Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), as noted previously, was
rewarded for voting against the Democratic party more often than any other Democratic representative (and, simultaneously, for voting with President Bush more than any other Democrat save one) with a position as Assistant Minority Whip by Steny
"Steven Colbert shouldn't be mean to Our Leader" Hoyer.
Now Boren is back in Oklahoma's biggest Republican newspaper bragging about how often he defies the party, and putting the party on notice that he is right and everyone else is wrong:
Boren said Thursday, "I cannot move to where (Democratic leaders) want me to be. If I were to do the things the (Democratic) caucus wanted me to do, I would be unelectable in Oklahoma. If (Democrats) want to be in the majority, they're going to have to try electing people like myself."
More from the story:
Already bearing the distinction as the House member who voted against his party more than any other member last year, Boren broke with Democrats twice the past week on major issues.
He said he hasn't received any "specific threats" of punishment from party leaders determined to show a united front in a key election year, but he has heard things "swirling around," including the rumor that disloyalty could affect future committee assignments.
Wednesday, Boren was one of just 15 Democrats who supported a $70 billion package of tax cuts; 182 Democrats voted against it. Last week, he was one of eight Democrats who voted for the Republicans' lobbying reform package that 192 Democrats opposed.
Democratic leaders claimed the tax package primarily benefited the wealthy and would increase the national debt.
But Boren said he ran for Congress in 2004 on a platform of creating jobs and he would support tax measures that helped small businesses or put more money in the pockets of his constituents.
Regarding lobbying reform, Boren said important changes were in the GOP bill he supported -- for lobbyists, congressional staff members, convicted lawmakers and in regard to some outside groups' campaign spending.
Kos already noted that the bill Boren backed is a "sham," and that Boren helped pass it. However, Boren is not one of the most endangered Democrats: southeastern Oklahoma is the state's Dem stronghold, and even in 2004, there was no question that whoever won the Democratic primary would win the general election. Boren won in 2004 by 30 percentage points, 65% to 35%.
Boren defeated Kalyn Free, a true progressive, in the 2004 primary by relying on name recognition (his father, David Boren, was a Democratic governor and three-term senator, and has been the President of the University of Oklahoma for the past 11 years) and by smear tactics, such as saying that Free's NARAL endorsement meant that she supported "abortion-on-demand" for 13-year-old girls and untrue stories about being soft on heinous crime.
MoveOn PAC endorsed Boren's primary opponent in 2004, as did Emily's List, Blog for America, and most progressive organizations with any interest. Why?
Next up is Kalyn Free , running for the 2nd district in Oklahoma. Kalyn became the youngest prosecutor ever hired at the U.S. Department of Justice at the age of 23 and then spent 10 years prosecuting environmental polluters. An intelligent advocate who has worked hard her entire life, Kalyn is a native Oklahoman and member of the Choctaw nation. If elected Free would become the first Native American woman to be elected to Congress. She's in a tight primary race against a very conservative Democrat who supports the Marriage Amendment, supports the war in Iraq, and has received significant backing from the oil and gas industry and the NRA. By supporting Kalyn, we can demonstrate not just to Republicans but to conservative Democrats as well that writing hate into the Constitution just won't fly.
By smearing Democratic causes and progressive voters, Dan Boren backed into a House seat that he's using to sabotage the Democratic agenda. Not only has he not been punished for it, he's bragging about how he hasn't been punished, and flatly states that the Democratic Party needs to move to his bigoted, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-equality, pro-deficit, pro-oil, pro-corruption stance.
In other words, Boren is publicly saying that if Democrats want to get elected, they should become Republicans. Kos, remember that whoever the Democratic candidate is will win this district, so can someone find a better representative of the party and of the people than this clown?