As a resident of Pennsylvania that supports a woman’s right to choose, I was incredibly upset when Sen. Chuck Schumer, Gov. Ed Rendell, and Treasurer Bob Casey Jr. entered into a conspiracy to sweep the field clean of viable Senate candidates so that Bob Casey Jr. could be coronated as the Democratic nominee. I was a foulmouthed and vituperative critic of Schumer for his arrogance in arrogating to himself the power of the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania to choose our own leaders. I didn’t appreciate his heavy-handedness in Ohio either, where he screwed over Paul Hackett in favor of Sherrod Brown (even though I favored Brown).
So, I absolutely welcome Chuck Schumer’s decision to ask the Daily Kos community (and the netroots generally) for their input into who we should recruit to run for the Senate in 2008. I could be quite cynical about this, but I choose to take it in a positive light. And I hope that my rantings against Schumer played some small part in getting him to recognize the importance of letting the rank and file have a say in who our nominees will be.
So here are my answers for Senator Schumer. Number one: no matter who you recruit, do not discourage primaries. What little money you save will not be worth it. Let the party of each state decide.
Number Two: you were a member of the House. Look at the House. The biggest caucus in the House is the Progressive Caucus. They control most of the committees. They have the Speaker’s chair. Where are the progressives in the Senate? There are too few of them. Look for progressives for Senate seats, and be aggressive about it. Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders need some company.
Number Three: I’ve looked at the Senate 2008 races. I’ve researched the names floating around. And I don’t see very many women. Jill Docking has been mentioned in Kansas and Katrina Swett has been mentioned in New Hampshire. There must be more qualified women candidates, but I am not hearing them mentioned. Look for them. Call Emily’s List.
Number Four: So many of the states that are up in 2008 are from red states, including the deep south, that there might be a temptation to recruit socially conservative candidates. Don’t fall for that trap. Look at how well Rudy Guiliani is polling among conservatives. That Culture War rhetoric is so 1990’s. We can do much better by appealing to people’s pocketbook issues, accountable government, protecting our rights, and restoring America’s reputation for competence and fair-play.
Number Five: Keep the DLC at arms length. They have some excellent candidates, like Rush Holt (who should run against Lautenberg) and Tom Allen in Maine and Tom Udall in New Mexico. Generally speaking, however, the DLC is a spent force within the party. With Hillary Clinton polling lower in the Netroots’ polls than The New Republic’s circulation numbers…well…just don’t go to that well too often. Remember: Harold Ford Jr. didn’t run the best campaign of 2006. Harold Ford Jr. ran a disastrous campaign and lost to a truly lightweight candidate in Bob Corker.
I see that David Wu in Oregon and Artur Davis in Alabama are two DLC candidates that are considering running for Senate. Keep looking. Wu and Davis have some good qualities, but they won’t light up the blogosphere.
Anyone that has ideas about who to recruit for the following seats, please let us know.
Alabama:
Alaska:
Colorado:
Georgia:
Idaho:
Kansas:
Kentucky:
Mississippi:
Nebraska:
New Hampshire:
New Mexico:
Minnesota:
Oklahoma:
Oregon:
South Carolina:
Tennessee:
Texas:
Virginia:
Wyoming:
