A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece on HuffPo about how we can’t get more progressive legislation in the Senate right now because you can’t attack Senators in red states from the Left. I was pretty proud of that post. I hope you read it.
Well, FireDogLake decided to test the theory. They put out a poll to see if getting an individual mandate would hurt the re-election chances of Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.). I think he heard about it.
Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) announced his retirement today, mixed–but mostly dire–news for Democrats, who were hopeful that he could hold on and defeat his likely, scandal-tainted GOP opponent Tim Griffin. One of the possible reasons for the retirement? A poll conducted by SurveyUSA, paid for by the progressive blog Firedoglake, which tested negative messages about the health care reform bill and whether it made voters sour on Snyder.
A kind interpretation of the motives of FDL might have been to convince him to change his vote. That obviously didn’t work (as I argued at HuffPo). Another interpretation is that FDL wanted to punish Rep. Snyder for supporting health care reform, which they oppose.
Rep. Snyder wasn’t a very conservative member of the caucus. He wasn’t even a member of the Blue Dogs. Of course, one would hope that FDL felt his replacement would be more likely to support the more progressive kind of health care reform they desire.
He’s from a pretty red state. That’s not likely.
I’m not a political expert, but I really don’t understand how this isn’t more destructive than constructive. I’m happy to have someone explain to me how this will lead to more progressive reform.
