Putting The "Better" In More And Better Democrats

In 2006 we had a crop of Congressional challengers that was poised to win in tough districts and take back the House and Sente. It was a cautious list, at times a moderate list, and while there have been some excellent progressive lawmakers from that group (Steve Cohen, John Hall, Bernie Sanders and Sherrod Brown come to mind), overall it was a list full of more Democrats instead of better ones. You never know what you're really going to get from a candidate until they're in office, but this year there are some promising signs that the class of 2008 is substantively better on several issues.

For one, there's the great news that every single Democratic Senate challenger with more than $500,000 in cash on hand has fully endorsed net neutrality. This was not necessarily a mainstream Democratic position just a few years ago, and now it's become standard. That's very positive. Furthermore, almost no telecom or cable money is going to the wide majority of these candidates, suggesting that they may not be as beholden to those interests as the current Congress. You can read the candidate statements at the link.

One of those candidates is Jeff Merkley, and he is unafraid to challenge his own Democratic leadership even while in the midst of a Senate campaign where he will probably need their help. We need less Democratic automatons and more lawmakers willing to speak their minds and even criticize their party when it betrays its own values and steps out of line.

But the majority of Merkley's interview with the Huffngton Post this past weekend was spent pinpointing areas in need of political improvement, even calling to task the Democratic-controlled Senate for not showing the requisite backbone.

"A major mistake has been not to force the Republicans to filibuster day and night on these issues," he said. "The public does not see that obstruction because they don't see on their televisions a senator on the floor of the senate going through the night reading out of a thick tomb of law, if you will, in order to block bills from being considered. We have to put that on show to the American public and show that it's unacceptable... And I am [prepared to start standing up]. FISA is a good example right there. I was proud of Senator Dodd and others for what they did. They lost the vote, but I'm proud of them." [...]

He even weighed in on one of the thornier issues facing Democrats today: what to do about Sen. Joseph Lieberman, whose surrogacy on behalf of McCain has been infuriating to many elements of the party.

"It is very disturbing," Merkley said. "I was there in 2000 as a delegate when he was our vice presidential nominee. I remember losing my voice for him and Sen. Gore and I am really disappointed in some of the stances he is taking and I understand he is addressing the Republican convention. Essentially we need him as a clear member of the team and I hope that we see it that way after the election."

He even criticized Sen. Obama for his FISA vote, as well he should. At a time when the progressive community is seeking to hold lawmakers accountable on FISA and civil liberties, it's great to have candidates with the same frame of mind.

In the House, Blue America candidate Joe Garcia is going up against an entrenched anti-Castro Cuban Republican in South Florida. He has no problem in this video calling out one of the top anti-Castro Cuban groups for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds. And Congress actually managed to act on this by freezing payments to these right-wing groups. And also in Florida, Alan Grayson is a man possessed.

Alan Grayson: I'm Alan Grayson, and I'm the Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida's district eight. And I'm the attorney of record in every single case now pending in Federal court involving war profiteers in Iraq. These are cases in which I represent whistleblowers. The Florida civil rights association named me Humanitarian of the Year for my work in this regard, taxpayers against fraud named me lawyer of the year, and I've been featured in Vanity Fair magazine, in media like CBS evening news, 60 minutes, and even Dailykos, imagine that.

I'm running because I'm fed up with the government mismanagement, the Bush administration's shameless pandering to war profiteers. I think they set out on a deliberate course to make this war good for the people who were their friends. And I want to try to hold them accountable when I'm in Congress. When I'm in Congress... the Bush administration's worst nightmare is going to be me with subpoena power because I know everything that they've done, and I'm going to hold them accountable for it.

Right on. Here's a guy who is no-nonsense, unabashed and a great conduit for American anger and frustration at the military contractor feeding frenzy. This ad is pretty awesome, too.



Put this guy on the Oversight Committee, give him a staff, wind him up and watch him go.

Between Merkley, Grayson, Garcia and a host of other reform-minded, tough progressive Democrats, I think we can actually vote our consciences this year, and donate to candidates who will defend our principles.

