BREAKING: (and LOL) ... Jeff Van Drew (DINO-NJ2) is going to switch parties.

[scheming daemons]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/us/politics/jeff-van-drew-democrat-republican.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes


He just got back this DEADLY poll, that shows he will lose in the Dem Primary if he votes against Impeachment:

Link to tweet

So the only way he can survive is to switch parties. Even then, he will probably lose the GOP primary.

[nilram]

1. Paycheck above principles

[UniteFightBack]

2. OR he could do the right thing. Yeah it's best he switch parties since doing the wrong thing

belongs to the Russiapublicans.

[bluedigger]

3. He should probably take advantage of that great Congressional health plan.

You know, while he can.

[StarfishSaver]

4. Bye, Felicia. Please do it before the impeachment vote

[Dennis Donovan]

5. President John F Kennedy's Profiles in Courage.

Jeff Van Coward can relegate himself to the dustbin of cowardly history.

I'm no peach in life, but at least I'm fighting for our Republic. Van Coward will go to his grave as a Quisling.

His future Grandkids will be ashamed.

[pintobean]

6. What if he's just the first?

I find it strange, seeing DU advocate and celebrate the losses of Democrats in congress.

Maybe he could just spend a night in the box to get his mind right.

[scheming daemons]

13. He already voted against impeachment inquiry last month.

He was a Republican in every thing but name already.


He is the first, and only.

[pintobean]

19. He is representing his district.

He flipped the seat, and you're encouraging him to flip it back.

[scheming daemons]

21. He is going to lose in the Primary as a Dem, or lose in the general as a Republican

His district is *FOR* impeachment.

He's in a box. His vote against impeachment DOOMS him in the district.

[scheming daemons]

22. This is who Van Drew is:

- 100% NRA rated
- Is against same sex marriage
- Is against minimum wage increases


Him switching parties doesn't hurt Dems. He will lose to a REAL Dem in November.


He was already a Republican in everything but title.

[Evolve Dammit]

37. He's not a Dem anyhow. What an imposter

[cstanleytech]

97. Its not much of a flip if he is willing to add aiding and abetting to his resume by supporting

and even embracing Trump despite the overwhelming evidence of his guilt.

[scheming daemons]

16. Look at the poll in the OP that was taken in his district

Democrats would've primaried him out of office because of his impeachment vote.


Now the Democrats will beat him in the general election instead.


His district WANTS impeachment.

[Polybius]

20. Let's hope Manchin in the Senate doesn't switch

That would be much more troublesome.

[pintobean]

26. I've even seen that advocated.

[Blue_true]

70. Manchin is a true conservative democrat. He is ok with most of our platform.

Van Drew seems to be a simple opportunist.

[Dennis Donovan]

88. "simple" being the operative word...

[cstanleytech]

99. Not really as even with him in the Senate there is almost no way to get the needed votes to

remove Trump but then again I do not think the Democratic leadership is trying to remove him.
Don't get me wrong, I think they would convict him if they had the votes rather I think they are going to try to use this to take out a few Republican Senators for embracing a President that clearly got caught committing a crime and as a strategy to retake the Senate it has a very good chance at working.
In fact I suspect we will see even new impeachment charges pass the House and go the Senate atleast 2 more times for other crimes he has committed as Pelosi and the Democratic leadership rubs the Republican Senators noses in it.

[JonLP24]

62. It is not DU's problem

It is the party switcher's problem.

[Blue_true]

68. If others follow his lead, we work to defeat them, simple as that. nt

[pecosbob]

7. So he's going to run as a Republican in a district that leans D?

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[onenote]

8. The district doesn't "lean D".

For 23 years prior to Drew's victory, it was represented by a Republican. And Trump won it in 2016. It's quite likely that we can kiss that seat goodbye. Which some of the posters seem to be celebrating for some reason.

[LonePirate]

10. It's not a Lean R district, either. It's a toss-up district which will likely vote D in Nov. 2020.

[onenote]

12. It was a likely D district in 2020 because it had a D incumbent.

It won't be a likely D district anymore.

[pecosbob]

14. I had read that he won by eight percentage points and assumed the district leaned D...apologies.

I also noted that there was only one red seat in all of NJ and assumed the entire state leans D.

[octoberlib]

25. The Repub Van Drew was running against made racist comments and the GOP pulled their support.

That might have made it an easier win.

