, Rachael Ray and The View; VIP tickets to Jimmy Buffett; TV show set visits/meet and greets for The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, Castle, United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie, Rachel Maddow and Stephanie Miller; walk-on extra roles on Community, Hung and Todd Solondz's next film, Dark Horse. So bid now! And if people wish to help us support women filmmakers, they can donate at www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org.

Sounds like there are lots of opportunities to spend some money and do some good. Can you give us an idea of the projects the foundation has sponsored over the past several years?

We've awarded various grants, scholarships, finishing funds and living stipends to 20 women around the world through leading education and filmmaking institutions such as Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Women in Film, IFP, American Film Institute and Columbia University. One of our grantees, Cynthia Wade, won an Oscar in 2008 for her documentary, Freeheld, which we helped fund. That was an incredible moment for us having been just a one-year-old organization at the time.

That is exciting! Anything you'd like to add before we finish up?

Yes! Everyone reading this should make sure that everyone they know, especially young people, get out there and vote on November 2nd. Democrats cannot lose control of either chamber of Congress. With all these Tea Party crazies out there, the future of America is truly at stake. Lastly, please send whatever money you can to www.chrisscoons.com and jackconway.org and russfeingold.com. The Delaware, Kentucky and Wisconsin Senate races are a must-win for Democrats.

Thanks, as always, Andy. Looking forward to hearing how the auction went, not to mention those midterms!

Authors Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Authors Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.