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Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Re: [IHRO] Harman furor incites progressives


 
palashcbiswas,
 gostokanan, sodepur, kolkata-700110 phone:033-25659551



From: shunkw <shunkw@sbcglobal.net>
To: shunkw <ShunkW@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Saturday, 9 May, 2009 22:36:27
Subject: [IHRO] Harman furor incites progressives



Harman furor incites progressives
By:
Alex Isenstadt
May
7, 2009 04:26 AM EST

Two weeks after news outlets reported that Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) was recorded on a wiretapped phone conversation promising to intercede in a Justice Department investigation in exchange for help winning a powerful committee chairmanship, the furor on Capitol Hill has largely died down.

But back home in her Southern California-based district, liberal activists who have never truly embraced Harman are just getting started. Several of them, most notably Marcy Winograd, who heads up Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles, and John Amato, who writes for the popular Crooks and Liars blog, are now making moves to challenge Harman in the Democratic primary, and the recent controversy will be at the heart of their message.

The wiretapping story "has been very, very damaging to her because it highlights what people most distrust about politicians in general: personal gain taking precedence over the voters they are supposed to be representing," Amato told POLITICO in an e-mail.

Winograd, who ran an unsuccessful primary campaign against Harman in 2006, argued that Harman's moderate voting record had alienated voters, especially in the district's more liberal reaches.

"I think what's important is that Jane Harman's charade of being a protector of the Constitution should be challenged and exposed," said Winograd, who received 38 percent of the vote to Harman's 62 percent in 2006.

Harman has fired back against the charges that she tried to help out two pro-Israel lobbyists accused of espionage with an eye toward getting help from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in pressuring House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to select Harman for the chairmanship of the House intelligence committee.

The congresswoman has said she did not contact the White House or any other agency about the investigation, and she dispatched a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting the release of "unredacted" transcripts of alleged National Security Agency wiretaps of conversations between Harman and a suspected Israeli agent.

The entire episode has been an embarrassment for Harman — and for Pelosi, who has been forced to answer questions about how much she knew about the wiretaps, which allegedly took place in 2004 or 2005.

Harman told POLITICO in a statement that she doesn't mind a primary challenge.

"It's a democracy, and anyone is entitled to run. I'm in a strong position politically in my district and working on key issues that affect my constituents and the country, including homeland security, climate change and health care reform."

It's true that Harman holds a firm grip on her comfortably Democratic district, having won 69 percent in the 2008 general election.

Still, her left flank remains exposed in large part because of her hawkish, pro-military reputation. After Sept. 11, 2001, Harman was an early advocate for the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, and she threw her support behind the American-led invasion of Iraq . She went so far as to criticize the FBI and the CIA for moving too slowly to respond to terrorist threats.

 

Those stances continue to rankle local progressives, and the recent controversy has only revived the frustrations that seemed to crest in 2006 with Winograd's challenge. Last week, Winograd organized a protest outside Harman's district headquarters, with activists calling on the California Democrat to resign. The environmental organization Greenpeace is coordinating a mailing in the district pressuring Harman, who has a seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, on energy issues.

David Dayen, a California activist who writes for the liberal blog Calitics, said he expects progressive organizations to ramp up their efforts against Harman in the weeks ahead.

"I don't get the sense that in May, the year before this primary is happening, there is going to be a lot of clamoring over Harman, but I do think you're starting to see progressive groups get involved," said Dayen.

It's not entirely clear, however, that Harman's recent spin through the news cycle has generated much new opposition back home.

Part of the problem for Harman's liberal challengers is that while the wiretapping case is receiving plenty of attention in Washington , the story has been far less scintillating for constituents in Harman's beach-dotted Southern California district, explained Phil Trounstine, who has worked as a Democratic strategist and pollster in the state.

"To most California voters, this is pretty exotic, Beltway kind of stuff," said Trounstine.

"In Southern California , politics is not terribly important to most people," said Darry Sragow, a California-based Democratic strategist. "This issue has gotten a lot of attention from political insiders, but it is of no real importance among normal voters."

The character of the 36th District also makes Harman's seat a tough climb for liberal challengers. While Harman's seat is safely Democratic — and became more so after redistricting in 2000 — it is also military-­minded and largely moderate, with an Air Force base and Boeing Corp. plant located within its boundaries.

Roy Behr, who has worked as a strategist on Harman's congressional races, said Harman's centrism is the key to understanding her political success.

"It's a pretty moderate district," said Behr. "She is well-liked and well-respected, and she is very much in line with the district."

"That seat really has a disproportionate share of moderate and moderate swing voters," said Garry South, a veteran Democratic strategist. "She's a good fit politically."

Winograd, whose 2006 slogan was "Winograd vs. Harman, Bush & Cheney," predicted that recent events would prove to be politically consequential and that voters would understand more than before that "Jane Harman is corrupt."

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat who in 1998 ran unsuccessfully against incumbent Republican Steven T. Kuykendall for the seat Harman now holds, said Harman will have to fully address the wiretapping controversy if she wants to avoid a tough June 2010 primary.

"I think her job is now to get her name cleared so she can focus on representing the district," Hahn told POLITICO. "I think if it's unresolved and it gets closer to election time, it would be troublesome. I think if she gets the facts out, she should be fine."

© 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC

http://dyn.politico .com/printstory. cfm?uuid= 17D471B3- 18FE-70B2- A85C9CFB11F68BC8


Sw

 

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International Human Rights Organisation (IHRO), of the Indian subcontinent, is a NGO, with national focus and overseas lobby network. It agitates both in India and internationally.
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