The face of what's wrong with the Democratic Party.

(Update Below)

He's also made news in recent days in his criticism of Stephen Colbert for his comments at the Washington Press Correspondents Dinner. Kos has a good take on it here.

I also know from acquaintances here in Maryland that Steny was adamantly opposed to the election of Howard Dean to the chairmanship of the DNC. He was calling in all his chits with voting DNC members before the vote for the Chair. You see, Hoyer hates lefties or anyone who remotely looks like a lefty. They smell up the party.

Now, I don't consider myself some kind of far left ideologue although I do consider myself a good liberal, progressive and environmentalist. You can see my allegiances if you glance to the left of the site. I'm a Dean Democrat. Which to me is defined as socially progressive/fiscally responsible. Howard Dean governed Vermont according to those values. He ticked off some in Vermont's liberal community because he didn't want to raise taxes to finance some of their projects. And yet, no one would mistake this man for a Republican and if there is any over-riding trait to his character it is his integrity and compassion. I don't agree with Dean in everything hs says, but I agree with him enough to wish there were more in the Democratic Party like him.

Steny Hoyer represents everything wrong in the Party today. Congressmen (and women) who have carved out their own little niche and have no loyalty to the Party as a whole. I have read that he likes to run any legislation he writes or co-sponsors by his K Street lobbyist donors and benefactors to get their approval before submitting it to Congress. He is loyal to Steny Hoyer first, his donors second, the constituency he's nurtured throughout his political life last. He has aligned himself with pro-Bush war party and stabbed House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in the back over it.

The New Republic: "That was hardly a surprise. Even the Democrats at the microphones couldn't agree. Standing beside Pelosi was her deputy, the garrulous silver-haired Democratic whip, Steny Hoyer of Maryland. Only the week before, Pelosi and Hoyer had delivered starkly divergent responses to Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha's dramatic pre-Thanksgiving call for a rapid withdrawal from Iraq. Within days, Pelosi had endorsed Murtha's plan, while Hoyer released a statement warning of a national security "disaster" if U.S. troops exited too quickly. A just-published Washington Post story about how moderates like Hoyer were unhappy with Pelosi had everyone on edge. At a breakfast that very morning, Roll Call would later report, Hoyer had exchanged tense words with one of Pelosi's top confidantes, George Miller of California. Murtha, meanwhile, was making his irritation with Hoyer known to other members..."

In all likely hood, Hoyer will assume the second leadership position when the Democrats take back in Congress in 2006. He will assume power and a position of responsibility he has only dreamed about for years.

But he is up for re-election in 2008 and he is in for a surprise. A small army of Maryland progressives willing to hit the streets working for any decent progressive candidate who comes along to challenge him in the primary. The Lamont/Lieberman struggle is only the first act and I'm sure the Democratic powers-that-be won't be happy but they better get used to it.

We're taking back the Party, too.

Update: Visit and read David Sirota at mydd.com. Here's an excerpt...

"But then, we shouldn't be surprised by Hoyer's behavior. As I document in my new book Hostile Takeover, Hoyer has long led the charge to emasculate the Democratic Party. Whether on economic policy, on the war, on trade policy or on just generally selling out to Big Money interests, Hoyer has self-servingly gone out of his way to undermine his party. Put another way - if you are looking for one of the root causes of the Democratic Party's problems, look no further than Steny Hoyer..."