FL-25: Proving His Thesis

So Joe Garcia, a House candidate in South Florida who I really like, produced his first ad of the year hitting Mario Diaz-Balart for focusing solely on anti-Castro rhetoric and Cuba policy at the expense of everything else.



In response, Diaz-Balart... accuses Garcia of taking money from Castro.

And this is where it gets ridiculous: Mario Diaz-Balart's campaign has coupled this release with a whisper campaign that says we're taking donations from the Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro regimes. In the past few days, our campaign has received numerous calls about this.

They're claiming it's coming in the form of contributions lower than $200, which no campaign is required to report the provenance or identity of.

Still, it's pretty amusing that Diaz-Balart's response proves Garcia's point, no?

This is going to be a race to watch.

FL-25: Classy Guy, That Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Today's action by the Republicans, to force a vote in the middle of the Capitol memorial service for Tom Lantos, was truly reprehensible, but not surprising. Look what radio talker Michael Savage had to say about Lantos this week:

Discussing the recent death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Michael Savage stated during the February 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, "You're not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn't do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I'll make an exception. I think he was one of the most -- he was a scoundrel. And I'll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life."

Of all the people to detest - Tom Lantos, who did nothing but seek to protect and defend human rights his entire life. Your modern conservative movement, ladies and gentlemen.

Meanwhile, the Republican who called for the vote was Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), and this could be a major part of his re-election campaign. He has a legitimate challenger - Raul Martinez, the mayor of Hialeah and part of a new generation of Cubans who aren't as knee-jerk Republican as they have been in the past. I don't know if there's any kind of Jewish population in this district, but I'm quite sure they won't like the fact that their Congressman interrupted the memorial service for the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress. Raul Martinez would do well to make this an issue.

UPDATE: Diaz-Balart gives his side of the story:



And the Florida Democratic Party is all over this:

"Everyone from the Israeli Foreign Minister to Condoleezza Rice to Bono took time out to mourn the loss of this respected Holocaust survivor and Congressman, but apparently, even a memorial service can't stop Lincoln Diaz-Balart from playing politics," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Alejandro Miyar said. "This is simply shameful."

"The disrespect that has been shown by a Republican member of Congress in calling a political procedural motion during the memorial service for the late Chairman Tom Lantos is incomprehensible," Stacey Bernards, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, told Politico. "It is unjustifiable, and Republican leaders should restrict their members from further such action."

Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in the U.S. Congress, represented California's 12th District for almost 28 years. He died of esophageal cancer Monday at the age of 80.

I think this could be the final indignation that sets off the Democratic leadership, but I've been thinking that for a while now, so they could of course start cowering again as soon as tomorrow.

UPDATE II: More good stuff from Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), one of my favorite freshman lawmakers:

In November of 2006, the American people decided to give the Democrats control of the House of Representatives and the Congress. I was fortunate enough to be elected as one of the 43 new Democrats in that class. And many people said in examining that election, "Oh, we were elected because of the War in Iraq." But that's not what I heard. What I heard when I was campaigning in 2006 and I think most of my colleagues in this class would say the same thing is, we want to return to the tenets of the Constitution. We want to restore the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers prescribed. We want to make sure that this President and every President is held accountable, is not above the law.

I'm almost proud to be a Democrat today, except for the dismissal of the need to end the war and all that.

UPDATE III: Ooooh...

"Amd so Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we put into the record at this point CNN.com news, 'Phone Companies Cut FBI Wiretaps Due to Unpaid Bills.' A lot's been said about what some call 'patriotic phone companies.' Are these the same companies that cut off the FBI FISA wiretaps because the FBI hadn't paid its phone bill? This is breaking news. I ask unanimous consent that we examine this issue and that we include it in the ones in the 21-day period."

But you're forgetting about the spirit of volunteerism!

Some of this is off-topic, but it seems like a good repository for statements by Democrats with backbone. I don't know if it was Al Wynn's loss or what, but Democrats are off the mat and fighting today.