[MarcA]

31. Very good point. n/t

[Blue_true]

71. It is a swing district. That means that we can defeat Van Drew in 2020.

South Jersey used to be good land for republicans, but that is changing rapidly. We can't win there with a leftist, but we certainly can with a middle of the road true democrat.

[Dennis Donovan]

89. We don't need him or the seat. If we bow to "politics" in this, then we're NO better than the Repigs

This impeachment is about the US Constitution, not individual congressional seats.

[crickets]

9. Good riddance.

“I don’t see anything there worthy of actually taking a president out of office,” he said earlier in the week.

[octoberlib]

11. The NYT article says he represents a pro-Trump district, so,

why would they want to see Trump impeached? Something doesn't make sense. Kevin McCarthy said last month a Democrat was talking about switching parties over impeachment. Must have been this guy.

[spooky3]

79. The poll was of Dem primary voters rather than all voters. Nt

[stopdiggin]

15. so we're CELEBRATING a lost seat here on DU? (nt)

[scheming daemons]

17. We're not losing a seat

He was going to lose the Dem primary (see the poll in the OP).


Now we get to run against him in the general. His district has moved from red to blue. He's in a box. He will lose in November, so it will be an R seat for less than a year.

[stopdiggin]

27. thanks

that's a better explanation. And I hope there's some kind of happy ending here. But it's going to take some qualifiers for this story to reach that level. (disclosure: I don't live close to this action ...)

[MarcA]

30. Thank you for you explanation on this. n/t

[Blima]

85. The media is overhyping this

I hope they're this excited when we get the seat back next year.

[scheming daemons]

18. He's about to get redistricted out of existence, too.

Link to tweet

[Eliot Rosewater]

57. I give up trying to educate people about what is important here, as in seats and control

NOT understanding this will be our end and I dont just mean political power, MUCH MORE AT STAKE in case some havent noticed

[empedocles]

78. We do have some here - aspirations count more than elections

Some here actually believe some blue wave won those 31 red seats

[Dennis Donovan]

90. Thanks Eliot!

I just don't know what we would do without your leadership here!

[Eliot Rosewater]

91. I am tired of doing it, YOU explain to people what the difference is between

control of the House or Senate and NOT control.

Please, I am curious what you think the difference is?

[Dennis Donovan]

92. I'm sure you are!

[Eliot Rosewater]

94. You dont want to explain why no MATTER who sits in a seat, if we have the seat

that is EVERYTHING?

Go ahead, explain why that is true, so I dont have to.

[Karadeniz]

23. I guess I can't read. Poll looks to me like impeachment had more support.

[dem4decades]

24. Justin Amash leaves the Republican party and becomes an independent but

This guy is going to become a Republican? Jerk.

[OnDoutside]

28. If only there was a theme tune for this

[DesertRat]

40. Lol, perfect!

[IronLionZion]

29. Grab the torches and pitchforks

And elect a real Dem to defeat this guy in the general election

[BlueJac]

32. Go away loser...

Who needs the likes of you?

[scheming daemons]

34. I hope that was directed at Van Drew... and not me?

[CanonRay]

33. Throw him out on his skinny white ass

[NurseJackie]

36. Remember that segment called "Worst Person in the World"...

... on the "Countdown" show (Keith Olberman). If that show was still on the air, I'll bet this would have been included.

[DesertRat]

39. Yes, I remember that

And I agree, this guy would have earned a spot on that segment!

[jalan48]

38. Moderate Democrat? Seriously? He's a right wing Democrat if he's thinking of becoming a Republican

in today's world.

[Bradical79]

41. Well... bye

[CatWoman]

96. .....

[dchill]

42. Danger! Danger! Ethical compass fault!

Pull over NOW!

[sandensea]

43. His constituents SUPPORT impeachment 70/22, and he pulls this? The man's an idiot

This is someone who even voted against raising the minimum wage - the sole Democrat to do so at the time.

Good riddance.

[octoberlib]

44. Historian Kevin Kruse always has interesting takes

Link to tweet

Jeff Van Drew represents NJ-2, the same district in southern New Jersey that noted Nixon loyalist Charlie Sandman held during Watergate.

Van Drew might want to remember that standing loyally by the president didn't pan out for his predecessor. At all.

