Anyone Can Claim To Be A Democrat, But Not Every Democrat Embraces The Party's Core Values

Growing up in Brooklyn in the '60s, I wasn't always a big fan of the Democratic Party. In Brooklyn that's where corruption lived. And in terms of the issues that mattered most to me-- equality and peace-- some Democrats were on the same page as I was but many-- particularly powerful committee chairmen (and not only from The South-- were as far from my beliefs as the Republicans. Things have gotten better since the worst racists in the party migrated en masse to the GOP after Lyndon Johnson started signing legislation that integrated the country for real. The Solid South was still solid-- but now for the Republicans. Good riddance! But they left some behind.

People tend to think gay legislators are all progressive because they're gay. That's absurd on face value. Sure, they're usually very progressive on LGBT issues but sometimes it stops right there. Ironically, the congressman with the single most progressive voting record in Congress, Madison's Mark Pocan, is gay. His ProgressivePunch Lifetime curial vote score is 98.74. But the single worst Democrat in the House claims to be a lesbian or bisexual, Arizona Blue Dog Kyrsten Sinema. Her wretched score is 31.79. And the third worst Democrat in Congress is Sean Patrick Maloney (New Dem-NY) with a score of 32.70. This year two Republicans, Walter Jones (NC) and Chris Gibson (NY) have more progressive scores than either Maloney or Sinema.

As you know, Blue America doesn't back run of the mill, garden variety Democrats, not to mention the really awful ones like Sinema and Maloney. We back values-steeped progressives, regardless of sexual orientation. In the open Oklahoma City congressional seat, we've endorsed Tom Guild, a stalwart progressive who is being challenged by a conservative gay Democratic state legislator, Al McAffrey. (You can contribute to Tom's campaign here.)

Thursday, McAffrey voted for House Bill 2562 in the Oklahoma State Senate. It sets tax on oil and gas production at 2% for the first 36 months of production and 7% thereafter. The progressive view in Oklahoma-- and even among some wealthy Republican oilies in the state-- was 7% from day one. The “compromise” that McAffrey voted for was 2% for the first 36 months instead of the first 48 months. He is one of just two Democrats in the state senate who voted with the Republicans on the bill. It's a massive giveaway to the oil and gas barons and it takes untold millions of dollars out of the state budget for funding education, mental health, highways, and other desperately needed programs.

As Tom Guild told us, "This is yet another clear difference between someone who is currently in public office, and part of the problem-- not the solution-- and me. Vote like your life depends on it... because it does!"

June 24 is primary day. Tom Guild is a progressive because he believes in progressive values. Here's his current TV ad.