Posted by
Michael on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 2:38:47 PM
Wall Street Journal
has an article on the most vulnerable Democratic Senate seats in the upcoming election, which happens to include the seat of my state's own Maria Cantwell (D-WA):
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Not long ago, Democrats in
Washington state were threatening to abandon Sen. Maria Cantwell to
protest her 2002 vote authorizing the war against Iraq. Now, the
first-term senator says, "People here never wanted to lose this seat."
The senator spoke after an enthusiastic campaign rally
underscored her suggestion that disgruntled Democrats have fallen in
behind her, after concluding that their protest would only throw the
seat to Republicans. Now, her bridge-building and the mistakes of her
Republican rival, Mike McGavick, have Democratic leaders in the East
resting easier about a seat that topped their endangered list for much
of the year.
Mr. McGavick, a former chief executive of insurance
company Safeco, says he is making up ground. In any case, the
Washington state race illustrates the fluidity of the fall finale for
Senate control as voters tune in. Republicans are struggling in a
hostile climate to protect a 55-45 majority on Election Day. Democrats
have to seize nearly every Republican target while losing none of their
own.
As I highlighted, the Journal article mentions efforts by anti-war Democrats to pressure Cantwell on account of her vote for the Iraq intervention. A couple months ago at my old blog, The Mole, I pointed out
an article from the Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger where the liberal writer Josh Feit came off as a conservative in his criticism of Cantwell. Here's some of the
article, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about:
Despite the fact that Cantwell and others correctly believe the war in
Iraq is complicated and requires a detailed solution (I kind of like
the partition solution that Senator Joe Biden outlined in the New York
Times this week), antiwar activists won't be satisfied unless, as I
understand it, Cantwell says: "War is bad for children and other living
things. Troops out by the end of the year." Never mind that Sunni
terrorists who blow up mosques are also bad for children and other
living things—and are certainly as much to blame for civilian deaths as
U.S. troops.
After the sit-in—referring to Kerry and antiwar
Senator Russ Feingold—one of the activists said: "We simply couldn't
fathom why she refuses to take a leadership role here and publicly
endorse Kerry... Russ Feingold is blazing a path that she needs to
follow."
What's the point you ask? Well, I think that bit is an important reminder that it was only when Cantwell embraced Seattle-area
"World Can't Wait" moonbats, that her status as the Democratic nominee was safe.
And that basically means she owes the Moonbats, and they'll be part of her base if she is re-elected.