I live in Arkansas... What should I do?
Now, before I get any responses telling me that I should move somewhere else, let me clarify my question.
As many of you may know, in Arkansas we have Democrats in both U.S. Senate seats, as our Governor and we even have some in the U.S. House of Representatives (yet we are considered a red state). Our problem is that most of these elected Democrats are DINOs. I will reserve judgment on our governor for now, but it is abundantly clear that Blanche Lincoln, Mark Pryor, and Mike Ross are much more Republican than they are Democrat. So my question is, what can I do about it?
Back when Clinton was running for president the first time, I wrote a pro-Clinton editorial to our state newspaper and got it published. This was perhaps a little bit helpful and generally a good experience (except for a few hoopleheads who went to the trouble of finding my name in the phonebook and then left angry tirades on my answering machine).
I was completely out of Arkansas politics for about 15 years while I was living in Tennessee, but a couple of years ago I moved back to Arkansas and resumed voting the Democratic Party ticket. Unfortunately, last year I found myself voting for Mark Pryor (who had no Republican opponent which should tell you something) and I have regretted it ever since. I should have voted for the Green Party candidate for whatever good that would have done.
Now that I am clearer on the actual stances of these Arkansas DINOs, I really want to do something to affect a change. I have emailed both Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor on a regular basis to voice my opposition to just about everything that they are for, but neither of these so called "public servants" has ever even bothered to reply. Yesterday I called Mike Ross' office and left him a message regarding his stance on health care reform, but I am not holding my breath waiting for a response from him either.
So, what to do now? I suppose I could keep calling and emailing these people (and I probably will for whatever good it will do), but it would be better if we could vote them out of office.
I know what you are thinking... these politicians need to be primaried. Yeah, I know, but good luck with that. Even if you could get someone to run against one of these powerful DINOs, the Democratic Party machine would still support the incumbent and make the prospect of outing them nearly impossible. That leaves only an unthinkable option. We could vote them out by voting in a Republican challenger and then we could get a real Democrat to run in the next election.
Before anyone starts slamming me for even thinking this, consider the fact that Blanche Lincoln is really a Republican. She is against EFCA, the public option in health care reform, and consumer protections against predatory credit card practices just to name just a few. She rarely--if ever--votes with the Democratic Party on key issues. Could a Republican really be worse than her?
Sadly, yes.
Unfortunately, one doesn’t have to look any further than the recent racist comments of Republican challengers Kim Hendren (referring to Chuck Schumer as "that Jew") or Curtis Coleman (when traveling to Southeast Arkansas one "might as well get a visa and shot") to realize that things could actually get much worse.
So, back to my original question: I live in Arkansas... What should I do?
FWIW, this is my first diary, so please be gentle.