A right kind of Democrat

[cigsandcoffee]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-dems26oct26,0,3858970,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

A right kind of Democrat
GOP-held House seats are threatened by a crop of conservative foes.
By Janet Hook
Times Staff Writer

October 26, 2006

He is pro-business and antiabortion. He is an evangelical Christian and an avid hunter. But, unexpectedly, Heath Shuler is a Democrat, and he is running for Congress in North Carolina.

Shuler is part of a phalanx of unusually conservative Democratic candidates who may deliver crucial victories over GOP incumbents and help their party win control of the House.

Republicans are ringing alarms about what the House would be like if the GOP lost control: a throwback to the unreconstructed liberalism of big-government activism, tax increases and a weak-kneed defense policy. They point with Halloween-season horror to the likely lineup of Democratic committee chairs, including Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and other liberal old-timers.

But, like Shuler, many of the Democratic candidates most likely to be elected are cut from a different cloth. Sixteen of them have been endorsed by the Blue Dogs, a coalition of conservative Democrats. Several used to be Republicans. Shuler was recruited to run as a Republican a few years ago but opted not to.

[w13rd0]

1. The DLC...

...is already priming the pump.

Prediction: if we win the House and Senate, the DLC will claim it is because of them and their centre-right ideaology. This will be their effort to reclaim what they've lost in failing over the last three elections.

[onehandle]

2. It's a big party and who else would win there. nt

[cigsandcoffee]

8. I agree.

You can't force "urban" liberalism on the South any more than you can Democracy on the Iraqis. By nature, much of the South and Midwest lean right on "moral" issues, guns, and economics. If the Democratic Party won't accomodate that to some degree, then they're not going to win elections in those areas.

[acmejack]

3. But they're Democrats they whine

In name... "Several used to be Republicans. Shuler was recruited to run as a Republican a few years ago but opted not to." Good Democrats at that! You'll have your fucking majority but at the cost of your very souls. Democratic principles? Which principles might those be?

"He is pro-business and antiabortion. He is an evangelical Christian and an avid hunter..." Compromise is one thing, selling out what you believe in is another entirely, I for one am very uncomfortable with this new Democratic "Southern Strategy".

I suspect the impetus for a new party shall spring from the monster born from this mess, the DLC/Blue Dog/Moderate Republican/Lieberman Beast which shall spring from all this and will be called good, the Clintonian machine thus created will finish birthing the free trade monster and the rich shall call it good. What it will be for the rest of us will be questionable. But the rich shall be laughing and what else really matters?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. I want to know why guys like this...

are Democrats. I want to hear exactly WHAT in the Democratc Party platform they endorse, what Democratic values they support. I am beginning to think that a lot of these "conservative Democrats" are really old school Republicans who are looking to get elected in Red areas where they could not survive a Republican primary. That it is less about being a Democrat and more about getting elected.

The more I hear about them the more I don't like them. :mad: And don't TRUST them.

And for those who say it's all about getting a Democratic majority, I say what good is it in the long run if they have "D" after their name if they vote like an "R" a majority of the time???

[cali]

5. And here's the answer to that:

The majority party controls the agenda and the committee chairs. That's a plum prize.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

15. Yes, those are plum prized for now...

but note my emphasis on "in the long run". Once again, it's a Democrat moving hard to the right instead of educating the voters on the wisdom of the Democratic way and bringing the voters towards us.

[riona]

19. I agree

As far as I'm concerned, they are useless to the Dems if they vote R on issues that are important to us.

[femrap]

43. I agree...look at Senator Salazar.

He votes with the repugnants. It's as if the neocons and Religious Right have taken over the Repugnant Party...so the Repugnants have decided to take over the Democratic party.

I am sick of moving to the right...and the reason given is to accommondate the South.

[wisteria]

6. Sure- just what we need to be - Republican lites. That has gotten

us real far. They must be positioning and trying to set the stage for "their" candidate to run.

[dmallind]

11. Well it did get us

Eight years of peace and prosperity in the Clinton era.

