Russ Feingold Is Looking For BETTER Democrats

This morning Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund launched a new effort to spotlight and support 9 Democratic challengers, only one of whom are on Debbie Wasserman Schultz' corrupt and widely discredited Red to Blue list. Senator Feingold-- unlike most of the behind-the-scenes power brokers in the DCCC Establishment voted against retroactive immunity for Telecom executives. These lawbreakers have been huge campaign donors for corrupt Republicans and for corrupt Democrats-- of course, McCain was their # 1 recipient, but, aside from presidential candidates, this year's biggest Telecom bribes went to immunity proponents Jay Rockefeller (D-WV- $53,000), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL- $49,950), and Ted Stevens (R-AK- $41,400)-- and the legislation was only able to pass because corrupt Democratic leaders like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel, Jim Clyburn and Nancy Pelosi skulked across the aisle with enough Democrats so that Bush's FISA bill could be enacted.

Feingold seems to understand that what America needs is not just more Democrats to take orders from a hideous monstrosity like Rahm Emanuel but better Democrats who are capable of thinking for themselves and serving the interests of working families, not of the special interests that finance the political careers of the Hoyers and Emanuels of the Beltway Establishment. Although, in the interests of self perpetuation, the crooked DCCC power brokers have included some progressive and grassroots candidates on their list of recommended candidates-- Victoria Wulsin, Jim Himes, Tom Perriello, Joe Garcia, Eric Massa, Judy Baker, Martin Heinrich, Jon Powers, Mark Schauer, Bob Lord, Charlie Brown, Darcy Burner, Judy Feder, Larry Kissell, Dan Maffei, Ashwin Madia, and Gary Peters are commendable standouts-- much of the list reads like a hall of shame from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. It is stuffed full of shills and reactionaries like Paul Carmouche (LA), Ethan Berkowitz (AK), Christine Jennings (FL), Gerry Connolly (VA), Suzanne Kosmas (FL), Bobby Bright (AL), Michael McMahon (NY), Kathy Dahlkemper (PA), Steve Dreihaus (OH), Don Cravins (LA), Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), Harry Teague (NM) and Frank Kratovil (MD), Blue Dogs and corporatists who are as likely to vote against the interests of every day folks as any Republican.

You hear Democratic Party apologists whining that the districts these people are running in are "so conservative" and "so backward" that we have to run reactionary quasi-Republicans. That was Emanuel's lame excuse last cycle for opposing John Hall, Jerry McNerney, Carol Shea-Porter-- all of whom are members of Congress today, voting against Emanuel's and Hoyer's rightist diktats, after having beaten back their puppet primary candidates and entrenched Republican incumbents. Had Emanuel not interfered we would have had Representatives Larry Kissell, Christine Cegelis, Jan Schneider, and Dave Lutrin voting against the war and against disgraces like FISA instead of Republicans (and a proto-Republican in the case of Tim Mahoney) voting with Emanuel and Hoyer and against the Democratic majority for the war and for the FISA bill.

Feingold gets it; Van Hollen and Wasserman Schultz don't. Please go vote in Feingold's contest. There are five great Blue America candidates included:

Sam Bennett (PA-15)
Larry Joe Doherty (TX-10)
Judy Feder (VA-10)
Dennis Shulman (NJ-05)
Annette Taddeo (FL-18)

Each is a fantastic choice and each can use the $5,000 prize Feingold is offering.