Boulder County, January 28, 2006
Dear Senator Salazar,
Over the past couple of days, I have tried every method I know to contact you. I have spoken to voice mails and humans, had e-mails and phone calls bounced back by full in-boxes, and dealt with more automated systems than I thought imaginable. Since I have no way of knowing if my words ever reached your ears, or my messages your desk, I'll take one more shot at being heard. I hope to God that part of your plan to take the pulse of your constituency consists of visiting Daily Kos sometime before this diary gets buried under an avalanche of newer posts.
Please keep in mind that I speak only for myself; in no way should anything I write here be construed to indicate that I have any pull over any vote other than my own. I do not speak on behalf of the Colorado Education Association, I do not speak for teachers in general, and I would never presume to speak for any Colorado voter other than myself.
That said, I was in a leadership position among teachers statewide at the time of the 2004 Democratic primaries, and I remember the discussions we had regarding whether to support you or Mike Miles in the general election. I'll be both blunt and honest about something you already know: Many of our 37,000 members supported Miles, whom they believed would focus more than you on education issues and reforming the odious No Child Left Behind travesty. A more pragmatic (and, it turns out, larger) group felt that your name recognition as a former Attorney General would make you more electable. When our own internal dust settled, we cast our lot with you.
I'll continue with my theme of honesty, Senator: I had my reservations about you. I worried that while you would clearly be orders of magnitude better for our great State than the turncoat whose seat you sought to fill, you might not fight hard enough for the principles of those you worked to put you in office. Nevertheless, I am a union man. When the union says it needs its members to act in concert, I place the power of organized labor ahead of my own concerns. If both our enemies and our allies know that such an enormously powerful bloc - one with members residing in every political subdivision in the State - can act in unison, we wield that much more clout in the next battle.
And so I became one of your foot soldiers. I wasn't a leader, organizer, or fundraiser; just a guy who dropped some literature, donated some time and cash, put out yard signs, and talked a couple of friends into voting for you. I was a small part of the wave that resulted in stunning Democratic wins statewide in 2004, so many of them that Colorado has a plausible claim to being the Democrat's biggest win nationwide that year.
This was the same populist wave that propelled you to high office, sir, and now I'm calling in whatever chit my role in your election earned me. I'm afraid I'll only be able to view the choice you make in the coming days in one of two ways: If you choose to be a union man and join your fellows in solidarity by supporting the filibuster of Judge Alito, you will earn my admiration and support. If you choose to sit on the fence and leave Democrat men and women of principle to fall on their swords alone, you will earn my political enmity for all eternity. For me, at least, primary season 2010 will begin the day after you vote in favor of cloture.
Trust in the folks who put you in office, Senator Salazar; people like me won't leave you hanging later if you support us now. Ask Mark Cloer, the Republican State Rep from District 17, who faced a primary challenge from his right because he crossed party lines to vote against a moronic school voucher program. I, a flaming liberal from Boulder, walked and dropped literature for Cloer, a Republican in Colorado Springs, at the behest of a grateful CEA. Representative Cloer won, by the way - better to have a Republican who stands on principle than a Democrat who could win in the Springs, right, Senator?
As I stated above, I speak only for myself. I'm just one teacher/voter/union member/constituent, and I'm one who would feel more than a little betrayed if you choose this moment to back off from the hard fight. Please do the right thing, the noble thing, when the time comes next week. Stand with the side of principles and vote to sustain a filibuster against the elevation of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Coloradan
