I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and speaking at length with a candidate for congress last weekend. As it happens, he is challenging the incumbent in my district — Howard Berman, a Democrat. His name is Byron DeLear, and he’s running as a member of the Green Party, while pledging to vote with the Democrats in the House.
After much consideration and study of the issues, however, I have to say that, despite DeLear’s charismatic persona and, admittedly, near-perfect stances on the issues about which I care the most, I will still be voting for Howard Berman this year.
Berman regrets voting for the IWR, but believes, while recognising the irony, that we cannot leave now without condemning Iraq to total annihilation.
I disagree STRONGLY with that conclusion, but frankly, despite his serious shortcomings in this and a few other areas, I have to say my earlier opinion of Howard Berman still stands: he votes the right way (MY way) more consistently than almost any other elected Democrat in Congress.
Given that, however, I still think Byron DeLear is a terrific candidate; I just wish he were challenging an incumbent Republican… as a Democrat.
Yeah, yeah, I know — the Democrats suck. I do not dispute this. But realistically speaking, the fact remains that a third party vote from a progressive still means one less for the LESS sucky candidate, which is almost always the Democrat.
The lesser of two evils is still evil, yes — but it’s LESS evil.
See how I did that? Held two opposing views in my head at the same time? Now, is that the mark of genius, or of madness?
Below, some endorsements of DeLear and an embedded video — because I believe in fair play and equal time.
Marcy Winograd Endorses Byron De Lear for Congress
Marcy Winograd, Democratic Congressional Candidate who ran against Rep. Jane Harman (39th CD-CA), and who generated 40 percent of the vote, endorsed Byron De Lear, Green Party candidate running in the 28th District against Howard Berman.
“This is going to change the demographics of the campaign. Having a major Democratic challenger and outstanding activist like Marcy Winograd endorse a Green is making major political history,” said Eugene Hernandez of Latinos for De Lear.
Marcy Winograd said in a statement Wednesday,
“I am proud to endorse Byron DeLear, a candidate with the courage to challenge the masters of war. We need to take back Congress with a commitment to peaceful conflict resolution, not blind loyalty to a failed Iraq war policy. Byron DeLear represents a clear alternative to those who continue to support the Bush administration’s death march. Let us vote our conscience; let us vote for Byron DeLear.”
Winograd joins numerous other progressives of all political stripes who have given the De Lear for Congress campaign their endorsment.
“What this means is that thousands upon thousands of Democratic voters who are anti-war, progressive and for change will switch their vote from Howard Berman to Byron De Lear. This is part of the Joe Lieberman effect and also due to the public’s distrust of Congress”, explained Eugene Hernandez. “Polls after polls show that the American public is fed up with Congress. They have failed to pass significant legislation on spying, immigration, ending the war and the economy. This translates into success for sending the First Green to Congress.”
“I am a life long Democrat, and a member of the Democratic Party- but, just as I do not back my country, right or wrong, when it defies the Constitution and international law, I cannot unthinkingly back my Party when its members enable, through action or inaction, our country’s current nightmare.
My own Congressman is one of those who is not only not part of the solution, but part of the problem. Byron De Lear stands in contrast to our incumbent as a shining example of how I would want my Representative to represent me. He would bring needed vision to the rigidity of endless war as our solution in the Mideast, and would make us instantly safer by reflecting the CIA’s assessment that our presence in Iraq is only making more terrorists. Byron is a strong activist who would make a brilliant public servant- one who for the first time in years would represent what the 28th District believes. I’m proud to endorse Byron De Lear for Congress.”
Michael Jay
Representative from the California Election Protection Network, Progressive Democrats of America
10 Minute Documentary for the Byron De Lear for Congress Campaign in California
It covers the Iraqi War, the Lieberman-Berman connection and their continued support of the war, global warming, corporate-handled government, gerrymandering and Rep. Howard Berman’s support of NAFTA and his attempt to remove term limits from the White House.
What I couldn’t help noticing in all these endorsements and in all the statements from DeLear and others is that, aside from his continued “support” for our presence in Iraq and an unsavory relationship with the music industry in their fight against file sharing, there is virtually nothing that supports the assertion that Berman isn’t liberal enough (for lack of a better phrase). I happen to disagree, violently, with his position on Iraq — and am ambivalent about file sharing. But his voting record is essentially unassailable.
I have often remarked that I couldn’t ask for a better representative in Congress — an exaggeration, to be sure. Of course I could. I could ask for one who votes my way every single time. But that’s ludicrous. And despite my deep, painfully deep belief that the only solution in Iraq is our LEAVING it, immediately, I cannot in good conscience vote against a representative who holds an opposite view in that one instance, when he so often does exactly what I WOULD wish him to do.
I guess what I’d really like to know, which I didn’t have time to bring up when speaking with DeLear this weekend, is why he didn’t challenge Berman in the primary. Or did he? Somehow, I doubt that DeLear is the type to party-hop. Which is a pity, really — because, short of instituting run-off voting, the only way the further left candidates will find their way to congress is by challenging Democrats in the primaries — as Democrats.
I’d vote for Byron DeLear in a heartbeat if he were running as a Democrat, in any primary and general election. I just think it’s a waste to run as a Green Party candidate, to put all this time and energy into trying to make a third party viable when the hegemony of the two party system is so obviously invincible without significant changes — namely, instant runoff voting. Without that safeguard, I cannot imagine, in my lifetime, a circumstance where a third party vote from a liberal does not translate to a de facto vote for the Republican. And that is unacceptable to me.
