All too often "bipartisan" has come to mean Democrats being led down the path to slaughter by transpartisan conservatives. It's not just Republicans who are screwing working families… it's also the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- the Blue Dogs, New Dems and their fellow travelers, like Steny Hoyer and Steve Israel.
Before she was elected last year, Ann Kuster presented herself as a fighter for working families and for a progressive vision of America. When she got to Congress, she joined the Progressive Caucus and there was no reason to believe she would behave any differently than she promised New Hampshire voters. She fell in with the DCCC crowd and started voting more and more conservatively.
Anne Kuster ran for Congress twice-- both times as a grassroots progressive and both times with super-prioritized support from progressive organizations both in New Hampshire and nationally, despite having worked as a Big Pharma lobbyist. In 2010, she lost her first race, 48-47% against conservative incumbent Charlie Bass. Two years later, in the 2012 rematch, and with President Obama's coattails in play, Kuster beat Bass 50-46%.
New Hampshire has two House districts. The first district, represented by Carol Shea-Porter, is most of the eastern part of the state, including Manchester, Portsmouth and Dover. The second district, represented by Anne Kuster, encompasses the western and northern parts of the state from Nashua and Concord to Keene and Dixville Notch. NH-02 is strongly Democratic with a PVI of D+3. Obama beat McCain there 56-43% and beat Romney 54-44%. Last year Kuster beat the Republican incumbent, mainstream conservative Charlie Bass 168,954 (50%) to 151,858 (45%).
Wall St. shills Crowley & Himes, leading freshmen to slaughterEarly this morning we saw how California voters drove the obstructionist Republicans away from the levers of power and made it impossible for them to obstruct government. And the result was a $60 billion deficit turned into a $4 billion surplus.
Last year, the Blue Dogs only managed to elect one mangy freshman, homophobic conservative Texas state Rep. Pete Gallego. Obama beat McCain in his district (TX-23) 50-49% in 2008 and Romney beat Obama this last time, 51-48%.
