Olympia Snowe in the New York Times:
Regrettably, we failed to learn the lessons of Jim Jeffords’s defection in 2001. To the contrary, we overreached in interpreting the results of the presidential election of 2004 as a mandate for the party. This resulted in the disastrous elections of 2006 and 2008, which combined for a total loss of 51 Republicans in the House and 13 in the Senate — with a corresponding shift of the Congressional majority and the White House to the Democrats.
It was as though beginning with Senator Jeffords’s decision, Republicans turned a blind eye to the iceberg under the surface, failing to undertake the re-evaluation of our inclusiveness as a party that could have forestalled many of the losses we have suffered.
Shorter Olympia Snowe: the Republican Party has now boiled down to a hard crust of extremist freaks, and now that they’ve run Lincoln Chaffee and Arlen Specter out of the party, they’ll be coming after me.
Villagers always blamed liberals for "purging" moderate Joe Lieberman from the Democratic Party, but there’s a difference between going after someone with real power who was playing a critical role in the pursuit of a widely unpopular war and targeting people like Chaffee and Snowe. Lieberman was (and still is) wildly out of step with Democrats in Connecticut — Snowe is very much representative of her home state of Maine, and will easily win re-election. What wingnuts like Malkin are saying is that there’s no place for Maine in the GOP.
When liberals are upset at "moderates" in the Democratic Party, it’s usually because they’re using "moderate"’ as cover for being a crook and soaking up lobbyist money to back legislation that has no popular support. When wingnuts go after "moderates," it’s because they aren’t sufficiently like Michele Bachmann. Rep. Bachmann probably doesn’t play too well in Maine, but when the crazy takes over, any kind of expansive vision of political power goes out the door.
But here’s a thought. Olympia Snowe wakes up to Malkin’s sickos on her doorstep one too many times and decides she’s had enough (her piece in the Times certainly qualifies as a "mom’s on the roof" warning shot). After Franken is seated, that’s 61 votes in the Senate.
Liberals can add.
That changes the political landscape significantly, and as Bill Greider notes, it has interesting implications for Blanche Lincoln in the upcoming election.
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Thanks Jane. I hope we’re buying!
Me, too. Looks like a big snowball gathering size as it rolls down Mount Reagan. At some point in the MSM is going to have to take a new look at the people it chose to sleep with.
Hmmm. Dem tent. It be growin’?!
Good ting we be a kindly, welcoming lot.
Hallloooooooo disaffected Repubbles! Fresh coffee, tea, fresh-squeezed juice and hearty artisan bread over hheeeeerrrrrrre. Plenty of room. Form an orderly line please. Make nice to eachother and every living thing.
There ya go. ;->
More From Senator Snowe
Last night Rachel Maddow noticed that in a statement, Olympia Snowe referred to the republican party as “they.”
That could either be a Freudian slip or a subtle invitation to be wooed by the dems.
-uh- with sprinkles? no. sorry. i haven’t seen any. that’s o.k. sir. good luck with that over there on t’other side. no problem…
from the Greider link:
The road to genuine reform will be very difficult, as we always knew. It may also require a detour through fratricidal combat.
I’m good with that.
ouch! *g*
I think the republican party has already hard right of center. And that includes republican “moderates,” who had reservations about freakazoid republican interpretations of family values, etc. , but lined up like to vote like apparatchniks on everything else. What does it say about the democratic party that it accepts the Arlen Spectors?
Looking at people who have changed their affiliation can sometimes be informative. Looking at Selby he has become one of the most rabid on the right.
Makes my coffee & oatmeal seem pedestrian.
whatever it takes?
yeah, me too.
Precedent was set when it kept Joe Lieberman, aka Bush’s lap dog.
I liked this one:
a lot !
I think it great the the rethugs are shrinking to their appropriate size – teeny-tiny.
As a former Pennsylvanian, I’ll accept Arlen as long as he votes with us on healthcare. There is always hope for a change of mind on EFCA.
Hmmm. Dem tent. It be growin’?!
I might describe Specter’s addition as more of a swelling than it is growth. *g*
sounds yummy to me. big tent. welcoming arms. warmth. cooperation for the greater good. mmmmmmmmmm!
Jane, you say
Look, this really isn’t true, is it? Many of the “moderates” in the Democratic Party are attacked by liberals most basically because of their votes on issues liberals care a great deal about. I think we should be honest with ourselves about that fact — there’s nothing wrong with it.
