Month: June 2018

About Last Night – A BIG win for Progressive Liberals. A Big Win for the Democratic Party.

~ Christine Anne Scott ~ Leave a comment

As someone over on Twitter said,

“It’s not that complicated. We can support progressives in super blue districts and moderates in swing districts. There’s room in our party for both and we are going to need both to flip Congress. Our party has a bigger tent than Trump’s GOP. Let’s embrace it!”

I’m no fan of Bernie Sanders, the person, but I believe in much of what he stands for as an elected official. I just happen to believe there are better ways of getting there than running a divisive campaign and not inspiring his supporters to see a realistic path to real change.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez did it the right way. She’s a capital D Democrat. She worked for Ted Kennedy. She ran on a platform of all things Dems have fought for all our lives. She calls it a movement, I call it my life’s work since before she was born. So, if anyone has a problem with what she stands for, he or she is ignorant of what the Democratic party has always stood for. To them I would say, STFU and remember there are kids in cages on the southern border.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’ win was certainly a move for progressive liberals. But, her supporters (and I am one of them) should remember this was also a win for the Democratic party. That she ran against an incumbent who got lazy and complacent in this election is beside the point. Detractors can point to the fact that this was a solid blue district – it was a win no matter who came out on top, but that would miss a big point in her victory – she ran on a good, old-fashioned, democratic platform. She had a better message. She understood we have a big tent and she needs all of us. What Democrat wouldn’t be proud of that?!

If we want a truly liberal and progressive party, we must allow those who can be elected on a solidly progressive platform to do so. To ignore that faction is to lose our party and, without hyperbole, lose the real core of our democracy.

And to those Bernie fans who just can’t help but do a victory lap by yet again condemning the party which he thought so highly of as to change his affiliation (before changing it back, of course), then he or she also needs to STFU and understand we need each other to get these deplorable people out of power. There are toddlers in cages on the southern border.

Joe Crowley was a good man who got complacent and he faced an opponent with a better message. He was in public service a long time – we should not forget his sacrifice. I’m proud of how he handled his defeat. He made it easy for his supporters to champion this newly elected progressive – and he welcomed her message. We need to remember how to do that as we go through these primaries. Be like Joe in this respect.

Bernie never did and the fissure is wide and unlikely to heal. This should terrify any of us who truly cares for our country, the least among us, and those who need a champion.

We have bankers and social workers and dog walkers and CEOs in our party. We must find a way to respect them all, and that starts with how we win and how we act when we lose.

I challenge people who were Bernie supporters and ecstatic over Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’ win last night to be gracious to those who supported Mr. Crowley. No, she will not need his voters for her win this fall in her very blue district. But, from the comments I have seen this morning, the disregard and disrespect for her Democratic opponent is alive and well. It must work both ways. I have confidence she will lead the way.

Yes, we must champion those who have been disenfranchised from our party, but we must also champion those who have been in the thick of it for a long time. Yes, there is corruption in all parties. Yes, there is reluctance to change. But, no, it isn’t the same as the GOP. The facts are, women will not lose the right to choose if a Democrat is elected. A Democrat will not cede another justice thereby condemning the Supreme Court to a conservative party for the next 50 years. Your children (depending on your age) will be middle-aged or old men and women when the tide turns.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court chipped away at a women’s right to choose. Overturning Roe is on the near horizon and one justice away from reality. Yesterday, they banned people from entering our country based on religion. Last week, the bill to remove pre-existing conditions from healthcare raced through congress. Yesterday, nothing was done to unlock the cages and reunite babies with their mothers. Just this morning, the Supreme Court ruled along party lines, that government employees do not have to participate in collective bargaining. It is a big blow to labor unions, something Bernie Sanders championed.

That’s what happens when you miss the big picture.

I hope we can all refocus the excitement around candidates who can win, rather than candidates who should win. We, as liberals, must do the most liberal thing in the world and make room for everyone in our tent (except maybe Sarah Sanders, until, you know, she stops lying).

A good example of why this has to happen: Doug Jones won a special election in Alabama. He didn’t get there because the 25 Democrats in the state voted for him, let me tell you. And he didn’t get there by suddenly becoming a progressive liberal. Would I love it if Alabama were progressively liberal? Abso-fucking-lutely. It’s not going to happen anytime soon (and I lived in the deep south for two decades, so I have some authority here). But one day they could get there. And they’ll do it with baby steps. We must allow them time to do that without abandoning our core values.

