I agree with you that he's been good for us in Washington, but for me there's almost a feeling of paranoia about calling Durbin out on some of this stuff. I know that there is a practical analysis that probably goes into the decision who to endorse and who not to. I "get" that we need electable candidates--why bother otherwise--ya know? What I am not getting, however, is how the decision is made about who to support.
My assumption here has always been that we are all Democrats with a certain amount of common ground. I know that this is about like herding cats, but IMO there are some hot button issues in every race that will mobilize the Dem base. Maybe I'm just naive, but I've always looked for candidates who agreed with me on those issues, or who at least didn't make me feel ashamed to have a yard sign.
In a Dem Primary, in a year when the GOP has been out there nationwide openly attacking women's issues, I freaking well EXPECT AND DEMAND that my party puts up candidates that will support women's rights to choice and all women's access to birth control. Ain't open for debate or discussion with me--you want my money or my help you damn well better be able to say you are pro-choice without stammering or shuffling like a guilty little kid. I watched Matt Goetten stammer and turn three shades of green when he tried to answer the question, "Do you support a woman's right to choice?" It made me feel ill.
Durbin endorsed the wrong guy. By itself, maybe if I hadn't seen it happen before, I might have just figured it was a fluke. WE have ALL seen it happen before, however, that Durbin goes into a Primary and tries to swing it for the "favored" one. We have all seen more than one race where a legitimate Progressive candidate gets passed over in favor of an "electable" candidate as defined by some elusive standard that nobody seems to be able to articulate. You can name several names on here from prior races where the power elite attempted to influence those primaries, and virtually EVERY time it was a more socially conservative Dem they chose to help. I find that more than disturbing.
Laura
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