On Monday I published a diary Must have: Progressive Dem to primary DiFi. I asked the readers to suggest names that they thought could get the job done.
More inside
Some provided names, some provided comments. The comments broke down into 3 basic themes.
Why now, she isn't up for reelection until 2012, and or she will probably retire?
My answer: To beat Di in the primary will require an extraordinary effort. We need to find the right candidate, we need to do the community organizing it takes to win and most importantly we need to build a big enough war chest to go toe to toe in media buys, events and all the other things it takes to mount a campaign against an incumbent. IMHO she isn't going to retire. In the senate she is a relative youngster.
I am right there with you Leftover, She is a DINO and it is time for her to go.
I agree.
Don't waste the time DiFi is unbeatable, it is too expensive, we could use the money to defeat someone that is beatable.
My answer: She is beatable, yes it is expensive to campaign state wide in California, but A. we are talking about primary money here, so who are we taking money away from again?. There seems to be a perception that the supply of money is fixed. This is not true. The amount of money available is proportional to the number of people committed to getting the job done. B. The cost of bad government that comes from having a DINO representing California in the Senate is much larger than the cost to solve the problem.
* There are a lot of Hollywood people on this list, this is not a surprise when you consider the need for high favorable name recognition. If you look at Congress we have a lot of former sports figures, military heroes and the like for the same reason. Personally I don't care if a circus acrobat(no disrespect to circus acrobats intended) is our candidate provided that he or she is a smart, honest, Progressive Democrat that can win both the primary and the general, but that's just my opinion.
Take the poll.