IA-03 - Boswell: Vote for me because Fallon voted for Nader

Rep. Leonard Boswell, fending off a primary challenge from Ed Fallon in Iowa's Third Congressional District, has been reduced to one issue and one issue alone as to why voters should back him and not his challenger: the other guy voted for Ralph Nader in 2000.

AP article

DES MOINES, Iowa - It's been eight years, but many Democrats still bristle at the thought of Ralph Nader's 2000 run for the presidency. And they're not especially forgiving toward anyone who helped him, either.

At least, that seems to be driving six-term Iowa congressman Leonard Boswell's re-election bid against a more liberal primary challenger.

Much of the Democrat's well-funded campaign has focused on challenger Ed Fallon's support for Nader, who received a sliver of the national vote eight years ago but is blamed by many in the party for siphoning off just enough from Al Gore to hand the victory to George W. Bush.

"A lot of the things we're dealing with now — whether it's the war or the economy — quite possibly wouldn't have happened" had Gore won that election, Boswell said.

Fallon concedes his endorsement "was probably my worst political decision" but said he's repeatedly apologized for backing Nader. And he notes that Gore narrowly won Iowa.

It is clear to me that Leonard Boswell is living in the past.  He is looking ever-backward, while Ed Fallon is looking forward.  If he's been reduced to using Fallon's support of Nader eight years ago as his last line of defense, he's in serious trouble.

More from the article:

Fallon has argued that Boswell is too conservative to represent the left-leaning district, claiming he frequently votes with President Bush and relies too heavily on special interest campaign money.

"If we're really going to get any change in the country, it's going to take politicians who are independent of big money," Fallon said.

Besides noting Fallon's support of Nader, Boswell has alleged that his opponent considered an independent run for governor in 2006 after losing to Democrat Chet Culver in the primary. Fallon has denied the charge, noting he campaigned for Culver, who cruised to a victory over Republican Jim Nussle.

The Democratic establishment has rallied to Boswell's side, with top Democrats including Gore and Harkin offering their endorsements. Boswell has a big lead in the money race, raising more than $1.1 million, compared with about $240,000 by Fallon.

Dennis Goldford, a Drake University political science professor, said that while Boswell may be more conservative than most Democrats in the district, he has no obvious weaknesses.

"I think Fallon's the distinctly more liberal candidate, but it's always tough to run an insurgent campaign unless there's a scandal or rank incompetence on the part of the incumbent," Goldford said.

Boswell may indeed pull this off, but he has demonstrated to me that he is far more focused on the past than on looking toward the future.  I have defended moderate Democrats often on DailyKos - I am a moderate Democrat myself, and think it would be a mistake to regularly primary moderate Democrats a la a left-wing Club for Growth, which would cost us the support of moderates we only recently won back to our side.  But if we are to have moderate Democrats, they must be focused on our future, rather than dwelling in the battles of the past.