Save that Seat II...the Sequal

Questions about party purity, loyalty, ideology and incumbency abound as we head into the 2006 election cycle. Folks out here on the Progressive/Liberal branch of the tree are reaching for the forbidden fruit; otherwise known as a real Progressive candidate at the end of the limb while those on the DLC branches prefer the stability of remaining closer to the trunk of the tree where the incumbents sit.

The debate centers on the fact that the Democrats are the minority party in Washington DC*, how we got there and how we regain the majority. The DLC faction is quick to point out that now is not the time to challenge a Democratic incumbent because showing any sign of weakened support for the incumbent (no matter how real it is) might give aid and comfort to the republicans. Or, worse yet, we might succeed in nominating a real Progressive who couldn’t possibly win in the general election. Finding logic in this argument is like finding WMD in Iraq. The Progressives MUST vote for the incumbent rather than risk losing the seat because the “centrist Democrats” might NOT vote for a Progressive candidate regardless of the fact that he or she would be the party’s nominee.

What I (and so many of my liberal friends) find most frustrating is that many of the same people arguing about protecting the incumbent claim to have the same problems with the incumbent that I do. We have a national party that speaks about a more “internationally cooperative” foreign policy while we have incumbents who support unilateral invasion and occupation in the name of “regime change.” The party speaks about protecting the consumer while our incumbents vote to protect corporate power. Democrats, long the party of organized labor and defenders of the working man and woman are now supporting so called Free Traders who vote for NAFTA, CAFTA, and the WTO; those institutions most responsible for massive job losses in this country. However, they tell us, we shouldn’t worry about replacing those incumbents today. We should wait until we have a “safe majority”. What we are told is that we must do the hard work of building a stronger Progressive Movement and infrastructure before we start putting candidates before the public. Huh? Oh sure, there is work to do to build up a stable of candidates that can run for offices from municipal to federal but where is it written that you have to have a full magazine before you can fire the round in the chamber?

I would submit that reclaiming our party and our country will be done one race at a time. This responsibility should not be taken lightly but neither should it be abandoned because of some misguided sense of party loyalty. Democracy demands no less.


*While the republicans have more seats in Congress, the Democrats actually represent more people in the country based on the population of the various states and districts they represent.


Peace,

Chad (The Left) Shue