DAPAC Update (5/23/08)

DAPAC Endorses Dennis Shulman (NJ 05)

DAPAC is proud to announce its ninth endorsement for the 2008 Congressional election: Dennis Shulman. He joins Steve Harrison, Martin Heinrich, Dan Seals, Jared Polis, Sam Bennett, Jim Himes, Mary Jo Kilroy, and Victoria Wulsin as DAPAC's endorsed candidates running for the US House of Representatives in 2008. This fall he will be running against Scott Garrett in the hotly contested fifth district of New Jersey.

New Jersey's fifth district is currently held by staunch Republican Scott Garrett, a Republican who has voted to drill in ANWR, extend the Patriot Act, bar same sex marriage, ban stem cell research, oppose all abortion legislation (including cases of rape and incest), and oppose troop withdrawal from Iraq. The American Conservative Union gave Garrett a score of 100 percent in 2004, 2005 and 2006. It is obvious that we need a strong Democratic candidate like Dennis Shulman to bring progressive leadership to this district.

Shulman is a truly progressive candidate, supporting all of the issues we at DAPAC champion, such as being 100% pro-choice, supporting same-sex marriage, taking immediate steps to end the war in Iraq, supporting publicly funded, single payer, universal healthcare, strong environmental protection, and many others. He has pledged to vote for these crucial issues once in Congress. DAPAC is proud to add him as a newly endorsed candidate.

Renowned author, educator, and clinical psychologist, Dr. Dennis G. Shulman has dedicated his life to serving all segments of the community. Dr. Shulman has lived in New Jersey’s fifth Congressional district for more than 25 years. Shulman grew up in a working class family and lost his sight at a young age. During high school, Dennis worked in a toy factory to help his family pay the bills. Later, he graduated from Brandeis in the class of 1972 Magna cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. That same year Dennis’ volunteer activities on behalf of the developmentally disabled earned him a Special White House Commendation for Outstanding Humanitarian Service and The David Aranow Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Welfare.

Dennis then went to Harvard University to earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Public Practice. Just two years into the program Dennis won a Training Fellowship from the National Institute for Mental Health. He also began what has become an extended series of teaching positions, professional publications, postdoctoral studies, and speaking engagements.

Graduating from Harvard, Dennis began his career as a clinical psychologist and as an educator, including more than a decade at Fordham. In 1997, Dennis founded the National Training Program in Contemporary Psychoanalysis at The National Institute for the Psychotherapies, which he continues to serve.

In 2003, Dennis was ordained as a Rabbi. That same year he published his book, The Genius of Genesis: A Psychoanalyst and Rabbi Examines the First Book of the Bible. Recently, CQ Politics changed the rating in the race due to Shulman’s signs of viability to reflect a much more competitive race than what was initially thought.

DAPAC is helping our endorsed candidates raise millions of extra dollars to run more effective campaigns this cycle; on average, for every dollar we receive we raise 12 dollars for our candidates. You can donate directly to DAPAC at www.dapac.org and you can also support Dennis Shulman in his campaign by sending a donation made payable to “Shulman for Congress” to us at DAPAC where we can forward it along to him.

You can find more information about our endorsed candidates for the 2008 cycle, targeted districts, links to candidates' web pages, the latest news, and more on DAPAC's website: www.dapac.org. Please take the time to visit, where you can find additional information about Dennis Shulman, as well as our other endorsed candidates Steve Harrison, Martin Heinrich, Dan Seals, Jared Polis, Sam Bennett, Jim Himes, Mary Jo Kilroy, and Victoria Wulsin.