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#258 Thursday, November 23, 2006 - STEM CELL THANKSGIVING First, a personal note from Bob Klein: Dear Friend of Stem Cell Research, As we move into this season of thankfulness and shared family blessings, please allow me to express my personal appreciation for your gift of citizen advocacy. In California and across the nation, your efforts helped elect men and women who support stem cell research, rather than those who ideologically oppose it. In the long battle against chronic illness and injury, nothing could be more important than the efforts of passionate and informed family members and citizens. Thank you on behalf of every patient and every family. Your efforts are irreplaceable. Sincerely, Bob Klein Talking about Bob Klein is like describing a sunrise; words are inadequate. But still we do take joy in the rising of the sun, and in the spirit of a good and decent man. Bob works harder and more effectively than anybody I know to bring about the new and brighter day of fully implemented stem cell research. And he is not alone. In a moment, a special report on Congress's new stem cell majority. But first, a small appreciation (knowing I will inevitably leave out many hard-work champions) of folks who so advance our hopes and dreams, and are friends to millions. Each man and woman listed here, and thousands I have overlooked, is a champion in the fight for regenerative medicine, the battle against incurable illness; each deserves-- not just a mention in an insignificant column-- but whole books full of recognition for the champions they are, a standing ovation from an appreciative world: Scientists, doing the impossible with the invisible, seeking to organize cells into cure: Paul Berg. Kim Anderson. Larry Powe. Aileen Anderson. Michael West. Deborah Blades. Mary Bunge. Paul Berns. Elizabeth Blackburn. Doug Kerr. Anne Kiessling. Jeannie Fontana. Shane Smith. Fred Geisler. Steve Gobel. John Gearhart. Michelle Grifka. Maura Hofstadter. Rusty Gage. Zack Hall. Arlene Chiu. Leon Hall. Katherine Jones. Dan Kaufman. Sue Kaplan. Ben Kaplan. Jan Kentner. Wise Young. Lori Hutfles. Janet Wright. Bert Lubin. Michael Levesque. Jeanne Loring. Michael Loslow. Julia Pollack. Suzi Leather. Doug Melton. Jeff Bluestone. John McDonald. Susan Bryant. Os Steward. Hans Keirstead. Naomi Kleitman. Bill Neaves. Shane Smith. Brian Popko. David Prast. Martin Pera. Evan Snyder. Dennis Steindler. Greg Schultz. Evan Somers. Marc Tessier-Levigne. Alan Tobin. Mark Tuszynski. David Tomko. Sally Temple. Susan Fisher. Richard Vulliet. Candace Floyd. Irv Weissman. Sarah Wurtz. Ian Wilmut. Jerry Yang. John Yu. Mark Zern. Business people gambling their lives on the advance of biomedicine, the business of good: William Caldwell. Steve Burrill. David Gollaher. Molly Ingraham. Ted Love. Thomas Okarma. Jaclyn Mason. Ed Penhoet. Advocates against chronic disease, taking arms against a sea of troubles, protecting the rights of us all: Paul Richter. Gary Nerison. Steve Meyer. Beckie McCleery. Peter Morton. Patricia Morton. Karen Miner. Amy DuRoss. Susan DeLaurentis. Sean Tipton. Amy Lewis. Ed Eisenstadt. Bill Franklin. John Dutra. Ann and John Doerr. Roman Reed. James Dickson. Dan Perry. David Carmel. Tricia Brooks. Michael Manganiello. Susan Frank. Jeanne Loring. Raymond Barglow. Frank Coccozzelli. Penny Caterall. Justin Dart. Sheila Decter. Tim Leshan. Idelle Datlof. Bob Deis. James DeBoer. Miriam Dana. Brooke Ellison. Lucy Fisher. Doug Wick. Michael Friedman. Kris Gulden. Jennifer Poulikidas. Jennifer Fitzgerald. Nancy Pelosi. Barbara Boxer. Dianne Feinstein. Elaine Olson. Jessica Gerstle. Noelle Gambill. Jeff Eisen. Michael Goldberg. Diana Higuera. Eben DuRoss. Susan Maus. Steven Edwards. Rick Thompson. Nancy Thompson. Danny Heumann. James Harrison. Ollie Kaplan. John Hlinko. Cameron Jones. Jack Kirshner. Joe Kaminsky. Diane Winokur. Lauren Klein. The Dolby family. Pam Lokken. Dave Landewee. Stephen Lynn. Catherine Lepone. Shari Lansing. Jennifer Longdon. John Leverance. Jerry Lewis. Michael J. Fox. Tony Mazzaschi. Jeff McCaffrey. Donn Rubin. Fiona Hutton. Richard Arvedon.. David Bluestone. Amy Daly. Karen Miner. Jacqueline Hantgan. John Ames. David Ames. Genny Ames. Joe Alioto. Michelle Alioto. Michaela Alioto. Faye Armitage. Lois Pope. Sue Markland-Day. Mike Navarro. Terry O'Neill. Beckie Ogle. ProfessirX. Nicki Pecchenino. Sue Pendleton. Jeff Porro. John Quimby. Meg Dugan. Melissa Pitt. Phil Pizzo. William Shaw. James Deboer. Susan Rotchy. Fran Lopes. Jack Reed. Bill Remak. Ron Reagan. Nancy Reagan. Gerald Ford. Tom Harkin. Edward Kennedy. Arlen Specter. Orrin Hatch. Bill Rainey. Joan Samuelson. John Smith. Larry Soler. Pete Stark. Debbie Curtis. Joan Irving Smith. Bernie Siegel. Jeff Sheehy. David Serrano-Sewell. Marco Capato. Brian Stocker. Suzie Searl. Albert Torrico. Gerald Talkington. Arthur Ullian. Leslie Kenny. Mike Utley. Kent Waldrep. Janet and Jerry Zucker. Joy Veron. Candace Coffee. Diane Wyshack. Jenny Urizar. Lauren Weissman. Steve Westley. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kevin Wilson. Cy Webb. Linda Menon. Greg Wasson. Bioethicists, seeking to always keep us headed toward the light: Bernie Lowe. Nancy Duff. Hank Greeley. Ronald Green. Ted Peters. Educators, leading us out of ignorance toward the light: Gail Pressburg. Joe Riggs. Laurel Barches. Eve Herold. Bill Hoffman. Dale Carlson. Mary Maxon. Sam Maddox. All the great people at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and our state's leaders on the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. Gone but never to be forgotten: Christopher and Dana Reeve. These are just a few of our champions. They are the reason I feel sorry for the opposition. And now, from the folks at Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures, more reasons to look forward to the battles ahead: our new friends in Congress, our stem cell majority. Stem Cell Research Candidates are Victorious! November 7th, 2006 was a landmark day for stem cell research. Support for stem cell research had a huge impact in key United States House, Senate and Gubernatorial elections. Supporting stem cell research proved politically safe, and valuable for the candidates, as well as being the right