There's Something Special Happening In The Orlando Area But You Won't Hear About It On Fox & Cox

As you know, Blue America has endorsed Alan Grayson's 2012 bid for a congressional seat. There's no reason to believe the DCCC will help him next year; they certainly didn't help him in 2010 and there are some who have noticed that they've recruited a conservative, religionist to run a primary campaign against him-- the former police chief who was arresting people for feeding the homeless in public parks, a DCCC type of candidate. Nevertheless, the DCCC has financed some robocalls this week against Taliban Dan Webster, the far right ideologue who is currently representing Orlando. Here's the text of the ad:

“Hi, this is Travis calling on behalf of the DCCC. Congressman Daniel Webster and Speaker Boehner would rather our economy default just to protect tax breaks for Big Oil companies and billionaire jet-owners. Republicans quit negotiating with President Obama on raising the debt ceiling.

“This is serious. Webster’s billionaire buddies will be ok. But we will pay the price if government can’t pay its bills. Our Social Security and Medicare benefits are at risk. Interest rates would spike for our credit cards, car loans, and mortgages. Our 401(k) retirement accounts would drop. And, gas and food prices would skyrocket.

“Enough is enough. Call Congressman Daniel Webster... and tell him not to gamble our future to protect tax breaks for Big Oil and billionaires.

Now, please scroll back up to the video above, a radio interview Grayson did last week with Adam Klugman, host of Portland's seminal radio show Mad As Hell In America. The whole exchange between Grayson and Klugman is wonderful-- how would you like to have radio like this in your town instead of the nonstop right-wing propaganda barrage?-- but I want to go to an answer Grayson gave at the end to a caller asking about more and better Democrats:

We need both more and better Democrats. But Karl Rove has to some extent taken care of that problem for us by knocking off 28 out of the 54 Blue Dog members in Congress. The caucus barely exists anymore. What's going to happen is, over time people are going to see that the only winning strategy for a Democrat is to be a Democrat-- and to be a proud Democrat.

And in another Orlando-area district we have a proud Democrat, Nick Ruiz, running in the 24th CD against right-wing zombie Sandy Adams. Yesterday, commenting on the debt ceiling negotiations Nick-- who was the first candidate endorsed by Blue America for this cycle-- Nick urged President Obama to "shock us and do something progressive; something unabashedly Democratic. After all, to be a Democrat, is to be progressive." He's the kind of independent-minded progressive that makes the DCCC nervous. They want the same kind of party hack automatons-- like Sandy Adams is for the GOP-- not principled freethinkers who feel their only allegiance is to the working families from their districts. Nick:

The reason Obama was elected in 2008, the first African-American president in American history, was that he talked the talk of progressive politics… sort of. Let’s face it: he looked more progressive than he actually talked. And Lord knows, looks aren’t everything. Democrats took the bait like a marlin in the open sea. And now they’re hooked and flailing about.

With all this talk of debt-- what say you? Cut the New Deal? That’s their answer. What’s yours?

Like flowers that bend toward the sun-- BHO’s domestic policy is bent on Wall Street. Whereas, domestic policy should revolve around Main Street. I would tell House Republicans that default is not an option. Cutting the New Deal is not an option. We will raise the ceiling and we will expand the New Deal in this time of need. With or without you.

To the Senate Democrats I would say-– the politics of weakness is a politics of failure. Start acting like Democrats, or start looking for another line of work.

The American people want representation-– not bogus advertisements of solidarity.

The DCCC isn't going to help us get people like Alan Grayson or Nick Ruiz into Congress. We have to do it ourselves. Can you help make Congress less the playground of transpartisan crooked lobbyists and oligarchs?