Moving Goalposts of the Democratic Party
“Remember: In the Senate, 60 is the new 50!”
These words came from Senator Barbara Boxer yesterday at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Senator Boxer is a strong progressive, and I respect her work in Congress. However, when it comes to this statement, she just isn’t credible.
Boxer described her ascent to the chair’s position in a Senate committee after the 2006 election brought a Democratic majority in the Senate: “When I took the gavel from the former chairman, I told him that ‘elections have consequences.’ When we win in November, we’ll prove it,” Boxer said.
The thing is that the Democrats have already won in November. The won in November 2006, and they promised that there would be consequences for the Republicans. They promised change and hope and all that. For the most part, they have failed to deliver. The Senate Democrats have caved in to George W. Bush. They’ve given him new unconstitutional, autocratic powers. They’re about to give the big oil companies special favors with expanded drilling, for goodness sakes!
The claim that this time, electing Democrats will bring change, just doesn’t ring true. Until Senate Democrats like Mark Pryor, Mary Landrieu and Max Baucus stop supporting right wing Republican legislation, it won’t make a difference that the Democrats have majority control.
First they asked for 50 seats. Now they say they need 60. What’s next? Will the Senate Democrats need 70 seats in 2010 before they can finally keep their promises?
