( - promoted by Dean Barker)
(Note: Out of respect for Mike, who offered to front-page this diary, I will focus only on sharing my appreciation of Katrina Swett's candidacy, and will avoid contrasts that present Ann McLane Kuster in a negative light.)
I support Katrina Swett for Congress because she has the experience, expertise, energy, and mindset required to make a difference in Washington. She is a fine person; more relevant, though, is Katrina's passion to fight for progressive policies, which has earned my respect - and that of many others who have worked with her over the years.
I recognize that we have two strong candidates in this race, and I begrudge no one for supporting Ann Kuster. (Indeed, I will proudly do so if she becomes our party's nominee against Charlie Bass.) But I do feel compelled to note that the portrayal of Katrina on Blue Hampshire by some of Ann's supporters during the past year - as some right-winger-in-drag with a reluctance to talk about issues - could not be farther from reality. In the eighteen years that I have known her, Katrina's commitment to the values that drive the Democratic Party has only been sharpened by the fire that she (and her family) has faced in defending them.
Rather than rebutting these often extremely unfair criticisms, or pointing out that Katrina's positions on damn near every issue are the same as (or to the left of) those of President Obama's, I will offer up some of my own reasons for supporting Katrina's campaign. Many of these points have been made in past comments on Blue Hampshire. And, while I don't expect them to change the narrative on Blue Hampshire, I hold out hope that it might, at least, help to improve the tone. So here goes:
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1. Katrina Swett would bring sorely needed expertise in human rights policy to the United States House of Representatives. Katrina understands how our global challenges are intrinsically linked to human rights. From Russia to China to Sub-Saharan Africa, she realizes that those countries that abuse their own people are invariably those that pose national security threats to the United States. She will prove an effective advocate for increased support for economic development, deeper engagement in global health crises, collaboration with the UN and other multi-national bodies, and alignment between international funds and respect for civil liberties - the rights to vote, speak, worship, love, and live without fear of government abuse.
As a Ph. D. in human rights policy and a teacher of university students, Katrina understands that the United States is not isolated. But her human rights convictions extend to our own soil, as the US sets an example. That's why her campaign (and, separately, I) so bitterly objected to the allegation that she opposed marriage equality. It is not in her nature to do so.
These are not causes that win elections. They are, however, our most potent weapons in spreading progressive values around the world, and they merit far greater focus on Capitol Hill than they receive. And no candidate is more prepared to lead on them than Katrina Swett.
The Members of Congress who truly lead progressive change are those with respected expertise in a particular policy area. The late Tom Lantos (D-CA), Katrina's father, was one such congressman. He co-founded the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (now named after him), and passed legislation on causes ranging from AIDS in Africa to Burmese human rights to domestic child labor standards. Tom's closest advisor on all of these issues was his daughter, who now leads the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice to continue his work.
2. Katrina Swett's support for health care reform and other progressive causes is real - and rooted in her personal belief in economic justice. I first got to know Katrina well when I worked field on Dick's 1994 reelection campaign. Dick was under pressure because of his vote for the Brady Bill and assault weapons ban and his co-sponsorship of the Clinton Health Plan, and because he was the only major Democratic elected official in New Hampshire. But he did not waver in his stances, and no one was a stronger advocate for taking on the anti-progressive forces than Katrina. She and Dick never even considered taking his name off of the unpopular health care bill, even when many other Democrats did so. And Katrina volunteered to go on television before the election to explain - in clear and simple terms - why the assault weapons ban will save lives. (And it did.)
In 2002, I worked on Katrina's campaign as her Research Director, and began to understand how her progressive stances were linked to her personal values. She remained a principled supporter of comprehensive health insurance reform, and challenged Bass to renounce his opposition to a Patients' Bill of Rights, drug re-importation, and other common sense policies. And the concerns about that she heard from Dartmouth students a decade earlier led her to make federal student loans a major campaign issue, as Charlie had voted to abolish them. She stood with labor 100% -- just as she always has, before and since. And she took the Bush Administration to task for tax policies that benefited Enron and companies/people who left the US to avoid paying taxes.
Katrina's then-support for the Iraq War resolution has received a lot of play on Blue Hampshire. Like Hillary Clinton, Jeanne Shaheen, and many others who were engaged in public life at the time, she has acknowledged that the war was a mistake. But anyone who was around for that 2002 campaign will recall that Katrina waged a tough campaign on progressive issues. True, she lost - it was a horrible year for Democrats in New Hampshire, even worse than 1994. But she did better than Paul did in a far more favorable year in 2004 and, like future Sen. Hodes, she doesn't quit fighting. . . . If she is the nominee, she will not stop holding Charlie Bass accountable for his record of undermining the stability and security of New Hampshire families.
3. Katrina Swett listens. Katrina has brilliant insights in many areas of public policy, but not a hint of arrogance about them. She's not afraid of a good two-hour discussion on Russia policy - on the contrary, she'll relish it - and she spends far more time listening to others than talking herself. Katrina is open to ideas, and will admit when she's wrong. (And, to be clear, I disagree with her often.) While this is often portrayed as a weakness on Blue Hampshire, I see it as a strength that will help her to engage colleagues and pass legislation.
I joined the Dick Swett for Senate campaign as a 21-year-old Dartmouth grad in 1995, and my knowledge of politics and public policy fit comfortably in a gnat's ear back then. (I was no Doug Lindner.) But Katrina would always ask me for my views on campaign strategy, and would listen closely to my feedback from the field. She asked many questions, and took the time to mentor me so that I understood the dynamics of the election, as well as strengths/weaknesses of potential approaches. Even though she had masterminded two upsets of GOP congressional incumbents, she always treated my views (and those of other young campaign kids) with respect. Because that is who she is.
4. A long time ago, Katrina and Dick Swett helped me (and many others) become an activist. And I am grateful to them. I first met Katrina in the fall of 1992, when I was chairing the Young Democrats at Dartmouth College and rounding up students to work on her husband's reelection campaign (as well as the Clinton, Arnesen, and Rauh efforts). She and Dick came to campus several times to meet with students - and, more importantly, to engage them. I recall YDDC receptions in which Dick and Katrina were surrounded by students, hearing and responding to their fears about the crappy job market, student loans, etc. They helped to make young people part of the process. And I was one of them.
That fall, Students for Swett had over 90 students working phone banks and canvassing in the Upper Valley. And, after the campaign ended, the engagement between the Swetts and students did not stop. They came up to Hanover frequently, including when Dick announced his co-sponsorship of the Clinton Health Care legislation. They talked with students. And they would ensure that students were invited to NHDP events, so that our most active Dartmouth volunteers could be rewarded by hearing the President and Vice President speak in person.
At the time, I did not know that Dick and Katrina were the dominant fundraising source for the state party, nor did I truly understand the abuse they took for standing up for Democratic values in a district that had not elected a Democrat since 1912. I just knew that they cared about building activists. And I was one of them.
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This is the Katrina Swett that folks on Blue Hampshire should know. I could cite many reasons for why this has not been effectively communicated on this blog - the campaign's late start, the early endorsement of Annie by BH leadership, and the resulting cycle in which the anti-Katrina rhetoric became more and more negative and Swett supporters responded by staying away in greater numbers. I know that my own compulsion to respond to anti-Swett criticisms has not helped.
I have my differences with Annie's record, as many on Blue Hampshire criticize Katrina's. We have all made this clear. Hopefully, though, we can all acknowledge that we have two strong Democratic leaders in this race, and work together to rise above the campaign back-and-forth during the next five weeks.
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