Why I'm Giving Tasini Fifty Bucks

Let’s get my bias out of the way. I want a Democrat in the White House.

I really do.

Also, I like Hillary. She’s smart. Perhaps she’s been playing to the right a little too much, even pandering a bit to the red states, but who’s going to blame her? Come on. She’s got an honest shot at being the first female president of the United States.

But what about the “what if's”? What if she’s actually not a very good candidate? What if she isn't the sure winner everyone seems to think she is? Wouldn’t you rather find out now rather than in, say, November of 2008? I would.

This is a politician who's never faced a real opponent in a race. Up against substantial pressure, she could fold like Muskie on the campaign trail, or come off like Gore, with a good heart and a whole lot of baggage. I kinda want to see what makes her tick before we name her the front runner, give her all the money, and push everyone else aside.

It’s true she ran a race before, but it wasn’t much to behold. We were promised a rock ‘em, sock ‘em face off between Rudy and Hillary, (which would have been awesome!) instead we got little Rick Lazio and his punchy, sophomoric debate tactics. Now Jeanine Pirro is having a problem getting any traction on her campaign against Hillary. Perhaps because there is little difference between a New York Republican and an Arkansas Democrat.

In fact, Hillary spends such a considerable amount of time trying to appear as centrist as possible that it’s hard to see what she really believes in.

That’s why I love Jonathan Tasini for climbing into the ring. Tasini vs. Hillary could be a healthy and vigorous debate about the real meaning of core Democratic values. Tasini vs. Hillary could be a tough scrappy race in which progressive principles are tested, liberal beliefs are debated and honest convictions are heard. Instead of the stale monotony of machine politics, Tasini vs. Hillary could be the kind of heated battle that involves the most vital ideas affecting our society today.

So I’ll give him some money at tasinifornewyork.org. Because it’s like paying to watch a great pay-per-view match-up.

He’s got issues with Walmart; Walmart has supported her. He’s for Medicare for all; she’s got a complex history with health care. He’s against the war and wants the troops home now, she voted for the war and has called Murtha’s exit strategy a mistake. These are pretty clear-cut differentiations, ones that could lead to some pretty vigorous conversations.

We all know the odds. Hillary’s got the money and she’s got the media attention and, perhaps most importantly, she’s got her husband. But Tasini’s chances could improve if the situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate (which it may) and the anti-war sentiment continues to grow (which it might) and if the public's impatience with Clinton’s moderate-to-right policies increases (which it could).

Tasini’s candidacy is no Don Quixote campaign. Like the late Senator Paul Wellstone before him, Tasini seems to be planning a pragmatic, intelligent campaign designed to make a sincere difference. And the people who will wind up supporting Tasini won't just be Nader idealists. Putting aside Tasini’s substantial history as a pro-labor advocate and putting aside the health care issue (where Hillary is painfully vulnerable), Tasini is the Democratic candidate who is talking to a solid Democratic constituency about the one issue they wholly support, he’s speaking to the thousands upon thousands of people who objected to the war in the first place, packing the streets of Manhattan by the thousands on a freezing cold day on February 15, 2003 in opposition to a policy they knew was deadly and wrong. They all vote, pretty much every one of them.

But win or lose, Tasini will have a positive impact by bringing fresh political debate to a tired election process. It’s a chance to talk together about what kind of a future we want to have. Personally, I’m looking forward to this fight.

I just want to see what she’s got.