Does "Progressive" Mean Something Else In Oklahoma? Meet Joe Dorman, Rachel Maddow's Idea Of A Progressive Candidate For Governor

I ran into a neighbor, one of the world's most talented drummers, the other day and he asked me if the DCCC is as bad as I say it is on my blog. "Even worse," I assured him, telling him about quintessential Steve Israel recruit Jennifer Garrison. He asked me to suggest some candidates he could contribute to who were the opposite of Garrison. I suggested the 2 Blue America candidates in the L.A. area, Eloise Reyes and Lee Rogers since he could meet either one of them if he wanted to. And then I remembered his family is from Oklahoma. So I sent him some information about Tom Guild, the progressive Democrat running against right-wing extremist James Lankford in Oklahoma City. "There are still Democrats in Oklahoma?" he asked. "Progressive Democrats? I thought they were extinct!"

Absolutely, I assured him. Real progressives, not even Republican-lite Democrats like George Bush's favorite fake Democrat, Blue Dog and former Oklahoma Congressman Dan Boren. And then the following evening, this remarkable report from Rachel Maddow on the new progressive Democrat running for governor of Oklahoma, state Rep. Joe Dorman. I'm not sure who does Rachel's research but when I looked at his voting record, it didn't look even remotely "progressive." I'm sure he's better than Mary Fallin, a notorious wing nut and he's a progressive on tornado shelters for public schools but he seems to have voted with the Republicans on all their godawful abortion legislation that Maddow is always-- and rightfully so-- railing against, their bill to allow school employees to carry handguns on school property and with them on their draconian anti-immigrant bill, as well as their reactionary repeal of the estate tax. He skipped out on the vote the legislature took on March 13 to prohibit enforcement of the Affordable Care Act and he was a cosponsor of the state's ALEC-inspired Stand Your Ground law. Last year he got a 100% from the NRA and the year before they rated him an A+.

Watch the video up top. It's exciting to think of a progressive running against Fallin. Dorman seemed like a nice guy and he may well be a good Democratic candidate, and God knows Oklahoma schools need tornado shelters. I spoke to half a dozen progressives I know in Oklahoma. Every one of them agreed that the only way Dorman could be viewed as a "progressive" would be in comparison to Fallin (or R.J. Harris, the other "Democrat" in the race, an "ex"-Republican and Ron Paul cultist who ran against Tom Cole in 2012). The administrator of Progressive Oklahoma refused to endorse Joe Dorman and garden variety Democrats are giving her a hard time. She posted his voting record to explain her decision. She says people who “like” his page to get him to run are now “liking” Progressive Oklahoma. She posted a troll alert.

But what's important here is that the word, "progressive" means something-- and Dorman's not it. I expect Maddow to hold herself and her staff to higher standards than the usual cast of morons who dominate commercial television infotainment.