[Sosfbay-discuss] Anti-War Voters Lash Out at Democrats They Helped Put in Office

[Drew Johnson]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/28691
Anti-War Voters Lash Out at Democrats They Helped Put in Office
Submitted by davidswanson on Wed, 2007-11-14 05:12.

By Nicholas Johnston, Bloomberg

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- When the Democratic Party called up recently to ask
Myrna Burgess for a campaign contribution, she answered with an emphatic
``no.''

``Nothing has been done as far as the war is concerned,'' said Burgess,
72, an Amtrak worker from Levittown, Pennsylvania.

More than a year after anti-war voters like Burgess helped give Democrats
control of Congress, there are more troops in Iraq, lawmakers have
approved almost $100 billion in new war spending and congressional
approval ratings are at record lows.

Democrats now worry that their inability to make good on campaign promises
to end or slow the war in Iraq will have consequences. The disaffection
has already fueled at least four anti-war primary challenges to party
incumbents, raising fears among some lawmakers of an intra-party fight
that could drain momentum before next year's elections.

``They want someone to be held accountable,'' said Representative Lynn
Woolsey of California, a leading anti-war Democrat in the House.

For the moment, political analysts said polls show that Democrats are
likely to keep or expand their congressional majorities. While only 22
percent of registered voters said they approve of the way Congress is
handling its job in a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times survey conducted last
month, those voters are almost evenly split over which party is to blame.

Blaming Republicans

Voters are ``extremely frustrated'' about the absence of results, said
freshman Democratic Representative Patrick Murphy, an Iraq veteran who was
elected last year in Burgess's district on an anti-war platform. At the
same time, he predicted that President George W. Bush's party would bear
the brunt in next year's presidential and congressional elections.

``They will take out their frustrations on them and rightfully so,'' he said.

Still, there are some trouble spots for Democrats, as groups across the
country begin to try to harness the voter disapproval. In Washington
state, the anti-war group MoveOn.org has produced ads condemning
Democratic Representative Brian Baird for his refusal to support
legislative timetables for a withdrawal from Iraq. The group is also
polling members on whether to mount primary challenges against the
lawmakers they consider ineffective in trying to end the war.

Primary Challenge

Already in Illinois, where congressional primaries have been moved up to
Feb. 5, anti-war challengers have emerged to take on two House Democrats,
Melissa Bean and Dan Lipinski. Both incumbents are expected to prevail
easily, and Lipinski is in a safe Democratic seat. Bean's is one of the
top Democratic seats being targeted by Republicans, however, and a primary
battle could weaken her in the general election.

In Maryland, a primary opponent has criticized Democrat Albert Wynn's
early support of the war, and in California, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
faces a primary challenge from Cindy Sheehan, an anti-war activist who
lost a son in Iraq and has led protests across the country.

As primary filing deadlines approach, more anti-war candidates are likely
to spring up, said Brandon Friedman, vice chairman of VoteVets.org, a
group that recruits military veterans who oppose the Iraq war to run for
Congress.

``The Democrats were elected in 2006 to end the war in Iraq, and that
hasn't happened,'' he said. ``This frustration is going to manifest itself
in a lot of different ways in the next year.''

That sentiment was evident in interviews in the Philadelphia suburbs last
month with more than a dozen anti-war voters, who said Democrats hadn't
used their congressional majority to thwart Bush's policies.

`Disappointed'

``I am disappointed because I thought they would get a lot more
accomplished,'' Harold Fisher, an 82-year old retiree from Levittown,
said.

Last year, these Philadelphia-area voters helped Democrats gain two new
House seats, including the one held by Murphy, an Iraq war veteran who won
by just 1,157 votes out of almost 250,000 cast.

Anti-war rumblings haven't yet translated into a serious challenge for
Murphy, 34, and Pennsylvania's other freshmen Democrats. Voters such as
Joel Tenenbaum, a 58-year-old government employee from Levittown, say they
want to give them more time, or wider majorities.

``They want to get this stuff done but they don't have the votes,''
Tenenbaum said.

Democratic Edge

Nationally, anti-war sentiment continues to give Democrats a strong
``edge'' next year, said Donald Kettl, director of the Fels Institute of
Government at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
``Republicans are going to have a difficult time,'' he said.

To mollify their critics, Democrats have pledged to continue to push for a
change of course in Iraq. They plan to vote this week on a $50 billion
war-funding bill that mandates troop withdrawals. The measure is expected
to do no better than previous attempts, which have either died in the
Senate or been vetoed by Bush.

Democratic leaders acknowledge that these stalemates may be eroding their
support with the party's anti-war wing, and say they are aware of the
potential for a voter backlash.

``We haven't been effective in ending the war in Iraq,'' Pelosi told
reporters Nov. 1. ``If you asked me in a phone call, as ardent a Democrat
as I am, I would disapprove of Congress as well.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Levittown,
Pennsylvania at njohnston3 at bloomberg.net