Wellstone Action!

This morning I could not help but think about Paul Wellstone. And I wrote on a friends facebook wall:

"I can tell you one thing, voters do not like politicians who have no conviction, refuse to take a principled position and sit around and waffle an whimper and play the victim of their critics and enemies. It doesn't matter if you are Barry Goldwater or Paul Wellstone, if you stand up boldly and fight for what you believe it, you will be respected, even by your opponents."

The lesson from yesterday's election for Senator Ted Kennedy's seat is that Congressional Democrats better wake up. Doing nothing is not an option for them. After being given a huge mandate for change in 2008, they've bogged themselves down with indecisive and a ponderous lack of leadership in their chambers. They have not moved boldly and decisively toward solving the nations most pressing issues and, instead, whimpered and whined at the criticism by extremists on the right who most people understand are lying and playing games of deception.

For the past three months I've got mailing almost daily from the DSCC with a cowering tone stating the Republicans are attacking them, we are being maligned and mistreated they are going to hurt our re-election chances in 2010, so send more money now! Meanwhile, Senate Democrats were gutting health care reform and destroying a platform that has been essential to the Democratic platform going back to Harry Truman. That's not leadership. That's not boldly moving toward solutions the economic and health care crisis the nation is embroiled in.

First and foremost, the health care crisis is an economic crisis. Weather you have health insurance or NOT, we are all paying to much for a very poor and wasteful health care delivery system. Regardless, if you are a small businessman, a government employee, a non-profit organization, a medium sized company or a private contractor, health care is bankrupting everyone. People are being denied health care, their premiums are rising, families struck by health emergencies are loosing their homes. The single largest driver of higher costs to business and government is double digital health care inflation. We in big trouble and the Congressional Democrats have stuck their head in the sands or crawled under their chair with endless legislative gridlock.

But now it's time for solutions and if the Democrats don't lead now they will be in a world of hurt.

We have Social Security and we also have Medicare, can we have a system call Quality Healthcare for the 21st century? What is quality to me, to you and to everyone? Why is it so important? Why is it not important? Do we have enough conscience and brain power to even deal with such existing problem within our own country? How does one explain the phenomena that " the Congressional Democrats have stuck their head in the sands or crawled under their chair with endless legislative gridlock"? Perhaps this is too strong and too unfair of an accusation for every Congressional Democrat that is out there!

Is progression on the rise or regression is catching up?

When watching the stereotypical conservative talking head talk about this issue they often spew some diatribe about how the election of Senator Brown is "obviously a reflecting on President Obama and his policies." This would make it seem that Coakley, instead of running a poor campaign, simply rode Obama's coattails down and out of office.
Political scientists note that Congressional candidates usually enjoy a higher % of the vote than their party's president. Very few congressional seats are won by the good feelings that the presidential candidates creates, and it is not a viable theory. However these experts claim that the very same phenomenon is happening, only in reverse. This makes me question in what field they hold their expertise, because it's certainly not Political Science.

I am totally disgusted with the way the Democrats have been acting these last 12 months. Never mind blaming the Republicans. It is entirely their fault that we are in the shape we are in. By falling over backwards to please the Republicans they lost everything we presented to them. They didn't know what to do with so much power, it seems and they were too scared to use it..
So instead of serving those who elected them to bring change to the county, they are serving the Republicans, the party of NO. What gives?
Really, this is too much for the citizens of this country to stand. Everyone of us who voted for them now feels abandoned by them. Everyone of us who gave them the majority now feels betrayed. They do not deserve our vote.
Are they too disinterested or too afraid to fight for us? What gives?
In any case, the minority - who are STILL a minority - have all the power it seems. And they will continue to have all the power because most of the Democrats in Congress, including Harry Reid, are not worth anything. They are way too weak to lead. Way too weak to fight for us!

I was disgusted by Scott Brown's vistory in Massachucetts and I agree with Jeff that we must find quality candidates with progressive principles and then we have to work the ground game. I believe the seat that was once held by Ted Kennedy, is as tarnished by a "pretender" as Paul's seat was tarnished by Norm Coleman. Al Franken's election redeemed the seat. let's work to ensure that Ted's seat has a progressive in it when Scott Brown stands for re-election.