The netroots got very involved in two primaries so far this year. Mark Pera was challenging “Bush dog” Dan Lipinski in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional district. He ran a spirited campaign but lost by double-digits in the February 5 primary.
Donna Edwards came within a few percentage points of beating Al Wynn, one of the worst corporate Democrats in Congress, in Maryland’s 4th district primary two years ago.
This year she was backed not just by bloggers, but also by the SEIU, EMILY’s list, and Democracy for America. She even got the Washington Post’s endorsement.
The final returns aren’t in yet, but the media have already called the MD-04 primary for Edwards. It just goes to show that sometimes, a challenger can beat an entrenched incumbent.
Will the netroots and Democracy for America get behind Ed Fallon now? I hope so, although I must add that Leonard Boswell (disappointing as he can be) is nowhere near as disloyal to progressive causes as Wynn.
3 Comments
Celebrate here:
You can celebrate the Donna Edwards’ win and help make it happen again by sending some ¢hange for change to Ed Fallon.
http://www.actblue.com/entity/…
I’ll be watching those totals to see if they Change!
iowavoter Wed 13 Feb 7:39 AM
Boswell not as disloyal??
I have to say I can’t agree that Boswell isn’t as bad as Wynn. Wynn, at least, has a better record on the war, fair trade, warrantless surveillance, etc. While this statistic isn’t dispositive, Wynn voted with his fellow Democrats in the House 98% of the time in the current Congress, while Boswell did so only 95.6% (a number that has risen in the face of the challenge from Fallon). Let’s hope our fellow progressives do what they can do help Fallon win in June!
heartland-dem Wed 13 Feb 9:09 AM
I cut Boswell more slack for some votes
because this is a swing district, after all. If it were just the AUMF vote, for instance, I understand, because Boswell was in the middle of a tough campaign and the political atmosphere was toxic.
Wynn’s district could not possibly be at risk for going Republican, so there is less excuse for him to vote with Republicans. And didn’t Wynn also give cover to them in 2005 on possibly reforming Social Security, while Boswell was solidly in our corner?
desmoinesdem Wed 13 Feb 2:32 PM