WHY I'M GLAD WE RAISED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FOR JOHN HALL LAST YEAR AND NOT NICK LAMPSON

Last night Ken and I were commiserating about how difficult it is to know what the members of the 110th Congress have actually been up to so far. There just haven't been enough votes to see patterns yet. Some of the real progressive stars have started to emerge, like Steve Cohen from Memphis, Carol Shea-Porter from New Hampshire, and Jerry McNerney here in California, for example. But the empirical evidence in terms of votes on tough bills, sponsored legislation, etc is too scanty and inconclusive. Some hints were available from day one when some of the newly elected members ran to join the Blue Dogs and/or Ellen Tauscher's DLC right-wing splinter group, the New Democratic Caucus, while others-- the ones predisposed towards progressive values and ideals-- joined the Congressional Progressive Caucus. But even with choosing up teams, the story is far from complete.

The best way to know who is keeping promises and who is doing a good job, however, is to watch closely... and patiently. Most votes don't tell us much-- other than the all-important fact that every Democrat, no matter how horrible, is better than even the "best" or least monstrous Republican. Today's 9/11 Commission vote in the Senate was important in making the distinction between the Democratic brand and the Republican brand. Every single Democrat voted in favor of approving the bill already overwhelmingly passed in the House as part of Speaker Pelosi's First 100 Hours Agenda. And although a handful of Republicans abandoned their extreme right-wing lunatic leadership to vote with the Democrats-- giving the bill a 60-38 win-- the McConnell's hackish Republican leadership tried to stop the bill from passing. OK, Democrats are better than Republicans-- but this kind of vote tells us nothing about why Max Baucus and Ben Nelson barely are Democrats at all-- and why Joe Lieberman was drummed out of the party-- though not the Insider faction of the party-- entirely.

Something that will probably never make the newspapers happened during the debate, however, that is more revealing. Harry Reid, the Democratic Majority Leader, in summarizing the bill made an off-the-cuff remark, trying to bolster the bill's mainstream appeal-- although the last I saw over 90% of Americans already approved it. "No one can accuse former Congressman Tim Roehmer of being a 'wild-eyed liberal'-- he's a 'moderate' from Indiana..." Thanks Reid, for further pushing Karl Rove's talking points about liberals. We need leaders who know how to think on their feet. Let me quote from today's FDL comments on the matter:

Harry Reid made that statement in order to try to give credibility to the efforts Roehmer contributed behind the scenes in the drafting of this bill, and thus to the bill itself. It's like shooting ducks in a barrel for the Republicans... They must howl with laughter behind closed doors at the pathetic efforts and cluelessness of their Democratic "opposition" in Congress. [Reid also made sure to call the longtime Lieberman/Collins lovefest a 'model' of how the Senate committee chairs and ranking members should collaborate. We simply can't teach that old dog any new tricks.]

Coming on top of Dave Obey's "you idiot liberals" hurled at a wounded Marine's mother, we can see the absolutely disgraceful level of failure to which the Democrats have descended in the propaganda
wars. Harry Reid is simply incapable of absorbing the lessons that Americans have been screaming from the rooftops for years now. It is in one ear, out the other for him. He hasn't the least clue how to sell a message, how to take a stand, how to fight back. Not the least clue.

Today Stoller put up a list of the Blue Dogs who helped sabotage the no attack on Iran clause in the bill Nancy Pelosi has been trying to craft. Although most on the list were the Rahm Emanuel shills like Baron Hill (IN), Tim Mahoney (FL), and Heath Shuler (NC) and the usual suspects, who tend to vote with Republicans almost as much as with Democrats-- Gene Taylor (MS), Mike McIntyre (NC), Jim Marshall (GA), Jim Cooper (TN), Bud Cramer (AL), Dan Boren (OK), John Barrow (GA), Melissa Bean (IL)-- there were some real disappointments as well, freshmen who were supported last year by Blue America and to whom we donated thousands of dollars: Kirsten Gillibrand and Joe Sestak. Lesson learned-- although it may be a very narrow lesson indeed.

That said, I'm damn proud that Blue America supported John Hall in the last cycle-- and relieved we passed on the drumbeat to jump on the Nick Lampson bandwagon. Am I happy to see Lampson representing the Texas seat instead of DeLay or some DeLay clone? No doubts-- not a one. This morning's Hot Line talked about the differences between a progressive Democrat like John Hall and a... well... a less than progressive Democrat, endangered in a red, red district.

Reps. Nick Lampson (D-TX) and John Hall (D-NY) are among 30 Dems who won seats from GOPers in '06, giving their party a 15-seat majority. And for cong. Dems, finding Iraq proposals that lawmakers such as Lampson and Hall will both agree to-- "and that won't imperil their support back home-- is vital in their hopes of retaining power" in '08.

Lampson says that he would not vote for any measure that 'constrains' Bush's ability to wage war. Lampson: 'It's my feeling that my constituents do not support restraining funds for our troops, and they don't support, nor do I support, artificial timelines for withdrawing our troops.' Hall, meanwhile, belongs to the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is an ally of MoveOn.org. He says he will not back a 'war without end, and wants U.S. troops home by the end of '07.

Both these guys are in districts where the Republicans have the advantage in registered voters. I hope they both win. Like I said, I hope every Democrat beats every Republican for every office. But you can expect Blue America to be raising money for John Hall and other like-minded Democrats who stand for something that is different from what Republicans stand for.


UPDATE: ACTION ITEM TO REMEMBER FOR NOVEMBER 2008

If you're one of the 90% of Americans who think the 9/11 Commission's suggestions should be made into law in order to make America safer, you'll want to remember some names next time we go to the ballot box. First and foremost is the one coward who played hooky on this: Mr. Double Talk Express John McCain. As I said earlier all Democrats voted "yes." The Republicans who voted against the bill who have to face voters next year are

• Alexander (R-TN)
• Chambliss (R-GA)
• Cochran (R-MS)
• Cornyn (R-TX)
• Craig (R-ID)
• Domenici (R-NM)
• Enzi (R-WY)
• Graham (R-SC)
• Hagel (R-NE)
• Inhofe (R-OK)
• McConnell (R-KY)
• Roberts (R-KS)
• Sessions (R-AL)
• Sununu (R-NH)
• Warner (R-VA)

Coleman (R-MN), Collins (R-ME), Dole (R-NC), and Smith (R-OR) were too scared of their constituents to vote the GOP line on this one.