INSIDE THE BELTWAY SPOILERS THREATEN THE INTEGRITY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Mags lives far from Connecticut and far from the Beltway. Her commonsense, grassroots perspective on the Lieberman-Lamont senate race goes right to the core of why this challenge is a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party-- and for the soul of our nation.

I remember right after the 2000 election when to mention Ralph Nader was to incur the wrath of any Democrat. The theory was that it was Ralph’s fault that Gore/Lieberman lost in 2000, and no amount of arguing that they actually DID win, or that Ralph had a right to run would stop the tirade of insults hurled at anyone who dared to suggest that going left was the direction we needed to head nationally. Gore was very DLC, and Lieberman was even more DLC than Al. Thankfully Al Gore has been speaking out forcefully and eloquently, and moving out of those circles. But, that's another story.

As CT shapes up to be not just a race not to miss, it is also a microcosm of what is happening today in Democratic Party politics. And, what we are seeing there is not pretty. The very idea that some in the Democratic leadership would not support the candidate who wins the Democratic primary is astounding. The idea that ANY elected Democrat would not support the candidate democratically nominated by Connecticut's Democrats is preposterous. It boggles the mind.

For years now, we have been schooled-- even hectored-- on how important it is that we fix the party from within rather than bolt from it. We do not want another Nader, we want a unified Democratic Party that has the momentum and the grassroots support to win. Even though we know that there are more progressive ideas in the Green Party we also know that the neoconservative movement will bring down our democracy in short order if we sacrifice our vote to conscience alone. Even Mike Malloy will tell you that.

What the grassroots is doing, and with success I might add, is to field candidates within the Democratic Party who are not afraid to be Democrats. These candidates are strongly aligned with the people, they are not DC insiders. DC insiders appear to be aligned more with powerful Big Business interests and with the moneyed classes and not with the interests of the people. This is not an easy fight, and no one involved thought it would be. They knew it would be tough, and that it would take perseverance and guts to fight the Democratic Machine. But, knowing this, the people out here, believed it was worth the struggle. They believed that they needed to stop complaining and field candidates that more closely represented their views, and that they needed to support that candidate. This the very essence of Democracy, isn't it?

How can any Democrat currently in office even think of supporting Lieberman if he bolts the party? How is that possible? How can they be a worthy representative of the people if they cannot work within their own party to support the wishes of the people? If ANY, and I do mean ANY Democratic leader supports Joe Lieberman after a loss in the primary, they will pull us all down into the muck with them. The whole Democratic Party and those of us who have stuck with the Democratic Party after much soul searching would be a laughing stock. Karl Rove and his minions will have a field day with it. Such a move by Schumer, Salazar or any other Democrat in DC would be an outlandish betrayal of the democratic process.

It has long been understood that DC is like a company and that those who work there work with each other, and that they are more concerned about their working relationships than their relationships with the people they represent. However, supporting Lieberman after a loss in the primaries is misstep that is unforgivable. It is time to put their loyalties where their talking points are.

We cannot allow Democrats to become the spoilers within their own party. Such moves can only divide the party. If the leaders do that, look for the people to do likewise. What the leaders need to do is to look at who they are and what they represent and ask themselves if perhaps they should heed the lessons learned from the grassroots popularity of candidates like Lamont, Hackett, and Tester ….just to name a few. Maybe they need to look at how popular the folks who buck Bush become.


The people everywhere are speaking and they are NOT saying move the party more to the left (even thought that is the direction we must go), they are saying that at least let us get back to our own CENTER. If Schumer and Lieberman want to go right, then let them, but let them do it without the D next to their names. Let them go the way of Zell Miller, and good riddance to them. But, for the sake of the party let them NOT be called Democrats.

-Mags


UPDATE: REPUBLICANS SCURRY TO RESCUE THEIR MAN IN CONNECTICUT

Chris Shays, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Bill Buckley and George Bush aren't the only Republicans working hard to make sure Joe Lieberman retains his senate seat (so he can continue fighting tooth and nail, often behind the scenes, for the Republican/corporate agenda). According to the NEW HAVEN REGISTER, this morning Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said "We are seeing an increased number of unaffiliated voters switching to Democratic to vote in the primary" and several registrars are reporting that Republicans are asking if they can switch parties in order to vote in the August 8 Democratic primary. Unfortunately for Lieberman and Bush, the base of Lieberman's support won't be able to help him maintain the farce that he's a Democrat in this blue, blue state. The deadline for switching from one party to the other is 3 months before the voting. May 8 was the last day any of Joe's core constituents could have made the switch to stand by their man. (Hat Tip to Tom Tomorrow.)