Washington politics

I sometimes get depressed about the state of politics in the US.  Like recently, there was talk of Ashley Judd challenging Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for his Kentucky seat.  AJ's a gorgeous movie star, but she's also smart, outgoing and an independent thinker.  If the Democrats are to have any chance in this race, it'll be with someone like her.

So what are the mainstream Democrats doing?  Bill Clinton is trying to persuade this state insider to run against AJ for the Democratic nomination in that race.  The argument is that she'll be more "electable" since rural America hates Hollywood.  It's reminding me of the 2004 presidential race where the Washington establishment declared Howard Dean unelectable because he was "angry." (How middle-class!) And those Democratic voters chickened out and nominated John Kerry instead, just like in 1972 when they turned against Edmund Muskie after he cried in front of the cameras when a New Hampshire newspaper attacked his wife.  IMHO if the liberals had bucked conventional wisdom and nominated Dean, he would have won by an unstealable margin.

The other week Attorney-General Eric Holder suggested that the big banks couldn't be prosecuted for their malfeasance because it would hurt the economy.  That's exactly why they should have taken over those banks five years ago instead of just bailing them out and letting things run their course.  It was a defining moment for Obama, who didn't call for changing the legislation, and he hadn't yet been elected!  That's why it's important for progressives to fight against the clique controlling the Democratic Party, instead of just turning out to vote Democratic when they're told to.

When Democrats like Clinton back their people against candidates like AJ and Dean, it's really about controlling the Democratic Party.  They should NOT have an easy time of it.