Hawai`i Democrats React To Forbes-Hanabusa Military Intensification Bill

McKeon, Forbes, Hanabusa-- 3 crooked warmongers on the take

Earlier this week, Republican Congressman Randy Forbes did what he always does (the only thing he does?). He proposed more funding for the Pentagon. This time, it was in the form of the Forbes-Hanabusa Asia-Pacific Region Priority Act.

Hanabusa is Hawai`i Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, who chairs the conservative, corporate-sponsored New Democrat Coalition's National Security Task Force and is trying to oust progressive Sen. Brian Schatz in the Aug. 9 primary.



As Rep. Forbes notes in his press release, he and Hanabusa have been partners throughout her short tenure in Congress in the effort to increase military spending based on the region's red menace ("China's rise") and the ensuing need to "rebalance" and "pivot to the Pacific."

Together, they are now seeking to accelerate the militarization of the heavens ("Space Defense and Deterrence Strategies"; "Space Situational Awareness"), ignite the China-Taiwan cold war ("Cross-Strait Military Balance"), provide legal authority for drone wars ("Defense Unmanned Systems Office") and confirm the prevalence of Star Wars ("Missile Defense Cooperation and Capabilities").

Though Hawai`i derives economic benefit from military spending, the state's voters tend to skew dovish and progressive, particularly in Democratic primaries, as the Schatz campaign has noted in a strategy memo.


But Hanabusa's Congressional career has thus far been bankrolled by the military-industrial complex, and she's not about to back down now. After making a half-hearted attempt to portray herself as just as progressive as Sen. Schatz earlier in the campaign, she's recently given up that charade and is instead touting her friendliness with conservatives like Rep. Forbes, perhaps hoping Republicans will vote for her in Hawai`i's open primary election.

Shortly after their joint legislation was announced, Hanabusa emailed out a fundraising appeal entitled "Bipartisan experience." The message touted her ability to work with Republicans in the Boehner Congress and includes multiple GOP talking points. Even while bragging about her alleged ability to spend military money, she claims to be a fiscal conservative (something Rep. Forbes, to his credit, doesn't even do):


"A pragmatic approach to spending our federal tax revenue on behalf of the people who work so hard to earn it is one of the most basic responsibilities of government."

(At the exact same time Hanabusa was emailing constituents to complain about “polarizing ideological positions on Capitol Hill"-- obviously referring to her opponent's proudly progressive viewpoints-- Sen. Schatz was in the Senate fighting for a minimum wage increase. His effort, of course, was ultimately defeated by Hanabusa's Republican friends. She favors a much lower $9.25 minimum wage, which is more palatable to her Chamber of Commerce allies. 

The reaction to the Forbes-Hanabusa legislation among Hawai`i Democrats has been swift and negative as seen in tweets and blog posts:




• "Militarization of public lands still a battleground"

• "Hanabusa's recent military upgrade bill prioritizes acquiring military money for HI, but at what cost?"

• "Hawaii Dem wants MORE military spending!"

National progressives also recognize the sharp contrast and high stakes in this primary. Sen. Schatz has been endorsed by pro-peace groups like Council for a Livable World, Democracy for America and, of course, Blue America.


Irony: NRCC Backing Gay Candidates While Steve Israel's DCCC Gives A Big Push To A Virulent Homophobe

LGBT activists in Ohio were shocked when they heard Steve Israel was recruiting virulent homophobe Jennifer Garrison to run for Congress. Israel is now pressuring pro-equality Democrats in Congress-- including gay members-- to contribute money to Garrison's campaign. She isn't a garden variety anti-gay politician. She built her entire political career on intense homophobia. It's how she was first elected to the state legislature (where she was able to kill a workplace anti-discrimination law and where she stopped an anti-bullying law). This is literally the most contemptible human being Israel ever picked to run for a congressional seat. Of course, it's important to remember that Israel himself is an "ex"-Blue Dog and pal-ed around with all the Democratic homophobes who vote against hate crimes legislation in years past. In 2007 when the House finally passed a hate crimes bill that included LGBT citizens, 25 Republicans crossed the aisle and voted with the Democrats. As they crossed, they passed 14 of Israel's closest allies going in the other direction. Of the 14 Democrats who voted against the Hate Crimes bill, almost all were subsequently defeated for reelection. The only ones left in the House are Israel cronies Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), both of whom Israel is determined to protect with DCCC money, some of it given by gay donors who are specifically told their contributions would go towards insuring LGBT equality.

