Yesterday BarbinMD called out the Capitulation Caucus, those Democratic reps who've already given in to the Republicans by signing on to HR3087, aka Abercrombie/Tanner or The Cover My Deep Red Republican Ass With A No-Timetables Pretty Please Get Us Out Of Iraq Mister Twenty Five Percent Act.
I clicked in expecting to revel in the usual list of amoral strivers, lieberdems and such, when who should appear right after Infamous Ellen Tauscher, but my very own rep from the deep, deep, deep blue coast of the even deeper blue People's Republic of Massachusetts, the honorable William Delahunt, the United States Representative from the 10th District of Massachusetts.
Imagine my shame. But not surprise. You see, I've recently begun to get a hint about Mr. Delahunts idea of public service.
I'll admit it, Bill Delahunt is a bit of a cipher to me. I've lived here 10 years and I've had to work The Google to a fare-thee-well these last few days just to get the superficial take presented here. But what I found, combined with his recent performance, ain't good.
He was elected in a squeaker in 1996, beating progressive Phil Johnston in a recount in the primary and walking to victory in the general. He shares a house in DC with Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, and George Miller, a fact that makes me wonder if he isn't channeling Schumer somehow. Locally, though, he's usually considered more beholden to Ted Kennedy (see Cape Wind below).
In 2006 he was essentially unopposed beating the Republican ham sandwich 65-30 with his opponent failing to take even a single town. So you're thinking, well with 2 mil in the bank and token opposition he must have opened his checkbook and written a big fat check to the use-it-or-lose-it campaign like John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Barney Frank and John Olver. Ummmm, nah. Like the warchest of the unlamented ex-Rep Marty Meehan, Delahunt's $2,000,000 is, as far as I can tell, still in the bank, dry as the driest powder in the deepest Democratic arsenal.
Prior to the '06 election, Delahunt made known his feelings about impeachment in a debate sponsored by the Quincy Patriot Ledger.
Delahunt said the calls to impeach Bush are simply "rhetoric."
Ouch. Now regardless of how you feel about impeachment, that's just a wee bit dismissive of the base. In light of that remark, maybe we shouldn't be surprised by his joining the Capitulation Caucus. But that's just one vote, and of course impeachment is controversial. What about the rest of his service?
Well, right off, he's apparently not particularly interested in constituent feedback, having attained a reputation for simply not responding to constituents (see here, and here). And he especially doesn't like hearing from DFHs, having anti-war activists arrested for trespassing at his Hyannis office rather than meet with them to hear them out on HR4232, the 2005 McGovern bill to end the war.
Green maybe? Ah, not so much. He's apparently chosen to carry Uncle Ted's water in opposing the Cape Wind project, a proposal to build a wind farm in the line of sight from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis. This travesty has delighted the local and national wingnut contingent with the transparent hypocrisy of our state Democratic leadership opposing a green initiative simply to preserve their ocean views.
But this could just be cherry-picking the bad news - he must have done something good in ten years in the House. Okay, here's one, clean and unqualified. He voted against the war, something only seven of our twelve reps can say.
It goes downhill from there unfortunately. Here's another. He tweaked Bush's nose by brokering a deal with Hugo Chavez for cheap oil for poor Massachusetts residents. And, oddly for a US Rep from Massachusetts, he's chosen normalized relations with Cuba as his hobby horse. That's a fine hobby that tweaks Bush and the Cuban dead-enders, hurts no one and may in fact do some good, but still a hobby.
So what's the bottom line? Is he a Bush Dog? Absolutely not. Is he even a Blue Dog? No. Bill Delahunt is an impeachment-refusenik taking up a seat on the House Judiciary who's been invisible in the recent DOJ hearings. He's pre-capitulated on Abercrombie/Tanner and he doesn't like to explain himself to the little people. Perhaps it's time for the little people to get together and get his attention.
What say you Kossacks? Anyone out there know Bill Delahunt better than I do? Someone must.
UPDATE: I was incorrect to state that Delahunt was invisible during the DOJ hearings. Emptywheel was quite taken with one of his performances. Sadly, the performance in question dealt strictly with Delahunt's Cuban hobby horse. I stand corrected.