It did get us the only Democratic president elected (or at least inaugurated) in thirty years.

It WILL get us a majority of seats in the House so it's Dems running committees and controlling agendas not Rep's,

It both has AND will got us seats in both chambers which would otherwise be incontestable.

I have no idea what world a lot of the far left of the party see out their window but if it seems to be one where you can get a majority in either house of anti-globalization, 100% pro-choice, 100% gay-rights pacifist gungrabbers then it's not the one I live in. I'm not even sure I'd want it to be, but I know for sure it isn't like that. Look at the electoral maps and see if we'd be picking up those house seats in PA and IN and FL and others if we ran Wellstone-style purists.

The best thing in the world for us would be for the Rep's to run candidates wholeheartedly supported by Free Republic.

Sadly, some seem to not realize the best thing for the Rep's would be for us to run candidates wholeheartedly supported by DU.

The vast majority of people who vote are not so far off the center. The hope for victory or even relevance resides there, not on the fringes.

[Psephos]

44. A fine post

Too bad it will largely fall on deaf ears here. Extremes of political belief make one immune to the most fundamental political truth of them all: success in politics relies on finding common cause to build majorities.

Peace.

[saigon68]

14. YES Especially with this JACK ASS

THE JACK ASS in the BACK GROUND

[bluestateguy]

7. Unfortunate, but at least we can work with the DLCers

At least a DLCer is under the tent, and someone we can work with.

Bush lite is still better than Bush.

[mrdmk]

9. You think, why are so many people attempting to rid the Senate

of Joe Lieberman? Just for the heck of it?

The real reason is because Lieberman does not represent his contingency, these people told him so and he did not listen and the voters said enough is enough. Now there is a big push by the Republicans to get Lieberman back in. Go figure!

The following link is for your reading pleasure:
http://www.counterpunch.com/walsh10242006.html

[KoKo]

13. My Connecticut Cousin is happy with Lieberman on Social Issues but

freaked out over the Iraq War and turned to Lamont. Many Connecticut voters who are angry over Iraq deserted Lieberman because of that. On social issues he tends to vote Dem...it's his cronyism with the Repugs on the WAR issues and Bush vs. Gore that started to make him smell bad. His votes are better on Social Issues than Landrieu and the two Nelsons and Salazar plus a few others who tend to vote Repug.

[mrdmk]

17. That is why I have provided the link in the previous post

It is mostly about the how a known DLC named Rahm Emanuel pushed for pro war Democrats.

As a side note Lieberman along with other Democrats did vote yes on some very nasty bills. The drug addendum to Social Security, the bankruptcy bill, the torture bill and note to mention he started to waffle on abortion. He is also pro wire tap and came back from Iraq with a glowing report.

I was not just picking on Mr. Lieberman, but the person I was replying to said we can work with the DLC candidates. I am voicing my concern about the DLC with their corporate sponsors are attempting to pull the Democrat Party right of center and calling it the middle of the road.

I do want debate on the Liberal side of politics, not the lock-step of the Republican Party which many are attempting to flee. What I do not want is a group of people saying we belong to the progressives, yet are attempting to push far right policies. I think that is called a wolf in sheep's clothing.

[primavera]

33. Well put

Politics is, always has been, and always will be, an inherently adversarial occupation. The only thing that keeps a middle ground viable is the equally zealous advocacy of alternative positions. Abandonment of said zealous advocacy by one position in favor of a compromise middle ground only produces a constant shift in the direction of the position(s) still being advocated, with the sought after middle ground constantly shifting as well.

[KoKo]

35. Oh....hey I'm an Anti-DLC, DU'er. But folks in CT who belong to Greenwich

Country Club are a different thing. That my relative would turn against Lieberman over the war is a good thing. Lieberman is looking so bad since 2000 "Selection" that it might go way beyond his War Stance...but that's what a Greenwich Country Club Repug can hang on him. It's a good thing...

CT is a mixed bag. There are even Greenwich Country Club Repugs who agree with Dem Party on Social Issues....