Clearly, gays and lesbians should not be giving a nickel to the DCCC or to anything Steve Israel is involved with. That said, the NRCC is worse than the DCCC, a lot worse. How an organization can be worse, let alone a lot worse, than one that is already graded an "F," is worth a separate discussion. For now, let's remember that while the NRCC was trying to teach congressional Republicans how to talk to women voters without insulting them, they don't offer similar tutorials yet on how GOP elected officials could approach Hispanics, Blacks or gays without insulting them!

“Let me put it this way, some of these guys have a lot to learn,” said a Republican staffer who attended the session in Boehner’s office.

There have been “multiple sessions” with the NRCC where aides to incumbents were schooled in “messaging against women opponents,” one GOP aide said.

While GOP party leaders have talked repeatedly of trying to “rebrand” the party after the 2012 election losses, the latest effort shows they’re not entirely confident the job is done.

So they’re getting out in front of the next campaign season, heading off gaffes before they’re ever uttered and risk repeating the 2012 season, when a handful of comments let Democrats paint the entire Republican Party as anti-woman.

Individual Republicans have continued to give Democrats plenty of ammunition about being insensitive to women’s issues. From Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) talking about rape and pregnancy at a Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this year, to House Republicans passing a 20-week abortion ban in June, to Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) blaming military sexual assault on “hormones,” there have been repeated instances where GOP lawmakers have come off as tone-deaf to female voters.

…[T]he longtime “gender gap” between the parties continues to be pretty stark for the GOP. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lost women to Barack Obama by 11 percentage points in the 2012 election, and the 2013 campaigns saw a similar trend. A series of recent polls show a continued double-digit lead for Democratic candidates among women, with the margin soaring to much higher levels among single female voters. The GOP-- which lost female voters by large margins in every competitive Senate race in the 2012 election-- also saw a 10-point increase in its unfavorability rating to among women to 63 percent, according to an October ABC/Washington Post poll.

So it makes sense that some Republicans want to try to learn how to talk to women voters without alienating them (even if most GOP congressmen are deriding that whole idea and refusing to participate). And when it comes to gays, the Republicans won't even try. In fact, despite NRCC attempts to portray the party as an equal-opportunity committee, most Republicans in Congress are committed homophobes and are consumed with fear of and hatred for the LGBT community. Let's take 6th term Virginia conservative Randy Forbes for example.

Forbes, a former Sunday School teacher, isn't known in Washington for having accomplished anything legislatively. In fact, since his election in 2001 the only thing he's done aside from collecting a paycheck, warmongering and talking smack about gay people is founding the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

Even though the Republican-controlled Virginia legislature tried making Forbes' swing district safer by cutting out black-majority Petersburg and putting it into an already D+27 district, voters in Chesapeake, Powhatan and the Richmond 'burbs he represents, only gave Romney the same narrow margin over Obama that they had given McCain-- 50-49%. VA-04 is a winnable district even if Steve Israel refuses to allow the DCCC to go up against Forbes. Due to Israel's sheer incompetence, there is no multi-cycle DCCC plan to defeat Forbes and he knows he is free to act out the most extremist right-wing positions without any fear of electoral accountability. And his latest escapade involved attacking the NRCC for being… pro-gay!

Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee-- and a future arms manufacturer and war contractor lobbyist (his family already started the firm for him)-- wants to put his crony Mac Thornberry (R-TX) in as his successor. But Forbes wants that job. McKeon, himself a virulent homophobe who was the conduit for millions of Morman dollars flowing into California's anti-gay Prop 8 battle, has been conducting an especially nasty whispering campaign against Forbes who is determined to get that Armed Services chair (and is less likely to allow pork to flow through McKeon's lobbying firm). What McKeon's operatives did was get Politico to expose Forbes' insane homophobia and blow it up into a Belway scandal-in-a-teacup.

