Whose Side Is Steny Hoyer Really On-- People Or Corporations?

Good news: Steny Hoyer likes dogs.
Bad news: He loves Blue Dogs.

Tomorrow morning Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will be working hard to help elect an extremely conservative Democrat, Lori Edwards-- the only non-incumbent endorsed by the Blue Dog caucus-- to an open seat in Florida's 12th CD. Doug Tudor is the grassroots Democrat who ran in 2008, did well and is running again. Doug would align himself with the working family interests the Democratic Party traditionally stands for. Edwards is, at best, a "business Democrat" who could reasonably be expected to vote with her chief sponsor, Allen Boyd, against things like Social Security and healthcare reform.

At 8:30 am Hoyer and Edwards will be slobbering down sausage, bacon, ham and eggs and collecting checks from corrupt businessmen at the Tampa offices of one of the largest and most disreputable lobbying firms in America, Holland and Knight (at 100 North Tampa Street). Hoyer is trying to squeeze $2,400 contributions from the attendees, all of whom will be looking for future "favors" from the sleazy Hoyer and, on the off chance she wins the primary and the general election, from the hapless Blue Dog.

Meanwhile Holland and Knight's PAC has been handing out bribes contributions to try to influence votes that impact its clients. Among the conservatives on this year's Holland and Knight gravy train, where Hoyer and his Blue Dog will be feted tomorrow, are Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA, $2,000), John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA, $2,000), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN, $2,000), Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK, $2,000), Vern Buchanan (R-FL, $5,000), Congress' most corrupt Republican, Ken Calvert (R-CA, $500, a cheap date), Eric Cantor (R-VA, $3,500), Phil Gingrey (R-GA, $3,000), Parker Griffith (Blue Dog/R- AL, $1,000), Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN, $1,000), Steny Hoyer (D-MD, $3,500), Darrell Issa (R-Toyota, $1,000), Jack Kingston (R-GA, $3,000), Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT, $3,500), Glenn Nye (Blue Dog-VA, $2,000), Mike Pence (R-IN, $1,000), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN, $1,000), Paul Ryan (R-WI, $1,500), Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH, $1,000), and (bad investment) Bart Stupak (RIP, $2,500).

Lori Edwards would have no chance fighting it out in a primary against Tudor on her own. He pulverized her so badly in the one debate she agreed to that she's turned down all other invitations to debate, regardless of which Democrat clubs or nonpartisan organizations have invited her. All she's got are corporate shills like Hoyer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz shaking down lobbyists for her. Blue America has endorsed Doug Tudor, and we're raising money for him on our PAC's main page. Please consider helping to balance the lobbyists that Hoyer brings in tomorrow morning by making a contribution to Doug. Even $5 and $10 contributions will help him get his message out.

I asked Doug what his take is on the Hoyer breakfast tomorrow, and he was his good old unflappable self:

Lori won’t face the voters or her fellow Democrats, because she is too busy sucking up to Washington insiders and corporate lobbyists. She’s Washington’s choice, but I am working everyday to be the people’s choice. It’s interesting to see her attend an event at 8:30 on a Monday, when she is supposed to be at work in the job to which she was elected in 2008 and now wants to abandon two years early.

There's another perspective on this too. I asked Andrew Gall, the Maryland Democrat who is running a primary challenge to Hoyer, what he thinks of Hoyer helping Blue Dogs and conservative Democrats-- mostly incumbents-- around the country. He had an interesting way of looking at it:

Hoyer's travels around the country in support of corporatist and unnecessarily conservative congressional candidates harms our country and is indicative of how Hoyer operates. Primaries are arguably the best feature of American democracy. They allow outsiders to challenge incumbents, thereby providing voters the opportunity to hold their elected officials accountable for poor actions without having to compromise their values or principles by voting for a Republican. As Hillary's challenge to Obama demonstrated, primaries don't hurt candidates, they make them stronger and more prepared for a general election. Yet, Majority Leader Hoyer travels the country in an attempt to stamp out these flames of democracy.

He does this for the same reason he voted for the Iraq War. He does this for the same reason he retroactively granted immunity to telecoms for illegally spying on American citizens. He does this for the same reason he does everything these days. He does it for political expedience. He doesn't have the gall to stand up for good policy because he is too concerned with politics. He is constantly looking to advance himself politically instead of consistently looking to advance the the interests of Americans and American democracy.

Moreover, Hoyer's success in prolonging the careers of corporate Democrats points to a bigger problem-- the role of money in politics today. Incumbents have built in advantages with high name recognition, easy access to press, and the ability to travel their district, hold events promoting themselves, and send direct mail to voters all on the tax-payer dime. These advantages are exacerbated by our system of privately funded elections. Hoyer is successful in re-electing these corporate Democrats because he is able to raise so much money. He is able to raise so much money because he is able to secure votes for his funders. As long as we have a system that requires candidates to raise tremendous sums from private interests, we will continue to see Majority Leader Hoyer travel the country in support of Democrats that will vote for these private interests. That is why I am running to end Hoyer's corporate complicity and to enact a system of robust public financing of elections.