Just getting more and more of this all the time:
Rep. David Obey has won 21 straight races, easily prevailing through wars and economic crises that have spanned presidencies from Nixon to Obama. Yet the discontent with Washington surging through politics is now threatening not only his seat but Democratic control of Congress.
Obey is one of nearly a dozen well-established House Democrats who are bracing for something they rarely face: serious competition. Their predicament is the latest sign of distress for their party and underlines why Republicans are confident of big gains in November, and perhaps even winning back the House…
..”It’s not a lifetime appointment,” said Sean Duffy, a Republican district attorney here in the north woods of Wisconsin, where he has established himself as one of the most aggressive challengers to Obey since the Democrat went to Washington in 1969. “There are changes in this country going on and people aren’t happy.”…
And that, my friends, is the attitude sweeping the nation. And I don’t think it will cool off by November. In fact, I think its just going to get stronger.
It is an absurdity that Obey is still in the House, at all. He was first elected shortly before my fourth birthday. I’m 45. Three or four terms is about as long as anyone should serve in the House, but here’s this barnacle from the Age of Aquarius still hanging ’round.
No politician should go unchallenged – not in the general election, and not even in the primary. Over in Arizona, John McCain is enduring a primary challenge – and that shows that at least on the GOP side, people are getting it. This is not an endorsement of Hayworth (McCain’s opponent) nor a condemnation of McCain (a man I admire), but it is a fact that it is on the Republican side we see this willingness to challenge the establishment.
The results in November will, I think, astound us. No career politician is completely safe.
A corrupt and incompetent ruling class is on the defensive – people like Obey who have tended to think of their seats as life-appointments are finding out that the people rule this country. And that is a good and healthy thing for a democratic republic.
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