Even as Democratic congressmen keep donating wads of cash to the DCCC despite the Jennifer Garrison recruitment, Forbes has said he will withhold his NRCC dues if the NRCC supports gay candidates, which they are doing in two instances. Politico is covering for McKeon by saying he isn't the only source:

Forbes has waged a lengthy crusade to convince his colleagues and the National Republican Congressional Committee brass they shouldn’t back some gay candidates. His efforts on Capitol Hill were described to Politico by more than a half-dozen sources with direct knowledge of the talks.

The issue is particularly acute because House Republicans have two promising openly gay candidates in 2014 vying for seats held by Democrats. Richard Tisei, who narrowly lost to Democratic Rep. John Tierney in 2012, is running again in northeastern Massachusetts. And in San Diego, Carl DeMaio, a former city councilman, is trying to knock off Democratic Rep. Scott Peters.

On Wednesday, Forbes told Politico he thinks “GOP leaders can do whatever they want to do,” in terms of giving money to gay candidates.

He said he is more concerned about members being asked to contribute to the campaigns. The NRCC is partially funded by collecting tens of millions of dollars from House Republicans, who pay dues to the organization.

“There would be a different situation if they tried to force other members to give money,” Forbes said.

Asked whether he would have a problem with the NRCC donating money to DeMaio, Forbes said, “That’s a little different situation.”

“I don’t think they’ve done that yet,” Forbes added.

When asked if he would withhold political contributions to the NRCC if they backed DeMaio, Forbes said, “I’m not going to be hypothetical on what we would or wouldn’t do at this particular point in time because you’ve got a lot of scenarios. I don’t think we’ve had primaries and nominations to nominate people. So I don’t want to prejudge.”

The mirror image of this came in DCCC-ville this week when Steve Israel requested contributions for homophobic fanatic Jennifer Garrison-- that's her with her phony smile on the right-- from Democratic members. Do any have the guts to just say no? We're watching. Needless to say, Steny Hoyer is as attracted to Garrison's across-the-board, right-wing perspective and he's already given her $5,000 and is pressuring unions, other Members and his lobbyist cronies to fund her.

It's worth mentioning that it isn't only GOP closet cases who refuse to go to bat for LGBT equality. Fearful and mentally ill gay closet cases like Patrick McHenry (R-SC), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Lindsey Graham always vote against equality but even openly gay Republicans leave much to be desired in that realm. Take Carl DeMaio for example. He's running against conservative corporate whore, New Dem Scott Peters and I could care less which one wins. But when DeMaio couldn't decide what to run for, he was briefly a mayoral candidate this year. He went out of his way to make sure voters knew LGBT equality would not a priority for him and pledged to not advocate for social issues while in public office. While DeMaio says he supports same-sex marriage, he was publicly silent when Proposition 8 was put on the state ballot and has accepted campaign contributions from deranged homophobic backers of Proposition 8. During last year's mayoral campaign, the Union-Times pointed out that the LGBT community wasn't backing DeMaio. "During the mayoral campaign," they wrote, "DeMaio has been booed at various LGBT-centric events, including a mayoral debate in Hillcrest, a rainbow flag-raising ceremony for the community and the annual Pride parade in which he walked alongside his longtime partner. Meanwhile, Filner drew loud cheers at the debate and parade and won every voting precinct in Hillcrest-- the heart of the city’s gay community-- in the June mayoral primary.

The Frivolousness That Has Marked John Boehner's Term As Speaker

If nothing else, the lengthy early morning post today should have given readers a clue that the most serious problems faced by the American people have been largely created by our own political class. The Beltway Democratic Establishment, having to deal with pesky progressives and do-gooders within their own ranks-- sometimes make an attempt to appear like they want to deal with the meta-problems behind the manifestations. The Republicans, who have crafted an establishment with no accountability save to the 1% itself, just laugh all the way to the bank-- and never look back. No doubt Boehner and his cronies would just love to put a "gone fishin'" sign on the Capitol and leave government to shrivel up the way Grover has decreed it should. But with Obama in the White House and the Democrats still clinging to a fragile majority in the Senate, Boehner's got to at least stick around and make believe the House is doing something. Just wait 'til 2013!

