The WAPO blog has a video of Senator Schumer making a noteworthy plug to donors to the DSCC.
You see, for once a Dem Senator for once did not shy away from raising expectations for the nationwide races. In fact, he admitted that we really do have "a once in a generation opportunity" to increase our Senate seats.
We not only can do it his way, we can make it a progressive majority...
Why's this important, when you've got Obama or Clinton to keep your competitive-fix happy? Well, you think your candidate is going to set us on the right track on climate change without Congress? End the war? Fix health care?
Interestingly, Schumer says he spoke with both of them. This might be a nice shot of reality:
"Both Barack and Hillary have told me if we only have 52 or 53 or even 54 in the Senate they're going to have to trim their agenda, let alone get something done to change America,"
Republicans, who threaten to throw a hissy everytime we use the filibuster, are not too afraid to use it themselves. You see, Barack may reach across the aisle, but that doesn't change a duck into anything other than a duck. Er, rather, wolves in the henhouse into more chickens.
So here's the vid.
Schumer was just making a thank-you for the DSCC. But, truth be told, the DSCC is not the key to this opportunity by itself. Who's helping Andrew Rice, the Senate candidate in Oklahoma, and who's not raising expectations? How much will they work for Scott Kleeb, or Larry LaRocco? The DSCC is not accountable, but ActBlue contributions to their campaigns are.
What more do we want? The GOP to fall on their knees and beg for mercy? This is as good as it gets folks with the last time Bush is on the minds of the voters, with a Bush war, and a Bush economy!
Not to mention the easier ones to balance it out with:
New Mexico, Virginia and Colorado!
With just five of those, plus Oregon, Minnesota and New Hampshire, we're already at 57 seats plus Bernie Sanders! But we have Alaska and Maine in the mix too, Not to mention tougher battles like Idaho, Oklahoma, two in Wyoming and Nebraska!
Naysaying is very easy, but the fact is that thats 14 actual seats plus the two in Wyoming, and once you start making some of them more and more competitive the odds ever-increase in our favor. Will we get to 60? That's impossible to predict, so stop setting the expectations so low. We will fight for every seat we can. That's where honor and democracy lie.
The fight.
I will feel no shame or regret in donating 25 bucks and time, and phone calls, to Andrew Rice or Larry LaRocco should they lose, because I will have been part of a war with many battles. Each battle distracts and weakens the GOP in its efforts somewhere else. Eggs will be broken this cycle.
And when we're done, the GOP's kitchen is going to need Alice from the freaking Brady Bunch.
This is our test. Either we believe in the 50-state strategy now and will commit to fight that fight this cycle, or we don't and we're all playing with our fiddlesticks on the intertubes. And doing President Obama or President Clinton very little service.
Permalink | 15 comments