I'm literally heading out the door this morning, and I get a phone call. I debated answering it but just before the machine did, I picked it up.
It was 'Joe' from the DCCC calling.
And I just couldn't get Joe off the phone.
Like more than a few people here I gave money to the DCCC in 2006, and more than once, so of course I'm on their frequent flier list. And even though I'm not home much of the time, this is the second call I've gotten in approximately 2 weeks.
The first one came not long after the capitulation bill. But I am like so many others, disgusted with what happened, and I wanted to send a message. So I told the caller that 2 weeks ago. I tried to be polite but firm, and told him that I could not support the DCCC until there was a real commitment to change. He seemed chagrined a bit (maybe, it's hard to detect over the phone) and didn't push further.
This morning was a different story. I told Joe right off the bat that I was in a rush (my kid had already set the alarm) and, because I wanted to reiterate my message, I repeated how displeased I was with the supplemental (fwiw, it's not just the funds but the lack of any real standards that that particular bill placed - as diaried here ad infinitum.) Adn Joe said we needed to strengthen the Democractic majority in the house when we elect a Democratic president. And Joe told me that Nancy Pelosi was doing a great job and if I had a problem there, well, then I had a real problem. And Joe brought up the Karl Rove bogeyman. And Joe got quite insistent, and even a bit nasty, when I kept telling him that I was in a rush and reiterated my positions.
Look, my congressional rep voted against the supplemental. While he wasn't my original candidate, I'm glad and proud he voted that way. But my two senators did. And 2 weeks ago I listened to the DCCC chair on our local station dance his way through explaining the supplemental. (I tried to find the MP3 link but it's already gone, sorry.)
On top of that, of all days, I read here about Sen. Levin's position on the war funding.
My first thought when the gentleman from the DCCC was getting so insistent was that, wow, we much be getting to them. But I guess, not so much. We still have leaders in the party who apparently just haven't gotten the message yet.
I'm not willing to give up on the Democratic party at this point, but I'm far from pleased with the way things are going. And until they get the message, they're going to keep hearing it from me, if only with an empty, not a blank, check.