But yesterday, the House spent a Boehner of day ignoring the country's actual problems and "debating" the dire necessity of protecting "In God We Trust" as the national motto. I'm not joking. Virginia clown Randy Forbes has offered a resolution cosponsored by dozens of clueless congressional assholes, including usual suspects Democrats Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR), Lipinski Junior (proto-Blue Dog-IL), Nick Rahall (WV), and Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK). Forbes' resolution asserts that "if religion and morality are taken out of the market-place of ideas, the very freedom on which the United States was founded cannot be secured." Forbes said his resolution is needed because President Obama and other public officials often forget that designation "whether intentionally or unintentionally."

The idiotic waste of time passed 396-9 with 2 Members voting "present," Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Mel Watt (D-NC). The NO votes came from the Houses only declared atheist, Pete Stark (D-CA) plus Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Justin Amash (R-MI), Judy Chu (D-CA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Mike Honda (D-CA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Bobby Scott (D-VA). Although Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee dissented when the committee approved it back in March-- "Instead of addressing any of these critical issues, and instead of working to help American families keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables, we are debating whether or not to affirm and proliferate a motto that was adopted in 1956 and that is not imperiled in any respect"-- the only Democrat who spoke up to Forbes yesterday was Jerry Nadler:

"Why have my Republican friends returned to an irrelevant agenda? And yet here we are, back to irrelevant issue debates, the kind of thing people do when they have run out of ideas, when they have run out of excuses, when they have nothing to offer a middle class that is hurting and that has run out of patience... This is simply an exercise in saying, 'We're more religious than the other people, we're more godly than the other people, and by the way, let's waste time and divert people's attention from the real issues that we're not dealing with,' like unemployment."

Dan Lungren became quite hysterical defending the honor if the motto, insisting that reaffirming it is important because the country was built on the understanding that God gives its citizens certain rights, which cannot be taken away by the government. I hope at the next GOP debate they ask all the 7 dwarves to raise their hands if they agree that the national motto is good. What a bunch of pathetic clowns. But you already knew that.

Why Are So Many Republican Incumbents Afraid To Debate This Year? Just Look At Their Voting Records

Ric Keller lost some weight-- and his sense of dignity and honor

Republican incumbents don't seem to want to debate. They want to wave air tire gauges over their heads and yell "Drill here now." When it comes to health care, ending the war in Iraq, getting relief for overburdened working families, real solutions to energy problems... they have nothing they want to say-- at least nothing they feel comfortable with the public hearing.

Last night I spoke with Alan Grayson, the Democrat running for Congress in Orlando. He was telling me how he went to a southern regional hotel workers union meeting a couple of days ago and that he strongly advocated for universal health care and paid vacations like they have in so many other industrialized nations. I remember that the ultra reactionary editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel had opposed him in the Democratic primary-- which he won so handily-- and that they opposed him basically because they oppose paid vacations (for others, not themselves). I asked Alan if his Republican opponent, Ric Keller, a slimy hypocrite better known for sleazy personal attacks than for ever debating issues, would challenge him on that. He only hopes he will so lucky, since how does someone asking for voters to support them explain why they oppose paid vacations and health care?

Fact of the matter, Keller's record on health care, if it gets out to low-info voters, will destroy his already slim chances to be re-elected. Already vulnerable on many issues, his consistent opposition to health care for needy children and for military veterans puts him on very shaky grounds. Keller, though, will in all likelihood agree to at least two somewhat low key debates with Alan. Many other Republicans have been ducking or minimizing getting up before the voters and going at it mano a mano.

