(I did indeed encourage this story to be posted here. It is really is all about Tauscher’s relationship with her constituents. – promoted by juls)
Before I begin I warn you I have never posted a blog before. I have commented on a few posts at DailyKos and was told by juls that I should post my experience with Tauscher here so here it is.
I am a very active democrat, especially for my age group. I am 18 years old and a senior at Acalanes High School. I am the Youth Outreach Coordinator of the Lamorinda Democratic Club, President and Founder of the Acalanes Democratic Club, member of East Bay for Democracy and East Bay Young Democrats, and during the next several months will be working to create a Contra Costa County Young Democrats. Despite all this involvement, I have only seen Tauscher speak once. Maybe this is because, as a Congresswoman, Tauscher’s in DC all the time (which I doubt is the reason because I’ve heard Miller speak 3 or 4 times) but I suspect that it is more because she does not like dealing with local clubs knowing that she will be put under the spotlight and actually asked tough questions. Surprisingly enough she agreed to speak on the topic of Nuclear Bunker Busters and the Possibility of U.S. Intervention in Iran for the Mt. Diablo Peace Center on June 10, 2006.
At the beginning she seemed a bit arrogant but with good policies. She told us multiple times that we were a smart district and that’s why we have a smart representative (as opposed to all the stupid districts out there) and stated that Kucinich ran for President in 2004 as a ploy to get a girlfriend. That aside, her policies sounded good. She made it very clear that she did not approve of how the War in Iraq was being handled, that she opposed the testing of new nuclear technology, and even promised to sign on to Kucinich’s Department of Peace bill (and she followed through on the promise).
Unfortunately, things began to deteriorate once she started taking questions. She fielded her questions on Iraq, Iran, and Nuclear Bunker Busters fairly well but the topic soon turned to the midterm elections. One person asked why the Democrat’s didn’t have a set, united platform. Tauscher responded that they did. After multiple people further questioned about what the platform was and why we didn’t know about it, Tauscher expressed her disappointment that we (remember, we’re a smart district) hadn’t done our research and that if we simply went to her website we’d find her policies. Now, of course this answered no questions because we wanted to know about a united Democratic platform not one Congresswoman’s platform. Finally one person got to the point and asked the right question. He wanted a united Democratic platform that was simple and easy for Americans to understand, one similar to the Republican’s Contract with America which helped them win in 1994. Tauscher paused a moment and then asked the man if he was a professional activist or politician. The man smiled, shook his head, and responded that he was a doctor. Tauscher promptly replied that she doesn’t plan on performing surgery just because she saw it on TV.
As you might assume, the meeting ended shortly after that and Tauscher did not stick around to shake hands. After that meeting I swore I would never vote for Tauscher. It didn’t matter that she had well thought out answers to the topics of Iraq, Iran, and Nuclear Bunker Busters or that her record on social issues is quite decent. I wasn’t even taking into account her terribly pro-corporate stance on economics. I could not and still cannot vote for Tauscher because she does not believe that we the people should run our government. Her belief that government is for professional activists and politicians undermines all that netroots, grassroots, and the Democratic Party should stand for. If we want to remain in control of the House and Senate, if we wish to take back the White House, than we’ve got to be the party of the people and it’s Democrats like Tauscher that are standing in our way.