The fact is, “moderates” like Snowe and Specter and Collins and Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman, etc., really have no natural home either with the right wing base of the Republican Party, or of the progressive base of the Democratic Party. There’s no reason to pretend Democrats are, or should be, the more inclusive party in that sense. Insofar as we are interested in progressive policies, we likewise must treat these so-called moderates with disdain, because they are so destructive to the policies we seek. The fact that they are also destructive to the policies the right wing seeks does not imply they are not destructive to our goals. They are, rightly, in an ideological no-man’s land.
Nor should it be surprising that they might be. Given the inherent and enormous chasm between the right wing and the progressive movement, that no man’s land is going to be vast in extent. There really is no coherent underlying political or even pragmatic ideology or philosophy that would justify the positions of these so-called moderates. Their positions can only be explained by the grossest sort of political calculation and compromise, finding a “middle” that makes no sense, that adds up to incoherence.
I certainly think that the progressive position is in general far closer to the center of what Americans really believe, as shown by polls, than that of the right wing. In that sense, progressivism is a more moderate position.
But that doesn’t mean we should extend open arms to those who call themselves “moderates”, in some phony embrace of an ideal of inclusiveness that actually damages us.
The combination of being in the party out of power, and being more severely out of power within that party must be creating plenty of pressure. On the other hand, she’d be a lot less “special” if she did jump, just another Democrat who ought to vote with the Dems, instead of a swing vote to be courted (and 60 members or no, with the Blue Dogs, getting 60 votes will still take some courting.) But because the GOP is so vicious toward non-conservatives, that might not carry much weight.
There’s a fundamental difference between GOP purges within their ranks and the way democrats improve theirs. Democratic activists have found better candidates that reflect the desires of the voters instead of representing the crony insiderism. Lieberdems are typically replaced with real democrats. The GOP just drives the movement heretics from their ranks with no thought about strengthening their electoral position.
Come to think of it, maybe it is essentially the same process and the difference is that Democrats support policies and positions that people want, whereas Republicans base their party on increasingly insane fringe activity.
shrinkage is repubble in origin?
i did not know that! i don’t know how they put up with…..it.
Maybe it’s years of illegal smile paranoia but I’m reeeeaal leery of party switchers, either way. If Specter were from FL I wouldn’t vote for him in 2010 and he’d have to show me a helluva lot to do so in 2016.
I think Harry Reid is an ass.
“mom’s on the roof”
* * guffaw! * *
Unfortunately, the GOP has become a party on that same roof; when someone jumps or falls off, they celebrate, ululate excitedly as they fire their weapons in the air and shout, “Yeehaw!! More beer for the rest of us!!”
Just remove the ladder and run like hell.
Bernie Sanders/Ed schultz sounded kind of dim on that prospect last night.
How tall is she? I gather the tallest ever snowperson was named after her. It was 10 feet taller than Angus, King of the Mountain, who previously held the record in behalf of a former Republican governor of Maine. But no info on her own height, alas.
Given that “bipartisanship” with the Republican Party is simply not possible, what’s happening here is a gradual expansion of bipartisanship within the Democratic Party. Maybe this is how the true independent party will form somewhere down the line, i.e., when more apolitical centrists have had enough and break off from the Big Two.
I think most people just want to be on the winning team. What did the poll say yesterday about how many citizens identify themselves as republicans? Low 20’s?
No one wants to feel like a loser. Well, okay, a few people do. People with weird hair do’s
At what point would the rethugs lose another seat on all of the committees?
The power of the Dino is diluting legislation, turn it into the oatmeal I’m eating now, and prevent it from becoming the Grand Slam.
One of the biggest differences between the situations of Sens. Snowe and Collins compared to Sen. Specter is that both Snowe and Collins (ala Lieberman and Sanders) have as a viable alternative an Independant Party alliliation. The political demographics between PA and Maine just aren’t the same.
What may be a more likely scenario would be those 2 senators denouncing the Republican affiliation and caucusing with the Dems.
Actually Lieberman was quite at home with the right wing base until maybe last Novemeber. Lieberman is an opportunist. He may say he doesn’t like torture now, but he sure as hell wasn’t saying that for the eight years of the Bush administration. So what is the natural home of a lying crooked political opportunist?
