The talk of "conservative" freshman Dems doesn't worry me at all [View All]

A big tent party will always have some unsavory elements, but those elements lend a great deal of power to the progressive, senior elements of the party such as Conyers, Kucinich, and Waxman. The power of committee chairmanships in the House and Senate will make worlds of difference. After all, the horribly racist "Solid South" helped usher in FDR's New Deal--if it were a choice between a conservative Democrat and a liberal Democrat things would be different, but things being as they are we should be celebrating well into next week that we've knocked out decided conservatives and replaced them with moderates or better. Where it was such a choice, in the CT campaign, we at least lost no ground--we are no worse off there than before. The difference between a minority of powerless progressives and empowered progressives isn't only a matter of having -more- progressives, it's having progressives in leadership positions. And the way our system works, simply having more Ds accomplishes that purpose. The best bill in Congress has no worth if it will never be brought to the floor. See this new freshman class as more of the same with only superficial Ds replacing Rs if you want, but remember all the progressives in Congress you care about. Each new D adding to our majority adds more feathers to their wings, even the mealy-mouthed Lieberman's caucusing with Dems will help somewhat.