Progressive foreign policy and military issues need to be a key criteria for selecting the 8th congressional district representative for Virginia.
Others have proposed valuable domestic progressive criteria for selecting the best candidate for the 8th congressional district. We also need progressive criteria related to foreign policy and military affairs. Moran really stands apart from many of the other area congresspeople when it comes to these issues. We need someone like Moran. Not like Hoyer, Connolly or Van Hollen.
I have aggregated the performance statistics of DC area representatives from 3 progressive organizations,
Peace Action,
Council For A Livable World, and
the Arab American Institute.
These progressive organizations have worked for years to reduce military spending and promote human rights.
Moran and Edwards and Van Hollen are progressive on military/war/security issues. Hoyer, Connolly, and Wolf are hawks who support extravagant pentagon budgets, foreign wars, and our massive spying and surveillance infrastructure.
On Middle East, mass surveillance, and immigration issues, Moran and Edwards stand out. Hoyer, Connolly, Wolf and Van Hollen have performed poorly.
We need to ask questions of these candidates to determine whether they meet a progressive standard set by the likes of Moran and Edwards.
Council for a Livable World: Total Percentage Ranking
Representative Ranking Time Period
Rep. Edwards (MD) 95% 2008-2012
Rep. Van Hollen (MD) 92% 2003-2012
Rep. Hoyer (MD) 65% 2000-2012
Rep. Moran (VA) 78% 2000-2012
Rep. Wolf (VA) 16% 2000-2012
Rep. Connolly (VA) 67% 2011-2012
Many of these votes focus on military overspending and nuclear abolition.
Peace Action West: Total Percentage Ranking
Representative Ranking Time Period
Rep. Edwards (MD) 92% 2008-2012
Rep. Van Hollen (MD) 68% 2003-2012
Rep. Hoyer (MD) 46% 2000-2012
Rep. Moran (VA) 65% 2000-2012
Rep. Wolf (VA) 11% 2000-2012
Rep. Connolly (VA) 33% 2011-2012
Many of these votes focus on ending US warring, reducing military spending and nuclear weapons.
Arab American Institute: Total Percentage Ranking
Representative Ranking Time Period
Rep. Edwards (MD) 100% 2008-2012
Rep. Van Hollen (MD) 50% 2003-2012
Rep. Hoyer (MD) 31% 2001-2012
Rep. Moran (VA) 90% 2001-2012
Rep. Wolf (VA) 20% 2001-2012
Rep. Connolly (VA) 63% 2011-2012