Oh, you have your thinking cap on this morning, again? Yes, I was wondering this am about how we did vote for change, but that it takes a long time. I’ve been wondering where all this power in diversity will take us and I think you’ve hit on something very important.
so he’s a swell?
is he trainable?
do we even have a haggis whisperer on staff yet?
what a dreadful oversight! What WERE we thinking?!
Michelle Bachmann, or as progressive talk radio hereabouts calls her, the gift that keeps on giving.
partially agree. i don’t think all the people who follow the lobbyist money are crooks. still, it’s frustrating not to have a voice in deecee that is commensurate with the level of popular support for important policy/programs and i do complain about that.
I’m not quite sure what this means:
When people like Evan Bayh use the cover of “moderate,” or the Blue Dogs or the New Dems, it’s usually to give themselves cover to vote for things like retroactive immunity for the telecoms, or warrentless wiretapping or draconian bankruptcy legislation or bad banking laws that don’t benefit their constituents but do benefit lobbyists. So yes I care, but that is what they’re doing. I’m not quite sure what issues you are specifically talking about.
perfectly on target, methinks.
wary. very wary.
Why would moderate rethugs want to hang with this bunch?
Up at Drudge :
“THE BAD: ANOTHER FLU VICTIM….THE GOOD: ONE LESS BROWN BABY IN THE WORLD!!
I would love to see billboards going up on the hiways entering her district warning motorists that they are entering her district and the idiots that elected her.
So what is the natural home of a lying crooked political opportunist?
the California Republican congressional delegation?
Is Jane Harman considered a “moderate” too?
On your Lieberman references:
I don’t like Joe Lieberman any more than you do, but it’s worth noting a few things I learned from my mother, who is a Connecticut voter.
1) Lieberman is not exactly out of step with the voters of Conn, given that he was able to win re-election as an Independent even though he lost the Dem primary
2) One of the reasons that Lieberman won was that he retained support in some key Dem constituencies, notably organized labor. My Mom, a public school teacher and union member for many years, is one of many union members who think loyalty is a two-way street, and that Lieberman deserved some credit for his long career as a friend of labor
3) Ned Lamont, although rock solid on war issues, was a weak candidate in many ways. A millionaire rich kid, with very little in the way of electoral politic credentials, he was trying to buy the election as a single issue candidate. My Mom, also rock solid on war issues, has never been attracted to single issue candidates of an kind.
please don’t. let that stuff stay at drudge. we all know what he is. he needn’t sully this thread. imho. ymmv
Please tell us you made this up!!
Is that for real? Don’t want to look and give him another hit. Did you Digg it so others can see that stupidity?
We need better dems in addition to more dems. Specter–though allowing some vital legislation to have a fighting chance of passing–will nudge the party further to the philisophical right, which is a bad, bad thing.
LOL! Duncan Hunter welcomes those for sale.
I agree with this 100%. My sentiments exactly!
That was also when Israel was bombing the shit out of Lebanon, and Lamont didn’t say a word about it. Which made me think he’s not really one of us DFHs after all.
Here’s my view from yesterday:
Lieberman lied his ass off. And people believed them. Being from the state of steady habits myself, I know the mentality there. I talked to mucho people on their decisions. Today, CT voters feel a little differently about Lieberman.
3/you’re all wrong on Lamont. He had a very wide platform. If your mother had bothered to ask questions, she would have found Lamont was much stronger on education than everychildleft behind-plus vouchers Lieberman. In fact Lamont’s number one issue I’d say was education, besides the war. But that didn’t get a whole lot of attention did it? And I know many teachers who did vote for Lamont because of his positions on education.
Lamont’s position on Israel/Palestine was not the same as Lieberman’s. Trust me.
Yes I did. But after listening to the press conference about how this was a child from Mexico visiting Brownsville TX. I immediatley pictured that “headline” over at sludge…just a little levity to go w/ the coffee!
OT
Hey Jane, the campaign for Marcy has entered its second week. How do you feel that it is going?
Lieberman won the Republican vote, with help from the Republican Party, as a so-called independent.
I think you’re forgetting the Republican establishment wasn’t happy with the Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger in CT (in fact, only 9.6% of CT voters were happy with Schlesinger).
And the White House desperately needed to continue to co-opt the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, in order to avoid investigations from the Senate-counterpart to then Rep. Waxman’s House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform. Hence the phone call between Lieberman and Karl Rove shortly after the results of the Democratic primary, to horse-trade support over Schlesinger in exchange for Lieberman’s continued uselessness as chair of the committee in question.
We’ve not forgotten much at all.
I think that water is wet
Errr….NO Diggs here please!!
I thought we were taking down the Digg at the top of these posts??
Interesting gravitational pull on the thread today. So many people desperately trying to pigeonhole pols and afix with labels.
Might we at least consider the possibility that over a broad spectrum of issues, each congresscritter is an individual first and foremost? (excepting those who are total drones and merely follow blindly behind a herd)
Of course there is a tendency to see them joinup/clump but, if they are following their inner muse honestly, each might tend to align him/herself differently, separately considering each issue, as well as weighing the relative importance of the lot of them.
Such thots here at our house are why we are reluctant to label with superglue and not likely to fly instantaneously into a screaming rage at the slightest hint of changing opinions as governance wends its way by our noses.
ymmv
I don’t want the dem tent to be so big that we let in republicans. She may be a moderate repub, but she’s a repub nonetheless. All we’re doing is allowing them to shed the republican label to get reelected. But they’re still repubs. Spector pissed me off yesterday with his ‘no I’m not changing my vote on EFCA”. He’s a republican and he’s going to vote that way. We just threw him a life jacket so he can stay in the senate.
If he votes for closure, that’s a plus….if he doesn’t then we wasted an opportunity to get a real dem elected.
Well also, Lieberman was good at saying one thing to constiutents: “I’m going to lead the filibuster against Alito,” ” There’s noone who wants to end the war more than me,” etc. And saying another thing entirely when he voted or tucked Bush in at night . I once told a woman that Lieberman talked about extending the war to Iran. It was taped by a blogger. That person didn’t believe me.She said it was campaign propaganda.
People can be gullible and it’s sad.
There is a dog!
Jane,
I think that even some of the examples you raise of issues liberals have with “moderates” like Evan Bayh, of granting immunity to the telecoms, and warrantless wiretapping, go well beyond being issues related to currying favor with lobbyists, or corruption. They are, rightly, ideological issues, issues both liberals and the right wing care about greatly, but on which they profoundly differ.
I think it is right that liberals in the Party treat Evan Bayh with disdain, because of his positions on these issues. I think that if we are to get the sort of policies we seek, we pretty much are obliged to so treat him.
At the same time, I can also understand why Evan Bayh would likewise be a pariah in the Republican Party because of his occasional “liberal” positions. He has, again, no home in the base of either party. This is as it should be.
At base, we are all, right wing and liberals, engaged in an irreducible ideological conflict. The point is for us to win that conflict, not to pretend to a neutrality we don’t really possess, nor should we desire.
BTW, Frum has an interesting post at HuffPo. By the title I thought it was going to be another ‘everythings good for repubs’ rant a’la Krystol. Not at all. He’s pissed.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..92534.html
Didn’t recommend a digg here. You may want to re-read my comment.
It probably takes money to re-work the sites here and take down the digg icons at this site.
I respectfully disagree. I think when you make common cause with people you may sway some. Over time, when they are caucusing with you, rather than with extremists of the other side, they may be powerfully swayed. Indeed, they may feel much freer to voice things they had long felt they needed to suppress.
Naturally we need two healthy parties. But I have a lot of respect for Snowe. Don’t know her personally, but I respect her. I’d love to see her join us!
The Republic Party operates in a way that the Taliban would admire. There is no room for anyone but true-believers.
Missed that. What’s that about?
Speaking of which, I’d be glad to just trade out Evan Bayh for Specter.
Bayh is spearheading some new Iran Boogie Man War Mongering bill.
No more war Evy Pooh. Unless you lead the charge on the battle field.
-G
I wonder where they’re stashing the opium?
sorry. no. levity. none.
This is the solution to rid ourselves of mongers of war. Have long believed it to be so.
George “Hannibal” Bush, riding into Baghdad on his elephant. Booyah!
Happened while you were in Peoria. It seems that some of Marcy’s posts on torture we snagged, rerouted, something. So, Jane asked us not to use digg.
Now, regarding #60, I’m not really fond of being misunderstood here. But, I can live with it. I really disapprove of being misquoted, however.
he who fears horses? hahahahahahaha
So no DIGG for . . . ever?
RE DIGGing Drudge, I got it, fwiw.
