Netroots on fire for Bill Halter, Blanche Lincoln's AR foe (with video)

"AR-Sen: You want to change DC? It all begins in Arkansas" (Markos), with video (02:23):

2009 was a rough year, no doubt about that, and 2010 isn't looking much better.

We worked our asses off the last two cycles, helping turn around solid Republican congressional majorities into dominant Democratic ones. We helped get a Democrat in the White House. We had the GOP disorganized, demoralized, rudderless and on the run. And the good guys got elected on an unambiguous agenda of change and reform.

And then the Democrats fucked it up. I don't need to rehash the whole depressing affair. In short, Democrats are the only people in the world afraid of doing the popular thing. You know how politicians are accused of putting their finger up in the air, and acting depending on which way public opinion was blowing? We could only dream of politicians like that in or party. Rather than do the right, popular thing, they seem determined to do the wrong, unpopular thing. It's truly bizarre.

Part of the problem is our broken system, in which a 40-seat minority could stymie a 3/5th majority. But even then, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today if it wasn't for a small number of Democratic assholes, hellbent on destroying any chance of delivering the kind of reform the Democrats promised the American people in 2006 and 2008.

Aside from Joe Lieberman, who isn't even a Democrats, the worst Senate Democratic offenders have been Max Baucus, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and Blanche Lincoln. Of that lot, only one is up for reelection this year, thus we can focus all our anger, all our frustration, all our efforts on Lincoln.

These self-styled "centrists" operate at the bidding of their corporate masters, and are awash in their cash. That's who pulls the strings. And with their GOP puppets in the irrelevant minority, it was up to the Lincolns of the Democratic Party to carry their corporatist water. And they did. Eagerly.

You need someone to kill EFCA? Call Lincoln, eager to do Wal-Mart's bidding. You need someone to protect Big Oil from regulations that could limit greenhouses? Call Lincoln, who was happy to join Republicans like James Inofe to gut the EPA's ability to protect not just the environment, but the world. You need someone to carry water for the health insurance industry? Call Lincoln, who threatened several times to join filibusters of the public option, and has suddenly become distraught at the notion of using reconciliation to pass health care reform -- after she was one of just 12 Democrats to vote for the 2001 Bush tax cuts. Using reconciliation.

You want to send a message that we're done with hypocritical corporatist Democrats like Lincoln, and that we're going to now focus on taking them out in primaries? Let's take out Lincoln.

Not only is it smart on the ideological front, it's smart on the political side. Lincoln is doomed in November. No incumbent polling in the 30s this far out has much of a chance of survival, and Lincoln's approach of Republican-lite is doing little to improve her chances in this anti-incumbent atmosphere. Replacing a corrupt, entrenched DC insider with a populist outsider is our only chance to hold the seat.

I'll have more on Bill Halter later today, but as Arkansas Lt. Governor, he has already proven his ability to win statewide. Arkansas establishment Dems hate him, making him perfect for the race. Outsider populists have the upper hand in this political climate.

Halter knows how to win his state without selling his soul to either Wall Street or the Teabaggers. It's actually quite refreshing.

We won't be alone in this battle. We're about to see an unprecedented progressive alliance, with labor, the netroots, and key issue groups aligned against not just Lincoln, but against the entire corrupt Beltway system she now symbolizes.

If you're angry about the way the Democrats have screwed everything up this year, here's the best way to fight back -- help us get rid of Lincoln, and make her a warning to every other bad Democrats who would rather answer to Wall Street, than the people who elected them.

Howie P.S.: On Monday morning $34,650 had been contributed to Halter via ActBlue. This morning the number is $630,792. Sam Stein covers the story on HuffPo's front page. John Nichols also looks at the broader implications for Democrats in the Halter-Lincoln race.