It's true: nobody's perfect. But there is an even more important reason not to hyperventilate about the latest statement or vote Barack Obama may have made that is not fully in keeping with our vision of progressive politics and electoral strategy. That reason is the Overton Window.
For those unfamiliar with it from my previous writings and from my panel on the subject at last year's YearlyKos, the Overton Window is a method for shifting public policy that takes a universe of policy outcomes on a certain topic, lists them in order from progressive to conservative, assesses the political acceptability of each, and deliberately encourages friendly think tanks and media organizations to promote the solutions that fall just outside current acceptability in order to "shift the window" in the public discourse.
Today is a day of mourning for those of us who love our Constitution, our Country, and the commitment to Rule of Law. Whether on account of fear of Republican attacks, or of corruption in pandering to telecom interests, or fear of retribution for their own complicity in Constitutional crimes, a minority of House Democrats combined with the reprobate Republicans to pass through a travesty of legislation that allows the Bush Administration and their big telecom allies retroactive immunity and a free pass for gutting the 4th Amendment. There is still fighting to be done to remove some of the worst provisions of the bill in the Senate--and we fight we must.
Still, however, we are right to feel betrayed. Progressives and freedom-loving Americans of all stripes are justifiably upset. Furious. Disheartened. Depressed.
And yet, it bears reminding that it matters little, in the grand scheme of things, whether a good FISA bill gets passed or not. The upshot of this legislation, and the betrayal of America and its Constitution, was guaranteed from the very first moment that Nancy Pelosi famously uttered the words, "Impeachment is off the table."
I just called Senator Obama's office. A very courteous staffer answered the phone immediately.
I mentioned that I was a precinct captain for the Obama campaign in California, that I was a caucus captain in Nevada who broke the story about the caucus shenanigans by the Clinton campaign.
I explained that I was extremely concerned about the FISA compromise currently being rammed through the House, and that it was very, very important to me that Senator Obama use his leverage to make a public stand against this capitulation.
The response was somewhat heartening:
"We hear you loud and clear. The staff are literally reviewing the FISA issue as we speak. You'll be hearing from us soon."
So the Rockefeller/Hoyer wing of the Democratic Party is all set and ready to "compromise" with the Bush/Cheney/Rove Executive that treats its Legislative co-equals as second-class citizens on telecom amnesty. Fortunately, it appears that Senators Reid and Durbin are opposed to this capitulation; hopefully they and their backbone-enhanced colleagues can use that spine to overcome the compromise-prone jellyfishes who believe that bipartisanship is a one-way street leading to cover-up of GOP crimes.
Update: hat tips to poligirl and s7ark, who found this before I did. Show them some love!
It's way past my bedtime as I'm traveling on business out here in Kentucky, and I'm way too tired to write a really substantive diary--nor will I have time tomorrow.
But no progressive with half a sense of humor should miss this gemstone of a Youtube video called I'm Voting Republican. So I leave it to the Kommunity without further comment other than to say: genius.
With the Democratic nomination contest finally over, Democrats now have the opportunity to put the rancor of last many months behind them and unite to defeat the Republicans in November by taking the White House and adding to our leads in the House and Senate.
Among the most important issues that will arise for the next administration is the question of accountability for the villains that preceded it in the Executive Branch. Yesterday on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Richard Clarke suggested a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Some would go farther, others less far.
But few in American politics today have as much personal knowledge and experience with the Bush Administration's lies and its mafia-style intimidation as Ambassador Joe Wilson, whom clammyc and I will be interviewing today at 2pmPST/5pmEST. And the topic we'll be covering? Accountability for Bush and his cronies after that glorious day on which they leave office.
Well, one thing's for sure: Democrats are tired of big business and the insurance industry. So much so, in fact, that Democrats in CA-24 elected to vote in landslide numbers for Marta Jorgensen, a candidate who did little traditional campaigning to speak of--including, apparently, not even purchasing the state voter file--simply on the basis of the ballot designation "educator".
The Democratic primary race in CA-24 to challenge perennial do-nothing Republican Elton Gallegly was a 3-way contest between progressive favorite Mary Pallant, the previous Democratic contestant Jill Martinez, and political neophyte Marta Jorgensen.
Disclaimer: I volunteer as the Netroots Outreach Coordinator for the Mary Pallant Campaign
Mary Pallant's campaign (which I have written about here, here, here and elsewhere) got a big new boost today: the endorsement of progressive CA State Senator Sheila Kuehl.
As Scott McClellan makes the rounds to promote his new book telling the traditional media what we already knew, one of the most startling accusations is not against Bush or the White House, but rather against the press:
"The collapse of the administration’s rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. ... In this case, the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."
