Democratic Senate Candidates Put Main St. Ahead of Wall St.

I saw this article by Harlod Meyerson of the Washington Post on David Sirota's blog. Meyerson writes particulary about Bob Casey, who is running against Rick Santorum in Pennslyvania, but closes with this comment on fair trade and Democratic candidates for Senate this year...

And the liberal case for Casey is a strong one -- particularly on trade. A critic of both the North American and Central American free-trade agreements, Casey wants trade pacts that require signatory nations to enforce worker rights and environmental protections. A number of leading Democratic senatorial candidates this year -- Ohio's Sherrod Brown, Vermont's Bernie Sanders (an independent who's in effect a Democrat) and, yes, Connecticut's Ned Lamont -- share Casey's perspective on trade. Their victories would shift, perhaps decisively, the Senate Democratic caucus toward a trade policy in which Main Street is taken at least as seriously as Wall Street. It's a shift, if the Main Streets of central Pennsylvania are any indication, that would come not a moment too soon.

Sirota then adds to Meyerson article...

I would add to this list Montana Democratic Senate nominee Jon Tester, who has taken a strong line on trade. If all these folks win, they will join courageous populists like Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). That means we really could see a powerful bloc of Senate votes that could seriously change the direction of our economic policy for the better. Add to that the potential importance of trade in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries (especially with the union-heavy Nevada caucuses moved up), and we’re on the verge of finally seeing America’s sellout trade policy put on trial - and changed.