Patriot Act Divides Maloney From Saujani
At this time, there still is no Republican challenger to U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney. 2010 has, however, brought Representative Maloney a challenger from within the Democratic Party: Reshma Saujani.
Saujani mentions several issues as factors in her decision to enter the Democratic primary in New York’s 14th congressional district. However, one issue stands out as a distinguishing factor for those who care about the erosion of constitutional rights in the United States over the past decade: The Patriot Act.
Carolyn Maloney is one of the congressional Democrats who voted in favor of the Patriot Act. Reshma Saujani comes from a very different perspective. As an attorney, she has worked with legal immigrants who were having their rights violated under the Patriot Act. Saujani explains,
“After the enactment of the Patriot Act, I volunteered with the New York Bar Association to offer free legal services to documented immigrants in Queens. I painfully witnessed innocent New Yorkers having their civil liberties being violated day after day. This experience emboldened me to build a national movement within the Democratic Party to encourage South Asian Americans to get involved in the political process.”
The 2010 election is characterized as much by a struggle within the Democratic Party, between progressives and those willing to accommodate elements of a more regressive agenda, as it is by a struggle between Democrats and Republicans. The campaign of Reshma Saujani bears watching as the candidate discusses more issues, to understand whether the 14th district primary race can be characterized as an ideological struggle, part of a generational transition, or a manifestation of some other political force.
