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Onward,
Alexander, Jeffrey, Becky and Deva
November
8, 2006
Democrats Have the Power, But Will They
Use It?
Subpoena
Envy
By DAVID SWANSON
Chairman John Conyers Jr. Chairman
Henry Waxman. Those titles will prove to be the most important
outcome of yesterday's elections, even if the Dems get the Senate
too. It's investigation and impeachment time. Vice President
Cheney has already announced his plans to "probably"
refuse to obey a subpoena from Congress. Democrats need to be
preparing for that crisis now. And I don't mean just elected
Democrats. I mean you and everyone you know who has the sanity
to no longer call themselves Republicans. I mean you, Harold
Meyerson, who published an op-ed in the Washington Post advocating
a bait and switch: run on health care and education and then
take up impeachment after the election. It is now after the
election. I mean you, Arianna Huffington, who argued that impeachment
would distract from the election and could be addressed later.
It's later now. And before you start whimpering about the 2008
elections looming, consider this ... .
A democracy that limits itself to elections will die. A democracy
that appears like Brigadoon for a day every two years and then
becomes a dictatorship for 729 days is dead. Citizen activism
begins today, November 8th. We have a moral duty to impeach
and distant elections be damned. But, even so, consider this
...
In each of the nine cases in the past when one party has raised
impeachment, that party has benefitted in the next elections.
In other cases when a party has failed to press for impeachment
when the grounds for it were widely known, that party has suffered.
(Remember Iran Contra?) And look at what just happened yesterday.
Exit polls reported that voters by a margin of 62-33 percent
voted on national, not local, issues. They voted for four, closely
bunched, national reasons: corruption, terrorism, the economy,
and Iraq. By 57-41 percent they disapproved of Bush's handling
of Iraq. They didn't give a damn about taxes or "values"
or local pork.
Every state except Arizona that voted on proposals to discriminate
against gay people voted yes. South Dakotans rejected a ban
on abortion. Voters in six more states restored some lost value
to the minimum wage. But there's no evidence that any of these
issues drove voters' choices of candidates. There is abundant
evidence that voters were driven by opposition to the war and-probably
more so-to Bush and Cheney.
Impeachment supporter Keith Ellison won a seat from Wisconsin
as the first Muslim in Congress by speaking out for accountability.
Progressive candidates backed by Progressive Democrats of America
(PDA) who spoke out against the war and for accountability, and
who won, include Sherrod Brown, John Hall, and Jerry McNerney.
Some will recall that PDA backed promising antiwar candidate
Christine Cegalis in the Democratic primaries, and that the DCCC
imported a candidate from out of state and dumped a ton of cash
on her to squeak out a win: pro-war Tammy Duckworth. Yesterday
she lost.
Yesterday's vote was as much anti-Republican as anti-war. Voters
said they wanted Democrats to control committees. Republicans
failed to pick up a single new seat. Republican incumbents Lincoln
Chaffee and Jim Leach opposed the war but still lost.
However, Republican Chris Shays barely managed to hold onto his
seat by dropping his support for the war. And pro-war Democratic
challenger Scott Kleeb in Nebraska lost.
Yesterday, prior to the votes, John Nichols at The Nation published
a guide outlining key races to watch, races in which opposition
to the war had been especially prominent in the campaigning.
Here's what he wrote, followed by what actually happened:
"The first polling places to close tonight will be in Indiana
and Kentucky, at 6 p.m. EST. In a Louisville-based House district,
Democrat JOHN YARMUTH, an alternative newspaper publisher, has
a chance of upsetting Republican incumbent Anne Northrup. Yarmuth
has made his opposition to the war a central focus of his campaign
from the start, and he's gotten so much traction that Northrup
has started to break with the administration -- using the now-common
dodge of calling for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to
resign. If Yarmuth wins, it will send a clear signal about the
viability of the anti-war message."
Yarmuth won.
"At 7 p.m. EST, polls close in Virginia, where embattled
Republican Senator George Allen faces a strong challenge from
Democrat JIM WEBB. Webb, a veteran who was a Reagan administration
appointee, switched parties and got into the race because of
his fury over the war. Allen has stumbled frequently during this
campaign, but at the end of the day a Webb win will say a lot
about whether southern voters are as upset as voters in the rest
of the country about the mess in Iraq."
Webb leads despite extensive voter suppression by the GOP now
being investigated by the FBI.
"At 7:3O p.m. EST, polls close in Ohio, where Democratic
challenger SHERROD BROWN has highlighted his vote in the House
against authorizing Bush to invade Iraq, complained about the
cost of the war and called for an exit strategy from the start
of his race against Republican incumbent Mike DeWine. A Brown
win cannot be seen an anything but a big victory for anti-war
forces."
Brown won.
"The same goes for a win by Democrat ZACK SPACE, who is
running for the seat opened up by the decision of disgraced Republican
Congressman Bob Ney to quit Congress. Space has made his anti-war
stance a prime feature of his campaign in a traditionally Republican
district."
Space won 62-38 percent.
"At 8 p.m. EST, polls close in New Jersey, where incumbent
Democratic Senator BOB MENENDEZ has come from behind in his race
with Republican Tom Kean Jr. by putting opposition to the war
at the top of his platform. Menendez is one of a number of Democrats
who have employed blunt anti-war messages in their television
ads."
Menendez won.
"Polls will also close at this time in Connecticut, where
the Senate contest between Democrat NED LAMONT and the man he
ousted in the party primary, incumbent Joe Lieberman, who is
running as an independent, will tell us a good deal about the
depth of anti-war sentiment. Lamont's fall campaign has frequently
stumbled and he trails in the polls. If Lamont were to win, or
at this point finish close to Lieberman, it would indicate that
even when a challenger has vulnerabilities an anti-war stance
counts for a lot."
