A primary reminder
by David Atkins
If there’s any merit left in this country’s creaky and corrupted them, then it still matters who gets elected. And if elections still matter, one of the more important tactics we can pursue is to get more progressives elected to public office, particularly in bluer areas.
Some will argue that third parties are the way to go. I have disagreed strongly and still do, noting that the Goldwater conservatives successfully took over the Republican Party when they faced a similar crossroads. Some will argue that protests are the way–and that’s fine, too, though the one tactic doesn’t necessarily preclude the other. For those who do follow my line of thinking that our best chance lies in making a more progressive Democratic Party, one of the more important occasions to make that happen is in primary season. Once a candidate makes it through a primary, it’s hard to hold them accountable since the alternative is almost always worse.
Some readers will assail one or more points in this edifice of reasoning. And that’s fine: we don’t all have to follow the same path, and success may depend on a confluence of tactics. But for those who agree, there are few more exciting times than primary season, which has come and gone in most states. But many primaries in important blue states still lie ahead of us: Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island are holding primaries this Tuesday. Indiana, North Carolina and West Virginia are on May 8th, Nebraska and Oregon on May 15th, Arkansas and Kentucky on May 22nd, Texas on May 29th, and California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota on June 5th. Utah will close it out on June 26th, delivering the final feather in Mitt Romney’s cap.
Just in my Ventura County, California backyard alone, there are two crucial primaries: one for Congress in CA26, and one for State Senate in California’s SD19. Both primaries have major consequences not only for the difference between Democrats and Republicans, but also for the differences between progressive and conservative Democrats. I’ve already written frequently of the problems created by centrist candidate extraordinaire Linda Parks, up against the progressive Julia Brownley, who is locked in a battle herself with three other Democrats, two of them quite conservative. Then there’s the awful Jason Hodge, trying to use his conservative interest connections to defeat the far more progressive Hannah-Beth Jackson. Down in Los Angeles, there are interesting primaries to get involved with as well, both at a Congressional and state level (Torie Osborn and Brad Sherman being the more progressive choices in AD50 and CA30 respectively.)
Even local county committee races can often be influential. There are often competing slates of more progressive versus less progressive Democrats, who then have the opportunity to set the agendas of the county parties and more importantly the endorsements in statewide and federal races.
There are races like these happening all over the country. Chances are, there’s one in your area. Even if there’s not, good candidates all over the country usually have ways of being involved by remote. Now is the best time to do it.
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