Why Does Digby Want To Burn Down The Old Boys Club? Why?

Digby sent out the weekly Blue America letter to our membership yesterday. She called it, "Two Strong Women Are About To Make History-- And Turn The U.S. Senate On Its Head" and it was an especially potent message. If you've ever contributed to a Blue America candidate, you got this yesterday. (If you haven't wand want to get our weekly e-mails, even one dollar puts you on the list. You can contribute here or on any of our dozen or so pages.) As Digby pointed out, you were probably getting inundated with letters from Democrats this weekend begging for money for yet another end of the quarter "deadline." We at Blue America don't do that, especially since the only deadline worth worrying about at this point is election day a month from now.

But we do want to draw your attention to a couple of races that are starting to look very good as we go into the final stretch. And these aren't just any races, they are Senate races featuring two progressive women whose victories will set the entire political establishment back on its collective heels: Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin. The polls are tight, but at the moment of this writing these two stalwart progressive women are leading their Republican rivals. [A brand new Boston Globe poll that came out after the debate shows Elizabeth leading her racist rival, Scott Brown 43-38%.]

It cannot be overstated how earth shaking these two wins would be for the progressive movement. Baldwin will be the first openly gay Senator and Warren will be the first woman ever elected to the Senate from Massachusetts. And needless to say, adding two more women to the meager seventeen who are currently serving is a laudable and necessary goal in itself.

But there's more to it than that. Warren and Baldwin aren't just good progressives, although they are that. They are progressive leaders dedicated to changing the dynamic within the Democratic party as much as the political system at large. In both their policy positions and their rhetoric they are charting a new course.

For instance, you've undoubtedly heard about the furious activity happening behind the scenes in Washington to put in place a Grand Bargain to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. Democrats nearly universally describe their negotiating position as a "balanced approach," which means some combination of cuts to vital programs in exchange for asking millionaires to chip in "a little bit more." Those of us who are paying attention are very much aware that this is bad deal for average citizens and we recoil at the very term "balanced approach."

Not Baldwin and Warren. Both of them are happy to say they prefer a balanced approach, but they explicitly redefine the meaning in progressive terms.

Here's Warren in her recent debate with Senator Scott Brown:

"What we need is a balanced approach. Yes, we've got to cut some spending-- agricultural subsidies, cuts in the Pentagon's budget, end the war in Afghanistan, go after waste and abuse. But we've also got to ask the wealthy and the big corporations to pay their fair share of taxes."

Tammy Baldwin said this in her debate last week with Ex-Governor Tommy Thompson:

"I think it's important we have a balanced approach to moving our economy forward, as well as paying down our national debt. It's why I believe we should get out of Afghanistan and end corporate subsidies to big oil. It's why we should get rid of Tommy Thompson's sweetheart deal for the drug companies that cost us so dearly."

That's a Grand Bargain Blue America can get behind!

Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin will join Senators Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown and Jeff Merkley in forming a progressive phalanx to protect working families, the battered middle class and the most vulnerable among us. But they have also shown throughout their careers that they have what it takes to stand up to the blustering bullies of both parties who are committed to the status quo.

These two women aren't going to Washington to try to break down the doors of the old Boys Club so they can join it. They are outsiders who want to close that clubhouse down for good.

If you can help Warren and Baldwin as they go down the stretch, you'll not only help change  Washington, you'll help make history. Please give what you can.

We're all in this together ...