In 2007, I posted a thank you to Ms. Sheehan for her efforts on behalf of the peace movement. Now, I'm moved to thank her again for her daring campaign against the corrupt, heterosexist, racist, war mongering Republican, Nancy Pelosi.

Sheehan got 17% of the vote, which is both impressive and disappointing. It was disappointing because it always is sad when a corrupt bigot like Pelosi gets reelected. It was impressive, given the obstacles Cindy Sheehan faced.

One of them came from many liberals. Some of them were too obsessed on the presidential election to pay attention to what was going on down the ticket. Some of them have become such blindly partisan Democrats that they are unwilling to challenge anyone who even claims to be a Democrat, even when it is a Bush Republican like Pelosi who merely pretends to be a Democrat. However, I do admire the liberals and progressives who stood up for our values by supporting Sheehan.

The biggest obstacle Ms. Sheehan faced was massive censorship of her campaign by the corporate media, which wanted Pelosi's rightist, pro-war policies to continue. I checked Google News for articles on the Sheehan campaign fairly often, and I seldom found anything other than blog postings. The lack of "mainstream" media coverage reminds me of how the corporate interests have censored other liberal candidates in the past.

17% is a start.

I hope that Ms. Sheehan will run again or that another liberal or progressive candidate will challenge Pelosi. It will be of critical importance to get involved in media action to push the corporate publications to be honest enough to cover campaigns that their owners disagree with.

Pelosi can be beaten. Liberals will just have to have the courage and the commitment to back up our values and positions.