The world isn’t perfect. We can’t have a pure progressive in every Senate seat; they are simply unelectable in some states in 2022. Today I will again endorse a moderate Democrat that holds many extremely important progressive values. 100 is perfect; 97 (and the use of that number will become clear below) is very, very good.

Democrat Mark Kelly is the current junior senator from Arizona and is up for reelection this fall. His Republican opponent is a clear danger to both America and democracy. In purple Arizona he has a chance to win. This seat is one of the handful that will determine control of the next Senate. That alone is sufficient reason to vote for Kelly, but there is so much more.

Kelly has served America basically his entire adult life. He rose to the rank of Captain in the United States Navy and was also an astronaut. He is married to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. If you don’t know that name you haven’t been paying attention to American current events for the past decade or so.

Obviously, gun safety is a key, if not the key, issue for Kelly. Arizona is very much part of America’s gun culture. Kelly is one of the many who believes that a gun culture and gun safety are not mutually exclusive. You can rest assured that he will back any common sense gun regulation that comes before the upper chamber.

In many ways climate change should be an even larger issue west of the Mississippi than it is in the east. Kelly has a 97% rating from the League of Conservation Voters. That speaks volumes to me!
Kelly believes in representative democracy and the free and fair elections that go along with it.

Immigration is a real hot button issue in a border state like Arizona. This is an issue where Kelly is more of a left leaning moderate. He supports DACA, not building a wall but wants tighter border security. Even a progressive like me sees a lot of common ground with that position. Remember he is running in Arizona where an open borders policy (assuming one ever existed outside of right wing mythology) is a sure loser.

Kelly supports Obamacare. He departs from progressive doctrine a bit in that he does not favor free health care for refugees upon arrival. Again, not a pure progressive position but one we can work with and better than any Republican alternative we have heard in the decade since Obamacare came into being.

On the thorny issue of choice, I will just say that Kelly has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood, I think that is sufficient.

Considering all that along with the fact that Kelly has been a reliable Democratic vote on any “showdown” issues, tellthetruthonthem.com wholeheartedly endorses him for the United States Senate.

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