Remember when the Democrats told us that things would change if they got the magic 60 votes? It sounds like a cruel joke now.

Core Democratic constituencies like queers, women, people of color, unions, environmentalists, seniors, the middle class and the poor have been repeatedly ignored and betrayed while wealthy donors have been given blank checks made out of government funds. The culture of corruption in the Senate and the House goes way beyond politicians who admit to being Republicans.

What do we do about it? 2010 needs to be the year of primary challenges. Here are my current top candidates for them. (Note: a lot of really shitty Phonycrats aren't running in 2010.)

1) Harry Reid
Why hasn't Reid taken away Lieberbush's committee chair? Why hasn't Reid pushed through the public option via budget reconciliation? The answer is quite simple. Reid opposes the public option because he is bought and paid for by the HMOs and health insurers, yet he knows that openly pushing that agenda would get him the wrath of real Democrats who are sick and tired of being screwed over by corrupt politicians. So, he insists on going the regular legislative route which can be filibustered by 41 votes. He knows there aren't 60 votes for the public option, but there easily are 51.

Reid is just as much of a Gopper as any other Gopper in the Senate. It is disgraceful that this right wing extremist is allowed to be leader of the Senate Democrats. Nevada voters should primary his corrupt ass right out of office.

2) Evan Bayh
Bayh is, was, and always will be a sleazebag. He is a leader in the so called Democratic Leadership Council, which should really be called the Democratic Liquidation Council. The DLC has worked tirelessly to pressure Democrats into acting like racist, sexist, heterosexist, corrupt, war mongering Republicans.

Bayh has voted for unconscionable restrictions on government funding for abortions and has cast a reprehensible vote against late term abortions. He just joined other Phonycrats in trying to make it illegal for insurance to cover abortion. This Gopper in disguise has worked to block the public option when he really should be fighting for single payer healthcare. He has done nothing to fight climate change or to support any other issue Democrats care about. He needs to be turned out of office.

3) Blanche Lincoln
Tell me again why she says she's a Democrat. I can't figure it out. She has done nothing to support the Democratic Party's agenda in the Senate. She spends all her time trying to out Republican the Republicans. Bah!

4) Byron Dorgan
This bought politician wants to weaken already horribly weak climate change legislation in the Senate. To make things even worse, he wants to use climate change in order to shovel government money at Big Coal. Dorgan has refused to support the Public Option and has supported draconian abortion restrictions pushed by ultra misogynist "Democrat" Ben Nelson.

5) Kirsten Gillibrand
Gillibrand "represents" one of the most liberal states in the country, yet she has provided absolutely no leadership on liberal concerns or any other matters. In fact, on lgbt issues, she has been downright vicious. She pushed for a temporary moratorium on the military ban, which may sound nice. But, look at the history. The elected Bush administration temporarily suspended most enforcement of the ban during the first US/Iraq War, only to kick out the queers who fought in the war after it was over. The Gillibrand approach is another cannon fodder approach to queers in the military. Aside from that, she mostly has been sitting on the sidelines and collecting a hefty paycheck.

But, what would you expect from Gillibrand, who is part of the same corrupt GOP political machine as Al D'Amato and convicted criminal Joe Bruno. New York deserves way, way better than this.

On Primary Challenges and Democracy
In a fully functioning democracy, every primary in every party would be contested. We are far from there, but the least we can do is to promote primary challenges against the worst of the DINOs.

Photo: SanFranAnnie