Jim DeMint Still Too Scared To Debate Eric Massa

2 proud sons of South Carolina who made different decisions about what to do with their lives

South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint was born in Greenville in September, 1951. Eight years later, September, 1959, Eric Massa was born in Charleston. Two sons of South Carolina-- but on very different tracks. The son of a career naval officer, Eric Massa's life has been dedicated to serving his country. Long before being elected as the congressman from an Upstate New York district, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and then served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years, wrapping up a distinguished military career as aide to NATO Supreme Allied Commander, General Wesley Clark. He ran for office as a staunch supporter of working families, particularly in regard to universal health coverage and the kind of FAIR trade that encourages domestic job growth, rather than the misnamed "free trade" that has seen millions of good-paying American jobs shipped overseas.

DeMint is the product of a tragic divorce and a hellish religious education. Though a right-wing hawk, he carefully avoided the Vietnam War and military service and, after college and its many deferments, went to work doing marketing research, starting his own firm and always known to be in pursuit of financial advancement. He ran for Congress on a platform extolling greed, selfishness, dog whistle bigotry and elitism.

Now in the U.S. Senate, DeMint is the leader of the obstructionist bloc that has formed around the idea of doing everything in their power to hinder the normal functioning of government in the hope of sabotaging Obama's presidency. As we pointed out on Monday, more and more Americans are losing patience with DeMint's cavalier attitude towards the security of the country as he pursues his partisan agenda. His Democratic opponent for the South Carolina Senate seat, Chad McGowan, has called on DeMint to stop putting his politics ahead of the nation's safety. Alan Grayson and Rush Holt have deconstructed the right-wing talking points that try to project Republican national security failures onto President Obama. Massa has gone even further, calling DeMint out as a coward and challenging him to a national security debate. On the Ed Schultz show a few days ago, Massa even offered to do it on DeMint's home turf (Fox News) so he would feel less frightened. Yesterday he did a video for Crooks and Liars reiterating the thus far unanswered challenge to the chickenhawk DeMint:



Republicans have targeted Massa and he's up against a multimillionaire self-funder. If you can help this courageous American hero, please contribute to his re-election campaign here.