I believe very strongly that his crusade against the netroots candidates is motivated by support for Iraq war. I believe they are trying to replace candidates that are strongly against the Iraq war with candidates that are for it, but won’t commit vocally in favor of it. Their latest entry is Acuri in NY. Acuri won’t commit to a position on withdrawal, other than vague statements that he believes the troops should stay until Iraq is stable. Duckworth is another stand for nothin. Harold Ford, Schumer’s mentoree, openly says he loves Bush and doesn’t want a pullout until the job is done.
Please realize, Schumer is a member of a neocon front group named Foundation for Defense of Democracy. He is not all that stealth about his own beliefs, and we should stop being willfully blind to his motivation. Here is some information on Schumer’s ties to this group from right web.
Chuck Schumer
He serves on “The Board of Advisors” to “The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies”
According to right web.
The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) has become one of the most prominent and influential in the array of traditionally right-wing and neoconservative think tanks. [b]President Bush’s speech on the “Global War on Terrorism” on March 13, 2006 at an event sponsored by FDD elevated the think tank’s national and international profile. Bush’s choice of FDD as a forum was widely regarded as a sign that the administration has not backed away from the neoconservative foreign policy despite the problems of the Iraq War[/b] and U.S. Middle East policy in general.
He serves on this board with:
Republican Party insiders dominate FDD’s board, and its president, Clifford May, is the former director of communications for the Republican National Committee (1997-2001) and was the editor of Rising Tide, the party’s official magazine. FDD’s three board members are Steve Forbes, Jack Kemp, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. As a way to achieve widespread acceptance of its positions on counterterrorism and on Middle East affairs, FDD has two bipartisan advisory groups.
Its four “Distinguished Advisers” are Newt Gingrich, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Louis J. Freeh (former FBI director), and James Woolsey. FDD also has a Board of Advisers, whose members are: Gary Bauer, Donna Brazile, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Frank Gaffney, Amb. Marc Ginsberg, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), Charles Jacobs, William Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, Hon. Richard D. Lamm, Richard Perle, Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA), and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). 3
Schumer should not be believed when he claims he is motivated by concern for red state candidates. The red districts are opposed to the war too. He isn’t a triangulator. He is an ideologue that genuinely supports the Iraq war. It was an awful mistake to put him and his buddy Rahm in charge of Congressional Election Committees.
Finally, we need to stop whining about Schumer and Emanuel’s interference in local elections and nationalize the progressive side. We need to encourage the netroots to promote the progressive antiwar candidates and contribute money to their campaigns. This interference isn’t going to stop just because we don’t like it. If anything our complaining will encourage the behavior to continue.
It is absolutely critical that we keep a prowar consensus from getting elected, and this is most safely done in the primaries. Also, someone who won’t commit on the war should be asked to to commit, or we should work against them, in favor of a candidate that does. IF they oppose the war they should say it, and if they favor it they should say it. If you are at any “question and answer” session with one of the stand for nothins, ask them where they stand, if they won’t commit against the war work for people that will.