Republicans have won the 9th district of New York for the first time in quite a long time. Is this victory a referendum on the Polices of Barack Obama and his Democratic colleagues? I would argue that this self inflicted wound is a referendum on their spinelessness.
Anthony Weiner was considered to be a Progressive champion for the Democratic party; someone who could galvanize the left in this country behind a particular issue. It has already been argued on another Daily Kos blog that his outspoken progressivism is a more recent invention and that his past shows a more moderate politician (although in response to that, I was unaware that support for Israel was considered a right wing view). And while his legislative accomplishments were thin, that wasn't the point; he was one of the few (the very, very, very few) people willing to take it to Republicans, even on the house floor if necessary, on important issues.
When the 'scandal' (I use that term very loosely) broke involving his tweeting pictures of his penis to female supporters, Democrats were ready to sacrifice him for the 'greater good'. He had broken no law. While his lying about it was indeed contemptible, his own personal failings had nothing to do with how competently he did his job; his poll numbers right up until his stepping down confirmed this (about 56% of his constituents still approved of him and wanted him to stay on). The incident was sure to fade from public view within a month - the 24 hour news cycle means most stories have little staying power. And yet almost every Democrat, from Nancy Pelosi to Ed Rendell to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and even President Obama, thought he should step down.
The thought at the time was that the story would negatively affect the Democratic message, which at that point was all about beating Republicans to death with the Paul Ryan budget which would end Medicare (indeed a good strategy). The Weiner story gave Republicans something else to talk about. It would steal the spotlight away from a winning issue. And the quickest way to get back on point was to sacrifice Weiner. And so he did step down; one of the great progressive voices on the left was silenced for the greater good.
But I have not heard too much about medicare and the Paul Ryan budget lately. Why is that? Its because President Obama sold out the Democratic message by putting changes to Medicare on the table during the Debt ceiling debate; it was already bad enough that he was arguing exclusively on Republican terms. The very message that Weiner stepped down to help save was destroyed by the leader of the party. Democrats could no longer claim to be the staunch defenders of Medicare when the President was willing (in some degree) to give Republicans what they wanted. So now, after a special election, we have another Republican in congress. It is important to remember that Weiner had a high approval rating in his district at the time of his stepping down and would very likely have won re-election.
Had Democrats let the storm pass there wouldn't be a new Republican in congress and we could still have one of our great progressive champions fighting the good fight (the opinion of some that Weiner has a mental illness because he tweeted pictures of himself is absurd). But it is not to be. And this is why the Democratic party is weak; this is why they could barely pass their agenda (and in many cases had to water it down so much as to lose any real value; health care reform, Dodd-Frank, the Stimulus, etc.) even when they controlled the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. Too many are unwilling or unable to stand up to the Right, to say that Government has a place in our lives and that it can make life better and fairer for its citizens, to say that regulation helps save lives and our environment, to say that health care should be a right for all citizens and should be run by the Government for the benefit of the people not for the profit of insurance companies. But most wont do that, and they were unwilling to stand by someone who did (unlike Republicans; isn't David Vitter still in office despite breaking the law?).
Democrats fail because on the whole they are unwilling to stand up for left wing principles. They bring things like this New York special election on themselves.