This statement has led to a backlash on the part of the press, who insist they did, too, do their jobs, but that McClellan stonewalled them too much to allow them to do those jobs effectively. The argument from the press essentially goes that they asked the tough questions--what else were they supposed to do?
Want to stick it to George W. Bush? Well, today you have your own special chance to do just that, by supporting a great Democrat on a day when George Bush is at a fundraiser to help his opponent.
I'm going to start this short piece on a conciliatory note that the Clinton campaign almost certainly does not merit, and offer a quick piece of advice to the campaign that it will almost certainly ignore. The justly proferred condemnations of your remarks have already spread far and wide, and there is nothing I could add to them that would offer anything new or insightful. But there is something that has been left largely unsaid to this point (except tangentially by Booman) that needs saying.
Hillary and friends, I have good news: there is a way out of this hell. A way for you and your adherents to accomplish what you want, and save face in the wake of the "assassination" debacle all at the same time.
Proud Democrat Josh Segall is all set to take out Bush Rubberstamp Republican Mike Rogers in this northeast Alabama district, and you can hear me and clammyc interview him live today at 3pmEST/noonPST. Now before you scoff and think this is just another vanity candidate running an unwinnable race in the deep south, think again. I'll let Wikipedia do the talking for a bit here on this tightly contested, extremely doable race:
Despite the unwillingness of our Democratic Congress (Rep. Wexler notwithstanding) to do their Constitutional duty to hold the criminals in the Bush Administration accountable for their actions, the major sacrifices made by and injuries done to Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson and their colleagues and associates will not soon be forgotten by those of us who care deeply about our country. This nation owes them a debt of gratitude for their service and their willingness to tell the truth in spite of incredible hostility and pressure from a corrupt and utterly immoral White House and its cronies.
Those progressive patriots of you who live in the Southern California area will have the opportunity to meet Joe Wilson himself at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:30pm for the equally courageous Netroots candidate Ron Shepston. I'll be there as well, for what that's worth!
I'd like to make a quick note to all of Hillary Clinton's supporters who are currently blaming sexism for the fact that your candidate has almost certainly lost: sexism had nothing to do with it. In fact, it was anything but.
Sure, Hillary was the victim of some sexism, just as Obama has been the victim of some racism and McCain will be the victim of some ageism.
But that's not what spiked Clinton's chances. Bill Clinton would also have lost this year.
The truth is that there is a quiet battle being waged for the soul of the Democratic Party. Your candidate was on the wrong side of that divide. It wouldn't have mattered if Hillary had been male, and Obama female. What mattered here was ideology.
Full disclosure: I serve as a the (volunteer) Netroots Coordinator for the Mary Pallant campaign
If we learned nothing else from Travis Childers' incredible victory in the R+10 MS-01, it is that all but the verry most conservative Republican House seats are in play and winnable this election cycle. Democrats who may not have had a legitimate shot in other election years have a decent shot of taking over otherwise impossible districts this year.
What that also means is that many Democrats in swing districts that are trending blue may actually be favored to win this year--even if they're not technically on the front radars of organizations like Blue Majority or the DCCC's Red to Blue list. Of course, demographics aren't everything: the candidates themselves have to be capable, determined and charismatic.
As we all await with bated breath the results of the NC and IN primaries, it seems a good time to remind everyone that the next president will be able to accomplish very little of their agenda without the strong backing of a Congress dedicated to progressive Democratic principles. (And if John McCain somehow wins, we'll need as many Democrats as possible to blockade four more years of Bush policies.) As the FISA fight reminds us, many of the promises made by Hillary and Obama will be for naught without increased majorities to work with in Congress.
We need more and better Democrats in Congress to achieve this goal--and few races to take Republican House seats in the fall are as promising and exciting as Democrat Anne Barth's bid to unseat Shelley Moore Capito in WV-02. That's why clammyc and I will be talking directly with Ms. Barth in an exclusive interview today at Heading Left, starting at 1:30pmPST/4:30pmEST!
DHinMI references the fact that some in the chattering class and in the Clinton camp are attempting to leverage a popular vote argument by discounting the states that do not compile statewide tallies of the actual vote.
But if the pundits and Clinton backers interested in keeping this race alive truly want to make their arguments based on the popular vote, perhaps they should pressure their backers in the states in question to release the tallies they do possess.
The fight to ensure that our Democratic Congress continues to hold its ground and refuses to take Jay Rockefeller's unwise advice to roll over for the Bush Administration on telecom amnesty has been of central importance for many of us in the progressive community. Kossacks mcjoan and Kagro X have both done an outstanding job keeping this and the intimately related FISA issues front and center in the netroots, and groups like the Courage Campaign have done well in making sure that progressive activists continue to lobby decision-makers to do the right thing.
