RAHM EMANUEL ABANDONS MOST OF THE GOOD CANDIDATES-- LEAVES THEM TO THE GRASSROOTS

When this crap from Rahm Emanuel's anti-Democratic Inside the Beltway whorehouse arrived this week I tried to ignore it. But Tuesday I had my annual physical and my doctor said I was the most healthy he had ever seen me-- perfect cholesterol and blood pressure and all that stuff so I figured the little bit of pointless stress it will take me to discuss Emanuel's latest anti-grassroots ploy won't do me much harm.

First off, mixed in with Emanuel's corporate shills and puppet candidates are a number of really good, worthy candidates, including some on the Blue America List and some on the Netroots List. With one jarring exception (see photo of Rahm walking his pooch), this isn't about who is included; it is about who is excluded.

Rahm and his DCCC henchmen set the rules by asking us to choose our 3 faves from the list of "some of our hardest-working, most progressive campaigns who have shown they can win." Count the lies and count what Franken would call the weasels. Only in Emanuel's closed little Beltway World would some of these reactionaries be referred to as "progressive." Maybe you could call Ken Lucas a moderate. Maybe. A progressive... um, well compared to Tom DeLay or Mike Pence or John Doolittle, perhaps. And why is Heath Shuler a progressive? Because he finally tossed a coin and decided to run with a blue uniform instead of a red uniform? If I lived in their districts I'd probably be voting for Nick Lampson, Ron Klein, Mike Weaver, Baron Hill, Brad Ellsworth, Tammy Duckworth, Joe Donnelly but I'd be voting for them knowing what they are: bona fide moderates. Is that something the DCCC is ashamed of so that they have to call them progressives?

And these people "have shown they can win?" Is that so? Let's start with Rahm's pooch. Christine Jennings has only shown she can lose. Maybe it will be different this year-- in which case Democrats should coalesce around her moderate candidacy in the general. But guess what-- the Florida primary is on September 5th and there is a real progressive and someone who has actually won among Democrats is running: Jan Schneider. But in the same way Emanuel conspired with Schumer to drive Paul Hackett out of the Ohio senate race and in the same way Emanuel and Hoyer drove so many good solid grassroots Democrats out of primaries around the country to make way for their corporate puppets, they are doing all they can to wreck Jan Schneider's campaign in Florida's 13th congressional district.

But, like I said, I want to write about who Emanuel left out of his e-mail. First and foremost is Jerry McNerney, the grassroots populist who slaughtered Emanuel's handpicked shill in the primary and is now polling better than Dirty Dick Pombo, arguably the man who should be the Democrat's #1 target in the entire Congress, the scumbag who wants to sell the National Parks. But Emanuel's oversized ego and fragile self-esteem would rather see Pombo win that have to admit he was wrong about the San Joaquin Valley race. Blood pressure is rising. Let me move north a bit to CA-04, home of someone as corrupt as DeLay, Lewis and Ney-- John Doolittle-- and of exemplary Fighting Dem challenger Charlie Brown. Missing-- not in action, but from Rahm's list of our prospective favorites. Oh, and speaking of Fighting Dems, what happened to John Laesch in Illinois and Eric Massa in New York? Too independent-minded for Emanuel. In fact, when you look at Schneider and McNerney and Brown and Laesch and Massa... what do they all have in common. They are INDEPENDENT MINDED, not a trait valued by would be bosses in insider boss-driven politics.

And you can't talk about independent-minded candidates without mentioning genuine American heroine, Coleen Rowley in Minnesota. But John Kline is probably more Emanuel's cup of tea than a squeaky wheel and powerful and unrelenting true believer like Coleen. Of course that description also conjures up Victoria Wulsin, the medical doctor and public health policy expert running neck and neck with Mean Jean Schmidt in OH-02. When John Edwards, following Emanuel's creepy, nefarious advise, left Larry Kissell (NC-08) off his similar list last month at least he was man enough to correct the mistake. Will Emanuel be? Not on your life!

And how grassroots of Rahm was it to let you write in a candidate! Not three candidates of course. But you can write in ONE. What an asshole! Any of the Blue America or Netroots candidates are worthy. I wrote in Jan Schneider because I knew she would be the most likely to raise Emanuel's blood pressure.