May 26, 2006

Coleen Rowley for Congress

I hope that citizens in Minnesota's second district prudently exercise their obligations and elect Coleen Rowley to the US House of Representatives. On the issues she's solid. She may be a bit naïve about what she's up against, but then I reckon most Minnesotans are struggling to catch up, too. Other than that I believe she clearly has the potential to be a national leader. I can see, moreover, why the Democratic Party hasn't given a nickel to her campaign: she wants to talk about real issues—issues like health care, education, down-sizing the military, NSA's warrantless wiretaps, and holding politicians to account—that they are afraid of because they can't figure the calculus of large donors. Don't get me wrong, I hope the Democrats win in November. And if they do, we may well be lucky that they didn't give Coleen more than token assistance; assuming she beats the Stepford Republican she's running against, having arrived entirely on her own merits she would be perfectly placed to bring much needed fresh air into Democratic policy-making councils. I'm very grateful to Coleen for taking the time to talk with me. And I strongly encourage listeners to give her campaign a donation. She has a realistic chance of winning: getting the progressive minded to Washington is your responsibility too. This podcast runs about an hour and five minutes. Enjoy!