Perennial candidate Mark Wilson, who previously ran for Congress as a Libertarian and for Senate as a Green, and who is now mounting a primary challenge to Sen. Maria Cantwell (I suppose as a Democrat,) likes to point to his endorsement by Snohomish County’s 38th Legislative District Democrats as evidence that his is a serious challenge. Well, no more.
The Democratic Party in Snohomish County’s 38th Legislative District has rescinded its endorsement of Mark Wilson, the anti-war candidate running a longshot primary campaign against Sen. Maria Cantwell.
The endorsement has been brought up by Wilson backers as an official sign of support for the protest candidate. Cantwell has been dogged by anti-war Democrats who say she should renounce her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq invasion.
But Rep. John McCoy, D-Tulalip, thought it was important to “show unity of the Democratic Party behind Maria Cantwell.”
On Monday, the 38th District Democrats voted to endorse Cantwell and to rescind Wilson’s endorsement.
Wilson said the move was done out of “reactionary fear for self-preservation.”
Yeah, well, I suppose one could try to spin this as “reactionary fear,” though instead, I’d say it reeks of something that some anti-war activists find even more distasteful: political pragmatism. Like others, I find Wilson to be an affable guy, but his quixotic primary campaign is nothing but a minor distraction from the real election in November.
The 38th LD Dems, whatever their majority position on the war is — and I’m guessing that like most Democrats their position is that they’d like to get out — have recognized the fact that Sen. Cantwell is the party’s nominee, and that if we want a shot at retaking the Senate and turning this nation around, we all need to rally behind her the way, you know… Republicans rally behind their candidates. Even Sen. Russ Feingold, perhaps the Dems’ most vocal anti-war leader, came to Seattle to stump for Sen. Cantwell, because he knows that the best way to promote his agenda is to give his party control of the Senate.
Wilson finds all this undemocratic:
“The incumbents are determined to protect each other over and beyond any Democratic values or rules,” he said.
Uh-huh. The rules were followed when the 38th endorsed Wilson, and the rules were followed when they rescinded it. That’s democracy, Mark. You lost. (I’d say, “get used to it” but he already has.)