Take Oregon's desperate Bush rubber stamp Gordon Smith for example. With his re-elect numbers sinking into oblivion and his chances of re-election nearly nonexistent he has taken to running millions of dollars of the worst negative ads anywhere in the country against Jeff Merkley, all the time refusing to commit to debates. Smith is so busy turning his corporate bribes into ads that attempt to tie Jeff to rapists that he is doing everything he can to avoid appearing with Jeff in front of audiences to discuss the issues. Jeff has agreed to a series of eight debates across the state, most of them from non-partisan civic organizations and media outfits.

It's even worse in House races which aren't as high profile as Senate races like Jeff's. Along New York's Southern Tier Eric Massa has been attempting to get another rubber stamp Bush Republican, Randy Kuhl, to participate in a series of debates they have both been invited to. Eric has agreed to all. Kuhl would rather run around doing cheap stunts for his friends at Big Oil-- who, so far, have paid him $37,600 for his services-- than accept invitations from to speak in front of his constituents at any of these forums:

1. WXXI Forum
Proposed date: Monday September 22, 2008
 
2. Alfred University Political Science Club
Proposed dates: Wednesday October 1, 2008 or Wednesday October 8, 2008
 
3. League of Women Voters
Proposed date: Thursday October 2, 2008
 
4. St. John's Meadows Political Forum
Proposed date: Monday October 6, 2008
 
5. WETM Debate at Elmira College
Proposed date: Tuesday October 21, 2008
 
6. League of Women Voters Elmira, NY
Proposed date: Sunday October 26, 2008
 
7. GRAPE Candidates' Forum
Proposed date: Friday October 3, 2008
 
8. 13 WHAM Candidates' Forum
Date open
 
9. R News at St Bonaventure University in Olean
Date open
 
10. R News in Rochester
Date Open

Kuhl, like so many other bought-off Big Oil shills in the Republican House caucus, claims he has no time to debate his opponent because he has to spend all his time trying to pass "Drill, Baby, Drill." But his career record on energy is one of the very worst of any member of Congress. "I think it's more important to debate this energy bill on the floor of the house and solve the problem than it is to worry about a political debate with somebody in some remote section of the district," is what he's telling the media. But what he's not telling that media is about the sickening voting record that has led directly to massive profits for Big Oil and massive debt for consumers who are being ripped off at the pump-- and will soon have to face winter hearing bills. Do you think Kuhl tells anyone he voted to oppose legislation that would have provided stricter penalties for gasoline price gouging, while outlawing market manipulation and empowering state attorneys general to enforce the law? Do you think he wants to explain his votes against expanding tax breaks for renewable energy, hybrid cars, energy efficient buildings and appliances and paying for it by reducing current tax benefits for oil and gas companies? How about his votes against extending and creating tax incentives for energy conservation and renewable energy production and paying for it by eliminating or reducing the manufacturing tax deduction for oil and gas companies? That's the real Randy Kuhl energy record-- that plus taking "contributions" from Big Oil. And that's the real reason Randy Kuhl is reusing to debate Eric Massa.

You have to feel sorry for some of these self important incumbent dullards who are petrified to face up to Democrats who will publicly cite their voting records. And when you get one as pathetic as Randy Forbes in southern Virginia, you find another factor-- a brilliant and articulate opponent running against him. How is an uninformed rubber stamp like Forbes ever going to be able to face up to someone like Andrea Miller? He's scared to death and he's doing everything he can to avoid her. In fact, when her campaign manager showed up at a public picnic yesterday to hand deliver an invitation to him to a TV debate, Forbes called the security guards to have him escorted off the property!

Forbes has taken in $531,519 so far this year, much of it from defense contractors, commercial banks, lobbyists, and other special interests while Andrea has been given $31,583, almost entirely from small grassroots donations. As long as Forbes refuses to debate her on TV he can just keep running his negative ads and distortions and never have to face up to a truly disgraceful voting record. With that in mind, DWT has just started an ActBlue page for Andrea. Anyone who donates today will be entered in a drawing to win one of six Georgie Is Out Of Here Party-in-a-Box kits. Just donate here through ActBlue.

Why Are Republican Incumbents Afraid To Debate In Their Home Districts?

