Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin should seize the opportunity and run next year for the Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Herb Kohl (D). If she were to win, the Wisconsin Democrat would be the first out senator in the country's history.
And while that certainly will be a milestone, Baldwin has other attributes that make her an extremely viable candidate in the 2012 race: she is progressive, she is effective, and she is committed.
While potential candidates are figuring out whether to jump into the race, former Senator Russ Feingold looms large for Democrats. Baldwin may be awaiting his decision, but timing is critical in politics. This week, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson reportedly told friends that he will run on the Republican side; this after conservative Representative Paul Ryan, who is trying to dismantle Medicare with his unpopular voucher plan, said this week that he would not run for the Senate seat.
During her seven terms in the House of Representatives, Baldwin has gained legislative experience and taken on numerous issues critical to the country. One of her main interests is health care �" in fact ensuring access to quality health care is the goal that brought her to Congress, she notes on her website. She supported the president's health care reform bill last year but has acknowledged that it is not perfect. She is working to improve it as it phases in over the next few years. Baldwin believes in offering Americans the choice of a public option.
In terms of LGBT legislation, Baldwin has fought hard for the inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. And she could really make a difference in close Senate votes. In 2009 when she was in San Francisco for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund's LGBT leadership conference, she told those attending a panel discussion that the Senate is often seen as an impediment to getting bills passed out of Congress because Senate rules require 60 votes to cut off debate. The LGBT community saw the Senate process up close last year during the lame duck session when the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" legislation was finally passed after several failed attempts. While one senator can't change the rules, we think Baldwin's election to that body would send a powerful message of change.
There's also the mood of state politics in Wisconsin to consider. Republican Governor Scott Walker's decision earlier this year to end collective bargaining rights for public employees struck a nerve in the Badger State and the fallout among voters is still up in the air.
Nationally, the Democrats have their work cut out for them. Kohl's retirement is the fifth so far among Democratic senators.
Wisconsin is a toss-up state in terms of the open Senate seat. While it would be a tough campaign, we think Baldwin is up to the challenge and could emerge victorious.
Oh, Arnold
We were surprised last week when former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, announced their separation after 25 years of marriage. But we were dumbstruck this week by Schwarzenegger's revelation that he fathered a child with a member of his household staff over a decade ago. While Schwarzenegger isn't your typical Republican hypocrite �" he didn't focus on social issues much and wasn't rabidly anti-gay while he was governor �" the idea that he could veto marriage equality legislation not once, but twice, during his seven years in office, all the while knowing his secret, is beyond the pale.
He should have been the last person to tell gays and lesbians who they could or could not marry and that legal recognition for their families didn't matter.
Of course, right before he left office, Schwarzenegger wanted to be known as the great equalizer because he refused to defend Proposition 8, California's same-sex marriage ban, in federal court during last year's trial. And while that decision is laudable, it doesn't erase the hurt he caused for thousands of same-sex couples when he vetoed legislation by out state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) in 2005 and 2007. Had he signed the bill, history could have been made along a different path.
As Michael B. Keegan, president of the American Way, wrote on the Huffington Post this week, "Schwarzenegger, despite his purported unwillingness to join the ranks of the fire breathing gay-bashing right, has placed himself with the likes of John Ensign and Newt Gingrich on the long and growing list of GOP officials who accused gay people of ruining the institution of marriage while they themselves flouted their wedding vows."
That's a wrap.