Congress Needs More And Better Democrats

Our nation is in need of a government and leadership that can repair the damages wrought by the past seven years of misgovernance in Washington. That means providing our next President with a Congress which has the numbers and confidence to act quickly and thoroughly on issues like restoring civil liberties, ending the war in Iraq, healthcare reform, curbing handouts to large corporations, and returning competence to the agencies responsible for our health, welfare and safety.

A better Congress means electing more and better democrats. Holding the line on civil liberties and passing SCHIP are just two examples of issues that directly impact our way of life which are at risk because our Democratic majorities in Congress are thinner than they might appear. A union of Republicans and conservative Democrats can, and has, blocked progress for the past year on a variety of issues. The logical response is to expand our majority where we can in order to dilute the strength and influence of those members of the Democratic caucus who defect to the Republican side of critical votes from time to time.

Furthermore, in districts which are overwhelmingly Democratic (MD-04, for example), we need to make sure that they are represented by truly progressive and dedicated Democrats, since they are "safe" seats for our party. This is the reason so many people in the netroots are supporting Donna Edwards against Al Wynn, for example, or Mark Pera against Dan Lipinski.

What this means for Virginia, and the 10th District, is that we need to alter the make-up of our state delegation by supporting and electing strong Democrats to Congress. That will give our next President the support he or she needs to fix the problems of the past seven years. We have a unique opportunity this year to make great inroads in Virginia. We have no fewer than five great candidates challenging for seats held by Republicans in Virginia.

• VA-02: Glenn Nye is challenging Congresswoman Drake. Glenn has stepped up to challenge one of hte most Bush-friendly Republicans in Virginia. His experience providing development assistance in Iraq, along with his wealth of diplomatic experience would bring a consensus builder to Congress to replace the bomb-thrower that is Thelma Drake.


• VA-05: Tom Perriello is challenging Congressman Goode. Tom represents Virginia's true values of community and progress against the bigot and xenophobe currently representing the 5th District.


• VA-06: Sam Rasoul is challenging Congressman Goodlatte. Sam Rasoul is one of the youngest candidates for Congress in America, but do not confuse youth for inexperience. He is a highly successful entrepreneur who has done more than talk about bringing jobs to the valley, he has actually created them himself.


• VA-10: Judy Feder is challenging Congressman Wolf. Judy is the definition of a good Democrat. She is driven, dedicated and passionate, with name recognition from her previous campaign in 2006 and unmatched expertise in one of the most important issues of the coming year: healthcare.


• VA-11: Leslie Byrne is fighting for the open seat of retiring Congressman Davis. Leslie brings a unique skill to the only open seat race in Virginia, previous experience in Congress. During her service in the early 1990s, she was a leader of her Congressional class, and serve Virginia well on many committees. Returning that experience to Congress will help our next president.

Each of these five would represent a strong addition to the Democratic governing majority in the House. Here in Leesburg, we have the privilege of supporting Judy Feder. Considering the importance of the healthcare issue in Loudoun (the new Board of Supervisors made it one of their first priorities), Congresswoman Feder would establish leadership on this issue for the 10th District. To make that happen, though, she needs our support, so do what you can, if you can, to send Judy Feder to Congress!

(Crossposted from Leesburg Tomorrow.)