Once upon a time, long long ago, way back in 2008 I remember hanging out here at DK and over and over I read something similar to this: "first we work to elect Democrats, then we work to elect better Democrats."
It's only been a year but it seems that we've forgotten the plan. Or should I take it that folks here complaining about the "boycott" are O.K. with Democrats that are anti-choice, threatening to filibuster HCR, and against marriage equality among other things?
Well, we certainly have Democrats. We have a full majority by a good margin in both houses and a Democrat President to boot. And they can't pass a health care bill worth a damn between them. So just how many Democrats are we supposed to keep on electing until we start pushing for good ones rather than just any person with a "D" by their name? We've got 60 "Democrats" in the Senate and we're currently looking at triggers on co-ops for f&#@ sake.
And that's before we look at what up until a week ago was presumed silence and inaction on civil rights until the current President's second term. Well, if he's waiting until 2012 or later to do anything about civil rights, just how long are we supposed to ignore our Congress-critters who are equally inactive?
The bottom line is this: We have Democrats, now we need good ones. To do that means that we don't donate to the blanket organizations like the DSCC, DCCC, DNC, and OFA (which to my understanding shares funds with the previously mentioned organizations; if I am wrong, please accept my apologies). But that doesn't mean we don't donate... just that we don't donate to the blanket organizations that will put money behind Democrats who refuse to stand for Democratic principles. By all means donate to individual campaigns. Donate through ActBlue. The 2010 elections are less than a year away and the primaries are a lot sooner than that and if we want good Democrats, then we need to donate to their campaigns now... especially if that means unseating a Democrat who isn't standing up for Democratic policies and principles whether they be health care reform, Afghanistan and Iraq, or civil rights.