What's going on with Betty McCollum?

[katinmn]

I thought she was a fighter. I thought she was against this illegal war.

She has refused to sign on to any of the anti-war, censure or impeachment resolutions.

She hasn't signed on to Conyer's impeachment committee (Oberstar and Sabo have)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00635:@@@N

She hasn't signed on to the House version of the Bush censure resolution
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00636:@@@N

or the Cheney censure resolution
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HE00637:@@@P

or HR 4232 - Rep. Jim McGovern's End the War in Iraq Act
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR04232:@@@P

or H Con Res 197 - Rep. Barbara Lee's No Permanent Bases in Iraq Act
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:h.con.res.00197:

and she's not a member of the Out of Iraq caucus.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/8437

And yet she's running unopposed for her House seat in a district that is overwhelmingly progressive. It looks like she has fallen under the spell of the Beltway Dems.

Maybe we need to recruit someone that will stand up to the Bush regime like they did in Sabo's district.

[dpbrown]

1. She's an Orenstein Democrat

Howard Orenstein, former DFL State Representative, and backer of Randy Kelly. I couldn't believe how conservative the caucus was this year.

Those Orenstein DFLers are the people who come out to do the work.

People who believe in progressive causes haven't built a constituency that Betty McCollum thinks she has to pay attention to. The people like Orenstein are tied in tight to the party apparatus, hold high-buck fundraisers, and hold a vast sway over what the local elected politicians will "think" plays to the masses. And why not?

People who believe strongly that the US should get out of Iraq, that we need universal single payer health care, and that the Bush administration should be held criminally liable for its crimes don't, apparently, organize very well.

I'd like to see Betty take more aggressive stands. I don't think she will as long as she can hide in the "middle" and position herself for more power in the House of Representatives.

She shouldn't run unopposed any longer, if she is unwilling to speak up strongly. But someone running against her will have the Orenstein Democrats of St. Paul to contend with, and if that person and her or his organizing ability cannot build a big progressive constituency, then it's just pissing in the wind to take on McCollum.

[katinmn]

2. Thanks for that insight. I didn't realize that.

I heard her speak out against the war quite passionately once in Minneapolis at a Peace in the Precincts event with Phil Steger, RT Rybek, Oberstar, two Iraqi nationals and the parents of soliders in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I guess she was just tailoring her message.

[preciousdove]

3. Got a campaign call from her people yesterday and I almost

asked about this but since I couldn't contribute this month anyway i didn't. Thanks for posting this.

Dayton, not running, voted for the Patriot Act. We don't need more controls on the citizens we need more controls on our illegal administration.

[katinmn]

4. Maybe we should start a write-in campaign for Dan!

:hi:

[dflprincess]

7. You can ask about any issue whether you can contribute or not

and, if you don't get an answer to your question tell them you won't cough up so much as a dime and until you do.

[Spike from MN]

5. Looks like she has signed on to H. Res. 635

but that's it. OK, that's a start but if one out of 6 is the best she can do maybe it's time to start looking elsewhere. I always thought she was one of the few in DC that wasn't afraid to take a stand and do what was right but apparently I was mistaken on that.

[katinmn]

6. Whoo-hoo! She just signed on yesterday!!

Maybe there is hope....

[DFLforever]

8. I think she hasn't signed on because of her leadership position

(isn't she a Midwest House whip?) and because she's a protege of Pelosi. Wouldn't want to embarrass Nancy. They'll let the troops do whatever they want, but the officers are going to stay out of the line of fire.

The soft pedaling of Iraq opposition is coming from the highest Dem quarters, imo. Witness Amy Klobuchar being muzzled by the DSCC on Iraq.

[CrazyForKucinich]

9. She sucks.

I've bitched her out and she's never ever bothered to respond. Fucking NORM COLEMAN responds...but this bitch doesn't. She needs to go.

[katinmn]

10. Of the three representing me in DC, Dayton, McCollum and Coleman

Coleman is the only one who responds religiously (and it is all RW talking points). I get a few snail mail letters and a rare phone call from McCollum months after the issue has passed. Hasn't her staff heard of email?

I've gotten one phone call and no letters from Dayton's office over the last year and I contact his office weekly.

:shrug:

[Zookeeper]

11. I've been disappointed with her lack of visibility on a number....

of issues. I once called McCollum's office to ask why she hadn't come out in support of Rep. Conyers inquiries into the Rethugs' manipulation of the 2004 election. Her aide dug around and found out that she did support it. That support was so low-profile that I couldn't find it on my own.

I have received response letters from her office, and they tend to say all the right things. However, I just don't ever see her sticking her neck out.