August 03, 2007
View From Lodi, CA: Can Cindy Sheehan Defeat House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi? Joe Says: Don’t Be Surprised
By Joe Guzzardi
If
Cindy Sheehan makes good on her promise to challenge
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2008, California’s
Eighth District will have one of the most interesting of
all the Congressional races.
Before analyzing
Sheehan’s chances let’s try to put aside, if
possible, the debate that swirls around her.
To some Sheehan is a
puppet of the extreme left. Others view her as a
passionate peace activist whose son Casey was killed in
Iraq.
Two years ago, Sheehan arrived on the national scene
when she staged a sit-in at
President George Bush’s Crawford, TX. ranch
insisting---unsuccessfully---that Bush meet with her
face-to-face to defend his Iraq policy.
But instead of arguing among ourselves as to who the
true Sheehan may or may not be, let’s focus instead on
what motivates her.
Sheehan’s mission is to, in the name of eliminating
politics as usual, unseat
Pelosi---one of the richest, most powerful and most
well-entrenched American politicians.
In her July 22nd San Francisco
Chronicle op-ed titled
Let’s Get Away from Usual Party Politics,
Sheehan claims that the two-party system has abandoned
Americans.
Nothing, according to Sheehan, represents the
collective failure of Democrats and Republicans better
than the
Iraq War. The Democrats repeatedly have expressed
their opposition to the war. But, in Sheehan’s opinion,
as the majority party, it has done nothing to end it.
Sheehan hopes to:
“…Challenge other people who desire healthy political
change and not temporary Band-Aids to replace other
Democrats and Republicans…”
You would have to travel far
and wide to find anyone who doesn’t agree with Sheehan
that the political status quo has hurt Americans. And
almost everyone concurs that for Americans to regain
their country, the first step is to elect a more
responsive Congress and President.
According to
a recent Gallup poll, only 14 percent of Americans,
the lowest rating ever, have “a great deal of
confidence” in Congress. The same poll found that
support for Bush also stood at an all-time low for a
sitting president of 25 percent.
But polls aside, many would prefer that the “first
step” not begin with Sheehan.
Still, how else to begin other than by testing
incumbents? And so much the better when a candidate with
name recognition issues the challenge.
At least an outside possibility exists that Sheehan
could pull off a huge upset. The
8th District, basically San Francisco, is
the most dependably Democratic district in the nation.
In 2006, Pelosi defeated her Republican opponent, Mike
De Nunzio with more than 80 percent of the vote.
But San Francisco is also the epicenter for
vociferous anti-war demonstrations. In March, 3,000
gathered at City Hall to protest the war. And a smaller
group congregated in front of Pelosi’s house where they
had gathered for over a week.
According to the marchers, Pelosi is not acting
aggressively enough to withdraw U.S. troops or to begin
impeachment proceedings against Bush. [
Thousands March in San Francisco to Voice Anger over
Iraq War, By Marcus Wohlsen, San Diego
Union-Tribune, March 18, 2007
By 2008, San Francisco Democrats may be disgusted
enough with Pelosi to vote for Sheehan. According to
Sheehan, a California native, feedback on her potential
candidacy runs 75 percent favorable. Sheehan claims that
donors are “lined up”.
Not long ago, Sheehan switched her party affiliation
from Democrat to Independent. But died in the wool San
Francisco Democrats don’t need to worry that Sheehan the
Independent doesn’t share their concerns.
Sheehan cites the following priorities as a crucial
part of her political agenda: “same-sex
partnership laws, the environment, health care,
affordable post-secondary education, better schools,
counter-military recruitment, poverty, AIDS research and
cures, decriminalization of marijuana, and especially
stopping war and ensuring real peace.”
November 2008 is fifteen
months away. But without too much of a stretch of my
imagination, I can envision mainstream San Francisco
Democrats as well as the many left wing, anti-war
anarchists could---and might---vote for Sheehan without
feeling that they have betrayed their party.
One final and important
comment: my column does not represent an endorsement of
Cindy Sheehan. Please do not send me angry mail or post
nasty things about me on the blog.
I admire Sheehan for
defying the odds by running against Pelosi.
Joe Guzzardi [email
him], an instructor in English
at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly
column since 1988. It currently appears in the
Lodi News-Sentinel.
