I'm a volunteer for the
Clearwater For Congress campaign, working to elect Gretchen Clearwater to represent Indiana's 9th CD. It's a grassroots, underdog campaign for the Democratic nomination-- our primary opponent,
Baron Hill, held the seat until 2004. But we think it's a fight worth waging, and we believe we can and will win.
I plan to post a series of diaries about the campaign, why we're running, why we think we can win, what the main issues are, etc. I've already posted this diary about how the Indiana State Democratic Party leadership has ignored the primary and endorsed Mr. Hill. I also post as frequently as I can on the campaign blog.
Some of the questions we sometimes get from people about the campaign are: "Why are you splitting the party?", "Why are you running when you can't win?" and "Don't you realize how important it is for a Democrat to win back this seat?" Those are the questions I'll attempt to address in this diary....
- Why are we "splitting the party"? This one annoys me a bit. Running a primary campaign in a district where the incumbent is a Republican does not constitute splitting the party. Primaries are not such a bad thing-- in this case, a vigorous primary, cleanly contested, should help the Democratic cause by spotlighting attention on the race and the issues long before November (our primary is May 2nd). We will have plenty of time to close ranks around the primary winner and work together for victory in November. No one gets to choose who the Democratic candidate is except the members of the party. The Democratic Party belongs to all of us.
- Why run when a progressive can't win? and 3. We really need this seat, and your opponent is the only one who "can win." This sort of defeatist thinking is a big part of why our party is such a mess right now. If we accept the notion that progressives can only win in certain places, we're as good as admitting that we don't think our message is strong and our issues are right. Look at our opponents: their President is considerably more conservative than most Americans, many Representatives and Senators are similarly far to the right of many of their constituents. They clearly haven't conceded vast swaths of the country as "unwinnable" for conservatives.
Lots of progressive issues resonate with all kinds of Hoosier voters: people in Clarksville are concerned about the loss of jobs from a major plant's closing; people in Madison worry about the high cost of health care;
evangelical Christians from all over the district are concerned about the environment and global warming; families are worried about their sons and daughters serving in Iraq; students at IU-Southeast in New Albany are upset about cuts in student aid. Just to name a few.
Our primary opponent is a self-described moderate to conservative Democrat and a Blue Dog Democrat. He voted for the Iraq War, for the Patriot Act, for free trade agreements. I want a representative whose views are more progressive-- someone like Gretchen Clearwater, who will vote against more reckless wars, against tax cuts for the rich, against trade agreements that ship our jobs overseas. Someone who will vote for affordable health care and for transparent voting systems, for our environment and for our schools, for teachers and union workers, for bringing our soliders home.
I want someone whose voice will be strong on the issues that matter. And I don't think that's too much to ask. I think that we as progressives need to say, "if not now, when?" "If not me, who?" We've been told by the Establishment, by the Democratic "leadership" that we need to wait. Wait till the next election. Wait till Democrats have the majority. Wait till after we've won the White House. Then we can stand up for what we really believe. This strategy, if it can be called that, has gotten us fewer and fewer Democrats elected, and Democrats who stand up for fewer and fewer of their values. It's time to say enough is enough.
We'll start here, we'll start now. In this district. The going will be tough. Many will say we have no chance. We will be ignored, we may be ridiculed. But we'll keep working for what we believe. And you know what? We just might win. We're building momentum, meeting more and more people who are inspired by what they hear. If you're a progressive, or if you're just sick of politics as usual, we could use your help. Stay tuned-- more from here soon. In the meantime, visit our site or the campaign blog, make a donation if you can, and if you live in Indiana, maybe we'll see you out on the trail.