(Note: Senator Lautenberg has drawn a primary challenge from Congressman Rob Andrews. This is a diary in support of Lautenberg, with no strings attached)
I first became active in New Jersey Democratic politics at the age of 13, in the fall of 2001. By roughly a year later, towards the end of September 2002, I was fully engaged in both online and offline campaign efforts (posting with regularity at MyDD.com and working for my local Congressional campaign). One of the races I was watching was the U.S. Senate race involving Democratic incumbent Bob Torricelli and a Republican with a checkbook and little else, Doug Forrester. I got home in time from school on September 30th to watch as the corruption-plagued Torricelli announced his withdrawal from an increasingly doomed reelection bid. The question that quickly emerged was as to who would replace Torricelli as the Democratic Party’s nominee; with the Senate hanging in the balance that November, holding Torricelli’s seat was essential.
It was at this point that I first learned about Frank Lautenberg.
Senator Lautenberg had retired from the Senate the year before I had gotten involved in politics, so to a young ‘un like me his name was unfamiliar. That changed in a matter of days, as Lautenberg volunteered himself to be the nominee and quickly rallied the Democratic Party behind him. I was impressed and inspired by his life story: a working-class son of Polish, Jewish immigrants who ably served his country in World War II, he made his own fortune as a leader in the computer industry and lived the American dream – and who wanted to give back to his country through public service.
I was pleased to read about his record as a US Senator: how he fought the NRA tooth-and-nail in the 1980s and 90s to pass meaningful gun control legislation (just ask Sarah Brady – or rather, hear her testimony at the Lautenberg '08 Website); how he pushed for legislation to prevent terrorist-sponsoring countries from receiving American dollars (well before 9/11, mind you); how he worked with fellow Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut to implement the Medical Family Leave Act of 1993 – and how he was never afraid to stand up for America’s liberal traditions or to call himself one.
And when I found out that the man who had come out of retirement had regretted his decision to leave the Senate from the moment he made it, and was eager to get back into the fight against a new conservative threat, I was thrilled. Frank Lautenberg had won his seat in 1982 as a proud opponent of the "Reagan Revolution". Twenty years later, he returned to the Senate as an equally staunch foe of George W. Bush. And while for the first four years of his term Lautenberg has been limited by a rubberstamp Republican Senate in what he would like to do, he has spent the last year as a strong Democratic member of the majority.
One of the things I like most about Senator Lautenberg is that he has been on the side of the progressive movement in America time and again since returning to the Senate – even when the outcome was against us. He has not been a "fair-weather friend" in the Senate, to say the least. If you look at the roll calls that have sparked the most discussion in the Blogosphere, you will see Lautenberg’s name as "one of the good guys" on every one:
•He voted to authorize the withdrawal of troops from Iraq in 2007, and is strongly for a withdrawal timeline attached to any further funding for the war. More importantly, he stood with Russ Feingold and just 22 other Senators when it came to withdrawing our troops within 90 days.
•He voted to separate the increase in the Minimum Wage from the repealing of the Estate Tax, for pay-as-you-go fiscal restraint legislation and against the renewal of the Bush tax cuts for America’s wealthiest. He was just one of 25 Senators to stand up against the Bankruptcy Bill in 2005. And when it came to increasing the Minimum Wage by itself, he supported that legislation from its first proposal in 1997 all the way through 2007.
•He was just one of 14 Senators to oppose a blank check for the suspension of habeas corpus at Guantanamo Bay, and simultaneously voted to give Congress the right to investigate the violation of POW status at Guantanamo and elsewhere (it failed) in 2005. He also voted against the Rockefeller Amendment that gave the telecoms immunity for abetting the violations of civil liberties, to restore habeas corpus to the Constitution and to implement the 9/11 Commissions recommendations in 2007.
•He voted to prevent drilling in ANWR and was against every single Republican bill that gave free rein to Big Oil in exploiting the environment. And he’s voted for renewable energy legislation every time it has come up in his career.
•He voted against confirming John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court as well as against judicial atrocities like Bill Pryor, Janice Brown and Priscilla Owen in 2005. He also voted against making Alberto Gonzales our Attorney General, Condoleezza Rice our Secretary of State and Michael Leavitt the head of the EPA. And before his initial retirement in 2000 he voted against the impeachment of President Clinton.
•And he consistently voted for a humane, reasonable approach on immigration matters, whether it be opposing xenophobic legislation on ID cards and border fences or supporting the sensible immigration bill that was proposed in 2006.
And how could you not love a guy who goes to the floor of the Senate with a poster of a chicken in hand and proceed to call out the President and the Vice-President of the United States as "chickenhawks"?
In short, whether we won or lost, Frank Lautenberg has been on "our" side since the day he returned to the Senate in 2003. He’s running again this year, and so far it appears that the Republican field is alarmingly weak (well, alarmingly for them anyway). However, it also appears that Senator Lautenberg will be drawing a primary opponent in Congressman Rob Andrews (NJ-01). Andrews is probably the most conservative of the Democratic members of Congress from New Jersey; for starters, he voted for the Iraq War resolution in 2002 (his then-colleague and now US Senator, Bob Menendez did not) and has voted to continue funding the war in every vote since. It appears that Andrews’ main argument, should he run, is that Lautenberg is "too old" for the job. This is same argument made by Hawaii Democrat Ed Case when he challenged Senator Dan Akaka in 2006; if Akaka’s renomination is any indication, that strategy isn’t going to work.
And, quite "frankly", I don’t see any reason why Frank Lautenberg should be primaried. I have seen him up close and personal on numerous occasions in the last year, and he is still as sharp, well-spoken and attentive as when I’ve seen him in action before. And his record on the issues is unassailable – time and again, he has stood with the progressives of America – and the average American citizen in the process – on the issues that matter to us, whether it be a winning or a losing cause. I am proud that he is my US Senator, and I look forward to helping him win renomination and reelection in June and November. And if you agree with me that Frank Lautenberg deserves another six years in the U.S. Senate, feel free to go over to http://www.lautenbergfornj.com and get involved.