DeFazio For Senate
Monday, April 09, 2007
There has been a ground swell of support in recent weeks in Oregon for a possible Peter DeFazio campaign in 2008 for the United States Senate. Incumbent Oregon Republican Gordon Smith, a strong supporter of President Bush’s Iraq War until the mid-term ’06 elections that saw large scale Republican defeats, is considered vulnerable.
Should DeFazio run? I hope he will. Throughout his career in the U.S. House of Representatives he has been a strong progressive voice for economic justice and sensible foreign policy goals. He has been a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Unlike many in Congress, DeFazio has demonstrated that he’ll vote his conscience and not simply take a poll to see which way the political winds are blowing. He opposed the Iraq War from the start and that vote, though not popular with many at the time, showed that he has more insight into foreign policy than most of Congress.
His only major blind spot: immigration reform. DeFazio has been a supporter of some of the worst anti-immigrant legislation introduced in Congress. If he ran an anti-immigrant campaign for the Senate, there is a good chance he’d lose my support.
On the whole, however, I have always thought Peter DeFazio was a person of real integrity. Oregon would benefit from his leadership as a United States Senator.
Visit the Draft DeFazio for Senate website for more information on how you can help bring Peter DeFazio into the race.
Disclaimer: From time to time I feel it necessary to remind readers that views expressed on this site are personal. At no time is this truer then when I make endorsements in partisan political campaigns. The church is rightfully prohibited from engaging in partisan efforts. Clergy, however, are free like all citizens to express their personal opinion on races.