Thursday: Alice Kryzan wins her primary!- and loses her party???

Let us go in together,
And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
The time is out of joint—O cursèd spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!
Nay, come, let’s go together.
Hamlet Act 1, scene 5, 186–190

Alice, where art thou going?

The time is indeed out of joint this year.  This campaign season has one of those convoluted plots where nothing is as it seems, allegiences shift, players changes sides, double cross, backstab and sometimes, the heroines lose even as they’re winning.  We’ve seen it happen to Hillary Clinton, who had the unmitigated gall to run for president against the Party’s Chosen One.  Not only did they not honor her higher count in the popular vote and the fact that the hard delegate count was almost dead even, they felt it was necessary to humiliate her during the roll call vote.  I don’t think the superdelegates knew at the time just how BAAADDD that made them look but I suspect that the recent actions of the Pennsylvania contingent are clueing them in. Even so, it does not appear that the DNC or the Obama campaign can be taught.  Reaching out to voters is so 20th century.

Now comes Alice Kryzan.  Alice is a well respected attorney in the area of environmental law.  She ran in the recent primary to represent NY-26 in Congress.  This is a red to blue district.  The Republican, Tom Reynolds, is retiring.  The Democratic primary featured two other contestants: Jack Davis, a wealthy businessman, and Jon Powers, an Iraq War vet.  Davis had previously run for this seat and came close to winning but lost.  But the Democratic party bosses in the district decided to bet the money on Powers.  Powers, by the way, has no resume to speak of but he *is* an Iraq War vet.  Nothing wrong with that.  Powers is an honorable man.  But an M16 may be playing the role of the Penis Year in terms of perceived experiential advantage.  But I digress.

Davis and Powers battled it out during the lead up to the primary, thinking they were the only two people who mattered and then WHAM! Alice wins!  Yeah for Alice!  There must have been great rejoicing and dancing in the streets!  Another woman to Congress!  One more on the way to the 30% Solution!

Not so fast.

Remember I said the party bosses were behind Powers?  Well, it looks like they still may be.  Powers pulled a Lieberman and has secured a slot on the ballot for the seat running under the Working Families Party.  So, let’s recap:  The WOMAN who WON the primary for the Democratic party is now running in a three way race against the Republican AND the Democratic Party’s favorite candidate who is now running in a third party.  And this is OK?

Darragh Murphy sums it up this way:

Maybe. If the 2nd place winner (aka loser) does not take his name off the ballot and tries to handicap her, then it will be split. If he does the Hillary Thing and Step Aside for Party Unity, then she’ll have a much clearer shot.

Hmmm, why aren’t the Party Elders stepping in crying foul when a man doesn’t step aside for a woman to attain power?

anybody?

Yes, Darragh, these are good questions.  Why aren’t the men who are dragging the party into permanent second class status stepping down?  Why is Powers stepping on the toes of the woman who won the primary?  It sort of reminds me of Barack Obama who couldn’t close the deal in the primaries so he gamed and defrauded the caucuses and secured the support of the middle aged white guys in the party to take the woman out.  Or is it like the Obama who sidelined Alice Palmer?  I dunno.  It just reminds me of Barack Obama.  I guess I will never completely get the taste of his dishonorable primary “win” out of my mouth.  The DNC shouldn’t kid themselves about this.  It’s going to follow them around like a silent but deadly fart for years to come. The least they could do to make amends is to pressure Powers to drop out in his race against Kryzan.  It’s the very least they could do.  But somehow, I don’t expect it.

*sigh*

It looks like it is up to us to help Alice out.  The good news is that Emily’s List has woken up and smelled the Starbucks and is now supporting her.  But there’s no doubt about it, Alice has an uphill climb with Powers still in the race.  She can take this district with the right backing and extra effort.  So, if you want to send a message to District 26 power brokers and the DNC, why not come to Alice’s aid and contribute time or money to her campaign?  We are adding Alice to our ActBlue for The Confluence page.  If you make a donation through it, Alice will know it comes from us.  We can build some street cred and mojo for Conflucians and PUMAs.  The DNC will think twice about messing with elections in the future.  Let’s give it a try, shall we?

Tonight is the weekly fundraiser on Conflucians Say.  Take the $35 bucks you were originally going to send to the DNC and divvy it up among our ActBlue Slate.  Or send a yuppie food stamp to Democrats for Principle Before Party where Heidi Li will put it to good use buying ads in congressional journals.  Let the DNC know that we are out here, we are strong and we are legion.  Show them your pride!

Extra! Found at Not Your Sweeties:

Hmmm, Mr. Y speaks to Ms. X's?