Ellen Tauscher: CA-10, More Rumblings on the Left

Lisa Vorderbrueggen has an interesting article in yesterday's Contra Costa Times about Rep. Ellen Tauscher and "liberal bloggers":

Posted on Sun, Jan. 21, 2007
LISA VORDERBRUEGGEN: TIMES POLITICAL EDITOR
Bloggers take Tauscher to task

THE NATIONAL spotlight is heating up for Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, chairwoman of the moderate New Democrat Coalition.

Along with heady appearances on CNN, invitations to the White House and quotes in the New York Times, Tauscher has become a favorite target of liberal bloggers.

Two Web sites dedicated to ousting her from office have surfaced, a third is in the works, and she is regularly castigated by at least six progressive bloggers, including Calitics and Berkeley-based Daily Kos.

Tauscher is seen as a centrist who needlessly undermines progressives. Tauscher is unfazed but Terry Leach has a word of caution:

Lamorinda Democratic Club President Terry Leach, a Lafayette progressive who has been asked to run against Tauscher, is urging the congresswoman to do more than listen.

Leach says she won't challenge Tauscher, calling it a dangerous distraction from critical races such as the re-election of newly elected Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton.

But ignore the netroots and grass roots at your peril, Leach warns. These are the same folks who helped funnel the Bay Area progressive army into the campaign of McNerney, the underdog who defeated seven-term incumbent Richard Pombo in November.

"Yes, they are feeling their oats, and perhaps there's a sense that they can accomplish more than they can," Leach says, "but I wouldn't want anyone to underestimate them. The best thing Ellen could do is create a 'kitchen Cabinet' with the netroots and grass-roots people, among other groups, and invite them to be a part of her regular advisers."

And Tauscher should pay heed to progressive constituents. Just today, a new organization called Working For Us PAC opened its doors. This Political Action Committee is a partnership between MoveOn and SEIU and others. Their goal is to go after politicians who "have abandoned basic progressive values and voted against the best interests of their constituents." Who do you think is #1 on their hit list? That's right - Ellen Tauscher. Headed up by Steve Rosenthal, former labor organizer and head of ACT, these people know how to organize, raise money and get out the vote.

Ellen Tauscher: CA-10 and Rumblings On the Left

Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake has picked up on post from Lafayette's own Jeremy L. Wolff of Acalanes High School:

I am 18 years old and a senior at Acalanes High School. I am the Youth Outreach Coordinator of the Lamorinda Democratic Club, President and Founder of the Acalanes Democratic Club, member of East Bay for Democracy and East Bay Young Democrats, and during the next several months will be working to create a Contra Costa County Young Democrats. Despite all this involvement, I have only seen Tauscher speak once. Maybe this is because, as a Congresswoman, Tauscher's in DC all the time (which I doubt is the reason because I've heard Miller speak 3 or 4 times) but I suspect that it is more because she does not like dealing with local clubs knowing that she will be put under the spotlight and actually asked tough questions.

snip

One person asked why the Democrat's didn't have a set, united platform. Tauscher responded that they did. After multiple people further questioned about what the platform was and why we didn't know about it, Tauscher expressed her disappointment that we (remember, we're a smart district) hadn't done our research and that if we simply went to her website we'd find her policies. Now, of course this answered no questions because we wanted to know about a united Democratic platform not one Congresswoman's platform. Finally one person got to the point and asked the right question. He wanted a united Democratic platform that was simple and easy for Americans to understand, one similar to the Republican's Contract with America which helped them win in 1994. Tauscher paused a moment and then asked the man if he was a professional activist or politician. The man smiled, shook his head, and responded that he was a doctor. Tauscher promptly replied that she doesn't plan on performing surgery just because she saw it on TV.

As you might assume, the meeting ended shortly after that and Tauscher did not stick around to shake hands. After that meeting I swore I would never vote for Tauscher. It didn't matter that she had well thought out answers to the topics of Iraq, Iran, and Nuclear Bunker Busters or that her record on social issues is quite decent. I wasn't even taking into account her terribly pro-corporate stance on economics. I could not and still cannot vote for Tauscher because she does not believe that we the people should run our government. Her belief that government is for professional activists and politicians undermines all that netroots, grassroots, and the Democratic Party should stand for.

Seems that Ellen Tauscher is beginning to encounter some opposition. Also check out Daily Kos and Calitics. And here is Jeremy's original post. Way to go Jeremy!