Day three covering the MD-04 Democratic primary race. (See also
MD-04: A Race Ready to Become Prime-Time and
MD-04: WaPo Endorses Challenger Donna Edwards.)
Today brings us a hacktacular piece in the Washington Times titled 'Are black Democrats liberal enough for the left?' (Apparently, there are no black Democrats on the left.) The main thrust is that seven-term incumbent Democrat Albert Wynn is angry at the notion that MD-04 Democrats have an alternative in Donna Edwards:
"My general view is that the Democratic Party used to be the big tent party where everyone is allowed to express their views, now it is being taken over by these bloggers and purists who can only see one way of thinking," Mr. Wynn said. "We can think for ourselves and not for somebody else's idea of what a liberal is supposed to be."
Sorry Albert, but a liberal is more than a corporatist nihilist who has no answer to questions about their voting record. You are free to express your corporate agenda via your votes
but be prepared to face the consequences once election time rolls around.
As for the rest of the article, you will note a very curious omission in all mentions of challenger Donna Edwards:
Rep. Albert R. Wynn, Maryland Democrat, is facing a strong primary challenge from Prince George's County lawyer Donna Edwards, who says he is too conservative to represent his predominantly black constituency.
The Edwards Web site features endorsements from Gloria Steinem and Danny Glober, and a cartoon portraying Mr. Wynn's pockets stuffed with money and bragging on his "new friends"--"Halliburton" and "big banks." Such important liberal bloggers as FireDogLake and MyDD also have boosted Mrs. Edwards' candidacy.
Notice the omission? Edwards' race.
This is conveniently left out of the story so as to portray Wynn as some sort of victim of, presumably, non-black ultra-partisans. Yes, be afraid voters. Be very, very afraid.
Of course, this isn't suprising considering that the Washington Times also fabricated eyewitness accounts that Republican MD-Sen. candidate Michael Steele was "pelted" with oreos during a 2002 debate between Bob Ehrlich and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend--three years after the incident had allegedly occured. Picking up on the story, Fox News, National Review, The Weekly Standard and other conservative outlets all repeated the lie, as did Steele himself. (See MediaMatters here, here and here.) The always lovable Ann Coulter even chimed in saying that "everyone...needs to contribute to Michael Steele, because I think if we run him on our presidential ticket, we could get the Democrats to actually start burning crosses. They're losing their minds, and this is how they are." Unfortunately for Ann, the past cannot be swept away via talking points and truthiness. Catch phrases don't make up for empty promises and there's a difference between reality and your imagination.
You see, conservative media pundits and conservative politicians have to mislead African Americans about the left and the ideals of the Democratic Party. They have to manufacture a political environment hostile to African Americans because they cannot win them over substantially on the issues alone. Its the same thing that Republicans do to the population as a whole only more specified. Instead of 'fear for your safety, support us' it's 'fear the fabricated racist left, support us.' Never mind that their policies and budget priorities leave certain segments of our society behind. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
This questionable tactic also serves to deflect away from the reality of Donna Edwards' challenge to Albert Wynn--an empowered Democrat seeking to represent her community rather than have it represented by an increasingly out-of-touch incumbent. She is a candidate who has fought for years on behalf of others in the public policy arena and has worked to increase civic involvement in public policy. Whereas Wynn's M.O. has centered around personal power and being a local political "kingmaker," Edwards would be committed to getting tangible results to improve the lives of her constituents. It's the connectedness, stupid. It's also a call to hold those in power accountable.
Conservatives seem to be completely unable to perceive the significance of Democratic primary challenges such as Lamont-Lieberman and Edwards-Wynn. They seek to marginalize the phenomenon by calling these grassroots supporters 'extremists' and 'purists.' They also gain pleasure by experiencing the primary process as Democrats 'eating their own.' While there is a very real risk in overwhelmingly negative primaries, the primary holds a very important function. It allows the party in the area in question to find its roots and identity, to have a viable alternative to an incumbent with misplaced priorities and an increasing distance from their district.
The power of incumbency is large enough as it is. This goes for MD-04 as much as it does for CT-Sen. This is about the soul of the Democratic Party.
One accidentally accurate quote from the Washington Times piece, from former Democrat Oliver Kellman:
"The Democratic Party is no longer the voice of the people. But a group of folks are standing up and saying they are going to speak for the people, and that is why you are seeing Al Wynn and Bobby Rush being targeted."
This is true, except the folks who are trying to speak for the people aren't the Albert Wynns of the Democratic Party, they are the Donna Edwards' of the Democratic Party. Albert Wynn is being targeted because he has forgotten where he came from and that his job is to vote on behalf of the interests of the people of MD-04. Therein lies the differences between principle and arrogant self-interest, between populism and corporatism, between grassroots 'leadership that listens' and leadership that dictates.
(Like I've said previously, I'm not part of Edwards' staff...just an interested blogger. The Edwards campaign has really caught fire over the past month. First, Edwards carried the debates and really had the local buzz moving in her direction, despite little in the way of media coverage. Over the past few weeks this has started to change, particularly with yesterday's Washington Post endorsement. Edwards has raised approximately $4,000 via ActBlue just since the WaPo endorsement yesterday. I beseech you to throw some coin her way if you haven't already, particularly since the campaign is trying to raise last minute cash for local ad buys.)
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