Progressive PAC To Democrats: Don't Shield Specter
The progressive group Accountability Now is calling out Democratic Party leaders for wholeheartedly embracing Arlen Specter--and shielding him from political accountability--before he even cast his first significant vote (a no, it turned out, on Obama's budget)
They think Pennsylvania Democrats should be allowed to pick their own nominee during the primaries, and are calling on the party not to grant Specter the gift of running unopposed.
"Elites believe that primaries are messy," said Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com and co-founder of Accountability Now. "Accountability Now believes that nothing focuses the mind of a politician on listening to citizens better than a primary."
"Accountability Now PAC is not prejudging the Pennsylvania Democratic primary," said Accountability Now's new Executive Director, Jeff Hauser. "We will follow closely voices from Pennsylvania about how well Senator Specter is serving their state, and take our cues accordingly. Ultimately, it is the Democrats of Pennsylvania who should choose their Senate nominee, not the DC Establishment."
Accountability Now PAC has its roots in the early 2008 fight against warrantless wiretapping and amnesty for the telecommunications companies that enabled it. The online campaign to push back against the bipartisan pro-amnesty juggernaut ultimately raised over $350,000 and the people who led the ultimately decided to formalize their activities.
Josh
Matt
Eric
"before he even cast his first significant vote (a no, it turned out, on Obama's budget)"
That vote wasn't significant, the budget passed.
A significant vote is one where his vote matters for the passage. Let's see how he does with health care, energy reform, EFCA,etc... before we send him packing.
May 1, 2009 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
They think Pennsylvania Democrats should be allowed to pick their own nominee during the primaries, and are calling on the party not to grant Specter the gift of running unopposed.
==============================================
Unruly proles.
~
May 1, 2009 2:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
We have enough worthless bluedog dems. We don't need another with seniority* who wants to head up committees. I hope Sestak retires him in the primary.
May 1, 2009 2:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. I live in Pittsburgh and am more than a little dismayed to see the Dem leadership in Washington and Harrisburg bending over backwards to hand the nomination to Specter. I was looking forward to Toomey beating him in the Republican primary and the Dem candidate (possibly Sestak) trouncing Toomey in the general election.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why having a Democrat in name only is a good thing for my state, the Democratic party, Pres. Obama, or the country.
I say, "Sayonara, Sen. Specter; talking out of both sides of your mouth on too many issues is finally catching up with you."
The establishment needs to get out of the way, and let the electorate decide if they want 6 more years of Sen. Specter. I, for one, have had more than enough!
May 1, 2009 3:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, Glenn, because you and your pals truly represent the mainstream and anyone who doesn't agree with you on everything clearly isn't a citizen. Wonderful. That's the kind of thinking that's brought the Republican Party to the pinnicle of power and policy dominance it enjoys today, and so it has to work just as well for us, right?
May 1, 2009 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you a citizen when you have zero say nominating candidates? I'd say the Dem machine thinks you're a serf.
May 1, 2009 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Next time, NCSteve, try just a little bit of substance in between your ad hominems and red herrings, OK? Not too much -- you can still rely mostly on the ad homs. But a little substance spices things up a bit.
May 3, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent. Specter needs to vote like a Democrat if he is to be elected as a Democrat. We arer watching and will contribute to a primary challneger if he tries to undermine the Obama agenda. So far, it's not looking good for Specter.
May 1, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
This isn't even about whether he supports the Obama agenda or not. It's about whether the citizens in any state have their party's nominee dictated to them by a machine making deals behind closed doors.
May 1, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
This deal with Specter was done behind closed doors in smoke-filled rooms. The Democratic party is better than that (or else it should be).
Specter isn't the only person who can represent Pennsylvania and he probably isn't even the best person for the job. If he wants to prove himself worthy of representing the state, and worthy of representing the Democratic party in the election, then he needs to do so every day between now and primary season.
Specter obviously doesn't care who he sells out to cling on to his job. That's not the type of politician who belongs in the Senate (yeah, I know, I'm a hopeless romantic).
Give Pennsylvanian Democrats a real choice. If Specter wins a real primary then fine, he has earned the right. But until then, keep the occupants of the smoke-filled rooms out of it.
May 2, 2009 1:58 AM | Reply | Permalink