Washblog || Wilson Withdraws, Endorses Cantwell: Whither Peace?

Wilson Withdraws, Endorses Cantwell: Whither Peace?

By noemie maxwell
Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 12:01:34 PM PST
Section: Washington State Topic: Election news/info

Mark Wilson has withdrawn from his bid for the U.S. Senate and has pledged to join Maria Cantwell's campaign. I saw it first on Northwest Progressive Institute's blog (NWPI). It's an abrupt move that mirrors Wilson's political shifts in the past -- from Libertarian to Green to Democrat. Wilson's long been condemning Cantwell using a language of moral absolutism. She's a bulwark supporting the corporate state that keeps us in perpetual war, he's been telling us.

As far as I know, Cantwell's essential stance has not changed. Evidently, however, Wilson's understanding of what it means has. In his email to supporters, Wilson says:

I have had a deep and personal one-on-one conversation with Senator Cantwell. I came away convinced we are on the same path when it comes to solving the crisis in Iraq and the potential crisis with Iran.

The Green Party, in its press release yesterday (linked to on the NWPI piece cited above) included the following response from Aaron Dixon, its Senatorial candidate:

"Either Mark Wilson has been bought out or he has played a good con-game in fooling us to believe that he was fervently against the illegal and horrific war and occupation in Iraq."

Really? How does Mr. Dixon know that? Is he psychic?

The press release also includes a statement by Brent White, Vice Chair of Washington's Green Party. Cantwell, he says, has "voted with the Republican majority throughout her tenure in the Senate.". Hmm, isn't that a clearly misleading statement about a Senator who has a progressive voting record of over 88%?

The listservs are abuzz with a sense of betrayal over Wilson's move -- the word, 'depraved' has been used. I'd likely feel betrayed, too, if I had been a Wilson supporter. I don't see Wilson as depraved but we are, as a nation, perpetrating a depraved war. We are still inside an economy that's running on blood and oil. Mark Wilson appears to have backed away from explicit recognition of this fact -- a recognition we must come to as a society in order to put our house in order. I'm interested to wait and see how this unfolds. Maybe Mr. Wilson's move here will end up making more sense to me. Some initial comments on The Left Shue this morning hint at other directions and interpretations.

In the meantime, here's what I see. Mark Wilson careens between seeing Cantwell as pretty much thoroughgoingly badly motived to suddenly seeing her as a person acting on really good motives that match his. The Green Party accuses both Cantwell and Mark Wilson of bad motives because -- how could someone come to a different conclusion than they do in good faith? And, I see this morning, the same old same old's going on among some vocal progressives. Depending on how their cohorts respond to the changed circumstances, they get accused of, you guessed it, bad motives.

Instead of speculating about other people's motives, progressives should be working toward encouraging respect for error and tolerance for differences in the pursuit of workable solutions to difficult problems. We have a larger goal: transitioning to a more peaceful world, to an economy that does not run on blood and oil.

A productive response coming from the progressive listservs this morning is a call to work on cleaning up our election mess and reclaiming democracy. This includes reducing the impact of crooked money on elections (Washington Public Campaigns), demanding fair and verifiable elections (Voters Unite and WA Citizens for Fair Elections), and re-evaluating our current all-or-nothing system that forces people to either vote for least-worst candidates or to withdraw from participation altogether (Center for Voting and Democracy.)

< Big Fish Stories | Simplistic says David Goldstein... Simplistic!! What does he know about it? >

Wilson Withdraws, Endorses Cantwell: Whither Peace? | 13 comments (13 topical)

Wilson did a good job

and with the help of many others in the Peace and Progressive Community MADE Maria realize that she needed to focus more on the war and it's implications. He should be praised for this.
Maria, by convincing Dal and Mark to join and advise her is showing just exactly how competent a Senator she really is and making a strong arguement for all of us to work for unity against the potential disaster that is Mr. McGavick.

Dave Gibney Pullman

by gibney on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 12:37:19 PM PST

* 1 5.00 1 *

I'll grant you that -- by noemie maxwell, 07/09/2006 12:46:41 PM PST (5.00 / 1)

Some perspective

Mark Wilson and Dal LaMagna are grabbing some blogger headlines with their recent actions. That is understandable. They've decided to work from the inside, a strategy others have been quietly employing for months or longer.

