Jane Harman (D-CA) Faces Strong Progressive Challenger

[AtomicKitten]

Progressive challenges powerful Dem Harman in CA congressional race

Published: Friday April 28, 2006

By Miriam Raftery

Powerful California Congresswoman Jane Harman (CA-36th) is facing a rare and surprisingly successful primary challenge, RAW STORY has learned. The Democratic powerhouse is set to face off this term with Marcy Winograd, a teacher, newscaster, peace activist and outspoken advocate for election reform.

"This is a primary to recapture the soul of the Democratic party of Bobby Kennedy and the Civil Rights movement," said Marcy Winograd, president of Progressive Democrats in Los Angeles.

In a startling upset, Winograd supporters blocked California Democratic Party endorsement of Harman, a six-term incumbent, at a pre-primary endorsement meeting. Winograd got 35 percent of the delegates' votes, enough to prevent Harman from gaining the 70 percent needed for an automatic party endorsement. A floor fight is anticipated at the state convention April 28, where either candidate could win the state party endorsement by capturing a 60 percent margin.

"I decided to run for office after watching Jane Harman on Meet the Press," Winograd told RAW STORY. "I found her interview very disturbing. She was a lawyer, yet she didn't know the law concerning the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)."

As the ranking minority member on the House Intelligence Committee, Harman was briefed by the Bush administration on warrantless wiretaps.

"Yet she never voiced any objections, never asked any questions, and then when the story was revealed by the New York Times, she tells Tim Russert that it was horrible the information was ever leaked," Winograd says.


http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Progressive_challenges_powerful_Dem_Harman_in_0428.html

[Tiggeroshii]

1. How interesting... n/t

[mitchtv]

2. Jane has Joementum

a Feinstein Democrat:puke:

[Dr.Phool]

3. Great!!!

We need more good, quality challengers for incompetent Dem enablers.

Good luck to her. Harman is a piece of crap.

[AX10]

4. She has a nice website.

http://www.house.gov/harman/

[Dr.Phool]

5. And she's almost as cute as Katherine Harris.

[ClassWarrior]

6. I know at least one DUer who's working on her campaign...

Go Marcy!...

NGU.

[Le Taz Hot]

7. Excellent!

ALL DINOS need to be on notice. I'm sure the DLC/DCCC will step in and "save the day" as they have done in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but I say good on her (in my best Molly Ivins). I hope she scares the you-know-what out of Harman

[AtomicKitten]

9. DINO isn't really applicable; really a subjective assessment

Harman is a Democrat to be sure, a moderate one; that doesn't make her any less a Democrat.

What she is is not progressive.

[951-Riverside]

8. Another Barack Obama?

Full of promises but never delivers?

[KeepItReal]

11. Don't think Winograd falls into that category. And she ain't goin 4 Senate

<eom>

[KeepItReal]

10. Cindy Sheehan has endorsed Harmon's challenger

Cool!

http://www.winogradforcongress.com/sheehan.htm


Harmon has been M.I.A. in the 4 years I've lived in her district on most issues of importance.

[Adelante]

12. Great, another chance to turn a Blue seat RED

Why the fuck can't Democrats run against Republicans? We have a perfect opportunity this year and so we work to take votes away from sitting Dems.

Perversity, thy name is Democrat. :eyes:

[tishaLA]

15. I honestly don't think the seat would turn red

The district is more conservative than many in California, but even if Harmon is defeated in the primary--a long-shot, I think we can all agree--it would likely stay with the Democrats for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the hatred most Californians have for the current regime in the WH right now.

[Adelante]

16. Then why spend the money this will take?

When Dem candidates in other districts need it to win. I hate this, sorry. Not this year.

[CTLawGuy]

17. If we don't do things like this

dem leaders will get into office and never listen to us again. Then you get people like Lieberman, who suck up to the middle, and fail to represent us, their party base.

[AtomicKitten]

18. I've had a change of heart about primaries.

First of all, rest assured California will remain forever blue.

However, it is our duty as Americans to separate ourselves from this felonious administration. Those allegedly representing us that acquiesced and got along to get along really need to hear from Democrats that have endured the suffering of watching our country go down the toilet.

The big boys will back the incumbents and the insurgent challengers (ha!) will be financed by grassroots. Let people have a choice; that's what primary elections are all about.

Most of us left of center despise Delay's legacy of gerrymandering, but the truth is Democrats protected their seats too so that incumbents rarely lose. That has to change. The best case scenario is to successfully elect people that will actually represent the will of the people. The worst that can happen is the incumbents will think twice before considering their longevity warming the seat they occupy before their efficacy as OUR representative.

If we truly believe in democracy, we damn well better start living it. The time is RIPE (I disagree with you that this isn't the time) to turn our country upside-down and shake out the dead wood. The Republicans are eating shit in the polls; check out wyldwolf's post about canvassing in Georgia.

I say let freedom ring. Let's make these fat ass, pasty-face patriarchal mo-fos in Congress start doing the people's business.

on edit: wyldwolf's thread http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2597583

[IndianaGreen]

13. Harman is either an apologist for the Bush dictatorship or

she is completely incompetent as the Bush regime has fit the intelligence to their policy goals.

[Totally Committed]

14. I wish her Progressive challenger luck...

she's Joe Lieberman in drag. This is good news!

TC

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Go Marcy!!

Jane Harman hasn't been the most offensive Bush enabler, but she has been bad enough.

The only reason I would recommend voting for Ms. Harman in November, assuming she survives this primary challenge, is that she will vote with the other Democrats on the continuing resolution and make John Conyers chairman of the Judiciary Committee so he can investigate the regime's wrongdoing that she seems to want to pretend isn't happening.

[AtomicKitten]

20. you can rely upon her to do that

In fact, I say get Fitzgerald on the case.