After seeing what an incredibly effective speaker Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley is, I was interested in knowing if he would be debating Bush's rubber stamp mouthpiece Gordon Smith. So I asked. His campaign has proposed a series of 8 debates. Merkley has committed to five specific debates around the state with different Oregon television stations and nonpartisan public service groups. So far Gordon Smith hasn't committed to any. But let's be fair, if you had a record like his-- in a state like Oregon-- would you want to defend it in public? But they I started seeing a surprising pattern: Republican incumbents all over the country are avoiding or minimizing the number of debates they're willing to have with Democrats.

Yesterday, almost in passing, we saw how Bush rubber stamp Charlie Dent refuses to debate Sam Bennett about energy policy. “Congressman Dent is so deep in the pocket of Big Oil companies and special interest groups he’s refusing to publicly defend his record and have an open debate about the issue,” said Kathryn Seck, Sam Bennett’s campaign manager. “He should explain why he’s taken $75,000 from Big Oil and given them billions in tax breaks while middle class Pennsylvanians are struggling to afford high gas prices.  Voters deserve an open dialogue on the issues and Congressman Dent is ducking the issue.” Then this morning I got a press release from Iowa's 4th CD (the north central part of the state, centered in Ames). And sure, enough, the Bush rubber stamp incumbent, Tom Latham, is refusing to debate the Democratic candidate Becky Greenwald.

Tom Latham refused this week to debate Becky Greenwald while he is home on the August recess. The Greenwald campaign accepted a debate with Latham at the Iowa Farmer’s Union Convention, an event that Latham is attending. Latham refused to debate.
 
“We are disappointed that Tom Latham refused to debate Becky Greenwald at the Iowa Farmer’s Union Convention. We tried to work with his schedule and find a venue for a debate at an event Latham would already be attending,” said Campaign Manager Robert Brennan. “Iowans deserve to hear from Tom Latham why after 14 years in Congress, he has done nothing to address the energy crisis, lack of care for our veterans and the high cost of healthcare.”
 
Last week, the Greenwald campaign sent a letter to the Latham campaign asking to hold four debates over the August recess. The Latham campaign refused the debates saying their schedule was full. The Iowa Farmers Union tried to accommodate with his schedule and arrange for a debate at their convention in Marshalltown, IA on Saturday August 23rd, an event that Latham will be attending. The Latham campaign refused to debate.

Was I looking at a pattern? I reached out to a few of the campaigns I speak to regularly. Gary Peters (D-MI) has accepted invitations from the Troy Chamber of Commerce-- and even from the Troy Republican Party Club, as well as from other groups who have been trying to set up debates. Joe Knollenberg-- a Big Oil shill who has accepted $66,250 in "donations" from Big Oil and owns over $90,000 in oil company stocks that increase in value as gasoline prices rise-- is petrified to stand up in front of an audience of voters and defend his energy voters.

Annette Taddeo debates empty chair in Miami

In May the AFL-CIO, which had endorsed Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart in 2006, invited their 3 candidates plus Democratic challengers Annette Taddeo, Joe Garcia and Raul Martinez to a debate. The three Republicans, panicking at the last moment, ducked the debate. Each blamed scheduling conflicts. The AFL-CIO went on with the debate-- Annette told me she debated Ros-Lehtinen's empty chair-- and then endorsed the debate winners, the three Democrats.

South Florida congressional Republicans backed out of next week's debates. Their opponents say they're hiding.

Miami's three Cuban-American Republicans in Congress have scrapped plans to participate in a series of debates with their Democratic challengers.

The South Florida AFL-CIO, which in recent years has hosted debates for mayoral and gubernatorial races, planned three debates next week for the nationally watched contests. But the Republicans said this week that they're not going, throwing the bipartisan nature of the event into doubt.

The union-- which endorsed the three incumbents in 2006-- says the events will go on next week as scheduled. All three Democrats, who represent the first significant challenge to the incumbents, said they plan to attend and suggested the Republicans were reluctant to spar face to face.