S. 333 is a case in point. Remember the hideous Iran Freedom and Support Act to which Sen. Cantwell signed on as co-sponsor in February? Remember how much was made of that on the blogs? You notice how we're not talking about that now?

That's because members of the 34th, 36th, and 46th (and probably other districts) privately voiced their concerns to Sen. Cantwell during the district caucuses. I know for a fact she received an earful from members of the 36th because I was there. While the senator didn't back down from her co-sponsorship, she immediately took another tact on Iran. Soon afterward, the senator's staff went to work on crafting a new position on Iran. Members of the 46th, in particular, kept up the pressure behind the scenes.
Then in June, when it appeared that his bill was destined to languish in committee, Sen. Santorum introduced his Iran language as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act. Sen. Cantwell, along with a host of Democrats and a few Republicans, voted the amendment down. In short, Sen. Cantwell changed positions on Santorum's Iran legislation.

No one who quietly worked on changing Sen. Cantwell's position on Iran has grabbed any headlines. In fact, no one has even bothered to report her change of position. The progressives who worked on this project deserve credit, but they'll never receive it. Part of it is that when you elect to work behind the scenes, you have to keep a lot of confidences to yourself. You end up carrying around a lot of secrets, and you have to keep them to yourself. You have to decide the importance of the work and the respect of your colleagues outweighs the glory of public recognition.

In fact, one may find that one receives the precise opposite kind of attention. All too often one's efforts to pressure an elected official into doing the right thing can be interpreted as excessive. One can end up being called some rather unpleasant names. But I don't know how to influence a senator without being tenacious. People will make of that what they will. The question is whether one's efforts yield results. I think the quiet activists working behind the scenes have yielded important results, though they may never receive public credit for them.

My reaction to the recent headlines about Dal LaMagna and Mark Wilson is to lift my head, take note, and go back to work. Above all, I think about the work of community organizing, which is a long-term project requiring a long-term commitment. It requires trust, solidarity among colleagues, patience, tenacity (again), and faith. It requires maturity--the maturity, in particular, to realize you work within an activist tradition that can only be learned by working with more experienced activists. I love this work, and it's work I'm proud to share with the loyal, talented, and dedicated colleagues who make up my activist community.

by DWE on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 03:39:52 PM PST

* 3 5.00 7 *

Politicians by ivan, 07/09/2006 08:49:33 PM PST (5.00 / 4)

A question of perspective by The Left Shue, 07/10/2006 07:16:18 AM PST (5.00 / 1)
Much appreciation, Ivan by noemie maxwell, 07/10/2006 11:17:57 AM PST (none / 0)

Opposition to what -- or to whom? by ivan, 07/10/2006 01:54:57 PM PST (none / 0)

Finetuning the opposition by noemie maxwell, 07/10/2006 03:35:18 PM PST (none / 0)

Under-recognized working from within David by Lietta Ruger, 07/14/2006 10:14:54 PM PST (5.00 / 1)

Thanks, Lietta! by DWE, 07/15/2006 08:06:10 AM PST (5.00 / 1)

Maybe Dixon is psychic

from the NWPI blog:
"The campaign announced that Wilson will be hired to work for the campaign full time to reach out to the 'peace and justice community'"
The only thing Dixon didn't tell us is how much cash changed hands, and whether the phony job is just a downpayment or the full amount.
-Doug Nielson

by indolin on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 09:09:06 PM PST

* 5 2.00 2 *

Noemie, good discussion generated

I found I enjoyed reading the different comments and it seemed the responses were thoughtful and genuine. I'd say every commenter in this thread deserves a 5 rating for lending weight to a healthy discussion. It's encouraging!

On the Surge in Iraq "--we have set the bar so low it's buried in the sand at this point." - Barack Obama

by Lietta Ruger on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:20:51 PM PST

* 11 none 0 *

opinion

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by rosita on Wed Nov 15, 2006 at 01:14:50 AM PST

* 13 none 0 *

Wilson Withdraws, Endorses Cantwell: Whither Peace? | 13 comments (13 topical)

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