[UniteFightBack]

52. Thanks for posting. nt

[Turbineguy]

45. The Russians pay better

[dewsgirl]

54. Ding Ding ding..we have a winner!

[Drunken Irishman]

46. Nothing to celebrate only because the optics are bad.

But yes, good riddance.

[George II]

47. He's been voting with the republicans all year anyway, who needs him?

[Amimnoch]

48. Not my rep, and hadn't looked at him before today, but some facts:

Appears to be a slightly left leaning moderate:
https://www.ontheissues.org/NJ/Jeff_Van_Drew.htm

Votesmart justfacts:
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/political-courage-test/24685/jeff-van-drew/

Strong pro-choice- good
Supports medical, but not recreational marijuana - meh
Pro Green energy - good
Supports gun control - good
Wants to repeal the ACA (Obamacare), has not proposed alternative - shithead.
Wishy-washy bullshit position of “let them apply for citizenship” on immigration - ignorant/bullshit.
Anti-privatization of SS/medicare - good

This does appear to be a red district from 1995 until 2018 when he flipped the 2nd district to Democrat.

Looking at ballotpedia is there even someone who is primarying him in district 2?,
https://ballotpedia.org/New_Jersey%27s_2nd_Congressional_District_election,_2020

As of now, it doesn’t appear that he’s declared for 2020 yet at all, no Democratic Party member challengers, and 3 Republicans running in their primary already.

As near as I can see, just from trying to put together facts, I see no indication that this is a district that would be open to a full progressive or liberal representative. Would rather keep a seat that at least on a number of our issues will vote on legislation with us than someone that almost definitely will never vote with us. I also hate seeing the house number shift and get another Ryan/Boner/Gingrich type.

From what I read up thread, this isn’t even a guy that’s good with my “pony” issue of GLBT equality/rights, but losing seats and possibly losing the speakership sure as hell won’t be good for my “pony” either.

[shanti]

49. Do the Dems not vet their nominees??

WTF? Same with Manchin. How do these DINOs get in?

[padah513]

50. Van Drew has always been a DINO. He always checks to see which way the political wind is blowing.

He's in my district and I and everybody I know will vote against him. My only regret is that I can't vote against the bastard twice. He's in LoBiondi's (R) old seat and we put him there. If he makes it out of the primary, we will put him out.

[bottomofthehill]

58. They win the primary

A majority of the voters vote for them. There is no vetting.... the primary is the vetting. This seat will be difficult to win back. The republicans did not have a candidate that they were supporting and he was not going to loose the democratic primary as no one was running against him and the primary is 6 months away. The filing deadline is March but no one has pulled papers. There were 3/4 weak republicans. Now they have a relatively strong republican with a 11 months before the general election

[Blue_true]

72. Democrats will be pulling papers on Monday to oppose that guy.

Bet on it. I am sure some true middle of the road democratic politicians are licking their chops to face that asshole.

[bottomofthehill]

82. The last primary

Jeff Van Drew (D) 57.0 16,901


Tanzie Youngblood (D) 18.5 5,495


Will Cunningham (D) 16.2 4,795


Nathan Kleinman (D) 8.3 2,467

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
Total votes: 29,658

[Blue_true]

95. He got votes because those democrats saw him as the best choice to win the General.

Thst is no longer the case now, those democratic primary votes will go to a democrat. I don't know when Jersey redistricts, but my guess is Van Drew will be seeing a lot of New Democratic voters from more liberal leaning places in his new district.

[Prof.Higgins]

51. Good riddance, to a closet Republican.

[Pachamama]

53. +10000

[Eliot Rosewater]

55. And the party with ONE More seat than the other CONTROLS EVERYTHING and we just lost a seat

When will many people I argue with here and elsewhere FIGURE THIS THE FUCK OUT!



iF THE CHOICE IS between it being a GOP seat or a DEM seat, it wouldnt matter if he was a Vampire ...or whatever you can think of, it is NOT the person it is

CONTROL OF THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT

[JonLP24]

63. Tell the party switcher not to switch parties

Does this board want impeachment or not?

[quakerboy]

87. He met with trump

And then decided to switch.

Whats your solution to someone who would do that?

Edited to add.. Maybe we will get lucky and whatever Trump promised him will come out and be the basis for a bribery charge.
Or maybe its whatever Putin give trump to threaten him with, in which case its exortion/blackmail rather than bribery, as i understand it.

