Washington Conservation Voters' mistake

Washington Conservation Voters is looking for volunteers for Tuesday, 2/25/13 (that’s tomorrow), to doorbell and persuade voters on Mercer Island to contact Republican State Senator Steve Litzow and ask him to support WCV’s Clean Energy and Climate campaign. (Contact tiffany@wcvoters.org.)

As pointed out by Robert Sargent, the odd thing is that WCV endorsed Republican Steve’s run for the State Senate last year.  Why did WCV endorse a candidate who needs to be lobbied on this issue?  WCV should have supported his Democratic opponent, Maureen Judge.

This is akin to the similar mistake NARAL made in 2010 when they too endorsed Litzow, only to be slapped in the face by Litzow’s casting the deciding vote against the Reproductive Parity Act.

See A wedge divides progressives and women in Washington State. for more examples of lefty single-issue groups shooting themselves in the foot and betraying Democratic and progressive principles by supporting Republicans and corporate Democrats.

Litzow is not trying to resuscitate his reputation among women’s rights activists, by re-introducing, with Hobbs, the Reproductive Parity Act. But Hobbs and Litzow are fiscal conservatives.  Single-issue groups don’t play well together with the rest of the Democratic coalition.