"We just want to give our working families a chance to talk to the candidates,'' said union president Fred Frost, who met late Wednesday with representatives from two of the Republican campaigns in a bid to revive the events. "I think they'd be squandering what I'd consider a great opportunity."

In New Jersey Dennis Shulman has been trying to get incumbent Scott Garrett to debate him in front of voters. Apparently Garrett-- like fellow extremist loon and Big Oil shill John Kline in Minnesota-- just doesn't think he has to do debates. Kline's spokesperson said his record speaks for itself. It does-- and if voters were actually reading it Kline wouldn't get 30% of the vote.

Last year Darcy Burner was eager to debate incumbent Bush rubber stamp Dave Reichert everywhere in the district. His staff, wary of putting him into unscripted settings because he has a tendency to either put his foot in his mouth or reveal his lack of policy depth, allowed him to do one debate, which was sponsored by the Seattle Times. The Times debate for 2008 is scheduled for October 8 and Reichert is going to do it. Meanwhile, though, there have been debates proposed by KCTS-9 and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer as well as by TV station KING 5 and radio stations KUOW and KIRO 710. Darcy wants debates. Reichert wants to hide. Similarly, Bob Lord has challenged John Shadegg who refuses to talk, only waves his toy air pressure gauge over his head and mutters incoherently about running for the Senate. Shadegg won't say yes or no about debates. Last year Vic Wulsin was able, after embarrassingly her repeatedly, to get Mean Jean Schmidt, one of the House's most woefully ignorant members, to do one debate. Vic would like to do a series of debates across the district to talk about how to help solve the economic conditions of Ohio families hit hard by recession, the housing crisis, gasoline prices, unemployment, the health care crisis and inflation but Mean Jean isn't answering. The Ohio News Network has asked both candidates to debate in October but it looks like Vic may have the stage to herself.

Most of the Senate races have at least one debate scheduled. But Gordon Smith isn't the only senatorial coward hiding from his Democratic opponent. John Cornyn (R-TX) doesn't feel comfortable unless he's speaking at places like the Petroleum Club in Fort Worth. Big Oil has given him more money this year ($480,100) than any other member of Congress (other than the million plus they gave to ExxonJohn McCain) and he's backed them all the way, which is precisely why you're paying around $4/gallon at the pump. But when it comes to debating Rick Noriega about his votes, Cornyn is full of... petroleum. Plenty of TV and radio stations, as well as civic organizations throughout Texas, have reached out to the two campaigns for debates. Noriega keeps accepting invitation. Cornyn claims he's negotiating. But he isn't even doing that-- unless he's negotiating with himself.

Just as I was about to publish this, I got an e-mail from Andrea Miller, the powerfully articulate and knowledgeable Democratic candidate running against dull rubber stamp Randy Forbes in southern Virginia. Her experience is almost identical to at least half, perhaps three-quarters of Democratic challengers:

Randy Forbes is avoiding me big time. There have been at least 3 requests (2 from radio and 1 from TV). Additionally, there has also been a debate request from a group that simply wants to schedule a public forum.
 
What is he afraid of? I have an energy policy and he has energy questions. I have solutions to our education challenges and he doesn't even know there is a problem.

My guess: he's just afraid of Andrea Miller and getting his ass kicked publicly in front of the electorate when she exposes his indefensible voting record.

NO SAFE REPUBLICAN SEATS-- AND THAT MEANS WE NEED TO LOOK AT ANDREA MILLER'S RACE AGAINST RUBBER STAMP RANDY FORBES

Few people would have classified Bush rubber stamp Randy Forbes as a vulnerable incumbent. In 2006 his southeast Virginia district-- recently gerrymandered to decrease the African-American population from 39% to 33%-- returned him with 76% of the vote. In 2004 Kerry only managed 43% of the vote. So this morning when I saw an e-mail on the November Victory list from VA-04 Democratic candidate Andrea Miller I was ready to write it off as just another idealistic lost cause. But there was something about how she wrote it-- and then something about how she wrote her website-- that made me look into the race a little more and, eventually, led to me calling her on the phone. First, the e-mail that alerted me to the campaign:

It's official. Yesterday I was voted the Democratic Nominee for the Virginia 4th Congressional District. At the last minute Party conservatives in my home Democratic Committee put up a "fake" candidate. He had no political experience whatsoever, did not even bother to register with the FEC and told people he was running because he wanted to retire and needed something to do.

