Slobber And Spittle (Archive)

Image credit: Kristian D.

It's been a bad month for Slobber And Spittle Blue candidates. Of course, most of them weren't elected in the first place. A few weeks ago, Eric Massa quit amid charges that he harassed members of his staff. Now Donna Edwards appears ready to violate a pledge she made to oppose any health care reform measure that did not include a public option. As Jane Hamsher wrote today:

After avoiding direct questions for months, Donna Edwards signed the July 31 letter saying she would vote against any health care bill that didn’t have a public option. I caught up with her at Netroots Nation and she asked me to have a fundraiser for all the members of Congress who signed the letter.

“Carrots, not sticks,” she said.
...
Less than two weeks after the fundraiser she was equivocating: she “declined to speculate on whether she would vote against a conference bill without a strong public option….’That’s a long way down the line,’ Edwards said. ‘I am talking about the House vote.’”

If Donna Edwards Can’t Keep Her Word, She Should Give Back the Money

Edwards is not among the few progressives listed as being a "no" vote on the upcoming health care "reform" bill vote. As I wrote to her today, that isn't acceptable:

As Jane Hamsher pointed out today, Rep. Edwards suggested that a fund be set up back in July to reward the progressive congresspeople who pledged to vote against a health care reform bill that didn't include a public option. Now, not only is she going back on her word to oppose such a bill, but is apparently supporting a bill that, by any reasonable measure, will only make things worse for the people who need health care reform the most.

This bill has no prohibition against lifetime caps, a smaller increase in Medicaid coverage than the bill the House passed last summer, no provision for enforcing the insurance regulations, a more regressive tax structure than the House bill, no public option, and a mandate that every American buy insurance. The insurance we are told we must buy will have large deductibles and can be as much as three times more expensive for people in their fifties than those in their twenties. Without enforcement, insurance companies will be free to violate even the inadequate standards the bill allegedly requires they meet.

In short, this bill makes us buy insurance that won't pay for the health care we need.

What did I support Ms. Edwards for? Do you think I sent contributions just so she could sell out to big lobbyists the way Al Wynn did? Do you really want to say "screw you" to the people who supported her? Apparently, you do.

Last election, Ms. Edwards was one of the candidates on my own ActBlue page. That will not be true this time around, it appears. Someone who can't be taken at her word on an issue this important to the country isn't someone I want in Congress.

Progressives who give money to candidates like Donna Edwards are often giving money they can barely afford in hopes that the candidates will make their lives, or their society, better. When those candidates in turn decide that they can go back on their word, then they have broken their word to people like this. Such people will not be on the Slobber And Spittle Blue slate.

As I've often joked, the SnS Blue slate is a small, but monetarily unrewarding honor. Still, people who go back on their word, and who vote for legislation that makes things worse for ordinary Americans, will not be on it. If Edwards breaks her word, she won't be.

That's a promise I'll keep.

UPDATE: Gregg Levine, after recounting the lengths that President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders have gone to in the last few weeks to support the current health care "reform" bill, then muses about what it's all been in aid of:

It is strikingly educational to note that none of this was done last spring for single-payer. None of this was done last summer for a bill with a robust public option. None of this was done last fall for drug re-importation. None of this was done to stop the health care bill from containing the greatest threat to reproductive rights in a generation. Some yelled, some organized, some worked hard—a group here, a blog there (or vice versa)—but there was no massive, coordinated push, no hard sell, no “win one for the gipper,” and no demonizing of those who were then the obstacles to real, progressive change.

But, today—today everything is different. The White House has the bill it really always wanted. They have their deals with PhRMA, AHIP, and the Hospitals more-or-less unbroken (despite some of their protest-too-much carping); they have their real goal in sight.

Behold, The Power Of Democrats

Let me just emphasize a point for any Democratic operatives who may have inadvertently ended up here: If the Democrats pass this regressive piece of crap, there will be no forgiving those who made it happen. I don't care what else they accomplish in their remaining terms. They will not be supported here, until they have actually undone what they screwed up. The people who support this bill, after promising that they wouldn't vote for any bill that had its features (or lacked features such as the public option) are liars. They cannot be trusted, and I will not trust them.

Image credit: PuppyDogWeb.com

As of this evening, this is where the remaining Slobber And Spittle Blue candidates are doing:

• Eric Massa, the former Navy Commander from the NY-29 Congressional district, has apparently won his race against incumbent Randy Kuhl. Eric won't claim victory, he wrote in an e-mail to supporters, until the last vote is counted, since the margin is pretty thin:
  

  
  While many prominent news organizations such as the Associated Press, CNN, MSNBC, and Politico have already called this race in our favor, my respect for our democratic system prevents me from making such a declaration until every vote is counted. To do any less would be a disservice to our democracy and our men and women serving overseas whose votes are yet to be counted.
  

  
  I can't blame him. We've been burned by such predictions before, haven't we?
  



• Sam Bennett has lost her race against incumbent Bush enabler Charles Dent. Just to give you an idea of why, here are a couple of quotes from the Morning Call, the principal newspaper in her district:
  

  
  Bennett came out on the attack from the start, seeking to portray Dent as a George Bush Republican who had walked lockstep with the unpopular president. Bennett lobbed several accusations at the incumbent in hopes to sway thousands of undecided voters to support her.
  
  Dent countered with jabs at the nonprofit Bennett runs, Properties of Merit, focusing on her salary, which until last summer accounted for nearly one third of the charity's total budget.
  