[mrdmk]

40. If 68% of the people in the U.S. think the war was not worth it!

That will cross a lot of party lines. I forget who did that poll, but I believe very few people (less than 25%) will say the Iraq war will have a positive effect on the world. How to deal with the war effectively at this point is anybodies guess. I am one of those who believed that we had no business going into Iraq in 1991 and certainly not in 2003. At this point, I will not believe anybody who says (or does for that fact) to blow a civilization back to the stone-age will right a wrong.

[primavera]

20. This week's This Modern World

[JerseygirlCT]

41. Well, in CT, all but the looniest of the right are fairly liberal on

social issues (if by that you mean things like abortion rights). So Lieberman is ok on those. Just ok, acceptable.

His support for the state's Catholic hospitals when they wanted to deny rape victims emergency contraception sure flies in the face of his claims to support reproductive rights. And he's not great on gay rights, either, if I recall, supporting CUs, but not same-sex marriage.

Eh. He's no hero on social issues. Just acceptable enough to both sides to get by in CT.

But I do agree -- the real separator is the war, and beyond that, his coziness with Bush.

[OHdem10]

10. Just Remember, DLCers, America is voting change

Not Republican Lite. It will be a shame for
Democrats to win now and lose 2008 because
they were just a little kinder and gentler
than the RW,

America is voting change. Change Change.
Dems will have to show how they are
different and measureable change in
the country's direction.

Since it difficult to discern the difference
between a Moderate Republican and a DLC
Democrat, they have their job cut out
for them.

Inspite of all this vote Democrat, the
guy or gal with the D behind their name.
We will work it out later.

[KoKo]

12. The Repug alternatives to the Blue Dogs are so bad that we will have to hope

that our Progressive Caucus can tutor them as newbies before the DLC get's their clutches into them with Lobbying favors.

[davidinalameda]

16. this is the best quote

Shuler, a former quarterback for the Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints, stuck with the Democratic Party, his spokesman said, because he wanted to "help those who cannot help themselves — and that's the Democratic Party."

[Ignacio Upton]

18. Each faction of the party will take credit if we win

n/t.

[rodeodance]

21. A right kind of Democrat

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-na-dems26oct26,0,3637995.story?track=mostviewed-homepage

A right kind of Democrat

GOP-held House seats are threatened by a crop of conservative foes.

By Janet Hook, Times Staff Writer
October 26, 2006

He is pro-business and antiabortion. He is an evangelical Christian and an avid hunter. But, unexpectedly, Heath Shuler is a Democrat, and he is running for Congress in North Carolina.

Shuler is part of a phalanx of unusually conservative Democratic candidates who may deliver crucial victories over GOP incumbents and help their party win control of the House.


Republicans are ringing alarms about what the House would be like if the GOP lost control: a throwback to the unreconstructed liberalism of big-government activism, tax increases and a weak-kneed defense policy. They point with Halloween-season horror to the likely lineup of Democratic committee chairs, including Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and other liberal old-timers.

But, like Shuler, many of the Democratic candidates most likely to be elected are cut from a different cloth. Sixteen of them have been endorsed by the Blue Dogs, a coalition of conservative Democrats. Several used to be Republicans. Shuler was recruited to run as a Republican a few years ago but opted not to..........

[SteppingRazor]

22. That's a valid point, but it's equally valid to point to a resurrgent left...

in the Northeast. In fact, if the Dems take back the House, it will be because of widespread unseating of moderate, even somewhat liberal, Republicans in places like New York.

[Warpy]

23. Shuler is typical of pre-Reagan southern Democrats

They were called boll weevil Democrats because they delivered the Repugs a majority in a lot of years that supposedly saw a Democratic dominated Congress.

I don't expect them to be any different this time.

[tblue]

24. I have no problem with someone like that running as a Democrat

We would absolutely win in every precinct if we were to openly embrace Democrats who share some, though not all, of our values. More power to him.

[soleft]

26. I would vote for a socially liberal republican over a dem

who was pro-life and anti gay.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

28. If my choice were between...

this "Dem" and a GOP like Arnie, Arnie'd be getting my vote. It's ugly, but not as ugly as this "Dem".

[0rganism]

29. in this particular case, you wouldn't have that option

the republican who holds the seat now is a far-right freak.

I'll take a conservative Dem over a conservative Republican any day of the week.

[Individualist]

39. I won't vote for a republican,

nor will I vote for a DLC dem. The only thing worse than a neocon is a neocon enabler.

[Miss Chybil]

25. If it walks like a Republican...

What's difference does it make if the Democrats win, if a bunch of them are Republicans wearing a Democrat costume?

[Hell Hath No Fury]

27. Thank you...

the fact that the article mentions some were former GOP really raises re dflags with me. In the long run, these types of "Dems" don't do the party or the party any good. :(

[primavera]

30. That's what worries me as well

I sometimes think we lose sight of the fact that what matters isn't so much what party our elected officials belong to, but how they're going to vote and what bills they're going to introduce. If a Representative supports right-wing legislation, how are we substantively any better off if that Representative calls him or herself a Democrat instead of a Republican? Isn't the end result pretty much the same either way?

[Irreverend IX]

37. Because they can help get us a _majority_.

I don't see what's so hard about this. Some of these Dems might be knuckledraggers with a moderate coat of paint, but each one of them elected puts us one seat closer to a majority, one seat closer to giving people like Conyers and Feingold committee chairs and subpoena power. The power to bring the neocons' ambitions to a grinding halt. Flaming liberals won't win in the districts where these Dems run; it's either pro-life hunter Democrats or Rapture Ready slay-the-heathens Republicans in a place like that.

[Zhade]

45. What makes anyone think these conservatives WANT Conyers?

I presume there's a vote involved in the election of committees, yes?

Why does anyone here think conservatives - even conservative "Dems" - want people like Conyers and Waxman to seek justice? Hell, Bayh (IIRC) said we should forget the lies that led us to war, and while he's a conservative, he's not THIS conservative.

What if these "formerly" Republican candidates vote AGAINST people like Conyers, against the very idea of investigations period?

Anyone?

[Irreverend IX]

46. These reps will be a few voices among many.

And in most cases, the only alternatives to these people are Republicans. More butts in the seats = more power to enact a progressive agenda, even if a few of the people in those seats aren't with it 100%.

[skipos]

38. Dem majority = More Dems heading up committees, more Dems on committees

that is the difference.

I am not endorsing this guy though, it depends on who he is running against.
My guess is the (R) is a royal nutjob and the (D) is at least a little better. That tends to be the case.

[Akoto]

31. So they're Republocrats.

I'm pretty torn on this issue.

On the one hand, every victorious candidate we have wearing that Democrat tag takes us one step closer to a majority, and I do not necessarily see diversity as a bad thing.

On the other hand, I would be concerned about how willing they are to compromise their conservative ideals in order to uphold the Democratic mission statement. They could end up being more of a subversive element, intentionally or not.

[Burma Jones]

32. Hope he's a better Candidate than NFL QB

Anyway, if Democrats want to Govern, we will have to include guys like Heath.

[Zhade]

34. Is this story an attempt to make us NOT vote for Dems?

Because I am NOT going to stand by and let wannabe-Republicans continue the damage once we drive the fascists out of office!

[MisterP]

36. nearly the same story ran in 2004

how conservatives like Tenenbaum (SC), Majette (GA), Castor (FL), Daschle (SD), Carson (OK) were all painted as the "only hope" of the Dems, and a surefire ticket to Senate majority. All lost.

[greeneyedboy]

42. more frantic spin trying to emphasize how far right the Dems will have to govern

when we have Congress again.

it's a big country and we have a big tent. the GOP has Snowe and Chafee as well as the numerous extremists; we have our DINOs and Boxer et al..

now is not really the time to be fretting about how we can get along with members of our own party--it's the time to win.