thing to do. The message from the people was clear: Candidates were rewarded for taking a clear and unambiguous stand on the issue. This message is backed by an ever-growing rise in public support. A recent national poll from HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion found that 78% of Americans are now in favor of embryonic stem cell research (10/26/06). That study also showed that 57% of people were concerned about their candidate's view on stem cell research and 62% believed that this particular election was vital to America's policy on the issue. Specifically, this election saw amazing results for pro-stem cell candidates who were educated by Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures on certain pieces stem cell research federal legislation and their significance for a family's rights to access future medical therapies. The candidates who sought our support were victorious at almost a 75% rate. Of the 26 highly contested races where stem cell research was a decisive issue, 19 were victorious (with one of the remaining seven yet to be decided). The six pro-stem cell candidates who unfortunately did not win were often in lopsided races against incumbents in difficult districts where they had little chance of winning. Even there, the stem cell candidates captured a significantly higher-than-expected percentage of the vote. In the first 100 legislative hours of the new Congress, the leadership of the House will bring a stem cell bill forward to expand the stem cell lines available for federal funding. We have a strong majority of stem cell research supporters in the Senate now. If President Bush should once again decide to veto this legislation, it is likely that the Senate will over-turn his veto. We will work hard to create a veto-override majority for this bill in the House. The research must go forward not only because it is scientifically excellent, but also because the United States Constitution requires that government policy be separate from religious ideology. Consider the exciting results below: Key Races Amongst the many victories by pro-stem cell candidates: · In Missouri, voters passed the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, guaranteeing that any stem cell treatment and research allowed federally can also occur in Missouri. The inclusion of this Constitutional Amendment most likely impacted the outcome of the state's US Senate race as well, encouraging turnout of voters who supported Claire McCaskill, who courageously supported full stem cell research from the very beginning of her campaign. · The seven Senate candidates who actively campaigned prominently with a pro-stem cell research message were victorious: Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Ben Cardin (Maryland), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Bob Menendez (New Jersey), John Tester (Montana) and James Webb (Virginia). · For the Governor's race in Wisconsin, incumbent Jim Doyle made stem cell research a centerpiece of his campaign and was reelected with a 53% to 45% margin. Governor Doyle defeated a candidate who had co-sponsored the Weldon bill (a bill that would have criminalized advanced stem cell research which passed the US House of Representatives in 2002 and 2003 but was stopped in the Senate both years). The University of Wisconsin's Alumni Research Foundation controls the patents of stem cell science - critical for the progress of the research. · In the three other gubernatorial races where stem cell research was a major difference in between candidates, all three stem cell research supporters won - Chet Culver (Iowa), Jan Granholm (Michigan) and Ted Strickland (Ohio). · Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures identified 19 House races where the issue of stem cell research played a prominent role. In twelve of those races the pro-stem cell research candidates that this organization supported were victorious. In six of the races, the pro-stem cell research candidate lost and in one race the result is yet to be decided. It should be noted that those six pro-stem cell candidates who did not win were often in very tight races against incumbents and performed better than expected. · In California, all of the newly elected Constitutional Officers are strong supporters of stem cell research: in particular, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown (Attorney General), John Chiang (State Controller), John Garamendi (Lieutenant Governor) all ran on pro-stem cell platforms. Bill Lockyer, elected as the next State Treasurer, has aggressively led the defense of Proposition 71 as Attorney General in the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine's current litigation. In an astonishing upset, support for stem cell research helped the little known and lightly-financed Jerry McNerney defeat the massively-funded incumbent Richard Pombo for U.S Representative. · Eliot Spitzer, elected as the new Governor of the State of New York, vowed during his campaign to implement a $1 billion stem cell research funding program, modeled after California's. · Bill Richardson, who was reelected as Governor of New Mexico, announced during his campaign that he would push forward an initiative to get the state legislature to fund a $10 million Stem Cell Research facility at the University of New Mexico. America has had the great debate. Every conceivable argument for and against embryonic stem cell research has been raised. Despite the misinformation propagated by opponents of this research, America heard through the noise and found the truth. We have an overwhelming stem cell supporting majority now. We are millions. We are the patients, friends, and families affected by chronic disease and disability. We are awake and alert on this issue. Let the word go out. Publicly elected officials who support the research which might ease suffering, even save the lives of our loved ones, are rewarded for their stance. We will remember those who fight alongside us for this vital research. Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends old, new, and those we have not yet met! By Don C. Reed, Chair, Californians for Cures, www.stemcellbattles.com. Email Don at: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn