Rep. Raskin: Please give your friend an earful — not your endorsement
“A person who sees his friend taking the wrong path must tell him …
Whoever could have rebuked but fails to do so is considered responsible for the wrongdoing, because he passed up his opportunity [to say something].”
— Maimonides
Rep. Raskin,
Some of us are constituents in the 8th district who elected you to Congress last year, based on a three-term track record as a fiercely progressive state legislator. Some are grassroots progressive leaders from across the State of Maryland who look to you as a critically important moral leader during these challenging times. All of us are proud of the reputation you’ve already established on Capitol Hill over the last six months as a strong voice for our shared values.
We’re writing because late last week, state Senator Bobby Zirkin, your former colleague, announced that you will be headlining a fall fundraiser for his campaign for re-election to the Maryland legislature (http://bit.ly/2w3OB6J). This endorsement is clearly very meaningful to Senator Zirkin; at a recent speaking engagement with constituents at Chizuk Amuno Congregation, for example, he mentioned you by name at least half a dozen times.
We certainly don’t blame you for staying in touch with former colleagues or for maintaining friendships with people with whom you do not always agree. And we’re mindful — and grateful — that Sen. Zirkin co-sponsored and championed the successful campaign to ban fracking in Maryland this year. That said, Senator Zirkin should be hearing a private rebuke from his friend in Congress right now — and not a public endorsement.
Over and over again, as the chair of the powerful Judicial Proceedings Committee, Sen. Zirkin has actively undermined work for equity and justice throughout Maryland.
Just in the most recent legislative session:
• Sen. Zirkin led the fight against paid sick leave, and was one of just four Democrats who voted against the bill in the state senate. He also consistently put corporate interests ahead of workers' interests in his actions advancing amendments to water down the legislation.
• Sen. Zirkin, the largest Maryland recipient of 2016 campaign contributions from the bail bond industry, pushed a bill in Committee and again on the floor that would have restored cash bail, a system that disproportionately incarcerates black Marylanders before trial who are simply too poor to make bail. Sen. Zirkin kept advocating for the legislation even after the Attorney General described it as “dangerous,” after the entire Legislative Black Caucus voted to oppose it, and after the House of Delegates had dropped it entirely.
• And finally, Sen. Zirkin did not stand with our state’s immigrant and Muslim communities — who feel particularly targeted right now — in their interactions with Maryland law enforcement. The TRUST Act, which died in Sen. Zirkin’s committee, would have prevented local Maryland jails from honoring “detainers” — unconstitutional requests by federal immigration agents to keep people in jail without a warrant. It also would have included a provision to prohibit Maryland from implementing a Muslim registry.
On the final day of the legislative session, the Latino Caucus' chair Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk did not mince words: “Sen. Bobby Zirkin, shame on you! You played with us. You killed the bill. You amended it to another bill. You held it on the floor on [the last day of session]. You knew what you were doing. Shame on you!”
Rep. Raskin, we know these positions aren’t who you are. But your headlining this campaign event will surely give the impression that Sen. Zirkin, like you, has a strong track record of progressive leadership in Maryland, and is an ally to those who are working to resist the Trump agenda. And Sen. Zirkin seems eager to publicize that misimpression.
Sen. Zirkin must answer to all of us, and especially his own constituents, about why he did not stand as an ally to the Legislative Black Caucus, the Latino Caucus, or working families last session, and chose to focus instead on championing unpopular positions aligned with business interests. He must explain why his biggest concern, according to this fundraiser invitation, is that our discourse is “overly partisan,” rather than understanding, as you do, that the Trump administration’s attacks on basic freedoms transcend conventional politics and place our communities of color at particular peril.
Rep. Raskin, you’ve spoken powerfully since January about the mandate we have at this time to fight for our values, and to be crystal clear about who we are. Your public endorsement of Sen. Zirkin at this time obscures the clarity we need to move forward in Maryland.
Sen. Zirkin has some explaining to do to his constituents, and to all of us in Maryland, about the role he has decided to play in obstructing racial justice and worker protections.
If you continue to provide Sen. Zirkin with progressive “cover” he does not deserve, blunting the rebuke he needs to hear from all of us, then you will have some explaining to do, too.
