| Stephen Lynch is a regressive Democrat. He's been a Bush-Cheney booster on Iraq; he's toed the Republican line on many social issues; he hasn't exactly been burning up the halls of Congress with his blazing accomplishments since he was elected; and he earned a spot in BMG's chicken coop for his incredibly lame failure to debate Phil Dunkelbarger in the primary. (He did, by the way, debate Jack Robinson -- there's an excerpt of a press writeup here).
Now, with three days to go 'til the election, Lynch has finally managed to get his campaign website up and running. But no sooner did he do that than he splashed the tired, and thoroughly discredited, canard that Al Gore claims he invented the internet on his home page. Dork.
We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Jack E. Robinson; we're pleased that he's been actively participating at BMG; and he made a good case for why we and other Democrats should endorse him.
But we can't. And the reason is the obvious one: control of Congress hangs in the balance. Any vote for a Republican in Congress is a vote to keep Denny "Foley? Foley who?" Hastert and John "It's not 'boner,' God damn it!" Boehner running the show; to keep James Sensenbrenner running the Judiciary Committee; to keep Duncan Hunter running the Armed Services Committee; and to keep any number of other odious Republicans hanging on to way more power than any sane world would ever have given them.
Control of Congress is more important to the future of this country than is our Governor's race -- obsessed though we've been with the latter. And the Democrats have a real chance to take over both chambers of Congress on Tuesday. In that environment, we cannot recommend a vote for a Republican simply because we wish Stephen Lynch were a better Democrat.
We could make an exception if Robinson were to pledge that, despite his party affiliation, he would caucus with Democrats, and would vote for Democratic leadership. But he wasn't willing to do that, and it's easy to understand why -- if he did, he would be the congressional equivalent of a man without a country, reviled by Republicans and tolerated but probably not welcomed by Democrats. Not a great place to be. We don't doubt that a Representative Robinson would, as he says, be part of the 30-or-so-member group of "moderate" Republicans, which he hopes will have a good deal of sway in what he predicts will continue to be a narrowly Republican-controlled House. But that's just too many contingencies. We hope and expect that the Democrats will take the House, and we want the margin to be as big as possible.
We leave the voters of the 9th District to the dictates of their individual consciences. |