To put a fine point on it – we start by allowing compassionate conservatives a place in the tent. They are not going to vote for a progressive liberal. At least not today, maybe not this year. Maybe not in 2020. But, they may move a little further toward the center. And that’s good for all of us. On the other hand, where we can elect progressives to office, we must. They will drive and excite the future leaders of our country. And, if you, like me, know these young folks, you know they will do a much better job than we have.

Bernie people, never-trumpers, GOPers who are sickened by the imploding of our democracy, and yes, even those of us who have been life-long Democrats – we need to decide right now where our priorities are – taking a victory lap or opening the tent flaps. Because, it is in the aftermath of these primaries that we either link arms or do everlasting damage to our party. And that starts with holding ourselves and our chosen candidates and their supporters to a higher standard of openness and grace. Many of us have been working in this “movement” for a long time. Respect that. Understand that. And then, let’s move on, together.

Our Take on the June 26 Maryland Primary

~ Christine Anne Scott ~ Leave a comment

This is especially for upcounty friends who haven’t voted early, but are asking how to figure out who to vote for in our Maryland primary. We’ve had a number of calls in the past few days asking where to even start with the tanker full of mailers and gazillion scorecards they are (trying to) sort through.

Here’s the system my husband and I used – neither scientific, nor in some cases, entirely brilliant, but the job is done and three days later, we’re still happy with our choices. Our opinions are our own. No names named – and no finger pointing here. Just reiterating the actual conversations we’ve had around our kitchen table and with neighbors and friends.

First stop is to get the handy LWV guide just to get an idea of who is running for which seats. They don’t endorse, but all candidates are listed with answers from most to broad questions about a variety of subjects. You can find it online or come by for a glass of wine (or coffee) and we’ll give you ours.

It’s a weird year – too many people we like running against each other, both of us have colleagues, former colleagues, or neighbors running. Where we just couldn’t choose one over the other – we split the vote. Stupid, perhaps, but at least our conscience is clean.

The rest represent what’s important to us on a local level, for the county as a whole, and at the tippy top of the ticket, who can represent the state with grace, experience, and thought, although many of them reach that bar, so we feel we are in good hands, no matter who wins in the primary.

Mostly, though, our choices were based on the following:

  1. Were they a transit advocate – did they advocate early and often for the Purple Line – something that won’t effectively change our lives up here, but certainly something I’ve put just shy of a decade into professionally and, obviously, believe will change the face (and fate) of our state for the better. We also believe whenever transit can replace cars and roads it’s a good thing for all of us. Much like those ubiquitous signs popping up in areas that aren’t in a particular candidate’s district, air knows no boundries, either, so fewer roads, fewer cars, more transit is always a front runner for us.
  2. Having said that, there is also reality for us upcounty folks. Does the candidate have a real, doable plan for the I-270 corridor? Being an advocate of All Day MARC service certainly helps, but even that didn’t tip the iceberg for us completely. All day Marc service + a reversible lane + a dedicated express bus lane is more like it. We looked for candidates that rounded out some solutions to solve the insane traffic problems up here – not just paid lip-service to something that won’t be considered (sure we would LOVE a light rail all the way up to Frederick, but we need relief now and I am a good person to assess how long it can take a project to become reality, trust me.)
  3. If the candidate held office at the time, did they show up in our community in person to support our neighbors and friends when the murder of two high school students occurred in a sleepy and safe neighborhood?
  4. Does the candidate, if they are an incumbent, respond to community complaints quickly? Did they solve the problems they were called about – either by giving specific information or making sure the services needed were contacted?
  5. Did the candidate refuse to endorse Hillary Clinton after the primary, even after Bernie did? Yeah, I know, a hard one to pin down, but it’s important for us, especially at the top of the ticket. We reason that we need someone who will pull the factions together as we head into the midterms and into the 2020 election – not continue to drive a wedge in our party.
  6. Has the candidate ever been seen in these parts…I mean like, EVER? Trust me, candidates do themselves no favors by ignoring the low hanging fruit up here.
  7. Do we know the candidate to be an awesome person?
  8. And, in the case of the at-large County Council candidates – we looked at them as a package and wanted balance. Fine to have our favorite people elected, but we wanted at least one incumbent. That would be the terrific Hans Riemer, for whom we would have voted regardless, but he is also the only incumbent running for an at-large seat. We also wanted at least one representative from upcounty – our needs are different from Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Chevy Chase. The other two votes went to folks we have known and supported for years, who happen to live in other parts of the county.

And that’s about it. I’m glad this election season is coming to a close. I hope, in the future, someone figures out how not to have 459,000 candidates running for a thimble full of seats.