Lamont lost 50-40 percent. Most observers expect Lieberman to
caucus with the Democrats while voting with the Republicans.
"In another key state where polls close at 8, Pennsylvania,
a big win for Democratic Congressman JACK MURTHA, perhaps the
House's most identifiable war critic and a favorite Republican
punching bag, would make it clear that Democrats who have spoken
out against Bush administration policies are not suffering for
it."
No decision has been reached yet in Murtha's race. He will lose
or win by a hair.
"And a win in another Pennsylvania race by Democratic challenger
JOE SESTAK, a military man who has been outspoken in his advocacy
for an exit strategy in his challenge to Republican Congressman
Curt Weldon in the state's 7th district, would say something
more about the potency of the anti-war message."
Sestak won.
"If Democrat PAUL HODES upsets Republican Congressman Charlie
Bass in New Hampshire's 2nd district, it will be opposition to
the war by Hodes that made the difference."
Hodes won.
"That can be said if Democratic challenger LINDA STENDER
defeats Republican Mike Ferguson in New Jersey's 7th district."
Stender has apparently lost 49-48 percent. We should wait for
analysis of the credibility of the election and the extent of
fraud.
"At 9 p.m. EST, polls close in much of the country, including
the upper Midwest and some of the interior west, North Dakota
Senator KENT CONRAD, a Democrat who cast a courageous vote against
authorizing Bush to go to war in 2OO2, is running well ahead
in his reelection race. A big Conrad win -- with over 6O percent
of the vote -- would show that even in rural, conservative states
it does not hurt to oppose the war."
Conrad won big 69-29 percent.
"If fast-closing Democratic challenger JIM PEDERSON upsets
Republican Senator Jon Kyl in Arizona, it will be because of
Pederson's unrelenting focus on the need to end the war."
No deal. Pederson lost.
"A win in Minnesota's 1st district by Democratic challenger
TIM WALZ, a retired sergeant major in the Army National Guard,
would come at the expense of pro-war Republican Congressman Gil
Gutknecht."
Walz won 53-47 percent.
"In the open Minnesota-6 seat, a win by Democrat PATTY WETTERLING,
who has advocated for the rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq,
would send a very loud anti-war message."
No deal. Wetterling lost.
"The same would go for a win in the 19th district of New
York state, where polls close at this hour, by Democratic challenger
JOHN HALL, who has used his opposition to the war to close the
gap in his race against popular Republican Congresswoman Sue
Kelly. Hall's still got an uphill climb in this contest, but
if he succeeds, then clearly it is the war that is taking Republican
incumbents down."
Hall won.
"Finally, watch in Wisconsin for how well a Green challenger,
RAE VOGELER, finishes in her race against Democrat Herb Kohl.
Like many Greens around the country, Vogeler has focused attention
on the failure of Democrats such as Kohl to take clear anti-war
positions; If Vogeler or other Greens delivering similar messages
finish with significant percentages of the vote, it will serve
as another indication of the intensity of anti-war sentiment."
Vogeler got 2 percent, but that may speak more to Americans'
growing refusal to back third-party candidates and desire to
achieve a Democratic majority than to support for the war.
"At 1O p.m. EST, polls close in most western states. If
Democrat JON TESTER upsets Republican Senator Conrad Burns in
Montana, Tester's criticism of the war will have been a big factor
-- indeed, it was the Democrat's anti-war stance that helped
him win his party's primary in June over a more centrist Democrat."
This race is undecided as of yet, under possibly suspicious conditions.
It should be watched very carefully, as should the undecided
Senate race in Virginia, where the war was also the main substantive
issue.
"Similarly, a win by Democrat BRUCE BRALEY in Iowa's open
1st district, will send an anti-war message. Braley has highlighted
his support for an exit strategy from the start of the race."
Braley won 55-43 percent.
"At 11 p.m. EST, polls in the far west close. If Democrat
DARCY BURNER defeats Republican Congressman Dave Reichert in
Washington state's 8th district, the war will have been a big
factor."
No decision yet.
"In California's hotly-contested 11th district, Democrat
JERRY McNERNEY won his primary in large part because he was the
more clearly anti-war candidate. If he defeats Republican Congressman
Richard Pombo in what is likely to be one of the last contests
to be decided tonight, Congress will be tipped a little further
in the direction of a "Bring the Troops Home: position."
McNerney won.
In the end, the vast majority of the races Nichols highlighted
as tests of support for the war broke decisively against the
war and against members of Bush and Cheney's party. A few of
these races were won by Democratic veterans for peace. But many
more Democratic veteran candidates lost, most of them supporters
of the war, including Duckworth, mentioned above, and including
Charlie Brown who recently asked Cindy Sheehan to stay away from
his events. It would appear that voters are rather indifferent
to whether a candidate is a veteran or not, but are strongly
supportive of opposition to the war whether from a veteran or
a non-veteran.
Democrats yesterday gained majorities in at least six new state
legislatures: NH, IN, IA, MI, MN, WI. This creates six new bodies
that citizens can ask to send impeachment charges to the U.S.
House of Representatives. Bills that would do that have already
been introduced in three state legislatures: VT, IL, CA. New
Jersey activists are hard at work, intent on being the state
that comes through.
Numerous national organizations are forming a coalition to advance
impeachment through multiple strategies, and this is the moment
to do it. Leaders of these groups will announce their plans
in Philadelphia, across from Independence Hall, on Saturday,
November 11th, as detailed here: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/impeach
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