Throwing the Baby out With the Bathwater

I have never been so furious and disappointed by my congresswoman, who I've supported since she first took office in 2019.

Dem. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, PA-06 (A. Harnik)

A friend sent me a text with a link to Jessica Weingarten’s post, My Conversation with Chrissy Houlahan. She spoke with the US rep of my district, and why she defected and voted with 9 other Democrats to censure Rep. Al Green.

For context, I was heated the moment I found out she did that. H-E-A-T-E-D. (There’s a whole thread on my Bluesky timeline, and I did not hesitate to tag her.) I have never been so quick to pick up my phone and call my rep and leave an angry voicemail. Of course, it happened to be MY rep—the only rep in PA—that voted for censure against Rep. Green.

My friend said she was curious to know my take on the post referenced above. I began writing a response via text, and by the time I was done, it was a blog post. I chose to post my response here for her to read, rather than send a wall of text that has her begging for a TL;DR.¹

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I understand where Jessica is coming from, but I also am frustrated about another issue in which I disagreed with Chrissy on.

I suppose my frustration comes from the fact that it looks like the Dems don’t have all their shit together. 10 Dems defected to vote with Republicans. Even though it was the “right thing to do” because rules, but sometimes the right thing to do means breaking the rules.

Many people in the comments gave Chrissy a lot of grace. Maybe bc they know her personally or have had contact with her. I have not. I am still angry, and I feel betrayed.

One thing I did see was that people were calling for Chrissy to be primaried, and after reading Jessica’s post, I’m probably going to walk that opinion back. I didn’t really say to primary her, more along the lines of “I hope she doesn’t run again.”

But Jessica (who is friends with Chrissy) is right. Chrissy has done a LOT of good for Chester County, which is why I’ve supported her all these years, even when I was not involved in politics. I still feel betrayed by her vote (especially working to get her re-elected in 2024), but tbh, primarying Chrissy, if she wants to run again, leaves the door open for a Republican to take control. Re-electing Chrissy is much better than that.

My anger is subsiding. Overall, I feel betrayed. Betrayed that it wasn’t a symbolic vote in solidarity with her colleague, but also, it gave the Republicans a W. Not a significant one, but when 10 Dems vote with Republicans, we look fractured. We already seem to be a divided party. Chrissy’s vote (along with the 9 Dems) didn’t help that. Which is frustrating.

For example, Fetterman sides with Democrats on a lot of issues, but is it worth risking his seat to a Republican? I try to remind people our options were him and Oz. I would still take Fetterman any day because Oz would’ve been worse. And then add McCormick to the mix and suffering Pennsylvanians would have no one to speak for them.

It sucks. Fetterman is not my favorite. I am hurt by Chrissy’s recent vote. But I will choose both (who are my only options at this point) over any Republican that will push Trump’s agenda.

After reading a lot of the comments to the post, it helped me realize that we are better off with Chrissy than without her, despite my irate feelings.

Chrissy is a known quantity in Chester County. She has done a lot of things for this community, and it would be irresponsible of me to throw “the baby out with the bathwater.” (Unlike Fetterman, who I do want primaried. He’s a DINO²—with him or a Repub candidate, we’d be stuck with someone who supports Trumpism either way.)

Despite my feelings, keeping Chrissy in office is the best way to keep Elon and that Project 2025 nonsense from infecting our community. Chester County went blue in (what is now called a “purple state”) the last election. That was a huge win.

The fight for democracy is bigger than my feelings. I can only hope moving forward, Chrissy continues to fight alongside her colleagues for democracy, freedom (just like she did in the military), and equal opportunities for all.

1. Too long; didn’t read.

2. Democrat in name only.