[dewsgirl]

56. The worst thing to come of this will be the spin and Trump

and the GOP will use the hell out of it, to rub in our faces. But the thing is, he truly was a DINO, good riddance, I say.

[RandySF]

59. It's more than impeachment with him.

He’s been sketchy since he took office.

[Blue_true]

73. I agree. There are something like 12 democrats that oppose

impeachment. None of the others have talked to republicans about switching parties. There are more fundamental reasons why he is switching, we are better off without him, even if that means losing one "maybe" vote.

[Kid Berwyn]

60. Then we'll beat him in November.

Like a Drumpf.

[Blue_true]

74. I agree.

Also, democrats control the Legistlature and Governor's chair in New Jersey. They can cut in some of a deep blue district into his and make it impossible for him to win.

[dalton99a]

61. Fuck Jeff Van Drew. He can't wait to join the cult and kiss Trump's ass.

[at140]

64. He has switched! See Yahoo News link in post

https://www.yahoo.com/news/democratic-rep-jeff-van-drew-220448426.html

It means very little because a real democrat will replace him in 2020.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

65. Good riddance...now he's just another deplorable RethugliKKKon who needs to be clobbered. Fuck him!

Bernie/Elizabeth or Elizabeth/Bernie 2020!!
Either way, they're stronger together!!
Welcome to the revolution!!!

[Takket]

66. what good does that do him?

He's just going to lose to the Democrat when he runs in that district, so what is he hoping to accomplish by switching parties?

[Blue_true]

75. Someone said that he voted with republicans a lot, not just on impeachment.

There was some concern about him when he was running for office, now he has made it obvious.

[Garrett78]

83. According to 538, he's voted against the Trump position on pretty much everything but impeachment.

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/jeff-van-drew/

All I can figure is that he assumes he'll lose his job as a Democrat either for or against impeachment, so switching parties and opposing impeachment is his only chance at staying in office.

Will he suddenly start voting with Republicans when he's been voting with Democrats on everything but impeachment? If so, that'll be the ultimate example of party over principles. Change the letter after your name and then do a 180 on your viewpoints.

[Blue_true]

67. Fuck him. nt

[lame54]

69. Can we make this OUR choice?

[bucolic_frolic]

76. Republican voters will be holding their noses in 2020

Don't know if they'll find that motivating, enervating, or demoralizing

[democratisphere]

77. Anything to potentially save his own ass.

Self over everything else!

[brettdale]

80. It makes so much sense now

Faux News was calling him a hero and that he will be a great asset to the republican party.

[Vogon_Glory]

81. I remember the wave of Texas turncoats back in the Eighties

Dozens of Texas legislators turned their coats and became Republican back in the 1980’s.

But something funny started happening. Somewhere around 1985-1990, Texas Republican Voters started punishing the laggard converts—usually by primarying them more reactionary.

I know New Jersey isn’t Texas. But Mr. Van Drew might find his Republican Welcome equally fleeting.

[lpbk2713]

84. What was the quid pro quo?

Trump had to put a carrot on a stick.

[CTyankee]

86. Watch that screendoor as you leave...

asshole.

[Gothmog]

93. New Jersey Republicans not interested in party-jumping Jeff Van Drew as their candidate in 2020

It appears that Van Drew will not be the GOP nominee automatically if he switches parties. Even with trump's support, there is a very good chance that this idiot will lose in the GOP primary where there are already a number of long time republicans running.

Link to tweet

Democratic lawmaker Rep. Jeff Van Drew (NJ) is not being welcomed with open arms by Republicans in his district after word got out that he is planning on switching parties following lobbying from President Donald Trump.

With polling in his district showing he was facing an uphill climb for re-election the Democrat, who is considered fairly conservative and has opposed the impeachment of Trump, is expected to announce the switch soon with reports stating he has already informed his staffers of the imminent move.....

“Van Drew’s political conversion doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be the GOP nominee. Three Republicans had already declared their candidacies for his seat. And while Trump’s backing would be politically potent, it would have to overcome hard GOP feelings from decades of tough election battles against Van Drew.”

One Republican vying for Van Drew’s seat wasted no time attacking the party-switcher, saying the lawmaker is “trying to use South Jersey Republicans to cling onto his power.”

[TexasBushwhacker]

98. 5 of his staff have already quit n/t