With less than two days before the November 7 elections, I believe it is important to add some context to the races for Congress and particularly to Jim Webb's race for US Senate from Virginia. It is true that America could witness a watershed election year. Dissatisfaction with the bungling Bush Administration and their Republican bobble-heads in Congress is widespread and real. The fleecing of Americans at home and the destruction of our image abroad has made this President and this Republican-controlled Congress arguably the worst combined leadership of any President and Congress in modern history, if not in the entire history of our nation.
The truth is that the Republican rubberstamp Congress has not earned the right to be re-elected and should be thrown out en masse. If that happens, we will have witnessed a fundamental change in direction for our nation and for our place in the world.
But something else is happening this election cycle, and it is nowhere more present than it is in the US Senate between Jim Webb and George Allen. And that is the birth of a new form of democracy called the Netroots. This band of citizens concerned about their nation, concerned about the leadership or lack thereof in Washington, concerned less about the powerful interests who would seek to silence them and more about taking back their government, has influenced American politics unlike any other group. Their insights, persistence, and perseverance, coupled with their ability to rally their fellow citizens and to raise money, has made a mark on American politics which is truly a breath of fresh air. These netroots warriors have proven to be a new weapon in the arsenal of representative Democracy, and I say amen to that and welcome to the table. I firmly believe that if Jim Webb is elected to the United States Senate on November 7, 2006, it will be as a direct consequence of the Netroots efforts and savvy. You are a new power center in American politics, and from my perspective, that is greatly welcomed. Keep on "crashing the gate!"