Clintonista Responds

I am sure many of the readers here are tiring of this debate, but I feel I have to respond to David Sirota here. Please skip to another blog if you must.

David, the central points of my blog are that we can disagree with our leaders and each other without throwing allies completely overboard or undermining our motives and Bill Clinton was a president who made compromises but accomplished progressive goals like increasing diversity, employing more Americans and resolving conflicts peacefully. While I can understand the desire on behalf of many progressives to fight for purity, running for office – and campaigning – is much more difficult.

The point I make about doing campaign work is a serious one. It requires getting your fingernails dirty and making compromises -- in order to win. Purists are important and they help apply balance to the system as those fighting the war are considering the choices they are forced to make. But, if we don't win elections, we can't make any of our desires to improve people's lives a reality. That is why I engage in these fights... to help people like the ones I grew up with who can't find jobs or my relatives who are facing huge health care bills or the kids I met in Namibia who live on garbage-strewn streets with human waste running past their playgrounds.

David, I applaud you for the month you spent working for Brian Schwietzer, but I have spent most of the last five years traveling the country campaigning for true patriots to sit in leadership positions. Whether it was Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Oklahoma or Arizona I heard Americans ask for Democratic leadership they could trust to fight the war on terrorism with reason, handle the social problems we are facing, solve our health care problems and offer a plan to deal with outsourcing and job loss. I don't regret working for any one of them and I hope you are not trying to denigrate the service they offered to the nation or the sacrifices I made leaving the comfort of my home in Washington, DC and my friends to work in the field for our party.

Max Cleland was the first man down in the war Republicans have waged on Democrats after 9/11 questioning our patriotism. You helped us fight that war from Capitol Hill and I appreciated it. It is up to us to learn the lessons of that loss and apply them. Those lessons are what led me to the presidential candidates I worked for:

Senator Bob Graham voted against the War in Iraq and argued vociferously for a rational security policy every single day of his campaign.

General Clark also opposed the war and talked about security and values everyday of his campaign. He was a new candidate who got in the race late, but was the only candidate other than John Kerry able to win a primary in a state he was not from (Oklahoma). Clark also beat Edwards and Dean in Arizona, North Dakota and New Mexico – all red states. Though he was not successful in his first run for the presidency, General Clark's candidacy has helped attract other service men and women and veterans to our party and strengthened our hand for the future.

David, this is not a time to just piss back and forth between the two of us. We have to find a way to disagree without undermining our unity of purpose. Now, let's get back to figuring out how to beat the Republicans and improve the lives of the people Iknow we both care about.