Posted on 02/14/2006 10:17:11 PM PST by neverdem
All Democrats are not created equal, according to MoveOn.org.
The liberal political action organization has plans to attack members of the Democratic Party when they don’t uphold the "highest values" of the party. But before it gets involved in any nasty Democratic primaries, MoveOn wants to have the OK from its base.
That would mean "grappling with specific right-wing Democrats who consistently side with big corporations and right-wing Republicans" by actively supporting progressive challengers in the primaries, according to an e-mail sent out Tuesday to MoveOn supporters.
The e-mail requests feedback from supporters so the organization can gage whether they have the support needed to enact such a strategy.
In promoting replacement candidates, MoveOn promises to only endorse those approved by its supporters with a viable chance of winning.
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas is named specifically as a potential target of the organization's new agenda.
"[Cuellar] is wrong on many core Democratic issues like the war and Medicare," says the e-mail. "He often undermines key Democratic initiatives and too often pokes progressives in the eye with his votes and statements. We would start with the worst like Cuellar and work to build a progressive majority one election at a time."
Calls for comment from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee went unanswered.
The DSCC still has more money than the NRSC. The Extreme Left is putting all their eggs in the Senate.
On the other hand, the Governor races are not looking so bad as they are a year ago. Swann and Blackwell could become a dynamic duo of African-American Governors. Plus, Diamond Doyle and Blago are stinking in the polls. GOP Governors could control the crucial Midwest by the end of the year.
If it doesn't fit their agenda or coincide with their cheerleading then you are labeled a traitor.
If the districts have elected moderate democrats, they should be good hunting grounds for Republican candidates if/when the democrats reduce support for their own incumbent.
It ain't rocket science.
What a pefect time to do the same to our moderates.
And would you say that if Kerry, Gore or Hillary were in office?
Also, please explain how I would be considered a traitor under this pretext.
It is a shame that few have the ability to use proper grammar.
LOL - so true.
"What a pefect time to do the same to our moderates."
What, behave like moveon.org?
If you understand my post, you would grasp that to reduce support for incumbent moderate Republicans might turn that district over to the democrats.
In a district that could go either way (due to party registration, demographics, etc.) incumbency is a powerful asset.
Nah! They'll do this in "safe" districts. The district Henry Cuellar is in, (mine) will elect whoever wins the Democratic primary. Ciro "Zero" Rodriquz, the former incumbent will be his chief opponent. Zero has less brains and common sense, which is what makes him such a good Democrat. I'll just bide my time till we have a viable R candidate.
This is great! I hope they make all their battles public and nasty.
Let them do purges, killing each other, it would be better for republicans. They won't have to do the hard work.
Please don't spend your political energy chasing out us despised moderates from the rep party.
Perfect. We in Maine have two of them but on many crunch votes, they were on Bush's side. If you read the outrage in the papers here you would have thought they were to the right of Rush.
Here's the letter from the Supreme MoveOn leader:
Dear MoveOn member,
This year our top goal is breaking the right-wing Republican stranglehold on Congress. That is our main focus every day.
It is also part of our work together to hold Democrats to their Party's highest values on issues like foreign policy, economic prosperity and good government.
That sometimes means grappling with specific right-wing Democrats who consistently side with big corporations and right-wing Republicans.
One approach is to support progressive primary challengers to right-wing Democrats. We think this makes sense but it's a big decision so we wanted to check with you and other MoveOn members. What do you think? Click below to let us know.
The story about "the Democrat who sold out" has become too familiar. Too often progressives tip toe around these betrayals. But there needs to be real consequences for these Democrats.
Replacing a right-wing Democrat with a more progressive Democrat will help voters more clearly understand what Democrats stand for—and that will help Democrats win.
Many of these conservative Democrats we would challenge represent states or districts that are heavily Democratic—so we're not imperiling a Democratic majority by doing this.
Why is this a big decision? At some level it isn't—we've consistently held Democrats feet to the fire on a long list of issues. But challenging right-wing Democrats in an electoral setting would be new for MoveOn.org Political Action. That is why we're asking for your feedback. Click below to let us know what you think.
Who are the Democrats we would challenge? One example is Congressman Henry Cuellar in Texas. Cuellar is a right-wing Democrat infamous for supporting the Bush agenda and Republican legislation.
He is wrong on many core Democratic issues like the war and Medicare, he often undermines key Democratic initiatives and too often pokes progressives in the eye with his votes and statements. (More on Cuellar tomorrow.)
We would start with the worst like Cuellar and work to build a progressive majority one election at a time.
A Democratic majority will be a big step towards progressive reform. But at the same time we have to work to build a progressive majority that will work towards bold reforms.
Please help by giving us feedback on this decision.
Thanks for all you do.
–Tom, Jennifer, Rosalyn, Justin and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, February 14th, 2006
P.S. Here are some key practices we'll follow:
Member endorsement. MoveOn.org Political Action only endorses candidates with the consent of MoveOn members in the state or district—surveying them before an endorsement. If members are split, we won't endorse.
