A theme of Joel’s analysis is the that the “progressive” side of the Democrats has become the Democratic equivalent of the Republican establishment.
Where the Rs are built around the core of vested wealth, the D’s old core are the unions, especially the teachers’ unions. This establishment, represents the jobs of an underpaid teacher community, is frightened by reform and resistant to ideas like teacher accountability, employment of ex military or young graduates outside of the ed schools, and the bete noir of charter schools. The unions and their “progressive” allies put the interests of their member/workers over the interests of students, especially poor students who can not choose to over to Mercer Island or to attend Lakeside.
excerpts:
(The progressive wing) demonizes those in the party who stray from the party line. … Darcy Burner twice called President Obama a “Republican” in tweets and Democrat Guy Palumbo (candidate for state senate) was initially told by his district chairman that no supporter of charter schools was welcome in the party. Would that apply to President Obama?
First Congressional District: Burner vs the Democrats:
— 1st District, U.S. House: Three-time U.S. House candidate Darcy Burner twice called President Obama a “Republican” in tweets, claims to represent “the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,” and delivered a fiery stand-up-for-abortion speech at the national Netroots Nation conference last June in Providence, R.I.
Burner started far ahead in a field of five Democrats in the 1st U.S. House district primary. She is backed by MoveOn.org. The Berkeley, Calif., based dailykos.com web site ceaselessly promotes her. They even made it sound proprietary in a recent headline: “Voting in Darcy Burner’s primary starts today.”
But Northwest Washington is not Occupy Wall Street. Burner has a left-liberal following, but there are other subspecies of the Democratic donkey. State Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, is a self-described raging moderate. Ex-State Rep. Laura Ruderman, in office, was an advocate on social issues but a voice for fiscal restraint.
Suzan DelBene, recently state revenue head and once a Microsoft vice president, has cobbled together a broad range of support. She’s backed by Gov. Chris Gregoire, U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Adam Smith, the Boeing Machinists and Teamsters and the Sierra Club.
DelBene has used her own money to mount a seven-figure advertising campaign, which has drawn a strident, untrue last minute “hit” mailing from Burner — who had promised never to go negative.
The War on Obama From The Left
— 11th District, state House: Another open House seat has drawn four Democrats, including Port Commissioner Rob Holland and King County Civil Rights Commissioner Bobby Virk. The focus lately, however, is on non-profit executive, ex-Port of Tacoma executive and education reform advocate Stephanie Bowman.
Online media voices on the left, Slog at The Stranger and Publicola, have in recent days reported with alarm “independent” expenditures on Bowman’s behalf by such education reform groups as Stand for Children. Bowman is even getting support — gasp — from a business group.
If Bowman makes it out of the primary, the 11th District could feature a showdown between the education establishment (Washington Education Association) and those promoting greater teacher accountability and charter schools.
— 1st District, state Senate: State Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe has shaped and steered education legislation in Olympia so as to keep it acceptable to the Washington Education Association, which is a bulwark of her support.
She faces a dual challenge in the South Snohomish-North King County district. Democrat Guy Palumbo was initially told by his district chairman that no supporter of charter schools was welcome in the party. Would that apply to President Obama? In Dawn McCravey, Republicans have one of their top Senate challengers of 2012.
As the Washington State Wire reported earlier this week, the 1st District race for the next three months will be a faceoff on the shape of public education in Washington.
— 46th District, House: The death last fall of State Sen. Scott White produced close-quarters combat in a district that stretches from northeast Seattle into its suburbs at the north end of Lake Washington.
Rep. David Frockt went to the state Senate, where he has been an exemplary newcomer. Longtime 46th District Democrat Gerry Pollet won appointment to the House by beating out White aide Sylvester Cann for support of the district’s big, contentious Democratic organization.
Cann is now challenging appointed Rep. Pollet. There is history here. Pollet and White fought a nasty, all-Democratic race for the Legislature in 2008, a contest that featured frequent and rather personal attacks by Pollet.
Once again, schools are the fulcrum. Cann is a supporter of charter schools and has gained backing from such groups as the League of Education Voters. Pollet is a to-the-core Seattle liberal with roots in WASHPIRG (Washington Public Interest Research Group) and Heart of America Northwest, which agitated for cleanup of Hanford.