Democracy Now! interview with Donna Edwards, who ousted DLCer Al Wynn

[marmar]

Antiwar Candidate Donna Edwards Defeats Incumbent Rep. Albert Wynn in Key Maryland Primary

Antiwar Democrat Donna Edwards joins us to talk about her defeat of eight-term Congress member Albert Wynn in Tuesday’s primary vote. The Maryland race had been described as “a bellwether contest in the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.” If Edwards wins in November, she’ll be the first African American woman elected to Congress from Maryland.


AMY GOODMAN: Senator Barack Obama swept the Potomac primaries Tuesday, beating Senator Hillary Clinton in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. While much of the country is focused on the race for the presidential nomination, another primary in Maryland drew national attention. In the state’s Fourth Congressional District, Democratic activist Donna Edwards defeated eight-term incumbent Albert Wynn in a fiercely contested race.

The race was a rematch of the 2006 primary election, when Wynn held onto his seat by a few thousand votes. This time around, Donna Edwards defeated Wynn by a wide margin, receiving about 60 percent of the vote, while Wynn got about 35 percent. The race has been described by The Nation magazine as “a bellwether contest in the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.”

Edwards ran a populist, antiwar campaign that drew support from national liberal groups. She criticized Wynn for his votes tied to Iraq and the housing crisis. If she wins in November, she will be the first African American congresswoman to represent Maryland.

Donna Edwards joins us now on the phone from Maryland. Welcome to Democracy Now!

DONNA EDWARDS: Hi, Amy. It’s great to be on Democracy Now! this morning.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Well, despite the very severe weather, the polls were open, what, an extra hour and a half last night?

DONNA EDWARDS: That’s exactly right.

AMY GOODMAN: You have been declared the winner. Can you tell us what you think did it this time around? You lost to Wynn last time by a very small percentage.

DONNA EDWARDS: Right. I mean, I lost in 2006 by a very narrow margin. But I think that this time we put together, you know, a campaign operation that really built on the momentum of 2006, carrying a message of, you know, the need to focus on working people, on healthcare, on getting out of the war in Iraq, on an education system that works for all our children. And people took that message, they believed the change was important and required, and they cast their votes yesterday, and it was an overwhelming victory.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about your differences with Congressman Wynn over Iraq? You made that a major issue of your campaign. He’s a Democrat.

DONNA EDWARDS: Well, I mean, the congressman voted to authorize the war in Iraq, and I believe that that was, you know, a very poor decision and that the resulting both human cost and financial cost of the country has been huge, not to mention our position, the United States’s position, in the world. And I don’t think that his vote fairly represented our congressional district. And I believe that those voices needed to be heard in the Congress by somebody who’s a standup Democrat who represents this congressional district. I think the voters got that message. And, you know, voters have an awful lot of things going on in their minds . We have a troubled economy. We’re facing record foreclosures in our congressional district, just like around the country. And we want somebody who really speaks for real change and who will make a difference in the lives of working people. And those messages came through yesterday.

AMY GOODMAN: If you win in November—and yours is a heavily Democratic district—you will become the first African American woman to represent Maryland in Congress. Can you talk about what that means to you, what you feel that means to Maryland and the country?

DONNA EDWARDS: Well, you know, I mean, I think it’s obviously a tremendous step forward for the country. And in the course of the campaign, we had a chance to talk about a range of different issues and concerns, and this actually never really, you know, came up. And certainly the force of history was out there for us. And now, I’m just so humbled by the prospect of serving. I fully expect to win in November. We are an 80 percent Democratic district, and I’m going to use the time between now and January 2009, when I’m sworn into the next congress, to build an agenda that will work for our congressional district and set us on a new path for the country. And so, I’m excited about that. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/13/a_changing_tide_from_democratic_voters

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

1. So the Dem traitor who voted in favor of the IWR was thrown out by the voters

Sweet.

[DinahMoeHum]

2. Yes, one less back-stabbing punk-ass chump.

"Fat Albert" has just been given his walking papers.

:kick: