The Woman in the Middle

WaPo reported The Democratic majority was only three weeks old, but by Jan. 26, the grass-roots and Net-roots activists of the party's left wing had already settled on their new enemy: Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.), the outspoken chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.

This is good. Maybe Tauscher and the rest of her Coalition will decide to become Republicans.

Progressive blogs -- including two new ones, Ellen Tauscher Weekly and Dump Ellen Tauscher -- were bashing her as a traitor to her party. A new liberal political action committee had just named her its "Worst Offender."

She is definitely a leftie, just not as extreme left as the nutroots.

And in Tauscher's East Bay district office that day in January, eight MoveOn.org activists were accusing her of helping President Bush send more troops to Iraq. Helping? Jennifer Barton, the lawmaker's district director, played them a DVD of Tauscher blasting the increase as an awful idea in a floor speech eight days earlier. "The words are fine and good, but we are looking for leadership," scoffed Susan Schaller, one of the activists.

In other words do it our way.

Leadership? Barton showed them the eight golden shovels Tauscher had received for bringing transportation projects to her suburban district, along with numerous awards she had won for her work protecting children, wetlands, affordable housing and abortion rights. "That's fine and good," Schaller repeated, "but this is about Iraq."

When you are as filled with hate as the nutroots are, you can only focus on one thing. And in this case it is forcing us to lose in Iraq, so they can blame Bush for the loss.