In 2006, a big deal was made out of Republican Nick Lampson winning the seat from Texas in the House of Representatives that had formerly been held by the corrupt Republican Tom DeLay. It was a victory for the Democrats in Congress that was supposed to be symbolic of the meaning of the 2006 election.

It turns out that Nick Lampson’s election was symbolic of the 2006 election’s significance, but not in a good way. Nick Lampson represents the way that the progressive political identity of the Democratic Party gets damaged when its leadership focuses on the need to get anyone with the label of Democrat elected, and forgets about why it matters who gets elected.

In 2006, the Democratic leadership in Congress focused on getting power, not on the issues that mattered. So, the Democratic leadership helped Nick Lampson get elected.

What has Nick Lampson done for the Democratic Party since then? He’s run it through the mud. Last night, Nick Lampson voted in favor of a law that gives Alberto Gonzales the power, working with John Negroponte, to spy against Americans by listening to their telephone calls.

Alberto Gonzales has been caught lying to Congress, abusing the spy powers he already had, and using his position for political purposes. Alberto Gonzales ought to be fired. Yet, Nick Lampson voted to give Alberto Gonzales more power than ever, and to demolish the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution in the process.

It isn’t just this one vote that’s the problem with Nick Lampson. Nick Lampson has consistently failed to promote the kind of progressive values that lead people to value the Democratic Party in the first place. In the Progressive Patriots legislative scorecard as of August, 2007, Nick Lampson has earned a rating of only 16 out of 100 - and that doesn’t even include the travesty of last night’s vote.

I’ll put this plainly: Supporting Nick Lampson was a waste of energy for the Democratic Party. If he gets replaced by a Republican in the 2008 election, the Republican will not be a great presence in Congress, but it won’t really be much of a loss. Nick Lampson has been so busy trying to keep Republican voters happy that he seems to have forgotten that he’s not a Republican himself.