Currently top of the rec list is a diary talking about the Obama campaign machine kicking into gear to help take back the House of Representatives. I think that's a great idea. But I am very disturbed by their "test case" which is supporting an Obama staffer named Ro Khanna in a primary against sitting Democratic Representative Mike Honda.
If the plan is to take out Republicans why would you test your plan against a sitting Democrat? Why wouldn't you test your plan in South Carolina District 1 where a Democrat is running against an actual Republican?
Now... I don't know much about Ro Khanna. He may be the greatest thing since sliced bread and I certainly understand a preference for supporting the people you know and have worked with as is the case with Khanna.
And... I'm no expert on Mike Honda but I do know that he has held his seat a little over a decade and has been a solid progressive Democratic vote in the House of Representatives... and certainly not someone I would attempt to take out if I am trying to take control of the House of Representatives... even if I really, really, really, really like the guy that wants to challenge him.
So while I support the idea of OFA focusing on taking back the House I strongly oppose the idea of using that machine against Honda.
I'm going to go do a little more reading but for now I want to present some links that show just how good Mike Honda has been as a progressive representative.
But first a brief wiki page on Khanna...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Now that all sounds pretty good. I saw another story about this a couple days back that said Khanna was a business type centrist and there is a little in the wiki entry that might support that but not enough to say anything bad about the guy. So I have no idea if that claim is true or not. I didn't read the previous story unfortunately. So Khanna may be perfectly fine... or he may be a corporate centrist. I don't know.
Now... Honda's wiki page...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Another Japanese-America that suffered through the American concentration camps of WWII. As you read through the entry and as you read through the next links you'll see how he turned that experience into a wonderfully progressive one of standing up for minorities and the oppressed, standing strong for civil liberties for ALL of us.
Now... three links on Honda from Project Vote Smart. First the candidate page which provides further links:
http://votesmart.org/...
Next... key votes... I haven't read all the way through this, as a 12 year veteran of the House he has a long record... but so far I see a host of good votes and not one bad one yet.
http://votesmart.org/...
Next... ratings from various groups and organizations. Once again, looks pretty damn good to me. All the right orgs like him (and like him a lot) and all the bads ones don't like (and don't like him a lot).
http://votesmart.org/...
Lastly, here is progressive punch which shows Honda as the 16th most progressive member of the House of Representatives with his lifetime score on critical votes at 94.87%, right between Keith Ellison, who he defended when he was attacked for his religion, and Ed Markey, who we are all hoping to see become the next junior Senator from Massachusetts.
http://www.progressivepunch.org/...
And here is a RollCall page on Honda with various articles featuring him so you can check what sort of no good he's been up to...
http://www.rollcall.com/...
And finally, here is Mike Honda's ActBlue page where I hope many progressives will join me in going to show our support for this leading member of the House Progressive Caucus
https://secure.actblue.com/...
where I see that the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has a page up supporting him for being bold enough to stand strong against cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.
Speaking of money... here's one more... the OpenSecrets page and where his campaign money comes from...
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Oh, gee, and here's his official House page
http://honda.house.gov/
where I see he features the launch of a House anti-bullying caucus... what a bad guy! He definitely needs to be the first taken out!