The Vichy Ten

Daniel K. Akaka, Hawai'i
Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico
Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
Maria Cantwell, Washington
Thomas Carper, Delaware
Kent Conrad, North Dakota
Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Joseph Lieberman, Connecticut
Bill Nelson, Florida
Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska

These are ten particular Democratic senators who made odd choices on Monday and Tuesday. While some were opposed to Samuel Alito, they still chose to vote for cloture on Monday afternoon, effectively confirming him. Cloture went through on a 75-25 vote; Alito was confirmed by a vote of 58-42. If the 42 senators who had opposed Alito had put up a real fight, there would still be some debate going on in the Senate, and those of us who cherish our civil liberties might be feeling a little less threatened.

Why am I focusing on these ten when other Democrats made the same choice? Well, because each of the ten are up for re-election this year. Which means, each of them will face a Democratic primary opponent. Which means, voters in each of those states has an opportunity to send a message to their incumbent Democratic senator that we cherish the ideals of the Democratic party--the former values--and that "same bullshit, different day" is not cutting it as the current platform.

In the coming weeks, I will be updating you on each of the primary races in these ten states. I will bring you information on who the opponents are, their positions, and what leftists can do to send a strong message to the party that the time for Vichy Democrats is over.

I invite those of you who are active in these states to send me information. We will set up a clearinghouse of information and see if we can build a "Defeat the Vichy Ten" coalition.

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