Last night, Howard and Jim Dean both said they understood how pissed off the base is with the Democratic party and Obama, but they see this, I suppose, as the Tortoise and the Hare fable: One race at a time to win the game. Howard Dean even said DFA’s goal is not necessarily to put liberals into Congressional seats, but to elect “rational, reasonable people you can talk to.”
I dunno, Howard. There’s so much money in politics now that even if they’re rational when they get there, there’s no telling how they’ll be once they’re there for a while.
I was talking to one campaign staffer who was insisting the Blue Dogs were doing what they have to do to survive, and said people like Pat Murphy (PA-8) did a lot of good things. She pointed out he won with very little support from Bucks County, and he had to broaden his base of support.
I disagreed, mostly because he ran as a newcomer, and now he’s an incumbent. You build a reelection campaign on the basis of constituency service, because people are reluctant to kick out someone who’s been responsive to their needs. But really, who knows? When it comes down to it, it’s all just a guess. I might think my guess is more reasonable than yours, but only time will tell.
It all makes my head hurt.