Viable candidates. We don't want to waste your money—so we work hard to pick candidates who have a real shot at winning.
A progressive majority. We believe that all Democrats are not the same—and we work to elect progressive members of Congress when we can.
Support our member-driven organization: MoveOn.org Political Action is entirely funded by our 3.3 million members. We have no corporate contributors, no foundation grants, no money from unions. Our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. If you'd like to support our work, you can give now at:
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION,
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Hillary is for the Iraq War
Club For Growth yesterday sent out their first appeal to donate to a Democrat-- it was Henry Cuellar of Texas.
The pro-tax, pro-spend "Angry Left" is in a frenzy about a recent endorsement by the Club for Growth PAC in a congressional seat in Texas.
Before I explain what the Extreme Left is doing, let me get you up to date on what's going on.
The 28th district in Texas will be won by a Democrat -- the GOP isn't even fielding a candidate for this race. Therefore the winner of the March 7th Democratic primary (which is less than a month away) will almost certainly be the winner of the general election in November. The district's current officeholder is freshman Congressman Henry Cuellar (pronounced "QUAY-R"), a pro-growth Democrat who the Club's PAC endorsed last month.
He is running against ultra-liberal Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, a former Congressman who lost this same seat to Cuellar in 2004. He's now back for a re-match.
Rodriguez got eight straight "F" grades from the National Taxpayers Union. In his final year in Congress, Rodriguez's NTU score was 11% -- even self-avowed socialist, Bernie Sanders, did better!
Rodriguez is a reliable NO vote on all the issues we care about. And he has received 100% scores from the AFL-CIO and the National Education Association, the biggest teachers' union. One union official recently said, "[Cuellar] is our No. 1 primary target in the United States."
What did Rep. Cuellar do to get organized labor and the Angry Left so upset?
He recently voted to extend the 15% tax rate on dividends and capital gains through 2010.
He supported a free trade agreement that was a top priority of the Club, President Bush, many leading business groups, and the American Farm Bureau.
He voted to repeal the Death Tax.
Liberal websites and bloggers have been pounding their readers to give money to Rodriguez and to help defeat the incumbent who they disdainfully call "Zell Cuellar" in honor of former US Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, they've raised over $100,000.
Please help us match them dollar for dollar.
Donate to Henry's Campaign
Here is some of the hot rhetoric that the Angry Left used to solicit money for Rodriguez:
"Cuellar is not a Democrat in any conceivable sense of the word. He is a Republican who is running as a Democrat because it is a Democratic District. In Revolutionary times he would have been hung as a spy."
"It's appalling that the Party has allowed [Cuellar] to run as a Democrat. Sure I know we need a Big Tent approach in some districts, but surely there's no tent big enough to accommodate an @$%# like Cuellar.
Even Rodriguez is letting his tongue fly out of control. He was quoted in a recent news report as saying "[Cuellar] has pissed off every single Democrat [in Washington]."
Donate to Henry's Campaign
As you know, the Club for Growth has a proud tradition of supporting ideas -- pro-economic growth ideas -- rather than blindly following any political party. That's why the Club's PAC has, on occasion, supported challengers to incumbents in Republican primaries.
And that same approach -- putting principles above political party -- brought us to our endorsement of Congressman Henry Cuellar in his March 7 primary.
The left wing of the Democratic Party is trying to defeat Rep. Cuellar precisely because he often votes in favor of pro-growth policies (similar to the tax cut policies that JFK promoted when he was president). We can't just sit by and let them get away unchallenged in their efforts to defeat Rep. Cuellar.
The only question here is which Democrat will serve in Congress next year -- one who has sided with the pro-economic growth agenda a significant number of times? Or one who will side with organized labor on every issue?
If you can't bring yourself to donate to a Democrat, we understand.
But please keep in mind that on many key pro-growth votes, there are plenty of so-called Republicans in Congress who won't support the policies we need to make our country prosper. Henry Cuellar has cast important votes to help some of those key policies pass. If one of Cuellar's opponents wins, our pro-growth cause will have one less friend in Congress.
The contrast between Cuellar and his opponents is as stark as any Democratic primary we've ever seen. We hope you will support Henry Cuellar's campaign today.
Donate to Henry's Campaign
If you prefer not to donate online, you can call us with your credit card ready at (800) 784-2741 or you can write a check. Please make it payable to Texans for Cuellar and send it to the address listed below.
Best Regards,
Pat
It is interesting to note that the name adopted by the left in the USA during the 1920's was Progressive. They had a political party called the "Progressive" party whose candidate for President Robert LaFollette got about 17 percent of the vote in 1924.
By 1932 members of the Progressive party had been absorbed into the Democratic party. By the late 20's the Progressive name had become a liability so they changed the name to Liberal.
Now that the voters have rejected the Liberal connotation they have returned to their former name of progressives.
No doubt once the term progressive takes on the same negative connotation it once had they will resume using the name liberal.
This is a day maker!
Oxymoron alert!
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