Tulsi Gabbard vs The Progressive Caucus

For more than a quarter-century, the Congressional Progressive Caucus has been doggedly working to advance liberal policy and opinion in Washington, with success even in times of conservative leadership.

The largest House Democratic caucus, the Progressive Caucus has repeatedly been able to block right-leaning legislation, while working to improve Democrats’ bills and positively influence public discourse.

The 1991 founding of the Congressional Progressive Caucus was a partnership of Bernie Sanders (I-VT), then his first term in the House; Patsy Mink (D-HI), the first woman of color elected to Congress; and several other liberal Members of Congress, including some who still serve in the House, such as Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

Meanwhile, the Gabbard family of Hawaii spent the ‘90s moving in another direction, in a tenacious but ultimately unsuccessful fight against marriage equality.

The Chicago Tribune reported on the Gabbards' marriage battle in a 1994 story:

"I think that the whole issue of same-sex marriage comes down to examining the values of family, and society has an interest in keeping families strong. The bedrock of family is marriage," said Mike Gabbard, president of the two main local groups opposing same-sex marriage, Common Sense Now and Stop Promoting Homosexuality Hawaii.

"To me, the whole thing is about acceptance," Gabbard said. "They want homosexual behavior to be accepted on a par with heterosexual behavior."

Mike Gabbard’s daughter Tulsi caught the political bug in early adulthood and was elected to the state legislature in 2002. Mike was also elected to the Honolulu City Council that year. Carol Gabbard (Mike’s wife and Tulsi’s mom) was already an elected member of the state Board of Education. All three Gabbards won their seats with anti-LGBTQ campaign messages. Even in tolerant Hawaii, those kinds of campaigns were effective in those days.

Tulsi’s unremarkable tenure as a young, inexperienced state legislator is remembered mostly for her crusade against anti-bullying efforts:

State Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, D-42nd (Waipahu, Honouliuli, 'Ewa), Gabbard's daughter, said the figures released by her mother contradict a claim in the House resolution that gay and lesbian students are three times as likely as other students to face harassment.

Tamayo said a study that asks students questions about their sexuality would be a violation of student privacy. She also said many parents would see the study as an indirect attempt by government to encourage young people to question their sexual orientation.

Gabbard Tamayo said the harassment figures "show that our schools are not rampant with anti-gay harassment."

Tulsi Gabbard (after dropping "Tamayo" following a divorce) won her own seat on the Honolulu City Council, with the endorsement of the Hawaii Rifle Association, in 2010.

But by 2012, she said had shifted leftward and announced she was running for Congress as the progressive alternative to then-frontrunner Mufi Hannemann, whose conservative social views were out of step with the district. Hawaii’s Second Congressional District has never come close to electing a Republican and has previously been represented by Mink and Progressive Caucus member Mazie Hirono, who left the seat in a successful 2012 run for Senate.

Tulsi Gabbard had helped run her Republican father’s vociferously anti-LGBTQ campaign for the seat in 2004. But with newly minted support for marriage equality, reproductive freedom and expanding Social Security and Medicare, the younger Gabbard gave every indication that she would follow in the footsteps of Mink and Hirono and join the Progressive Caucus if she were elected.

With near-universal backing of Hawaii’s progressive community, the new Tulsi was welcomed with open arms, as she trounced Hannemann in the primary and the no-name GOP candidate in the general election.

But Gabbard betrayed her liberal supporters. She never joined the Progressive Caucus. Instead, she formed the ageist Congressional Future Caucus with now-disgraced Republican Aaron Schock. And she’s compiled an F grade on Progressive Punch's rating system. She’s been a favorite guest on Fox News throughout her tenure, most frequently bashing fellow Democrats for not being sufficiently xenophobic.

Some liberals give her a pass on her record just because she backed Sanders. But Gabbard's left-leaning detractors increasingly see that endorsement as opportunistic, and they are becoming more and more vocal, from the Progress AAPI group on Facebook to journalist Sonali Kolhatkar.

Gabbard reportedly has been disinvited from this month’s People Summit, with organizers facing pressure from those who support Syrian refugees and from other activists. Critics noted she spoke at the summit last year just days after receiving >an award from GOP uber donor Sheldon Adelson. The prior summer she was the only Democrat to speak at the annual conference of the apocalyptic, Adelson-funded Christians United for Israel.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus has unveiled its most recent version of the People's Budget, its formal budget proposal, just this week. The People’s Budget has for years been regarded as a thorough, significant and coherent example of smart, compassionate public policy. And it's only gotten stronger and more popular over the years, with a majority of House Democrats voting for it in 2015.

So, it’s a good time to remember that not only has Gabbard refused to join the Progressive Caucus, she’s voted against the People’s Budget all three times it was presented to her, putting her outside the mainstream of the Democratic Party.

The founding and nurturing of the Congressional Progressive Caucus is a huge part of Bernie Sanders’ legacy. The Senate doesn’t have caucuses, but Sanders has been allowed to remain a Progressive Caucus member even after becoming a senator because it’s so important to him.

Will Gabbard have another well-timed leftward epiphany and, for the first time, support the budget put forward by Sanders’ Progressive Caucus?

Or will Gabbard maintain her perfect record of resistance to the Congressional Progressive Caucus and vote against the People’s Budget for a fourth time?