I have a dynamite political team (TruBlu Politics) who also worked on the Donna Edwards campaign. I arrived at the convention with a 6' banner, rally signs, palm cards, business cards, bookmarks and 10 people working on my team. The good doctor showed up with a one page flyer listing 5 issues.

While I didn't really stack the convention, I had met over 80% of the people in the room and they responded to the fact that I had a thorough knowledge of the issues, the needs of my district and my opponent's weaknesses. One person actually asked if I thought it would be a problem being perceived as a radical running in a conservative district. I told her that there was a time when the idea of women voting was a radical idea and that remark brought the house down.

Let's all hang in there. I believe we can make it work. Now I'm working to gather 4,000 volunteers both in-state and out to really work the district.

Andrea Miller

Andrea, a mother of three, an educator, and a small business owner, has never run for office before. But a short phone conversation knocked my socks off! She is on fire and a ball of can-do energy. She very much reminded me of Donna Edwards. Andrea is the regional coordinator for MoveOn in her area. Her grasp of the facts and figures and issues is as thorough as it gets, something you would expect from a MoveOn activist-- if not, alas, from a Democratic congressional candidate. But Andrea is hardly a cookie cutter DCCC/Rahm Emanuel creation. Her outspoken positions on core Democratic issues-- from the Iraq war, reproductive rights, and universal single payer healthcare to her powerful championing of net neutrality-- is the kind of stuff that drives multimillionaire Establishment creeps like Emanuel bonkers. Her bio, unlike Emanuel's, is the bio of the kind of congressional representative we should aspire to. "As a parent, as a teacher and as a progressive social activist, Andrea is firmly committed to social justice as the door to peace, prosperity and national security." Sounds very much like the kind of person I want to see serving in the U.S. Congress.

Now, about Forbes' electoral vulnerability. VA-04 has a PVI of R+5, not nearly as red as the Mississippi district just won by Travis Childers (PVI R+10). Nor is it as red as LA-06, just won by Don Cazayoux. It's exactly as red as IL-14, the district that just replaced Denny Hastert with Bill Foster (instead of garden variety Republican millionaire Jim Oberweis). In the presidential primary, motivated and enthusiastic Obama supporters so dominated the election in VA-04 that he wound up with 4 times as many delegates as Hillary did (and wound up with 72.69% of the district's votes). In the GOP primary Huckabee narrowly edged McCain 22,770 to 22,104. In all 48,722 Republicans voted. Obama alone drew 68,325 (of the 93,992 who voted Democrat in VA-04). In 2001 Governor Mark Warner carried VA-04 by a substantial margin, 91,585 to 78,546 (and he'll be on the ballot with Andrea in November). So how did Forbes wind up with 76% of the vote in 2006? The moribund Democratic Party in the district didn't bother to run a candidate. In fact, the last time the Democratic Party actually tried to win the congressional seat was in 2001 when state Senator Louise Lucas ran and nearly beat Forbes (52-48%). The GOP promptly redistricted Lucas out of this previously Democratic stronghold and Forbes has held it, virtually unopposed, ever since-- until now. It's important to remember that Forbes has amassed a breathtakingly radical right voting record, one of the worst on a broad array of issues of concern to Virginia voters. Voters looking for someone to hold accountable for the policies that have led to high energy and gasoline prices, to the mortgage meltdown, to the growing chasm between the very rich and the rest of us and to the endless occupation of Iraq, need look no further than Forbes who has rubber stamped every disastrous initiative and proposal Bush has sent down the pike. VA-04 is a mainstream, moderate typically American congressional district but it's being represented in Congress by a right wing extremist whose views are completely out of touch with his constituents. If you'd like to help replace him with the extraordinary Andrea Miller, please consider giving her a hand here.