Illinois State Senator Barack Obama looks like a lock to win the open Senate seat in Illinois and Cynthia McKinney of 9/11 fame has a good chance of regaining her old seat in Georgia's 4th Congressional District.
Adding these two progessives to the Democrats ranks in DC will make a difference in holding John Kerry accountable to promises he has made regarding health care and taxes.
In what will be a closely divided Senate, Obama will instantly be one of the most recognizable Democratic faces and together with Russ Feingold and a few others (Boxer, Byrd, ???) hopefully form a bloc to keep Kerry and Daschle honest.
It's hard for me to imagine a world without Bush as president, but we have to be ready to hold Kerry accountable in ways we weren't able to with Clinton.
Electing Democrats who aren't scared to fight is the first step.
Aaron Sarver is an independent audio producer and writer based in Chicago. His work has appeared in In These Times, The Chicago Reader, Alternet.org, and on Free Speech Radio News. For nearly three years he produced and co-hosted the radio program, Fire on the Prairie, which featured interviews with progressive writers and activists, and is archived at fireontheprairie.com.
