Some Hot Dem-on-Dem Action

by: Mik Moore

Fri Feb 27, 2009 at 02:00:58 AM EST

What do you get when you have large majorities in Congress and a new president in the White House? Factions!

Not fair but mostly true... it is usually much easier to be united in opposition than when governing. To police the party come what Howard Dean memorably called "the democratic wing of the Democratic party." Moveon, SEIU, Daily Kos, and other former Deaniacs (and more recently, Obamaniacs) have created Accountability Now, a political action committee (PAC) that will target conservative Democrats seeking reelection.

From the perspective of Democratic Party leaders, Accountability Now is probably seen as a mixed blessing. No party leaders appreciate losing the votes of Democratic members on important issues, but they are usually tolerant if the member comes from a conservative district. The great political realignment since Nixon has been to move all of the conservatives into the Republican Party and all of the liberals into the Democratic Party. Swing seats usually exist only in truly moderate to conservative districts, the very districts whose reps are NOT expected to vote themselves out-of-office by supporting bills anathema to their constituents.

Determining which seats are held by Democrats who are more conservative then they need be is likely to be more science than art. Polls and past voting behavior provides the relevant data; if your district voted for Obama, or if Obama is popular in your district, you can probably get away with supporting his initiatives. The question is one of line drawing; how conservative, or anti-Obama, do your constituents have to be before you can use them to justify voting against Obama's bills?

This is the question Accountability Now will try to answer. It is, of course, something of an experiment. If they choose races wisely, they can retain seats for the Democrats while pushing the incumbent to the left OR ousting him or her in favor of a more liberal candidate. If they choose poorly, they will lose seats for the Democrats or simply fail to persuade the targeted Dems to change their voting behavior.

Either way, if there were ever a good time to experiment, it is now. Obama's election revealed what is possible in more conservative states and districts; the party is strong and can handle some Dem on Dem action. 

The best advice I have heard to left-leaning Obama supporters on their new role post-inauguration came from Van Jones on the MLK Day - the day before Obama was sworn in. The essense of what Jones said, which you can watch here, is this: the progressive movement created the opportunity for Obama, not the other way around. And he will succeed only if these same activists - the pro-democracy movement - set the bar high for him, "so he can be the world historic figure we need him to be."  

Accountability Now, at its best, will be doing its part to set the bar high not only for members of Congress, but for Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, and Barack Obama. It could make the difference between good and great, between half measures that make no one happy and full measures that shift people's expectations of their government.

Note: It is exciting to see that Accountability Now will be run by Jeff Hauser, former NJDC political director who most recently ran Rabbi Dennis Shulman's campaign for Congress in NJ.