Last July, Teresa Tomlinson, the progressive candidate among the Democrats seeking the nomination to run against Georgia incumbent Trumpist David Perdue, write a guest post for us about political courage, Crippling Political Fear. It was more about Democrats than Republicans. “It’s fear,” she wrote, “that cripples the Democratic Party. Fear of our policies, fear of who we are, and fear of the Republicans. Yes, fear is what has politically cost us in the last many election cycles. One cannot lead if one is afraid. The thing about leadership is that people want their leaders to be brave. They care less about what you think on the issues than whether you have the moxie to fight for them and the strength of conviction to tell them what you really think.”I suggest you read her entire essay at the link above but she conclude “The key to winning is that you don’t aim to win, you aim to lead. If you lead, the winning takes care of itself-- or at least you move the needle so profoundly you set up the next winner, as did Stacey Abrams in Georgia with her heroic non-loss in Georgia. She was who she was and voters responded to that. That’s not fear, that’s winning.”The video above, though, is not about a fearful Democratic politician afraid of his own position. It’s about a fearful Republican politician, Senator David Perdue, afraid of his own position. When 39 Senate Republicans signed onto an anti-Roe v Wade amicus brief to the Supreme Court last week, Perdue, though an anti-Choice fanatic, was one of the only Republicans who wouldn’t.Odd finding Perdue’s name on a short list of mainstream conservatives like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski instead of with the neo-fascists like James Inhofe, Tom Cotton, John Cornyn and Moscow Mitch. But, like electorally vulnerable Cory Gardner (CO), Martha McSally (AZ) and Dan Sullivan (AZ), Perdue was too chickenshit to vote his convictions.“David Perdue is not fooling anybody,” Tomlinson told us on Friday. “Georgians are not so easily fooled by his decision not to sign onto the Republican amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Senator Perdue has stated time and again that he is ‘unwavering’ in his belief that women can’t be trusted to make the most intimate medical decisions affecting their lives and their reproductive health. He has confirmed dozens and dozens of federal judges who are committed to overturning Roe v. Wade. Though he purports to be a ‘small government’ conservative, he firmly believes that the government can invade a woman’s private, personal decisions related to abortion, and he believes that women have fewer rights to their own bodily autonomy than a man.”Let’s help Teresa get rid of this political coward. She’s, by far, the best-suited of the Democrats competing to do that. And the Congress Needs More Progressive Women thermometer on the right is how you can contribute to her grassroots campaign. “Mr. Perdue,” she said, “we see your political duplicity, your election year cynicism. You have shown us the cowardice of your convictions. The people are tired of leaders who won’t level with them. That’s not leadership. You don’t trust women, and we don’t trust you in the U.S. Senate.” You can read more about Teresa’s record on her campaign website here and find out where she stands on a wide range of issues. The contrast between Teresa and Perdue on women’s reproductive freedom couldn’t be starker. Teresa:
• I believe that women’s reproductive rights are basic human rights.• I believe that bodily autonomy is an essential component of the freedom and equality guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.• I believe that politicians should stay out of the private and highly individualized medical considerations of a woman’s reproductive health.• I reject the notion that a pregnancy creates an independent “person” under the law. Indeed, a woman is the sole fiduciary of her body and any pregnancy she carries.• I support the fundamental right to abortion enshrined by Roe v. Wade and will only vote for the confirmation of federal judges who commit to adhere to the bedrock judicial principle of stare decisis.• I support the repeal of policies, including the Hyde Amendment, which prohibit abortion coverage for women who get their reproductive care through government-administered healthcare programs.
