The Democratic Party's Democracy Problem

By PW Staff
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jun. 10, 2009

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PW contributor Daniel Denvir takes to Huffington Post today to decry the Dem establishment that wants primary voters to roll over for Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania.

Barack Obama and the Democratic Party establishment that he supposedly overthrew in November are trying to lock in primary candidates in Pennsylvania and New York who, ahem, were never even elected to the position in question: Democratic nominee for the United States Senate.

Here in Pennsylvania, party leaders are flexing their muscle to discourage anyone (Representative Joe Sestak in particular) from challenging Senator Arlen Specter who, as an until-very-recently Republican, has never won a Democratic Party primary. While Specter is of course an incumbent Senator, Pennsylvania Democrats have never elected this political survivalist to be their candidate.

Obama's own campaign against Hillary Clinton undermines the argument that a tough primary leaves the Party weak going into a general election. I was angry that Hillary stayed in the race at the time--but I turned out to be oh so wrong. McCain's smears failed to stick because voters had already heard it all. Second, as The Philadelphia Inquirer's Will Bunch argues, a challenge will either lead to a potentially more progressive (at least not more conservative) guy getting elected or to the election of a leftwardly pushed Specter.

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