Rep. Charlie Melancon (D) is challenging Diaper Dave Vitter’s Louisiana senate seat in the 2010 election. The Senate Guru has seven reasons why progressives should support his efforts, even though Mr. Melancon is a very conservative Blue Dog Democrat. They are good reasons. The Guru always makes good, honest arguments. But I have seven reasons why you shouldn’t support Melancon’s candidacy.
1. He is an opponent of a woman’s right to choose.
2. He voted against Cap & Trade (the Waxman-Markey Energy Bill) both in committee and on the House floor.
3. He voted against Waxman’s version of the health care bill (America’s Affordable Health Choices Act) in committee.
4. He opposes gay marriage.
5. From 1993 to 2004, he headed the lobbying group: American Sugar Cane League.
6. The last Republican he unseated is now the CEO of PhARMA and is running advertisements in his favor.
7. Finally, the advantage of having one more off-message Democrat, who loves to bash the party leadership and ditch us on difficult votes, is extremely marginal. Yes, it’s true that somewhere down the line one extra seat could be the difference between being in the majority or the minority. But we’re talking about progressive energy and participation here, and I’m not seeing the payoff. What we know we’ll get is one more lousy Democrat who opposes efforts to address climate change, opposes women’s rights, opposes gay rights, and who wants to serve powerful corporate interests over the common man.
Thanks, but no thanks. I’m not done making fun of David Vitter. I don’t mind keeping him around. The Guru makes some good strategic points about making the Republicans spread their money around to defend as many races as possible. But we have to spread our money around, too. If he wins, we’ll have to worry about his reelection. No thanks. I say that progressives should focus on electing progressives and mainstream Democrats who share their values. Electing more Blue Dogs to the Senate doesn’t interest me. I don’t think it should interest you, either.