I’m with you 100%. Would it be funny if I wrote: Breaking: FDL commenter sued for libel? /S
time to move upstairs?
a hint of fresh air from Marcy ;->
Maybe, but just today (in the Bangor Daily News)
Snowe is much more reasonable. I’ll be greatly tickled if she switches so Susie can’t be her BFF anymore (OMG!).
;->
It’s worth a lot. I admire you. And, I like you.
Jane,
like, the Repubs with Jeffords, I’ve yet to see any sign Dems have grok’d the Al Wynn lesson – quite the opposite. so I am all for taking down a Lincoln (among others). we will of course be angrily accused of being the librul Club for Growth, but I am with you and Greider -
that’s not possible, is it?! egad! *sits down with a graceful thud*
(((demi)))
interesting. I did not know Mainers had that option. gonna spend a few googling to see how many other states have the same ‘out’.
Fad.
No Collins. Can’t stand her. Dems can get along without her.
Well, we can certainly hope for it :-)
ah gee whiskerlikins. u guya ain’t gonna hug now right here in public, are ya?! *g*
move along folks… nothing to see here…
I don’t know the details, but in the last 30 yrs Maine has had two independent governors. I assume it’d work for a Senator also. Aside from the legal bit, it’s also obviously much cheaper to run here, since the population is so small.
I know what you mean. But her one vote could make a big difference. From what she said, doesn’t sound like it will happen tho.
New England is a separate country, albeit a nice one. ;->
Her warm tush on the D side of the aisle could change committee assignments?
Yeah, some people think that Maine is part of Canada (honestly!).
welllll…. ;->
and then there’s TX. oy
That would depend on the deal she made with the D leadership, I believe. But it’s all speculation at this point.
Come to think of it, she is high up in two major committees. Maybe that’s one reason why she doesn’t want to switch. Nothing Susie loves more than being important.
Yes, but that really IS a separate country, no?
heh. an all-too-common condition in congresscritterland.
cbl2,
I could be very wrong. Maine may not, was only giving my opinion. I do know that Specter did not have that option.
If I am wrong, I’ll most certainly apologize.
I visited Vermont with a friend of mine (not a u.s. citizen). He thought VT was more Canada than US and that we in the U.S. should give VT to Canada. I protested vehemently.
i’d never be quick to criticize TX. They’re in recovery, poor things.
Oh, I personally didn’t see Lamont as a single issue candidate and was cheering for him from the sidelines (I am not a Conn. voter). I engaged my Mom in long discussions of the campaign because I was trying to convince her to support Lamont.
And, to some degree, she is also one of those Conn voters who feels some regret about the outcome now. She was appalled at Lieberman’s role in support of the McCain campaign. Her good will for Lieberman was almost entirley wiped out by that disgusting spectacle.
Amen to that.
The problem with Specter, Lieberman, and the others of their ilk is that they are turncoats and opportunists. They aren’t to be trusted in a pinch. They lack any real base outside the Congressional oldboys club and their own circle of patrons and longstanding lobbyists. As a result, they can’t really contribute to a Democratic majority. They can just dilute it and obstruct it.
I’d call the Specters, Liebermans, and and maybe even the Snows the “plausible Right” rather than “moderate”. They only seem moderate in comparison with a cartoonishly hardline Republican party that is no longer remotely believable in a governing role. The plausible Right could fulfill the need for an opposition, if not for a fully loyal one. But as members of the Democratic party, they are a problem rather than a solution.
Instead of welcoming these types into the Democratic party and swelling our own Blue Dog right, it seems to me we’d be better off marginalizing them, so that true-Blue candidates face a fragmented opposition that shares a common corporatist agenda but can’t keep away from the fratricidal squabbling.
At some point, perhaps the Blue Dogs will bolt and we will have a new corporatist party stripped of its wingnuts. Good riddance. But in the interim, we should be taking advantage of the disarray, not minimizing the damage that the last election and economic collapse have done to the moneyed interests.
We need to remember that the flat-earth, evolution-denier wingnuts were never the real threat to American freedom and prosperity. The threat comes from well-funded oligarchs that are already well-established in our own party, if EFCA and the bank bailouts are any indication. The oligarchs couldn’t care less about abortion, guns, or the gold standard. They care about power. They shot themselves in the foot with Bush. We shouldn’t be bandaging the wound for them.
Thanks for your quick defense of a lovely, indispensable state.
