The Alito Betrayal
By Bob Fertik
Created 2006-01-30 17:18
We, the voters who elect Democrats in every election, were utterly and completely betrayed today by 18 Democratic Senators that we elected, all of whom can be reached at 888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641:
Akaka (HI), Baucus (MT), Bingaman (NM), Byrd (WV), Cantwell (WA), Carper (DE), Dorgan (ND), Inouye (HI), Johnson (SD), Kohl (WI), Landrieu (LA), Lieberman (CT), Lincoln (AR), Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Rockefeller (WV), Salazar (CO)
There was no reason for this betrayal. We only needed 40 39 of the 45 Democrats to sustain a filibuster. We could have won even if 5 6 Democrats who were flat-out stupid enough to believe Alito's lies (like Robert Byrd and Kent Conrad) had voted against the filibuster. (1)
Every Democratic Senator knew what was at stake - both in the rulings Justice [sic] Alito will make for the rest of his life, and in the anger - even rage - that will greet their decision to betray us.
So why did these Democrats decide to stab us all in the back?
For one simple reason: because we let them.
Democratic candidates - at every level - take us, the Democratic base, completely for granted.
They ask us for money and we give it to them - with no strings attached. They ask us for votes and we give it to them - with no strings attached.
They are not accountable because we don't hold them accountable.
That must change - and with your help, I will make sure that it does change.
In the coming weeks, I will offer a plan for holding elected Democrats accountable. The plan will be based on some core principles:
We have a right to be furious at the 18 Democrats who betrayed us - and we have a right to share our fury with those Democrats (888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641), as well as the DSCC (202-224-2447) and DNC (202-863-8000).
The Democratic Party belongs to the people who vote for Democrats, not to the elected officials, party bureaucrats, and rich consultants whose power and wealth comes entirely from us.
We, the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party, represent the majority of all Americans on every issue Americans care about, and we will win majorities in every state (almost!) if we fight as hard as Republicans do for our issues
We must find politically strategic ways to channel our anger towards constructive goals, rather than the obvious destructive ones (like electing even more Republicans to accelerate the rise of Fascism in America).
I'll say a lot more in the days and weeks to come - stay tuned!
(1) The official Roll Call shows only 53 of 55 Republicans voted (Ensign and Hagel were absent) so Frist needed 7 Democrats to reach 60 and end the filibuster.
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Source URL:
http://www.democrats.com/alito-betrayal
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