Getting Serious About Holding Democrats Accountable

Posted by Chris Bowers at 6:19 AM on April 21, 2009.

Hold conservative Democrats accountable--contribute to BlogPac now.

Just in case anyone had their doubts about whether progressive groups are serious about holding Blue Dogs, conservodems, and other center-right Democrats accountable for supporting Wall Street and conservative groups instead of supporting their own constituents, doubt no more. The following video is the first paid media campaign from a large progressive coalition designed to hold Democrats accountable on mortgage bankruptcy reform, otherwise known as "cramdown."

Here are some details on the ad buy:

• The ad features Lorrain, a homeonwer who lives in the Arkansas 1st congressional district. Like hundreds of thousands of other homeowners around the country, Lorrain, would have been assisted by the Help Families Save Their Homes Act. However, Democrat Marion Berry, who currently represents the Arkansas 1st, voted against the act even though he had voted in favor of the Wall Street bailout.
• With a bogus, pro-Wall Street cramdown deal in the works, it is very timely.
• It will appear over 250 times in Jonesboro, which is the largest city in the Arkansas 1st congressional district. Jonesboro is also a college town (home to Arkansas St.) It would have cost just as much to run the ad in smaller, nearby towns, so only Jonesboro was targeted.
• It will run only on CNN, both in the daytime and during primetime. CNN was chosen because its appeals to news junkies and its viewers lean heavily Democratic (65%-26% according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports) and because MSNBC was not available in the area.
• The ad will run over the next three weeks, starting today. By appearing over 250 times in one area, and over an extended period of time, local Democratic news junkies will see it often enough to remember it.
• The ad placement cost $5,000, paid for by BlogPac. Such a low price was made possible by the new services offered by SaysMe TV.
• The ad was produced by the Brave New Foundation.
• This is the first paid media effort in the ACORN--Color of Change--MoveOn coalition that was mentioned in the Politico last month. These organizations were all essential parts of making this happen.

More in the extended entry, including how this ad fits into a broader accountability strategy and effort in which you can take part.

The ad buy is designed to political engaged Democrats who keep up on the news--exactly the sort of base voters Marion Berry needs--and show them how Representative Berry is voting against his own constituents.

It is my strong opinion, both from experience and from advice I have received, that starting off with a smallish ad buy targeted at the base voters for a Democratic member of Congress is the appropriate first step in a paid media accountability campaign. While the media narrative on conservative Democrats is that they are mainly accountable to Republicans and conservative Independents, all Democratic members of Congress know that losing their progressive base is the surest path to defeat in the next election. As such, hitting base voters with a progressive message is a very good way to change Democratic behavior. This method proved itself last year on S-CHIP and Iraq voting.

Use a visible, paid media campaign to tell local progressive base voters that their Democratic member of Congress is voting with Republicans against popular legislation, and watch the behavior of that Democratic member of Congress change--and fast. If the behavior doesn't change, then keep escalating, with the looming threat of a serious primary challenge always on the approaching horizon.

Ads such as these are a necessary compliment to progressive activists withholding money from Blue Dogs and other conservative Democrats. Not only must it be clear that Democratic members of Congress won't get progressive money if they engage in conservative behavior out of step with their districts, but it also must be made clear that such behavior will incur a real penalty. That penalty means that your local progressive base will find out about this behavior, even if it means paid media is necessary to get the message across.

The coalition that produced this ad is broad enough in terms of both overall membership and political capability that it could be replicated many times over around the country. We can find constituents in any congressional district, we can produce high quality video, and we can gather the resources necessary to place that video in front of local base voters. And we can do it all quickly and cheaply on any piece of legislation.

Some will inevitably object to these ads, arguing that they hurt the Democratic cause. The tired "a conservative Democrat is better than a conservative Republican" line will inevitably be trotted out. There are simple and strong rebuttals to such a charge:

1. Due to their cautious nature, the Democratic caucus rarely acts on unpopular legislation. As such, in most cases, there will be virtually no congressional districts in the country where a majority of the electorate opposes the Democratic agenda. This means we are targeting members of Congress for voting to the right of their own districts, even in a case like the Arkansas 1st. For example, according to every poll on the subject, wide majorities of the country favor increased government assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure. The worst poll shows 43% of the country opposed to such assistance, and the best poll shows only 27% of the country opposed. There are only a few districts in the country where this opposition will be a majority, and virtually none of those will be held by Democrats.
2. While of course it is better to have a conservative Democrat than a conservative Republican, it is better to have a moderate Democrat than a conservative Democrat, and better to have a progressive Democrat than a moderate one. These actions are part of the effort to reduce both the number of conservative Democrats and conservative Republicans. All progressive activists should refuse to believe that we only have a choice between Republicans and conservative Democrats.
3. Of course these actions threaten the Democrats we are targeting. That is the whole point. If you can't place something a member of Congress values in actual jeopardy-such as getting re-election, raising money, or passing prized legislation-then you have no ability to hold that member of Congress accountable. If you can't threaten them, then you can't influence them. Period.

This is progressive accountability work in action. It is designed to create a more progressive Congress that is more in tune with an increasingly progressive America. Beyond mere criticizing, it demonstrates both a willingness and an ability to spend actual political resources to target Democrats who support Wall Street instead of their own constituents. And, with a bogus, pro-Wall Street deal on cramdown in the works, it could hardly be more timely.

It is also only the beginning. We can do more of these ads in more districts. However, to do so requires your help. If you like this effort and want to be a part of it, then please contribute to BlogPac now. Change doesn't happen in just one or two elections. To build a progressive governing majority, we need to keep working into the future.

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Tagged as: congress, democrats, blue dogs, open left, cramdown, marion berry, lorrain

Chris Bowers was a full-time editor at MyDD from May 2004 until June 2007. Some of his projects have included the creation of the Liberal Blog Advertising Network, the first scientifically random poll of progressive netroots activists, the Use It Or Lose It campaign, the nation's most accurate forecast of Democratic house pickups in 2006, and the 2006 Googlebomb the Elections campaign.