First off, hi y'all - I'm a new diarist. I know I haven't made very many comments, but I've been a lurker for a long time, so please don't shout me down on that account.
With that said, I want to broach a topic. Far be it from me to support the inquisition-like tactics of the Tea Party, but DailyKos is about electing more and better Democrats, is it not? Well, I have a prime target: Chuck Schumer. I even have a replacement in mind: Bill de Blasiovich.
Now why would I want to primary one of the most powerful senators in the Democratic Party? Simple. We can do better. New York is a liberal state - it should have liberals representing it. We should no longer be willing to settle for ideologically imperfect candidates unless it's absolutely necessary to win, i.e. in a state like Kentucky or Arkansas where Democrats have limited inroads to the populace. And truly, Chuck Schumer is the finest example of this ideological imperfection that makes our party such a poor alternative to the Republicans.
Here are just a few reasons to primary Chuck Schumer:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
[...] he has embraced the industry’s free-market, deregulatory agenda more than almost any other Democrat in Congress, even backing some measures now blamed for contributing to the financial crisis.
Other lawmakers took the lead on efforts like deregulating the complicated financial instruments called derivatives, which are widely seen as catalysts to the crisis.
But Mr. Schumer, a member of the Banking and Finance Committees, repeatedly took other steps to protect industry players from government oversight and tougher rules, a review of his record shows.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
But there is another way Mr. Schumer has been busy with hedge fund and private equity managers, an important part of his constituency in New York. He has been reassuring them that he will resist an effort led by members of his own party to single out the industry with a plan that would more than double the taxes on the enormous profits reaped by its executives.
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
That's what the almost-21,000-strong group NY Tech Meetup fears could happen if so-called SOPA and PIPA legislation gets passed. The group is holding an emergency protest outside of the offices of Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who co-sponsored the Senate bill, at 780 Third Ave. from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday in a bid to defeat the legislation.
It's simply not enough to have a Democratic majority in the Senate. We need Democrats who will fight for our values. We need Democrats who can articulate these values without hypocrisy. And we need Democrats in a position of power who can help us to expand these values beyond the bluest of blue states. Bill de Blasio, I believe, may be just that kind of Democrat.
In 2016, having been mayor of the largest autonomous okrug - excuse me, city - in the country for three years, Bill de Blasio will be well-qualified for a jump into national politics. If he manages the reins of NYC without any problems, which I think is likely, then he'll have gained a great deal of credibility. Enough credibility, perhaps, to be a legitimate challenger to Chuck Schumer.
Perhaps even the threat of a primary will scare him away. Perhaps he'll take one look at Bill de Blasio and take a lobbying job with the financial industry in time for the 2016 election. But this is unlikely. It's going to be a battle of epic proportions to unseat Chuck Schumer before his sixth or seventh Senate term. Does anyone really want Schumer around that long? I sure don't. We can do better. Let's hit the corporate world where it counts, with their bought-and-paid-for politicians in our own party. Let's primary Chuck Schumer.
It almost worked for Joe Lieberman in 2006 - let's make sure it works for Schumer.