tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298660732011-04-21T11:50:24.028-07:00INTPnordyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07353145053510583469noreply@blogger.comBlogger11100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29866073.post-1152471799945449852006-07-09T11:37:00.000-07:002006-07-09T14:12:21.626-07:00Sen. Maria Cantwell's increasingly desperate re-election campaign has enlisted some outspoken Washington state progressives in a move to shore up her sinking poll ratings.<br /><br />Republican candidate Mike McGavick was in a statistical dead heat with Cantwell in the most recent Rasmussen poll <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/June%202006/washingtonsenate06192006.htm">www.rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/June%202006/washingtonsenate06192006.htm</a>.<br /><br />I suppose Cantwell will win some votes. For most progressives, however, these maneuvers are too little, too late and too obvious.<br /><br />Mark Wilson is an anti-war Democrat and one of two Cantwell opponents in the Sept. 19 Democratic primary (the other is Hong Tran). Actually, I should have said "was." Wilson is to announce tomorrow that he's pulling out, endorsing Cantwell and even joining her campaign.<br /><br />Obviously a lot has been going on behind the scenes.<br /><br />It's a pretty amazing flip. Writes Seattle Times political writer and blogger David Postman: <a href="http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/davidpostman/archives/2006/07/mark_wilson_to_endorse_cantwell.html">http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/davidpostman/archives/2006/07/mark_wilson_to_endorse_cantwell.html</a><br /><br />"On his Web site <a href="http://www.votemark.org/">http://www.votemark.org/</a> Wilson asks, 'Does Maria Cantwell really represent you? ' and includes a list of things she voted for that he disagreed with, including the war, the Patriot Act, NAFTA, confirmation of Condoleeza Rice, and the Bush energy bill.<br /><br />"Clearly the hope is that without Wilson in the race the anti-war and liberal criticism will subside."<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Cantwell campaign issued a press release saying wealthy Washington progressive Dal LaMagna will be joining the campaign as a co-chairman. LaMagna is the founder of Progressive Government <a href="http://www.progressivegovernment.org/index.php"><http:></a><a href="http://www.progressivegovernment.org/">www.progressivegovernment.org/</a>, which tracks Bush administration nominees.<br /><br />What Cantwell fails to understand is that she's not facing progressive dissatisfaction. She's facing a progressive revolt. For that, she has no one to blame for herself. For three years she has refused to explain her vote for the war, still less change her position. It's not just that she refuses to talk to progressives; she refuses to acknowledge that they exist.<br /><br />The tipping point occurred when she voted for cloture on Alito. PCOs are refusing to carry her campaign literature. A 46th Legislative District resolution criticizing her failed by a tiny margin.<br /><br />The Cantwell campaign has touted endorsements from one progressive after another. I regularly get pro-Cantwell emails from Barbara Boxer. It hasn't worked so far and I don't think it will work now.<br /><br />Neither will removing Wilson. Depriving progressive voters of an alternative candidate won't compel them to vote for Cantwell in the primary. I don't think her campaign has any idea of the number of progressives who've already decided to vote for Tran or leave their ballots blank.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/29866073-115247179994544985?l=wwwnordy.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>nordyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07353145053510583469noreply@blogger.com0