On Thursday, Matt noted that only two Bush Dogs, Dan Lipinski and Leonard Boswell, did the right thing and flipped to vote against blank check Iraq war funding:
Lipinski has a primary challenge, which explains his change of heart, and suggests that he is taking Mark Pera very seriously. Boswell is a more interesting case that I cannot explain at this point.
Former State Representative Ed Fallon, who lost a narrow three-way Democratic primary for governor in 2006, may be planning to challenge third district Democratic Congressman Leonard Boswell in 2008. Rumors of Fallon's possible challenge to Boswell have circulated for over a year, but Iowa Independent has uncovered new evidence which seems to confirm them.
According to the internet domain registry, on November 21, the domain names FallonForCongress.com, FallonForCongress.net, and FallonForCongress.org were registered to an organization called "Fallon for Congress." Although the domain names do not currently point to a campaign web site, the physical address listed for each of them in the internet domain registry matches Fallon's home address in the Sherman Hill neighborhood of Des Moines.
It is something of an open secret that Fallon, a former state legislator and a very strong progressive, is considering a run against Boswell. While Fallon narrowly lost the 2006 gubernatorial primary to Chet Culver, he actually pulled in the most votes the IA-03. Given that Boswell's neo-conservative voting record on Iraq and civil liberties could easily come back to haunt him in a lean Democratic district like IA-03, especially against a strong campaigner like Fallon, it is also an open secret that Boswell's first good vote on Iraq is a response to the threat that Fallon poses.
Given that the only two Bush Dogs to flip on Iraq are either facing a serious primary challenge, or facing the possibility of a serious primary challenge, I have to agree with kos. Primary challenges are just about the only power we have to change Democratic congressional behavior.
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