At 11 this morning (pdt) click over to Crooks and Liars' and meet Claudia Wright, Blue America's latest endorsement for the House of Representatives from Utah's 2nd district. She's got quite a story, both personal and political.
On the personal side she's the openly gay great, great granddaughter of Brigham Young (plus much, much more.) And the political story is just as interesting. Here's Howie:
The congressman from the second is reactionary Blue Dog Jim Matheson, son of two-term Governor Scott Matheson, and he pretty much always votes with the Republicans on important issues. He first got elected by attacking Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore for his healthcare reform proposals. Needless to say, Matheson was an eager aisle crosser when it came to the recent votes on healthcare reform. And three weeks ago Democratic activists in his district-- despite a parachute jump in by wheeler/dealer Steny Hoyer-- were eager to deny Matheson the Democratic Party endorsement. They forced him into an open primary with today's Blue America endorsee, Claudia Wright.
Not that anyone in the Village noticed, of course, what with all the hoopla around unseating Senator Bob Bennett, but it's clear that the tea partiers aren't the only activists in Utah. Sure it's a red state but that doesn't tell the whole story anymore.
Howie explains:
Inside the Beltway pundits and political "pros" insist that Democrats only win in red areas like UT-02 by running on Republican talking points. Ignoring the outstanding campaigns run by working family champions-- from Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) to Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), each of whom ousted an entrenched Republican incumbent in a "red" district-- the conventional wisdom is that only corporate shills like Jim Matheson can win in places like Utah. We know conventional wisdom is wrong and ignores the reality of the district. And so does Claudia:
Mr. Matheson and the party wasn't prepared for the reception he got at the mass meetings we had last March. He had no idea how angry he made his constituents. He was boo-ed and jeered... The party has misread its membership and misread the fact that we are witnessing a political realignment, not just here in Utah, but across the country. The alignment is shifting right to left and top to bottom. A large number of delegates at our convention were actually moderate Republicans who are now more at home with our party than they are with the extremist right of the Republican Party.
Interesting, no?
Come over to Crooks and Liars' comments section to meet Claudia (at 11am/PT, noon in Utah). You can contribute to her campaign through Blue America's ActBlue page and everyone who donates to Claudia's campaign this weekend (offer ends Sunday at midnight, PT) will have their name entered in a contest to win an autographed copy of Al Franken's book The Truth AND an autographed copy of the Al Franken DVD God Spoke.
See you at 11.
Update: if you watch that Youtube, you'll see Wright discuss a failed Utah initiative to deal with STDs among teenagers and the fact that many of them will end up sterile, among other things, because they aren't educated about it and don't get treated. She relays the response from some social conservative harpy which was,"I don't think we should do anything to interfere with the natural consequences of an immoral act."
I don't think I've ever heard it put more starkly. In my mind, that is the essence of evil.