First of all, although it is true that Markos basically celebrated the departure of nine moderate Democrats from the Senate over the last decade, he did not say that he hopes that Mark Pryor and Mary Landrieu lose their reelection bids this year. He definitely did not say that he hopes that Kay Hagan and Mark Begich lose. So, the premise of Matt Bennett and Jim Kessler’s piece is a bit stretched from the outset.
And then there are problems with this, too.
Moulitsas might have a stronger case if the moderates he abhors were replaced by more liberal members. But almost every instance saw the opposite result. Of the 10 former Democratic senators that Moulitsas identifies, seven were replaced by Republicans, one by Montanan John Walsh, who is in a fight for his political life this year, and another by Democrat Joe Donnelly of Indiana, who is unlikely to make the DailyKos Pantheon of Progressiveness. Just one, Joe Lieberman, of midnight-blue Connecticut, was succeeded by someone to his left. Meanwhile, the moderate Democrats in tough fights this cycle are running against Tea Party true believers.
First, Markos only listed nine (not ten) former senators. Second, Joe Donnelly replaced Dick Lugar, not Evan Bayh.
While I agree that the Democrats would be better off with more seats in the Senate, the authors of this piece don’t take into consideration an important part of what Markos was saying. Yeah, it’s true that Fritz Hollings was replaced by Jim DeMint and Zell Miller was replaced by Johnny Isakson. But it’s also true that Pete Domenici was replaced by Tom Udall and Mike DeWine was replaced by Sherrod Brown. Tammy Baldwin, Mazie Hirono, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Ed Markey, Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Brian Schatz, and Sheldon Whitehouse are all more progressive than their predecessors.
The real debate isn’t over whether or not progressives want the Democrats to win Senate seats in red states. The real debate is about how best to do that. Why did Tom Harkin keep winning in Iowa? Why doesn’t Sherrod Brown vote like he comes from swing state? Why did Jon Tester get reelected?
For the most part, Democrats who took the Blue Dog approach were wiped out once the Great Recession began in earnest. Progressives weren’t exactly thrilled to see them go because it cost them their role in the majority of the House of Representatives. But they also understood that corporate Democrats had nothing to offer that anyone wanted.
Progressives knew that Blanche Lincoln would lose, which is why they didn’t fear damaging her in a primary. Mark Pryor has a better chance this year, but if he loses he will lose for the same reason that Lincoln did. He isn’t sufficiently on the people’s side.
The other thing that is important to consider is that there is a difference between a red state senator voting with the Republicans from time to time, and a red state senator endorsing the Republican nominee for president (as Miller did in 2004 and Lieberman did in 2008). If you’re going out in the media and trashing the leaders of your own party, then you are not that much of a plus.
Ask yourself a question. Why did the Jim Crow South vote for the New Deal? Why did they make common cause with the northern urban ethnic machines?
If you want southern votes for the modern Democratic Party, you can’t be a corporate tool. Unless you’re running in Virginia, that is.
If Kay Hagan and Mark Pryor want to save themselves, they should be talking about giving everyone free college tuition or something.
