The Most Important U.S. Senate Race in 2006

(July 5, 2005), The Huffington Post
By: David Sirota

A lot of people have asked me which races in 2006 are going to be most crucial. The disgusting Katherine Harris of Bush-Gore 2000 fame is running in Florida - should defeating her be progressives' biggest priority? Or what about taking out wild-eyed right-wing lunatic Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania?

Both of these races, and many others, are definitely important. But if you are a progressive who wants to start seeing some fundamental, long-term change (as opposed to short term incrementalism), there's one race in 2006 that stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of significance: The race to replace retiring Senator Jim Jeffords in Vermont.

Why do I say this? Because the leading candidate in that race is Vermont's Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders - the longest-serving Independent in Congress. This is not a man who is independent in the "between Democrats and Republicans" way - this is one of the most committed progressives ever to hold federal office, a man who is an independent because he has long believed the current political system is bought by Big Money. Electing him to the U.S. Senate transcends this election because it would elevate one of the strongest voices progressives to the national stage.

For far too long, the U.S. Senate has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporate America, taking orders from Big Business and conservative interest groups. Electing someone like Sanders to the Senate would finally give The Rest of Us a voice in an insitution we have been locked out of. That's why this is the most important election of 2006: because it goes beyond the short-term partisan makeup of Congress, and finally gives us a chance to power someone who fights for real people into the most exclusive, elitist-dominated, and important institutions in America.