A few weeks ago, I was at an informal gathering of highly involved grassroots activists from around the country in Washington, D.C. There was some discussion about how Democratic Leaders were supporting Bob Casey, a pro-life moderate Democrat over Barbara Hafer, a defector from the Republican party, and whether this was a good thing or not. We don’t want ideological purity issues to prevent us from choosing a candidate that can defeat the incumbent, especially when the incumbent is someone like Rick Santorum. However, Chuck Pennachio was not mentioned in the discussion.

In other discussions, there talks about primary challenges to Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. In all of these discussions, people wondered about the value of primary challenges.

Yesterday, I met with Senator Lieberman, and I we talked about possible primary challenges that he might face. He said that he was looking forward to the challenge, although others have questioned if a challenge to Senator Lieberman is a good thing for Democrats.

Last July, Gov. Dean came to our house to do a fundraiser for Kim. The Greenwich Post, wrote an editorial in their issue covering the fundraiser entitled, “Get Involved”. They wrote, “Dr. Dean, the former presidential candidate and governor of Vermont, delivered a simple message… get involved.”

They went on to say, “Regardless of where you stand on the political divide, competition can never be a bad thing. Giving the voters a choice not only encourages more voter participation, it allows for polticians to be held accountable.”

Their final paragraph commented, “If local Republicans do truly feel that their representatives do not represent them, then start a primary campaign.” I haven’t decide who I will support in many of the races that we are facing for 2006, but personally, I am very glad to see that there are some great primary races shaping up, and I hope that if you really believe in democracy, you will get involved in the primary races and help people get the best possible candidates.

Hopefully, the primaries can show a strong side of democracy, moving away from negative campaigns that can be used by the opponents in the general election. Instead, they can be an opportunity to have well thought out discussions about the important issues. I hope that we will have a lot of great primaries and that we will see positive respectful campaigns from all the primary candidates.