Presidential Candidates and the Patriot Act

As I looked at the list of Democrats who caved in to George W. Bush and voted for the anti-liberty Patriot Act today, I saw the names of a lot of Presidential contenders, past and present.

Of course, some of the defection of some of these senators to the Republican agenda was expected. Joseph Lieberman, who has made a name for the most craven suck up act to George W. Bush in the entire Democratic Party, was expected to defect.

Still, I was pretty surprised at the names of some of the Democratic presidential contenders in the Senate who surrendered to pressure from George W. Bush. Take a look at the list. You’ll be surprised too.

These Democrats gave in to George W. Bush at a time when Bush has a popularity rating of only 34 percent. If they can’t stand up to the Republican hunger for power now, why should we expect that they ever will.

Democratic Contenders for President in 2008
Who Caved in to Bush and Voted for the Patriot Act Today

Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Barbara Boxer
John Kerry
Joseph Biden
Evan Bayh

John Kerry’s name on this list stands out pretty strongly in my mind. If we had elected Senator Kerry into office in 2004, would he have lifted a finger to reform or revoke the Patriot Act? The evidence before us now indicates that he would not.

Events like these reinforce in my mind the idea that, during the 2008 presidential campaign, we progressives will need to be more selective than we have been before. Getting any old Democrat in the White House is not good enough. We need to get a Democrat in the White House who will work to undo the erosion of liberty engineered by the Bush White House and the Congress.

In the face of Democratic collaboration with the worst of the Republican agenda against American liberty, there was one presidential contender from the Senate who had the moral strength to say no: Russell Feingold.

Thanks, Russ.