US Senate
I voted for Elaine Marshall in the primaries and plan to vote for her in November. While the statements on her website (www.elainemarshall.com) condemn the occupation of Afghanistan on the grounds of costs and benefits instead of anti-imperialism, she still calls for ending the war and opposes so-called nationbuilding around the world. She wants to make Big Business live up to its responsibility for the economic crisis, retain and better pay teachers, increase renewable energy use (though I question the use of wind power when turbines may be killing a lot of wildlife, and we won't see the evidence if the turbines are offshore), end legal discrimination against LGBT people at the Federal level, opposes recent free trade agreements, and advocates other progressive and populist policies.
Her campaign was apparently weakened by having to go through a runoff to defeat the national Democratic Party's favored candidate, who ran to Marshall's right, another example of the Democratic Party working to sabotage its left wing.
North Carolinians don't hear much from Senator Burr (or Kay Hagan, for that matter), but judging by what Burr says during the elections, he is serving a very rightist agenda, without being as loud about it as Senator Jesse Helms was. I was surprised when someone from his office called me after I wrote to them, which hasn't happened when I have contacted any of our other members of Congress (or since then with Burr), but constituent services or Federal funding for NC projects are little compared to his reactionary platform.
US House of Representatives and NC General Assembly incumbents
I'm leaning to not voting for Representative David Price or the incumbent Democrats running for the General Assembly. On the other hand, the media is starting to get to me. I don't want to contribute to a Republican landslide, especially given their candidates for the General Assembly, but it could be a case of the Democrats fearmongering for votes. Even if there is a landslide, a bitterly gridlocked Congress with Republicans in control of only one house could tie the imperialists' hands at the Federal level, while a Republican Congress could still be limited by Obama's veto, unless they have enough votes to override it.
Representative Price has, or had a pretty safe and left leaning district, yet he isn't a left Democrat like Dennis Kucinich. Price can be counted on to endorse Israeli aggression, and he can't be counted on to do what he can to stop Obama from starting a war with Iran or the DPRK or further bombing Pakistan, Yemen, and who knows where else. Price did oppose the invasion of Iraq to some extent, no doubt galvanized by the occupation of his Chapel Hill office, but I think he has supported every war funding bill since. Republican BJ Lawson's website (www.lawsonforcongress.com) links to a March 10th vote on Kucinich's bill for withdrawal from Afghanistan in which every NC representative but Republican Walter Jones voted no. Price could have voted to investigate Bush's crimes, and it even might have helped him win votes, but now Obama is covering some up and legalizing others.
Lawson seems to be running further to the right this year and his website comes across as pretty rightist, though his ideas probably haven't really changed much. If he is really more anti-war than Price and can't do too much on the domestic front, he could be an improvement over Price, though Price is generally left of Lawson.
Posts
3 comments:
I've read your blog occasionally and never posted, but I had to leave a comment for this. If you think Lawson is anywhere close to being to the left of Price, you're not being objective.
I think this post from yesterday gives you an idea of where Lawson is coming from (if you don't feel like reading right-wing hot air, his dad called into Rush Limbaugh to talk about BJ being a "Rush baby"): http://triangle.ncfreedom.us/2010/10/27/b-j-lawson-rush-baby-runs-in-democrat-gerrymandered-nc-4/
Lawson is a Ron/Rand Paul acolyte whose radical conservatism hasn't been in the mainstream for nearly 100 years. As far as I know, local journalists haven't asked if he agrees with Rand that the Civil Rights Act and the ADA are unconstitional, but he has gone on the record favoring the elimination or dismantling of Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education, Pell Grants, low interest student loans, federal funding for scientific/medical research, federal funding for transportation (no interstates, no high-speed rail), the FDA (no need for food/drug safety), all international humanitarian aid, etc. He thinks there should be no restraints on guns or campaign financing. He wants to outlaw abortion, even in the cases of rape or incest. He's nuts.
I think that should be enough for any self-proclaimed liberal to vote against him as quickly as possible, but I think Price deserves a defense for some of your criticisms, too. Price is routinely one of the group of Dem congresspersons who are saluted by J Street and slammed by AIPAC for pushing Israel toward responsible action (along with Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Rush Holt, Lois Capps, Sam Farr, etc). Price opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning and introduced one of the first resolutions calling for withdrawal. He is THE leader in the House taking on war contractor abuses. You ask any liberal think tank on the national scene what they think of David Price, and I guarantee you that you'll get nothing but effusive praise.
Apologies for the long post, but that's my two cents.
I've read your blog occasionally and never posted, but I had to leave a comment for this. If you think Lawson is anywhere close to being to the left of Price, you're not being objective.
I think this post from yesterday gives you an idea of where Lawson is coming from (if you don't feel like reading right-wing hot air, his dad called into Rush Limbaugh to talk about BJ being a "Rush baby"): http://triangle.ncfreedom.us/2010/10/27/b-j-lawson-rush-baby-runs-in-democrat-gerrymandered-nc-4/
Lawson is a Ron/Rand Paul acolyte whose radical conservatism hasn't been in the mainstream for nearly 100 years. As far as I know, local journalists haven't asked if he agrees with Rand that the Civil Rights Act and the ADA are unconstitional, but he has gone on the record favoring the elimination or dismantling of Social Security, Medicare, the Department of Education, Pell Grants, low interest student loans, federal funding for scientific/medical research, federal funding for transportation (no interstates, no high-speed rail), the FDA (no need for food/drug safety), all international humanitarian aid, etc. He thinks there should be no restraints on guns or campaign financing. He wants to outlaw abortion, even in the cases of rape or incest. He's nuts.
I think that should be enough for any self-proclaimed liberal to vote against him as quickly as possible, but I think Price deserves a defense for some of your criticisms, too. Price is routinely one of the group of Dem congresspersons who are saluted by J Street and slammed by AIPAC for pushing Israel toward responsible action (along with Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, Rush Holt, Lois Capps, Sam Farr, etc). Price opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning and introduced one of the first resolutions calling for withdrawal. He is THE leader in the House taking on war contractor abuses. You ask any liberal think tank on the national scene what they think of David Price, and I guarantee you that you'll get nothing but effusive praise.
Apologies for the long post(s), but I think this is very important for our community. Just my two cents.
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