While I was keeping an eye on the Kentucky US Senate race Democratic primary won by Jack Conway, the mayor's race, Mile Slaton's bid to unseat a 20 year Kentucky House incumbent and a few other ones back in Da Ville, there were also primary elections taking place in Arkansas, Oregon and Pennsylvania.There was a major upset in Pennsylvania as five time Senator Arlen Specter, now running as a Democrat, was beaten by two term Congressman Joe Sestak. Another DINO, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, who was one of my SUF Award winners, was forced into a June 8 runoff with Arkansas lieutenant governor Bill Halter.
The Democrats also ran their record in House special elections to 7-0 since 2008 by keeping the PA-12 House seat of the late John Murtha. The RSCC spent $1 million in the losing effort.
So what does all this mean going into the November elections?
There has been too much punditry TV time and hot air expended on the Tea Klux Klan, who are only 18% of the population, predominately white, have racist elements of it and is heavily Republican. Teabaggers have failed to win in two House races in New York and the aforementioned PA-12 race.There's also been too much pontificating about the Democrats losing both houses of Congress. The party in control of the White House generally loses seats in a midterm election, but I'm not buying the 40 plus numbers the pundit class is talking about.
I point out that in the 1998 'Angry Black Vote' midterm election, the Democrats thanks to African-American anger over the BS Clinton impeachment launched by Newt Gingrich and GOP company, gained five seats after losing control of Congress in 1994. It's a nice segue into my next point. As I remind people every election cycle, don't sleep on the Black vote. As Dr. King presciently predicted, it has become a decisive factor in national elections.
The incessant 'take our country back' rhetoric from the Tea Klux Klan and the GOP is only causing African-American voters to circle November 2 on the calendar in red ink. African American voters will do their part to be out in force that day to ensure President Obama has a Congress he can work with.
I suspect Latino voters will be energized this fall as well to throw the Republican bums out after the series of Hate on Latino unjust laws recently passed in Hateizona.The bigger message the inside the Beltway punditry peeps are missing is this: the liberal-progressive wing is in this fight as well, and we don't want to see a return to power of the people and party who created the mess in the first place.
But the final message sent last night was for the DINO's, and they ignore it at their political peril.
Democrats from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party elect Democrats to Congress to fight for ordinary citizens, not corporations. Corporations are already well represented by the GOP, they don't need any more help.
It's time for DINO's to start being FDR Democrats and not corporate Democrats. It's time for Democrats to relentlessly fight for our values, principles and policy objectives, not be Neville Chamberlainesque appeasers and water down stuff before the legislative process even gets started.The Democratic wing of the Democratic Party spoke loudly and clearly last night, and the peeps inside I-495 better be listening.
At any rate, looks like this midterm election season will be anything but a quiet one.
