Challenging Corporate Ownership of the U.S. Senate

Looking across the political landscape over the next four years, there is a decent chance that Corporate America's ownership of the U.S. Senate may suddenly be challenged. Currently, there are only a very few Senators willing to stand up for the middle class in the U.S. Senate. But three key races could soon create a serious bloc of economic populists in Congress's most exclusive club.

As I've written about before, there is a solid chance to get Vermont's Independent Congressman Bernie Sanders into the U.S. Senate in 2006. A populist champion, he doesn't take corporate PAC money, and has been a voice against Corporate America's abuse of workers all over this country.

In Pennsylvania we could see the election of Bob Casey (D) to the Senate. Granted, his position on abortion is controversial. But this guy comes out of a blue collar, working-class tradition forged in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He has long been a critic of "free" trade deals like NAFTA, and a proponent of seriously improving workers wages - and he doesn't seem afraid to give voice to middle-class economic issues, even when the Big Business hacks don't like it.

And in Ohio, there's a chance that Ohio Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) will challenge incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine (R). Brown is currently the leading Democrat against CAFTA, corralling opposition to the Bush corporate trade agenda. He has also been an outspoken leader against the price gouging ways of the pharmaceutical industry. He is just the guy to notch a statewide win in Ohio, a place Democrats haven't had a top-tier statewide win in a long time.

Now imagine it is January 2007. Add these three economic progressives with the likes of Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (D), Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy (D), North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), California Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D) and suddenly Democrats' weak-kneed corporatists have a serious challenge on their hands for control of the party's rhetorical direction. More importantly, ordinary Americans will have a solid voting bloc in the Senate who will stand up for their economic interests.

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