Our Partial Victory
By Ed Fallon
Last
Tuesday's primary election was disappointing, but we're not quitting.
We didn't beat the political establishment but we sure shook it up. In
fact, Leonard Boswell's voting record and rhetoric over the past seven
months look, well . . . almost progressive!
• Having
voted for the Iraq War in 2002 and for funding it unconditionally until
earlier last year, he finally settled on a consistent position against
the war last November.
•
Despite being a long-time supporter of granting retroactive immunity to
telecom companies for aiding the Bush Administration in spying on
Americans, he switched his position this year.
• In
2001, he voted against an amendment raising fuel economy standards to
27.5 miles per gallon. Yet last December, he finally endorsed the Safe
Climate Act, which raises fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon.
• After
voting for much of President Bush's agenda for almost eight years, he
joined other House Democrats last November to support Dennis Kucinich's
resolution to impeach Dick Cheney.
• In its
brochures and advertisements this year, the Boswell campaign invented a
whole new Congressman Boswell, one who sounded a lot more like a member
of the Progressive Caucus, not the Blue Dog Caucus.
In
short, BECAUSE OF OUR CAMPAIGN, CONGRESSMAN BOSWELL BEGAN VOTING AND
SOUNDING MORE LIKE A DEMOCRAT. Now it's up to us to make sure he
continues.
So,
although last Tuesday's election wasn't the victory we wanted, we
accomplished much. This month, Lynn's focus as campaign manager is to
organize and harness the extensive resources assembled during this
campaign. My focus is to pay off our campaign debt, something I've
never had to deal with before.
Sincerely,
Ed Fallon
Blog For Iowa 