Jonathan Tasini for U.S. Senate in New York

Back in 2006, when Hillary Clinton was preparing to run for re-election as a U.S. Senator from New York, she was challenged in the Democratic Party primary by someone much more progressive than she: My old friend and colleague Jonathan Tasini. Jonathan lost, of course, but he stood on a principled platform of opposition to the Iraq war that Clinton had voted for, as well as a whole host of progressive positions Clinton has at best only pretended to uphold.

Yesterday, Jonathan announced (see video above) that he will again be running, this time for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010. He deserves your vote, if you live in New York, and at least your financial support if you don't. For more information on Jonathan, who he is, and where he stands on the issues, please see his Web site.

Afterthought. And if you think we don't need truly progressive Democrats in the Senate, just consider the pickle the Obama administration has gotten itself into with its flip-flops and cave-ins over the Guantanamo detainees. So now Obama wants the power to imprison alleged terrorists indefinitely without having to prove that they are indeed dangerous; and it wants to transfer detainees to other countries without giving them the proof they need that they are not dangerous. The way for Americans to clean up the mess left by the Bush administration is to admit that they were wrong, and being wrong means making certain sacrifices if the principles of law and justice are to be upheld. You can't have it both ways.

Update: I'm a fan of Gail Collins but her failure to even mention Tasini in an 18 June Times column about this Senate race is pretty poor form.