I Got A Call From A New Dem Friday

Not the New Dem who called me... but it could have been

A congressman who I used to talk to a few years ago-- before he was a congressman-- called me Friday. He said he felt badly because of the stuff I've been writing about him. I haven't really been writing about him much-- just reporting (usually without comment and never with any pejorative language) his ghastly votes. He said he felt bad because he likes me. I told him I felt bad because I like him. I haven't even asked the DWT art director to make a clown face for him. His excuses for voting badly were so sad... just like his excuse for joining the New Dems. He said it was because the district wasn't blue enough. Obama did substantially better in the district last November-- beating Romney by 7 points-- than he had against McCain. The district is turning bluer by the day-- more than almost any district in the country. The congressional caller told me he'd join the progressive caucus if he gets reelected. Why would they even want him with the kind of record he's amassed?

Anyway, he told me that he voted for the Republican Farm Bill because his district has farmers, although he agreed it's a terrible bill. What courage! He also said he offered to rescind his vote and vote against it but that Hoyer told him not to. Steny!

Coincidentally, right after we spoke, I got an e-mail from another New Dem, Ron Barber, who votes very much like the congressional caller. Here's the e-mail:

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber today issued a statement after the House voted 234-to-195 to reject the Farm Bill.

Barber was one of 24 Democrats who joined 171 Republicans in an effort to pass legislation that would have set the course for U.S. agriculture and food policy for the next five years.

Barber’s statement:

Today I voted for the Farm Bill. It’s a far-from-perfect bill, but it would have moved this process forward and toward a compromise. It would have extended national agricultural and nutrition programs for the next five years. These programs are important to Southern Arizona and my constituents.

This is unfortunately another example of how Congress is broken. We must come together to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill. We need to give certainty to American farmers and consumers by ensuring steady, dependable prices at the grocery store, relief for drought-stricken farms and critical investments in food assistance programs for those most in need.

I strongly oppose the proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and voted to restore those cuts. In Arizona, more than 1.1 million people-- 1 of every 6-- receive aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. More than 75 percent of those recipients are in families with children and nearly half are in working families.

I call on leadership in Congress to work together and bring a bipartisan Farm Bill to the floor that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law for the betterment of the American people and southern Arizona. The American people are calling on us to get something done. We need to take action now.

Wow, that was the exact same stuff my congressional caller told me. Did the New Dems tell them all to use those points? Or was it Hoyer? Steve Israel? I wonder if either of these guys ever met Alan Grayson. If not, they should. Neither was at Netroots Nation Friday, so they missed Grayson's and Digby's panel on Weak Democrats vs Strong Progressives. USW Blogger tweeted some of it though:

Adam Green's top 10 lessons learned in the fight to save Social Security from the Obama-Boehner Grand Bargain:

10- We cannot depend on party leadership, caucus leadership, or any others to lead. We need to invest in leaders who are willing to lead.

9- Sometimes outsiders are more strategic than insiders. Don't instinctively trust the experts.

8- Competent, progressive staffers inside Congress, matter immensely.

7- Activists having personal bonds with Members of Congress matters immensely.

6- A Member of Congress being truly bold in a partnership and talking to their colleagues on the House or Senate floor, matters immensely.

5- Many Democrats in Congress hide behind an "I don't take pledges" stance to avoid making promises that our country, our movement and their constituents need them to take. Debunking this stance is a strategic imperative for our movement.

4- In the Grayson-Takano push, progressives proved an inside/outside partnership model that works and can be replicated.

3- Progressives rewarded and invested in bold leaders, making them more powerful for the next fight.

2- The coalition built around the Grayson-Takano letter... provides the foundation for the next fight, expanding Social Security benefits, coming soon.

1- Progressives are perilously dependent on the Tea Party being batshitcrazy. Progressives in Congress have the ability to be an enormously powerful bloc if they are strategic and unified and our movement needs to help them build that power.