This is a great country, if we’d just get along and help others do the same.
Respect is a good thing. Arrogance, not so much.
Keep working at it, Puppies. You’re making positive vibes in the sphere.
I love VT. It’s green. And people not from this country tend to note things like the lack of billboards on the highway. And they like VT for that.
BTW. This same friend of mine decided Hawaii was more Asia than U.S.
Best get cracking. That book won’t write itself, Hoss.
Late to the party, but here’s something no one’s mentioned yet: Getting Olympia Snowe to switch parties would get us twice as many Senate votes as getting Specter did, for the simple reason that Susan Collins would immediately jump ship, too. They’re like the Senate version of Scalia and Thomas.
You’re mom was fooled. And she should be angry. She’s not alone in thinking that Liarman “deserved loyalty.” Many dems thought that. Some unions thought that, but still wanted to “kick his ass.”
I’m surprised your mom as a public school teacher wasn’t angry at the vouchers and children left behind act. Most teachers I know got behind Lamont partly because of that. Parents too. AFT, CEA endorsed Lamont
Crap 107 is a response 107 Adie. Sorry.
I mean Adie @ *106*.
“Crap 107″ should assume a larger meaning, don’t u think? just as EPU did. heh heh. I hadn’t even noticed the number, and took it as a response anyway. Good vibes multiply. ;->
Stop! Yer killin’ me!!!! You’ve apparently caught the buggy I had yestidie. I couldn’t type to save myself. hee hee.
Good on ya (((Mui1)))
She is truly a one woman wrecking crew.
Her picture should be next to “Batshit Crazy” in the dictionary.
Maybe she was fooled. I prefer to think she made a reasonable and principled decision based on the circumstances at the time. It is certain she wouldn’t have voted for Lieberman if he had announced that he intended to work for the defeat of the Dem party in the 2008 presidential election.
And “No Child Left Behind” is an issue on which reasonable people can disagree. I think it is fair to say that it was welcomed by millions of teachers at first, and that many of its tenets remain sound, even though the implementation seems to have been botched.
Jane’s got a new post up
On My Way to Tonight’s Virginia Governor’s Debate
Kassandra predicts that with the (well-deserved) death of the Republican party, the Blue Dawgs will break away and form a party of their own. Kassandra certainly hopes so because then, they won’t be able to hide under the Democratic camouflage tent any longer.
Thanks for the post Jane.
Anybody hip to this yet?
Conyers, Nadler Formally Request DOJ Appoint Torture Special Prosecutor
Sorry, I cant stick around. I’ve got a cat in the hospital and I must go withdraw the children’s college ;-) fund to pay for it…if the damn vet ever gives him back to me…beginning to wonder.
Reasonable. Strange. You might be the first person out of who knows how many I’ve talked to who doesn’t think it’s a complete disastor. Oh but it’s okay for those prep school kids to get a real education.
You know I hear far too much first hand of things like principals ordering teachers to do f*cked up things with scores.
.
I’m thinking of starting a “Used Republican” franchise. Pre-owned sounds better, I guess. The available inventory is huge. Demand is iffy, though. I may have to offer No Interest deals. For all those non-Republicans who have no interest in anything Republican.
.
Of course I agree that “No Child” needs a major overhaul. My wife and I were part of a group of parents in our own district pushing back at the over emphasis on testing.
But reasonable standards of accountability for administrators and teachers are worthwhile goals. As for private/parochial schools, let the parents pay the bills themselves and keep their hands off the public schools.
A jail cell?
Funny ..upthread..is Jane Harmon considered a moderate too?
What is the need of being thrilled for repub. turn dem. when these repubs. voted with bush on all his important legislation?
When dems. like Jon Tester and the Nelson always vote for corporate interests and against OUR interests? I am more interested in the votes than the party.
Replace Rahm Emmanuel with Howard Dean …and primary DLC ers for change we can believe in.
Olympia Snowe is very much like former Maine republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith (though Suzie-Q Collins wants so badly to be Margaret!). Here’s what MCS said years ago about the republican party:
Which is what she was seeing of her republican party members….they were using fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear to win at all costs. She disliked it very much.
We also have to remember that both Collins & Snowe voted nearly 80% of the time in favor of George Bush’s policies and Collins voted nearly 88% in favor of his ECONOMIC policies.
I will not back either one of these women if they switch to the Democratic Party. Mark my words!