  Dent Retains Seat In 15th
  

  
  In other words, Bennett criticized Dent's voting record, and Dent retorted with personal sliming, and this is equivalence in the eyes of the Morning Call. Here's the other quote:
  

  
  Dent, 48, is a moderate who has sought to distance himself from Bush throughout the campaign.
  
  Dent Retains Seat In 15th
  

  
  Why even make such an observation, which is certainly going to evoke the obvious question: Does a moderate vote with the most out-of-control President of all time more than 85 percent of the time, including all the most important issues like FISA, the PATRIOT Act, and the Iraq War? The only things he didn't support Bush on were the things he knew he'd pay for in his home district, near as I can see.



• As expected, Andrew Rice lost his race for Oklahoma's U.S. Senate seat. The most dismaying thing about this loss was the margin: 57 - 39. Unfortunately, Oklahoma is one of the least Democrat-friendly states in the country, as the AP notes:
  

  
  Oklahoma voters gave Republican John McCain his biggest percentage victory of any state despite the Democratic tide that swept Democrat Barack Obama into the presidency.
  
  Oklahoma loses federal stroke in election
  

  
  I have no idea what a "federal stroke" is, but if it's anything to do with knowing who is screwing them, Oklahomans lost it a long time ago.



• Darcy Burner is in yet another tight race for the WA-08 Congressional district with incumbent phony Dave Reichert. Darcy was slimed recently by Reichert, with the willing help of one of our local papers. This egregious piece of shilling may end up being the difference in this race, although at the moment it's hard to tell who is going to win. Burner is trailing by about 500 votes, with almost half the votes in King County, the main part of her district, still to be counted. She just sent an e-mail to her supporters indicating she will wait for more votes to be tallied before either conceding or claiming victory.
  
  There may be a recount in this one.


• Finally, Donna Edwards has won a lopsided victory in her MD-04 Congressional district. This is a heavily Democratic district, and the only real contest was the one she faced against reprobate Democrat Al Wynn in the primary.

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to the other fine candidates for your efforts.

I've been spending some time over at Pollster today, looking over polls. There is some good news and bad news there for the remaining Slobber and Spittle Blue candidates.

First, the good news. Polls came out this week showing that Darcy Burner is ahead in the race for the WA-08 Congressional district. This has been an up-and-down struggle against faux independent Republican Dave Reichert. The Pollster trends chart now looks like this:

Image credit: Pollster.com

Reichert's numbers began falling in early September. Lynn Allen, an astute observer of the race (and someone who worked for Burner's campaign), guesses at the reasons:

Yes, I'm pleased to see that Darcy appears to have pulled ahead. I'm not sure that enough people watch those debates but some combination of the debates, her ads pointing out Reichert's lack of effectiveness in Congress and the economy in general did it.

Comments: Contempt and the Last Debate

I suspect she's right, but whatever the reason, it's welcome news.

Meanwhile, in the NY-29 district, Eric Massa appears to hold a lead over his opponent, incumbent Republican Rich Kuhl. I say "appears" because there are only three polls listed on Pollster's trend chart for this race, which isn't enough polls to even draw a trend chart. This is good news also, as this race is one the Republicans probably feel they have to win. It's in what's considered a Republican-leaning area. Losing it means that the Republicans will have only a handful of representatives from the state.

In the department of bad news, Andrew Rice is still far behind in his race for the Senate in Oklahoma against Republican incumbent James Inhofe, who's been yet another congresscritter willing to let the Bush Administration drive us over a cliff. Speaking of cliffs, Rice came up with the best commercials of the political season. According to the Pollster trends chart, Rice has been gaining ground recently:

Image credit: Pollster.com

This race may not be over yet, but Rice has more than twelve points to make up between now and election day. Unless the polls there are badly skewed, it looks like a rough road ahead for Andrew.

I can't find any polling information on either Sam Bennett's race in the PA-15 Congressional district, nor in Donna Edwards' MD-04. In the latter, I suspect Edwards will do fine, but in Bennett's case, the issue is still in doubt. While Bennett led by a mile in the primary vote, that isn't the one that counts.

So, at this moment, it looks like SnS Blue will be batting .500 this year. Maybe Sam can put us over the top. I certainly hope so. These are good people - we need more like them in Congress.

Image credit: Donna Edwards campaign

It may not feel like much consolation after watching the disgusting spectacle of our Senate selling our civil rights to the highest bidder, but at least one vile, and embarassing presence will be removed from the Congress today. Donna Edwards, a Blue America candidate, is way ahead of incumbent Al Wynn. At this moment, 9:00 PM PST, she's ahead 59 to 37 percent, with 51 percent of the precincts reporting. Wynn will have to stage an unbelievable comeback to win this one.

Wynn has been a first class corporate shill over his too-long career. In this election cycle, he's received support from both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Despite this, Edwards has been leading in most polls recently, and was endorsed by The Washington Post.

The Washington Post has now called the election for Donna Edwards. This quote from that article sums up why progressives are happy with this result:

Wynn angered progressives nationally by crossing party lines on several key votes and by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in corporate donations, including thousands in the closing days before the election.

When Edwards, the director of a well-known foundation that hands out grants to progressive causes, came within 3.3 percentage points of beating Wynn in 2006, national activists saw the race as an opportunity to send a message that they would hold wayward Democrats accountable.

Md. Challenger Edwards Wins Stunning Victory Over Long-Time Incumbent Wynn

I've observed quite often in the last couple of years that until the progressive grassroots can prove they can hurt Democratic candidates as well as help them, many Democratic politicians won't take us seriously. Today, we proved we can hurt them. In the days ahead, we'll start to see what that means.

Disclosure: I've given money to the Donna Edwards campaign.