In his column “Perez working her way into role” (The Columbian, July 8), Greg Jayne implicitly describes 3rd Congressional District Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s reelection strategy as “be a Blue Dog Democrat (literally), damn the progressive torpedoes.” But is that wise?
It was wise when she was elected in a district that had long been the preserve of her “middle-of-the-road” Republican predecessor Jaime Herrera Beutler. It was aimed at the equally moderate GOP voters that were no longer able to vote for their favorite and could not stomach the Trumpite alternative. Normally those would have sat on their hands at election time, but Perez convinced enough of them to turn out and vote for her to make the difference. She could safely ignore her progressive Democrat voters, as those were unlikely to sit on their hands, let alone vote for bogeyman Joe Kent.
But these were exceptional circumstances. Normally the district leans Republican. This engenders a reckless attitude among progressives who usually vote for a like-minded candidate, in the expectation that their candidate will lose. Perez’s stance in Congress only hardens that attitude, as progressives really don’t like being taken for granted. So I think Perez better patrol her progressive fences also, and throw them a bone once in a while.
