I'm not going to announce any specific Virginia candidates right now that I'll be supporting in 2010, but here's what I'll be looking for in terms of allocating my energies.1. Strong Progressives, of the "Teddy Roosevelt" school preferably, but I'll take just about any Democrat who's committed to action on climate change and clean energy, health care reform with a robust public option, and - as Jim Webb puts it - "economic fairness and social justice." In short, I want people from the "Democratic wing of the Democratic Party." Anyone else, forget it, I'm not wasting my time and energy on them except to oppose them in a primary.
2. Populists, in the sense of fighting for working people and the middle class, not for the rich and powerful. Supporting "fair trade" is an added bonus. If they're all about Wall Street as opposed to Main Street, I'm not interested.
3. Candidates who are running for the right reasons, not just to gain power for themselves. When I say "right reasons," I mean fighting for the common good, wanting to make a positive difference in our country and the world, and of course believing in core Democratic values.
4. Democrats willing to take on "unbeatable" Republicans in "tough districts," whether that's Eric Cantor or Rob Wittman or Frank Wolf. I guess I just love (supposedly) "hopeless causes." :)
5. Candidates who "get" the grassroots and the netroots, who are committed to "bottom up" campaigns as opposed to the same-old-same-old (e.g., "raise as much money as possible from rich folks, spend it all in the closing weeks in a blitz of mailings that most people throw out and TV ads that most people ignore).
6. Democrats who understand the lessons of Creigh Deeds. I've already analyzed this extensively. Let's just put it this way; if there are Democrats out there who think the lesson from Creigh Deeds is to move to the right, to run away from Barack Obama, to oppose the "public option" or strong action on climate change and clean energy, they will not be getting any support from me in 2010. End of story.
7. Democrats who don't hire idiot consultants. I'll be looking at the people Democratic candidates are surrounding themselves with. Needless to say, if the consultants played a significant role in causing or perpetuating the Deeds Debacle, I'll have a hard time supporting any candidate who hires them.
Those are just a few major criteria. For now, I'm not endorsing anyone, but I expect to start expressing my 2010 preferences very shortly.
