Boxer

Barbara Boxer reminds us
that we need to get involved

I was so stunned by the ending to the Presidential race - so upset - so disbelieving - that I decided to wait until I could put the whole thing into perspective. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that the candidate who won by 500,000 votes would wind up the loser. Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that the U.S. Supreme Court would intervene. But that is what happened and here we are.

Now the question is: "What do we do about it?"

I have a plan.

First, we must be the loyal opposition in a way that we have never been before. More people voted for the Democratic issues that we believe in issues we have fought for fairness, equality, human rights, civil rights, women's rights, the environment, quality public education and quality health care. Those issues must never be forgotten. And the tough, tough votes we had to cast for fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, after years of Republican trickle down red ink, must not be abandoned. Of course, tax cuts for working families are in order but a drive toward more debt build-up must not be in order. We Democrats will be fighting for balance-sensible tax cuts, investments in priorities and debt reduction. And never will we raid the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds! I could go on about the issues because there are so many more but let me talk now about politics.

We must get ready for 2002 and get ready fast. With a 50/50 balance in the Senate, it will only take one Senate seat to make Trent Lott the Minority Leader and with him the Senate Leadership team of Don Nickles and Rick Santorum. NEVER IN HISTORY HAVE WE SEEN A MORE FAR RIGHT REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP. We're talking about a 0% record on choice, the environment and all the other issues we care about. And mean-spiritedness. Were talking about that, too.

When John Ashcroft was put up for Attorney General, the right wing was ecstatic and so was the Senate Leadership. After all, this was one of their own and his abysmal treatment of women, minority and gay nominees was clearly known to them. His record of suing nurses who were giving out contraception in accordance with Missouri law as well as his record of fighting tooth and nail against a VOLUNTARY desegregation plan in that state were greatly admired by this group. They said over and over again that this Attorney General nominee was a "man of great integrity." Call me old fashioned, but I dont know how someone who brought so much pain to so many can be considered in those terms. But that's a difference of opinion.

What is NOT a difference of opinion is that there were more votes against John Ashcroft that any other cabinet member since 1989 when John Tower was brought down because of a personal addiction.

I was proud to be the first Senator to speak out against George Bush's nomination of John Ashcroft. Let me assure you, it was not pleasant to do so. But I KNEW that this nomination would be hurtful to many of our citizens and very divisive for the country, which had just gone through a very painful election. I asked President Bush to reconsider to no avail. He stood by his man and he made his right wing very happy. Just as happy as when, as his first official policy act, he punished those international family planning groups that use their OWN funds to either provide abortions abroad or just to counsel patients that abortion is a legal option. This horrific executive order will only lead to more women dying of back room, illegal abortions. It is another terrible bow to the far right in this country.

And all this, while the new President goes on his charm offensive to make Democrats and Independents in this country think that he is bi-partisan.

When his policies are bi-partisan, I will be right there. But don't be mistaken. John Ashcroft as Attorney General is not a moderate pick. As the Attorney General himself has said, "There are two things found in the middle-of-the-road, a dead skunk and a moderate and I don’t want to be either." Gail Norton as Interior Secretary is not a moderate pick. Her lifetime has been spent fighting the environmental laws that she is now supposed to uphold! And drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is not moderate-it's downright radical!

So what do we do? We get ready to turn things around in 2002, by helping the wonderful Democratic Senators and House Members who face tough races. Wonderful candidates like Senators Dick Durbin, Mary Landrieu, Max Cleland, and Paul Wellstone, to name a few. And then we will help candidates that are challenging right wing Senators and House Members incumbents like Tim Hutchison of Arkansas who is rated zero on all the issues we care about.

WE NEED HEROES NOT ZEROS.

Again, with your help, we got some superb new Senators - Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Jean Carnahan of Missouri, Tom Carper of Delaware to name just three. Our PAC is able to give $10,000 to each candidate and that goes a long way, believe me. I wish I could tell you that our fine candidates could walk in, just with the issues on their side and with their great personalities, but you and I know that they must have the resources to fight the inevitable attacks that will come their way. The Republicans DO NOT WANT TO LOSE CONTROL OF BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS while they have a Republican in the White House, something they haven't had in 48 years! Remember we may be 50/50 in the Senate but Dick Cheney, the Vice President, breaks the tie. That means we need to have more Democrats in the Senate and soon. Over in the House, we are only a handful of seats away from having a majority there.

We are people who believe in the potential of our country and it will only get there if we do our part. I'm out there taking the slings and arrows every day and today I NEED YOU! WE CAN’T AFFORD TO BE DOWN!

Best always,

Barbara