I met Eric Massa yesterday. A 24 year veteran of the Navy, Massa is running in an upstate NY district that is beset with economic problems. It traditionally leans a bit to the right, but there is a deep rage there against the status quo that suggests that incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl is vulnerable. Kuhl, you'll remember, is a first-term Congressman who is famous for pulling a shotgun on his wife. He's not well-liked in district, but he has lots of money. If we're going to take Kurl out, the first reelection campaign is when it's going to happen.
I liked Massa. His plan on Iraq is 'out is better than in', and 'sooner is better than later'. And he has first-hand knowledge of what it's like to pull out of that part of the world, since he was in Desert Storm. He told me it took 18 months to 2 years to pull out of that one, and that's without people shooting at the military. On the other hand, Massa recognized that the 'I want a pony' punditocracy which is always demanding a plan from Democrats has it wrong. I'm paraphrasing here but what Massa said is that it doesn't matter if Democrats in Congress have a plan, since Bush is still in charge of executing and he will screw it up. The only thing Democrats can do is win in 2006 and stop Bush from screwing it up worse. I liked that honesty. He also said that oil is our number one national security problem, which to true and suggests a larger vision.
There was a lot more to it than that. Massa is a new politician, but he's a good one. So far, he doesn't have that much cash on hand, but the institutional spigots are starting to open as people realize Kuhl is vulnerable. Massa blogs every Sunday on a bunch of blogs (including MyDD), and he says he'll keep doing it when he gets to Congress because it helps him communicate with more people and stay in touch.
Anyway, that's not a huge write-up, but I didn't want to just let this meeting go by without mentioning it here. Kos has a longer and better one, which you can check out.
The bottom line for me is that Massa is a leader, and we need some damn leaders in Congress.
|
|
|
Permalink :: 10 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
